Many event organizers are using or considering the use of mobile devices to enhance meetings and events. Many are already using devices such as the iPhone and Android to developed Apps specially design for the event. This new way of delivering information is environmentally friendly and an excellent marketing tool. But when developing an app it is important to know if it is cost effective. Normally only big associations and corporations are able to afford them, but know this is changing. A Dutch company called Twoopy has created a free online mobile event guide service that allows event planners to create affordable apps. This new way of creating apps will make them more widely used in all different types of events and meetings. Making apps through Twoopy is as easy as creating an account and submitting the necessary information. Basic functionality is free but if event planners want to upgrade it they can buy advanced features. When it is finish the app is published and attendees can download it freely through an URL.

Hotels chains as well as independent hotels are using retargeting as a way of making internet advertising campaigns more effective. According to the article one hotel brand said that the average returns of investing in retargeting are between 5-1 and 10-1. Retargeting helps companies to keep advertising to prospective clients even if they have already leaved the page. Advertisements are displayed to users as they visit other sites. According to John Hach, VP of e-marketing solutions for TravelClick, hotels are looking for ways of making advertisement more efficient and what better way of doing this by already knowing who is interested in your product. One of the main advantages of retargeting is that with a small investment and specific information hotels can give the impression that they are advertising through the entire internet. Although there are different media companies that offer retargeting, Google is the leader. Trough Google AdWords a code can be built in a website and when a customer leaves the page a cookie is installed showing they visited the page. After that the user is shown ads that are part of Google Display Network.

In this article all of the new trends for hotel security are described and examples of where they are being implemented are given. Thanks to technological innovations hotel safety is heading into a whole different level. Now key cards are being change to more sophisticated ones that need just to be waved to open a room door. In the near future it is expected for these cards to be used as a payment method and to check-in and check-out. In the U.S biometrics technology is starting to be used by a small number of properties not only for guests to access their rooms but for employees. Facial recognition systems with the ability of tracking guests and employees are also being implemented. This system helps to improves customer service as it helps to really understand guest's preferences, as enormous amount of information can be extracted as they are constantly being monitored. Other technologies are also being developed. The most amazing ones are the systems that track other unique human characteristics as the way a person walks or it's DNA.

In this article the results of a study conducted by Motorola Solutions Inc to understand emerging trends in enterprise and government mobility markets are discussed. One of the main findings was that as way to enhance guest experience, information technology (IT) investments in the hospitality industry are expected to increase. From the survey it was found that 68 percent of the hospitality venues that are already using mobile technology have seen an improvement in costumer satisfaction. It was also found that 91 percent of hoteliers are aware of the importance of mobile and wireless technology and how mobility creates a competitive advantage. More than 50 percent of the hoteliers that are already using mobile and wireless technology according to survey have witness an improvement in their employees efficiency and productivity as well as an increase in sales. All of this is forcing hospitality venues to invest in powerful wireless networks not only for customer use but for mobile workforce. From the survey it was found that already 75 percent of the hospitality venues surveyed have wireless installed and one third of this venues are using 802.11n. The main drivers found for adopting 802.11n were improving throughput and reliability, and extending range of current wireless data networks.

Prospera Hospitality is a successful hospitality operator with 18 properties under the most recognized flags of the industry. In the article it is said that one of the reasons for this company's success is its centralized accounting software that allows them to create flexible financial reports. As different owners have different goals, thanks to its flexibility they are able to deliver them personalized reports. The software that is use by Prospera is Profitvue web-based enterprise accounting and performance management that generates individual and multi-property general ledger, enterprise resource planning, accounts payable, statistics, and financials. This software also generates side by side reports that help owners compare the performance of each hotel and identify problems or successful practices. Being a cloud based system creates a great number of advantages for this hospitality operator. As some of their properties are small with select services they don't have the resources to support on- property software. The software is installed on bigger properties and in the smaller ones only a PC with internet connection is needed.

This article is about an application developed by Big Night Entertainment Group called Tabbedout. This application is a secure mobile application that allows customer to view their account and pay it through their smart phone as the application is integrated with the Micros POS system. The application will be used in four of the company's venues. The application is a secure payment method as well as a marketing tool. The payment information of the customer is saved in the phone and not on a host server. This application gives customers a whole new customer service experience. Customers can close off their tab by simply paying from their smart phone, without having to wait for their server to come back with the bill, only to come back again after the customer has given away their credit card. Also, the server doesn't need to worry as their system has the customer credit card information to close the tab off in the event a customer walked out without paying.

This article talks about the advantages that the implementation of MICRO'S OPERA ENTERPRISE to all of the MGM properties, will give to the company. By making this, MGM will be able to integrate all the information of their guests as well as the global distribution system. According to Aldo Manzini, EVP and chief administrative officer of MGM Resorts International this integration is an extremely important step in order to become more efficient, it will decrease the training time for employees and it will improve their reward program. This will also create a single image inventory from the main property management system to the different channels. This made it easier for the implementation at the two City Center properties were 1,500 employees were trained on the system. MICRO'S system is used by seven of the ten largest hotels in the U.S. This shows how they are solidifying their PMS market share not only in the U.S but all around the world.

In this article the importance of hotels to turn green is highlighted. According to the article more and more people are becoming conscious about the environment and therefore prefer hotels were green practices are being used. In the past the cost of green technologies made them only available for luxury hotels. This has been changing mainly because of the high prices of energy. Now, acquiring green technology is seen as an investment for the future and as a way to reduce costs. Some of these new technologies are wireless controllers that control the Key Card, lighting and air conditioning in rooms. Lights and other devices in the room automatically turn off when guests leaves, and turn on when it comes back. Automatic heating systems and dual-flush toilets, that use less water. Other technologies which hotels are considering are solar energy, LED lightning and the recycling of water within the property.

Six of the largest hospitality firms around the world (Hilton Worldwide, InterContinental Hotels Group Choice Hotels International, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, and Wyndham Hotel Group) have joint to create a new online hotel search engine. Roomkey.com is the name of this new search engine and its main purpose is to enhance the hotel booking experience for customers. As it is described in the article Roomkey.com expects to differentiate itself from other search engines by providing accurate information straight from the source. They believe choosing a hotel is a personal decision and the more information customers can feel more confident in there booking decision. In the near future it is intended for this page to be an interactive site where people can comment and plan or compare their vacations with others. At the beginning it will focus only in U.S travelers and then it will expand to English speaking countries.

This article talks about how more and more people in the hospitality industry are using a POS based-cloud instead of hardwire systems. According to some experts in some years most of the hospitality industry would have change into using the cloud. For now most of the users of the cloud are single unit restaurants as it is an easy system to adopt and cost efficient. On the other side for chain restaurants to make this change can be costly; therefore it is believed that it will take some time for them to change. Still some people believe that this can be an unreliable and unsecured system. Some of the reasons for this are: -The lack of privacy; as the data will be in the hands of somebody else. -This system relies on the internet so when a connection problem occurs a downtime would take place creating complications for the restaurant operator. According to experts and users both of these ideas can be debated. Leaving the data handling in the hand of experts can bring advantages and lower the costs. On the other hand when the internet fails if the correct backup measures are taken it has no difference with the hardware system.