MOD 11: This article is about Airbnb starting to penetrate the events and meetings sector of the hospitality industry. While their involvement is very minimal, Airbnb has offered booking accommodations for events nearby. Recently, Airbnb released a booking tool for meeting planners to showcase some of the Airbnb properties that would be nearby the event space. Airbnb's involvement in this new release would only be to provide economical accommodations for nearby events, the website wouldn't be used to provide specific details about the event. This new release of technology with Airbnb is very easy to use and almost anyone can look up potential trips using the tab Airbnb for Events on their website. There are some challenges that can occur with this new release, some being that meeting planners won't be able to negotiate discounts, nor will they be receiving commissions for people who book with Airbnb for Events. Also these Airbnb accommodations may not meet the expectations of the attendees for the event since they're use to staying in a clean-cut hotel room.

MOD 10: This article discusses the main tactics of cyber hackers that target hotels. Point of sale (POS) systems are easy targets for hackers due to their constant use during operation hours and because of that their security measures aren't always up to date. Hotels have large data banks since they're storing consumer profile information such as home addresses, phone numbers and credit card numbers. There's a large risk when it comes to security breaches within franchises because they have access to their parent company's regional, national and global systems. If their systems are hacked and breached, then that puts the whole system of the brand at risk. Security breaches within a system can also damage a brands reputation with the public. According to the article, "Recent major breaches at Fortune 500 companies and household names across the retail, restaurant and hotel sectors demonstrate that anti-virus, anti-malware and firewalls alone are not enough to secure businesses from the ever-evolving threat landscape." Smaller properties are even at a greater risk because not only do they have to monitor their compliance with PCI but also monitoring their security systems for their database and PMS system. Some of the recommended software's that should be used by hotels looking to be proactive with their company's cyber security is File Integrity Monitoring(FIM), Unified Threat Management(UTM), and Security Information and Event Management(SIEM).

MOD 9: This article is about some hospitality companies based in Europe using blockchain technology for travel booking purposes. The following hospitality companies, TUI, Air New Zealand and Nordic Choice Hotels have partnered up with a company called Winding Tree, which is a blockchain travel distribution system. The article mentions that Winding Tree is based on a B2B (business to business) platform, meaning that with this new technology only the businesses will be using it internally and not so much for the consumer use. During their first two weeks, upon completion of its initial coin offering, they exceeded their initial goal by 44% in Lif tokens, valuing at US$14,418,196. Lif tokens is what the companies use to send information about transactions within Winding Tree's system. The tour operator TUI is using Winding Tree to implement their "bed swap application" which allows them efficiently to manage their inventory throughout their markets in the UK, Germany and Nordic countries. With Air New Zealand, they're hoping to implement blockchain technology for cargo and luggage tracking. However, with new advancements in technology comes the blockades and hurdles that companies have to overcome. With Winding Tree, its system is limited in processing up to seven transactions per second versus a traditional distribution system being able to process 250,000 transactions per second. Speed is a primary issue in this case so Winding Tree will need to work on that in order to enhance their speed in processing transactions.

MOD 9: This article is about how hotels are able to overcome accounting challenges within their industry. According to the article, the travel industry on a global scale is one of the fastest growing industries. While this is great news for the hospitality industry, the lodging sector is prone to vulnerability from trying to stay competitive while being cost and profit conscious and providing customized service. With these challenges, this article discloses three ways hotels can attempt to overcome them and they include cloud-based reporting for labor, centralize multiple data sources, and back-up accounting teams. When managing hotel staff, there are some challenges in overseeing that employees are compliant to their schedule, managing payroll and monitoring labor costs for each department. Implementing a cloud-based labor reporting system could help alleviate those challenges. A similar example would be like ADP, my own property uses this system to monitor labor costs as well as manage payroll and scheduling issues. With implementing multiple centralized data sources, it helps hoteliers to easily identify trends and help make more informed decisions based on the data shown from their data sources. With any property, it is always in their best interest to prepare for worst case scenarios which could be a natural disaster as an example. By establishing a back-up accounting team, hoteliers will be able to make more informative decisions with their back-up accounting team to match the changes of the industry after events like a natural disaster.

MODULE 7: This article is about the growing trend of quick-service brands implementing mobile and kiosk ordering for their customers. For major quick-service brands like McDonalds, Burger King etc. they've started to implement self-service kiosks or mobile apps allowing their customers to pre-order their meal and pick it up without waiting in a long queue line. At the base of this ever-growing trend, the trend is very similar to when banks started to provide self-servicing ATMs. According to the article in the next three years most of any quick-service brand that has multiple locations on a regional and/or national scale will have implemented a mobile ordering system within their operations. While taking this into consideration, quick-service restaurants need to be careful in how these mobile apps are perceived by people who isn't using it. Some may think that using the mobile app promotes those people to "skip the line", which can cause some negative feedback. With that said, now these quick-service brands need to satisfy their customers who don't use the mobile app so that they don't feel obsolete for not partaking in the trend before. With this growing trend, these quick service brands will not only have to think about their customers walking in their locations but also for the potential customers that are walking on the streets with their mobile devices.

MODULE 6: This article about the PMS company called Springer-Miller Systems (SMS) expanding their mobile PMS to include housekeeping functions. Earlier this month, SMS released their latest update of their mobile PMS application SMS|Host Anywhere. With this latest update, hotel staff will be able to enhance their guests experience more efficiently. Through the mobile housekeeping section of SMS|Host Anywhere, properties will be able to execute check-in/check-out assignments for the room attendants and provide accurate room status updates for the front office. Through the mobile app of SMS|Host Anywhere it can also be used for multi-property functions as well. This mobile app is essential for the front office since it can alleviate some of the wait times for the check-in/ check-out lines. The mobile app functions the same as the regular PMS on the computers. This mobile app can also safely take secured payments during the check-in/ check-out process for the guest.

MODULE 5: This article is about a new booking site was created for individuals who prefer to book hotels that are committed to sustainable practices. Travel Management Companies (TMCs) has worked with BookDifferent.com in launching its Corporate Travel Tool and consumers are able to see the different properties' carbon footprint. This new site offers approximately 1.1 million accommodations with more than 7,000 eco-certified properties. The Corporate Travel Tool works like an add-on feature for TMCs that creates a seamless process for booking properties that can reduce the consumers environmental footprint. Most recently BookDifferent.com has received the 2018 Sustainable Travel Award this past January in the Netherlands.

Module 4: This article is about Grindrod Travel acquiring the services of Caveau for GDPR and PCI Compliance solutions. Grindrod Travel is one of the oldest travel management companies within South Africa that caters to both corporate and international travelers and conferencing services. With the ever-present looming threat of cyber security and protecting personal information and payment methods, Cavaeu can assist Grindrod is providing efficient solutions to their issues. With Grindrod being such a large company with its own IT department; when it came down to initiating a vulnerability scan of the Travel Division of the company, it proved to be more complicated with much difficulty to accomplish without having to apply the scan to the entire company. With the assistance of Caveau, they were able to develop a secure storage for Grindrod's clients credit cards and personal information. PCI compliance is such an important factor to abide by when managing a travel company. You have various clients that have different forms of payment and they are trusting that same company to protect and store their credit card information. While cyber-security continues to be an ongoing issue in today's industry, companies should continue in their efforts to monitor that their software is always updated and secured.

Module 3: This article discusses the potential future of various payment methods and the recent innovations for companies obtaining payment. Within the hospitality business there are numerous ways of obtaining payment from credit cards to online payments and bank transfers. The caveat in having with various payment channels is that there could be an increase in confusion if the processes aren't aligned properly. However, the pros do outweigh the cons in this instance because it can reduce fraud, obtain better conversion rates and improve data gathering. According to the article, choosing payment methods should be part of the company's "localization strategy" making the transaction more seamless and creates consumer trust. With the ongoing innovations in payment processes, now consumers can make purchases with their mobile devices like Apple Pay and they can also make purchases via social media. By adapting to these innovations, the companies could enhance their consumers experience since the "transaction" will be seamless. As I mentioned before, the caveat in offering numerous payment methods is that it can be confusing. If the payment methods aren't aligned with the brands software, then it can get complicated for the consumers. Also having too many payment methods can also clutter the payment portion of the transaction.

This article is about a property called the Ranch at Laguna Beach that uses multiple sustainable practices throughout their operations. One unique sustainable practice that this property partakes in is that they grind glass bottles into very fine grains of sand using a machine called the GL Sand Machine. The property uses this machine to replenish their sand bunkers for their golf course and sometimes they use this same machine to help replenish the sand for nearby beaches. In order to use this machine, the property was thoroughly reviewed by a National Geographic sustainable tourism expert, who then stayed at their property for an extended time. The application process to access the certified usage of this equipment is a lengthy process, the Ranch at Laguna Beach waited approximately two years before they were able to officially use the machine. The resort also has an irrigation system that uses reclaimed water for the resort grounds and golf course. Annually, the resort saves more than 21.2 million gallons of water using this water reclaimed irrigation system. The resort had tried to receive the LEED certification for their sustainable practices, but they were not able to obtain it. The resort is also known to have the largest organic garden in Laguna Beach; collaborating with the Ecology Center of Southern California to assist in the maintenance and cultivating of the garden. The Ranch at Laguna Beach is also involved in a community cleanup effort for the Aliso Creek Channel. Since their efforts of initiating the channel clean up in December 2015, the volunteers have removed more than 2,500 pounds of trash and debris.