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The article attached to this link is from HotelNews.com and refers to "The Guestroom of the Future" reported in a trade show in 2010. The author reports ten trends that should be seen in hotel rooms within the next few years. One of the ten trends is the ability to use a mobile device such as an ipad to control the amenities in the room utilizing a software that will connect the room technology to the touchscreen device. By using the ipad, the guest is able to control the room temperature, open and close drapes, set privacy sign light on or off, turn on request for housekeeping service, alarm, wake up call, room service order, view room folio, access concierge services and etc. The advantage of this device is that it concentrates all technology in just one device depending on the capability of the software. I believe more hotels will adhere to this type of software as soon as it is proven to be reliable and accpeted by guests. Reliability is also related to the dependancy of the internet connection for the functionality of this software. I consider one of the concerns to be how would these amenities be delivered or operated in case of failure of internet service or power outage.

Hotel de Paris in opulent Monte Carlo, Monaco pleasantly surprises as a forerunner in the hospitality industry's green revolution. Prince Albert II leads by example after having a 'sustainably' lavish wedding using local and fair-trade products. Even though "mullet carpaccio" does not sound delectable to me; I am sure world renowned Chef Alain Ducasse knows how to transform the ordinary into extraordinary. Prince Albert II went so far to even have his cows supply the milk for his ice cream dessert, I call that dedication. With such excellent leadership and funding in the green initiative the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation addresses three major environmental issues: climate change, biodiversity and water consumption. Because of the Foundation visitors to Monaco participate in the green initiative with or without their knowledge. The casino, four hotels, several restaurants and spas all educate their staff on how to "be green." Hybrid shuttles, organic farming, reclaimed watering, on-site herb gardens and the banning of bluefin tuna are all examples of how the hospitality industry in Monaco has gone green. Monaco's will and initiative in the green revolution is inspiring. I hope that every hotel worldwide can try to adopt some of these practices and look to Monaco as a role model.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization presented this event to communicate investment opportunities in the Caribbean. The choice of New York as a venue was a very strategic choice as this is an international investors mecca to the West. Forums featured private equity firms, renewable energy firms, and assorted tourism representatives from many of the island nations throughout the Caribbean. "If you are a private equity investor, investment banker, financier, real estate developer, hotel chain executive, lawyers, architect or entrepreneur, looking to grow your money and do business in an emerging market that is on the up and up, then this is a can't miss event," said Felicia Persaud, convener of Invest Caribbean Now and CEO of Hard Beat." Also offered is a Trade Show and Educational Seminar for Travel Agents, and government representatives were available to provide in-depth information for journalists and tourism professionals. This event is the perfect type of forum of destination based tourism agencies to market their locations not only for further investment and development, but to showcase a variety of features and benefits. As an aspiring meeting professional, such a seminar is the perfect example of showing a prospective client that while brochures, marketing advertising, and other forms of media can tell a lot about a place, nothing beats having some of the actual people, food, music, clothing, sounds and smells that can all be recreated at full-scale events to provide the perception of a full sensory experience. This experience will create a desire to go and be a part of that destination unmatched by any other form of marketing.

The main focus of my article is about the financial connection between India and the U.S. The article discusses a few key issues about India and their tech support in relation to the U.S. It tells us that "India's burgeoning tech sector is responsible for creating more than 400,000 American jobs, according to a report released Monday that prompted calls from leaders in both nations to reform business practices so the industry remains a bright spot in an often unreliable global economy". The article goes on to list some more interesting statistics. For example, "The new study from the National Association of Software and Service Companies, a trade group representing Indian technology firms, said business deals between firms in the two countries have generated $22.5 billion in tax revenue for the U.S. since 2011". I feel that these two statistics are important because in too many cases, Americans feel that "foreigners" are coming to the U.S. and "stealing" all of our jobs. That is clearly not the case with every situation, as the article points out. The article further explains that India is seeking to ease the process of coming into the U.S. to work. They feel that if they are providing their highly skilled techs to come work here and/or gain their American education here than the process of getting the visa should be much more lax than it is for other countries. I don't know if I agree with that one, but I understand their point.

Face of consumerism through e-commerce has radically changed in the last few years. Buying or selling through Internet and online shops depending on websites, has become an ordinary part of consumer life today. Higher expectations, less tolerance, more demanding and choosy customers are becoming more common. 

With the development of society, economy as well as technology, customers are becoming more powerful, they have higher expectations, less tolerance, more demanding. In this situation, high quality and professional E-Commerce is needed in more fields. E-commerce solutions are varied, which provide the buyers, sellers, providers more opportunities to run business activities efficient. Revolutionary changes have occurred in tourism and hospitality industry by E-Commerce. In recently years, more agents and organization make the applying of E-Commerce as one important choice to be outstanding. It owns many valuable advantages. It facilitates agent access to market and minimizes the financial information leakage. It provides any agents chances to connect market all over the world. When travelers arrival the destinations, they need huge information, service, facilities, market cash and so on, which all can be obtained by internet. And also, for Hospitality industry, it develops economies, improves trade competitiveness, expands scope and arena, and facilitates people to have direct access to the marketing destinations. What is more, it monitors, evaluates, creates faster transactions by the flexible web services. Thus all the process can be created, facilitated, and monitored by E-Commerce. Absolutely, there are also many disadvantages in E-Commerce. Some information in it may be incorrect or unnecessary. People give important information via internet, so the security problems can't be avoided at any time. If over population come to the destinations, customers may not satisfy the service or the local nature may be damaged. Hospitality industry has to be thoroughly aware of its problems.

This article tackles what E-commerce is in relation to businesses all of the world in the modern day but especially what is occurring in the hospitality industry. How now a days many people are looking to book travels online and the specificity's they are looking for can be featured through the internet. Through these websites provided by companies bookings could be made directly without a third party making the plans or making payments from customers. What's most interesting about this article is about is how it is self realizing and it also highlights the negatives e-commerce can have with the consumer (i.e. too much information given about a destination). But, it does tie in the end how it is a very positive step forward for all business alike and can create more revenue than before e-commerce existence.

The article provide an overview of basic hotel accounting procedures. Most of the concepts explained are the responsibility of the accounting department but the article did mention there was some crossover. The hotel manager must implement the guidelines for the hotel, this means that the manager must understand at least the basic concepts of accounting. The accounting department must also prepare reports that outline the hotels finances. These reports are especially important when the hotel is a publicly traded company and must meet SEC guidelines.

SERI is multi-stakeholder group made up of the Environmental Protection Agency, Regulators, Trade Associations, and many others to commit to recycling in a non-harmful way electronic waste, more commonly known as e-waste. This group certifies recycling centers to ensure that the most environmentally friendly practices are put into place and a locator can be found on their website for one to use. It is estimated currentlybthat at this rate, wasted electonics will increase 33% by the end of the decade, which is an alarming amount. This shows that governement officials are starting to take a stance.

This article reviews a survey conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association which reveals that 23% of consumers say they have been misled by third-party traveler re-sellers. The article further explains the Federal Trade Commission's investigation of one of these companies, Reservation Counter, LLC which resulted in legal action. The article concludes that to protect consumers AHLA will support legislation known as the Stop Online Booking Scams Acts and strongly encourages travelers to book directly through the hotel or trusted travel agent. I think we are seeing the AHLA's opposition to OTA's in defense of hotel properties that want direct booking. The protection of customers is important, but it seems like an implied warning of ligitimate OTA's like www.booking.com.

How e-waste is being manage in some countries and what people are doing to reduce their impact on e-waste.

This article mainly introduces the problems caused by e-waste and related solutions. E-waste not only affects environmental issues such as rare earth elements when it is landfilled or incinerated, but also the mining of its equipment manufacturing also affects the social environment, because a certain amount of emissions may be released in the process. Toxins are a great harm to the environment and the human body. Therefore, with the continuous emergence of e-waste disposal problems, some companies such as Apple and Sony have begun to extend the life of their equipment in recent years, and encourage customers to trade-in for recycling, making a certain effective contribution to the growing e-waste.

This article highlights the need for technology innovation to be more inclusive within the sector. It focuses on senior level roles but also emphasizes the importance of including all levels within the evolution of the industry. It also highlights that these changes would have occurred with or without the pandemic but was expedited because of it. It speaks about including lower levels of management with invitations to trade shows and other technology exposition in order to include a larger net of point of views and perspectives. It also highlights the need for further automation in order to help with large scale global issues like climate change and continuing touchless actions like check ins to maximize efficiency and the guest experience.

This is a very interesting articles about the technology trends we are seeing in the restaurant industry such as the emenu or the robotic bartender. This article discusses the pro's and con's of these specific technological trends and also discusses how the evolution of technology is a great thing for the industry! It makes you wonder... what's next?

Virgin Voyages which is the new adults only cruise line from Richard Branson is one of the most sustainable cruises in the industry. Sustainability is the core of Virgin Voyages values. Virgin Voyages actively seeks out partners that are green and sustainability friendly as well like Intelligentsia Coffee and Emerald Brand. Intelligentsia Coffee will be served complimentary on Scarlet Lady which is Virgin Voyages first ship. Intelligentsia uses a direct trade model which means that they purchase directly from the growers from coffee producing regions. Emerald Brand produces tree free and plastic free products such as bath and facial tissue, straws, bottles etc. Virgin Voyages will no have any single use items on their ships. In addition guest will be have filtered and sparkling water complimentary on board from Natura filtered water filing stations.

This article goes over some of the most important things to consider when thinking of investing in a property management system (PMS). It first mentions making sure the the interface is pleasant to look at and easy to use. As most PMSs are the same, design is one of the main differences between the many options someone has. The easier to use and nicer to look at a software is, the easier it is to train employees. It then talks about the importance of maintaining guest privacy and security, especially involving guest payments and sensitive gust information. Automating processes and making sure the technology of the PMS keeps up with guest expectations, as well as procuring a system that is able to work with your existing systems. The integration can sometimes can be expensive, but a hotel systems integrator can work as an alternative if necessary. One of the last points it mentions is to make sure it has streamlined reporting to save time and make sure other necessary tasks can get handled in a timely manner. The last touch point when looking into a PMS is making sure the price also includes a good customer support system. If a PMS is cost effective, but leaves you without answers if the system encounters issues, it's not worth the cost. Cloud-based functionality and keeping up with real-time occupancy are more functionalities that a hotelier could research when choosing the best available PMS for their company.

This article talks about what the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA is doing regarding green computing on campus and how their students can also get involved.

Event technology is forever changing and adapting to current environments. With COVID-19, event technology will be more prevalent than ever. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality can make the attendee feel like they are in the middle of the event while actually being far away. Facial recognition software allows for streamlining check-in, but also allows for entry to be contactless. As most events have become virtual, livestreaming is very important to bring the event into the living room of those that cannot physically attend. Event apps are becoming more and more popular in that they bring all of the event information right onto an attendee's smartphone and allows them to customize their experience. Attendees can participate from far and wide, so having the information be translated into their language increases their accessibility and inclusion. Artificial intelligence collects user data and turns it into personalized recommendations for their event experience. Games brought into an event increases audience engagement and allows for team building and friendly competition. Event planners have project management software available to them to help streamline their planning and saves them time and money by not having to manually do certain tasks.

As technology advances, major shifts are happening within the event industry. Gone are the days of paper and pen registration as RFID chips or tags are issued to attendees for sign in. Event specific apps are loaded right onto the attendees phone enabling them to communicate and be notified of event-related information. Augmented and virtual reality allow attendees to see a product or experience in a whole new way, taking engagement to a whole new level from the pop-up banner stand that used to line trade show booths. All of this technology also allows event organizers to have more access to analytics due to the amount of data that is able to be gathered. As technology grows, so will the engagement of attendees through these new systems.

Six technologies that can be used for your exhibits, events, trade shows, conferences; we want to make a better experience with our clients and having the event be more interactive is the way to go. Who wants to go to a boring event where you only walk from booth to booth? Interaction is what a lot a in search of and this article helps give you pointers on how to do just that.

This article is an instruction on how to find out a suitable property management software. The core features the efficient PMS should have including guest management, housekeeping ,reservations, online booking and billing management. The Property Management software also allows the report issues they have noticed like repairs that need to be done. The author concludes that it is best to get the core product regardless of the size of the hotel.

I think that finding the perfect property management software for your company is absolutely vital because it is going to cost you a lot of money and time to learn how to use the new system and you do not want to purchase the wrong one. From basic motels to fancy hotels and resorts every place should have an effective property management system and one that suits their needs. A basic motel might need one but does not need one with all the bells and whistles that a fancy upscale resort would need.

This article introduces the importance of the PMS in the hotel. When the hotels choose the PMS software, the simple and smart one is a better choice. For most efficient system, it always includes guest management, housekeeping, reservations, online booking and billing management. The advantage of the PMS is less cost. The hotels choose a good PMS will not only save money but also manage the hotel in a wonderful condition. The PMS can help the hotel store data and keep track of the housekeeping that the manager will solve some problems between housekeeping and customers. In a word, choosing a good PMS is necessary for the hotel.