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Visit Florida has announced they are coming out with a new, free certificate and training for hospitality employees. Due to the increase in Florida tourism, they will launch this new program to hopefully keep more tourists coming back because of the remarkable hospitality they received. Tourism is up from 2012 and they feel 2014 will surpass 2013, which the state welcomed 93.7 million visitors. That being said, this is a great opportunity for our industry. This will open so many doors for event planners and other hotel positions to help with the increasing tourism and being able to cater to their needs.

The hospitality industry is recognizing how imperative it is to run your hotel in a way where it will not only benefit you and your business but for the environment as well. Many hotels are making an effort to making an effort to become certified by means of having a going green business. In addition to certification, businesses in the hospitality industry are contributing to this go green effort by seeking specific goals and priorities. Hotels for example are focusing on how to save energy and water conservation, solid waste management, land use and indoor air quality. Changing basic hotel equipment such as toilets, solar heating, washing machines/dryers, refrigerators to "green products" can create a big difference in hotel energy costs and help save the environment as well. When a hotel owner applies for certification they are carefully inspected to verify compliance on how well the hotel manages their business efficiently by saving energy, water and disposing wastes properly for example. Even something so small as using the right cleaning supplies can have a positive impact on the environment. Not only does going green lower hotel costs but they also receive tax rebates, zoning permits and other incentives to persuade hotels to go green.

In todays world, where ecoturism is the fastest growing market in the hospitality industry, hotel managers and owners realize the importance of running their properties in an environmentally responsible way. These initiatives usually translate in to greater customer recognition and loyalty. Some of the ways they achieve this is thru certifications, such as LEED which focuses on improvements to buildings and structures in order to maximize operations such as energy performance, conservation of water and other resources.

In an effort to become more environmentally conscious, many hotels and resorts have taken major steps, from pre construction to customer requests, to reduce their "carbon footprint". These establishments understand the value of "going green" not just to increase their long term profits but also to cater to a growing demand for more environmentally friendly recreational outlets. Going green is more than just a fad. Therefore, it is imperative, to stakeholders, within the hospitality and tourism industry to make the necessary changes to maintain a competitive edge.

The term known as a Point of Sale (POS) has evolved greatly in the past couple decades. From an actual human being in a ticket window, to instant mobile ticket sales, we've come quite a long way. Technology has given us the ability to purchase things on both a leisure and business level instantly. From a business standpoint, POS helps optimize inventory, cash flow, expenses, and revenue. And from a leisure standpoint, it just gets consumers what they want faster. This article focuses on the importance of today's POS in small businesses. Stripe, Venmo, and Square are just a few POS applications that help small businesses. This allows the company user-friendly access to invoices, billing, taxes, inventory, payroll, purchase history, etc, etc. Venmo, for example, allows instant payments to either individuals or companies with a few touches of a mobile device, without the presence of the actual card. This third-party POS system verifies and then stores your account information. Prior to these tools, many companies had to resort to only taking cash, or incurring overwhelming credit-card transaction fees. Although evolving POS systems are an asset to small business, there is still a risk of compromising confidential information. For example, WingStop had four locations' POS systems compromised. This results in a lot of bad press and a lot of upset customers.

This article discusses the importance of having a Point of Sale, or POS, system in your restaurant and its many roles in the operations of the business. POS systems track all sales transaction up to the minute. It also accounts for all employees' operations. Of course, there are pros and cons to every system. One pro of a POS is the direct connection to the kitchen staff. Once the server places the order, a ticket is printed in the kitchen thus helping to eliminate miscommunication and create efficiencies between servers and kitchen staff. Another positive stated was a POS system helps cut back on employee theft since the system logs employee actions and makes it difficult to alter items in the system. Additionally, POS systems can help substantially with the bookkeeping operations. POSs can track and collect data regarding popular and unpopular food and menu items. The system also can help with accounting and show payroll as well as profit and loss statements. One of the drawbacks of a POS is the susceptibility to electronic issues, such as hardware failure or system crashes. If there is a catastrophic crash to the system, the restaurant could lose all of its sales data as well as payroll statements and other important documents. Therefore, having a backup is important, but expensive. Additionally, while the POS system typically comes with a warranty, it would be smart to have an IT person employed who can set up the POSs and update the device or software and address any problems the POS network may encounter. Again, this adds cost. In the end, Point of Sale systems are an overwhelmingly positive tool for the restaurant industry. However, restauranteurs need to be aware of the issues and plan accordingly to run a smooth operation.

This article talks about POS. POS-point of sales is a hardware that used in the hospitality industry, mostly used in the restaurant. It's a tool you can accept the payment of customers and count the transaction. Modern POS system provides a platform to help customers to enhance the experience. It's also an easy communication with kitchen and wait staff. It can maximize the revenue. But some issues are POS systems come with limited warranties and tech support. I think companies need to ask for help with the IT advisor In the hospitality industry, tough competition and thin margins, we need to get more value from POS.

This article discusses the various ways that hotels are increasingly going green and the certification process hotels can go to in order to get this green recognition. It is clear that going green nowadays is not a matter of choice, but of business necessity due to the various demands from guests and other consumers. Sustainability for hotels isn't just about recycling and choosing more energy efficient lights, its looking at sustainability holistically. This means looking at conversation from the start of a hotel project all the way through to the time the hotel first opens and continues to operate. While the upfront costs to be green may be costly, what may end up being more costly is the companies who choose not to go green at all.

Beginning in 2018 the financial accounting standards for hotel business are changing. One of the changes is the way OTAs charge for the rooms. Typically the OTAs operate under two methods the retail model and merchant model. The retail model uses the OTA to reserve the room but the final payment is made to the hotel. The hotel then gives a commission back to the OTA. Under The merchant model the payment is made to the OTA. Then the OTA takes the commission off and sends the remaining payment to the hotel for the price of the room. This comes out as a net transaction. The new standard is saying that the company that controls the transaction for the room has to mark the transaction or sale as a gross transaction. The new model forces the hotels to record the transaction on a gross basis. This can be a big difference for hotels because now they will have to increase the amount of costs and reduce the hotels bottom line.

This article gives advice on how to solve some problems that can occur with a PMS. How do I get a hold of tech support? How do I balance my folio? How do I find a credit card on a reservation? What report do I use for reporting taxes? How do I optimize rates for special events?

Module 8: "Everything in the business world is about the bottom line, and the accounting department of an organization is the keeper of that bottom line's flame." The following article, Accounting and Bookkeeping For The Tourism Industry gives and inside look and new perspective into the accounting and bookkeeping within the hospitality and tourism industry. The following are a few topics that are required in order to successfully run financial aspects within the travel industry; cash-flow, operation & cost budget, pensions, foreign currency, accounting system integrity and accounting & reporting standards. I was interested to read all of the possible job opportunities that are available in accounting and booking sides of the travel industry; for example - opportunities to travel to exotic locations, work/live abroad, possible events, etc. It is clear to read that employees in both accounting and booking are vital today and their role continues to play a major role in the overall success of the industry. "Just as the history of the tourism and hotel industry has grown and evolved into the mega economic force it is today, so has the bookkeeping necessary grown into a mega accounting career that the tourism business could not live without."

Summary of sustainability trends in the Hotel Industry

This article discusses the growth of the hospitality industry as the labor sector experiences a slow down. The CBRE projects that although labor issues are worse in the suburbans areas finding the right talent or retaining has become harder in all markets. In addition, the industry is facing challenges in areas like gender equity, insurance requirements, and controversial political considerations for example lower-paying jobs such as dishwashers, line cooks and wait staff have shown more talent shortage because typically those positions are filled by undocumented immigrants.

Very insightful article in regards to hospitality industry and labor section experiences a slow down.Quite a few hotel companies are experiencing this shortage of candidates and retaining employees due to several factors, pay being one of them. Marriott gave out significant raise to keep the talent they already had on staff across many different departments. "There is a talent shortage for all levels, but is more so for lower-paying jobs like dishwashers, line cooks and wait staff. Crackdowns on illegal immigrants, many of whom have filled these positions for decades, are also affecting business." There are alot of hotels experiencing shortage described above.

I admire that the article mentioned many of the labor issues area result of undocumented immigrants leaving their job positions because of the political climate against undocumented individuals in addition to low pay. The affect of it can be seen throughout the industry.

The events industry is growing in the United States and around the world. Event managers need to keep up with the current and future technology trends in the industry. Mobile ticketing, cost reduction, gathering data from event attendees, and cashless events are all areas that event managers need to use in their operations. Using technology at events can help to reduce costs and improve attendance. In addition, the future in events could mean having a cashless event and also implementing virtual attendance. Event managers need to evaluate the technology that is the most cost-effective. The initial cost may be high; however, event managers need to look at the return on investment.

This article discusses Expedia's continued mission to create different hospitality technology, including a PMS-type system called ALICE. This is a three part vision bringing competitive platforms in operations, revenue management, and utilizing the massive amount of booking data they are sitting on. While they have had a version of these same goals for a while now, at their recent partner convention there was renewed excitement and some impressive demonstrations. 

The POS system is saving time by reducing the amount of times that a server visits the main terminal It also assists management with keeping tracking of its inventory. An example of some of the new innovations with POS software is online ordering, online payment integration, and increased customer engagement.

A human resource information system (HRIS) is a software used for managing employee information while aiming to increase their engagement and productivity. Overall, an HRIS system is made up of the following components: a database, financials, time & attendance, recruitment, and training/development. The tools available in these allow for automated processes, data storage, handling of payroll, benefits, employee recognition programs, track work absences and tardiness, manage job applications, referrals, and interview requests, assist scheduling, employee communication, performance tracking, and goal setting. The costs involved when adopting a HRIS include software, setup, consulting, and support fees.

This article talks about the different types, components, benefits, and costs of a human resource information system. The two categories of HRIS are human capital management (HCM) and while the components include financial, time and attendance, recruitment and onboarding, employee management, company database, and training and development. The benefits include increased automation of human resource, employee self-service, centralized employee communication, and more important insights.

It sounds so easy to use NDC, but the reality is: Not too many bookings are being made. Why? GDSs won't just give up the battlefield of simple bookings (call it 'easily earned money') and only deal with the complicated PNRs. While I am critical of the global distribution system "oligopoly", the sustainability of the redrawn commercial and technological landscape that NDC could produce has to be questioned. The proposition of NDC means that a "formerly relatively lean distribution chain will become a complicated commercial landscape with numerous airlines, numerous TMCs (or corporations) and several technology providers - all being connected to each other on a technological, as well as commercial, level."

This articles explaines in 5 different stages or factos how investment actions are taken in the hospitality and tourisim industry. According to Marcus and Milichap on september this year they wrote this article where it is apprecaible all the new trends and changes of how technology have affected positivitly the investment on the hotels and tourism industries this past years in the United States.