Cvent the world's largest event management cloud based company introduces new mobile friendly technology that allows users to register via their cell phones which enhances social media integration by encouraging users to share their attendance and in turn increase the events exposure. Attendees can also search for nearby activities and restaurants with the geolocation feature.

Pinterest is the fastest growing social media site to date, and the fact that it's core user is fairly affluent and that it generates more traffic to retailers than Google, YouTube and Linkedin combined, demonstrates that it could become an excellent opportunity to for hotels to market themselves at a fairly affordable cost, and reek great returns form it.

The International Air Transport Association introduced a new security system at the 67th Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Singapore in 2011. This new system would divide travelers in three different categories: known travelers, normal travelers and enhanced security travelers. Each level would have different security procedures and then passengers would pass through different tunnels, one for each category of traveler. For example, if you are a known traveler you would need to pass a iris recognition system which would confirm your identity and you would pass through a tunnel with minimal scanning technology. The scanning procedures get more invasive for normal passengers and even worse for enhanced security travelers.

When it comes to investing in technology in hotels, a better approach might be to simplify. In a day and age when most people carry around all their technology needs in their pockets (Cellphones, Tablets, Laptops, etc.) There may not be a need to invest so heavily in gizmos to attract customers and keep them happy. We may want to consider that all the guest wants is to be connected, so offering a super fast, reliable and suitably priced internet access is all the technology they really need. Investing in every new technology, with short lifespans, can end up making a real dent in your ROI.

Oracle launches a new data Management Model that will allow airlines to optimize the collection and analysis of passenger data in order to enhance and personalize the travel experience. With this model Airlines will be able to consolidate data collected by legacy systems, simplifyng it's analysis in order to support all aspects of it's business.

Technology researcher, Greg Buzek is interviewed by Nation's Restaurant News about the future of Mobile POS among restaurants. He says that Mobile POS will be the fatsest penetration of any technology in the hospitality industry since the introduction of internet connectivity. We see that the fastest growing market for this technology are the smaller bussinesses such as food trucks and fast food restaurants where the speed of the transaction is critical, but eventually will find itself popular amongst larger restaurant chains. The appeal for smaller bussinesses is the price point, since it's cheaper than installing $2000.00 traditional POS.

In 2012, with an eye on becoming more competitive, hotels are looking in to becoming more effective in their revenue management strategies and maximizing business efficiency by integrating their online distributions with their PMS and RMS systems.

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.

1/5 of travel businesses make more than 50% of their revenue from sales outside the GDS booking system, and as they do this, payment transactions are more unreliable and vulnerable opening bigger risks to the customers

This article pretty much outlines the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computers in general, but it speaks of how hoteliers don't fully understand what a cloud is, much less trust to use one. It goes on to explain how cost effective the start up for a cloud network is in terms of hardware, software and time. But, in long term, the monthly payments for web hosting, software hosting, storage, etc are never ending. Although at least these costs are such that you can plan ahead for. There is also a greater vulnerability to hacker attacks in the cloud. Redundancy is an issue as well, since clouds are hosted in a single data center. The article ends with a warning on service providers and the importance of finding the right one for you and your needs.

The Hotel Industry has not kept up with the state of the art technology to the degree other industries have. It's at a point where a great investment is needed to upgrade technology they use both in communications as well as the unseen hardware that make hotels function on a day to day basis. The cost of replacement and and expansion of business data centers and security is very large. But who bears the cost?, since guests have come to expect ammenities such as high speed internet, but aren't necessarily willing to pay for it. This is an inevitable cost hotel corporations are going to have work in to their budgets in order to stay relevant and competitive