In regards to event planning in the hospitality industry, we see that there are a couple of trends in 2018. Firstly, guests are looking more for personalized stay. As in, guests are looking more for services that appeal to them such as baby sitting services or children entertainment so they can bring their small child along. Secondly, tourists are increasingly looking for experiential tourism, activities that make them feel part of that place. Thirdly, there are a trend in guests bringing their pets along while travelling. Pet friendly services may be quite fruitful as pet owners will certainly be wiling to spend more money to keep their pets with them on holiday. Lastly, guests now expect technology while travelling. For example technological systems that can control all room functions with a remote control. In addition some hotels now even provide livestreaming to get in direct contact with their customers.

This article illustrates the various changes in security protocols. Due to the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, hotels such as the Caesars are implementing new policies, including disregarding guests' "Do Not Disturb" signs and checking the rooms once every 24 hours. Despite the policy stating that the hotel will only check visually the bedroom and bathroom, guests have complained that hotel officials have photographed and filmed their rooms and came in when they are dressing. In addition, the most alarming news is the guests complain that the hotel officials that barge in won't provide any identification and the guests have no way to call the front desk to ensure the hotel officials are who they say they are. For men it's a concern for privacy, for women it's a concern for safety. Even more of a concern, Katie Moussouris, CEO of Luta Security, claimed that hotel officials said they will share the photos on their Snapchat. Many guests have stated they will no longer return to Las Vegas for conferences.

The article discusses how hotels can overcome accounting obstacles. Firstly managing payroll is cumbersome, so a cloud-based reporting system can provide an easy way to monitor labour and manage overtime, and daily payroll transactions. Secondly, hotels have a difficult time to read data as data can come from a huge variety of sources: STR reports, PMS data, satisfaction surveys, comments. Hotels need a centralized dashboard which combines all critical accounting and performance data to assist hotels in making better decisions. Lastly, the article talks about hotels needing a back-up accounting team in case of disasters. In-house accounting teams may not be able to tackle on one-time event disasters and there must be a back-up team in place in times of urgency. The author, Scott Watson, executive vice president of sales and marketing at a cloud-based financial platform, sees that hotels are becoming more "cost and profit conscious" and I agree with him. Technology solutions are what hotels are craving right now to increase revenue, minimize costs, and maximize profits without sacrificing service quality.

The article discusses the numerous benefits of the self-order kiosk. Before, old iPads were used, but now, restaurants of any size can afford these kinds of devices. The article talks about a restaurant owner who were frustrated with an old POS system, who said that when his POS system crashed it costed him $8,000 to replace and update the system. But with the tablet-based system, you no longer need $10,000-20,000 up front for a POS system. The article also mentions the efficiencies boosted with the tablet-based system. For example dividing a bill used to take 30 minutes, now it takes 30 seconds. Also, some customers experience "line anxiety" when people are waiting in line for them to order, so they sometimes pass on the complex orders in favor of quick ones. But with the self-ordering system, customers are more likely to order complex options such as adding bacon or avocado. The article states that at one restaurant, the average guest check through the kiosk is nearly two times the average placed with a waiter. The restaurant can focus on service and the food, and less on the ordering and its accuracy.

The article explains the history of GDS, and how GDS doesn't hold any inventory, but they are held on the vendor's reservation system so if a travel agent approaches Air India for reservation, the GDS can route the travel agent to Air India's computer reservation system in real time. Of course any travel agency should invest in the GDS as GDS can provide the best holiday package to guests at the lowest rate, for a package which includes air, hotel, and car rental. The article also illustrates how important GDS was to the airline industry and how the booking process has changed in the past decade, as we can now book within minutes in the comfort of our home. Before it would take an employee over an hour just to book a single flight for a customer.

Push-to-talk over celluar (PoC) has impacted wireless communications and hardware development globally in the hospitality industry. There is a growing rend toward the use of mobile messaging apps among hotels, casinos, stadiums, and other venues. The Internet of Things (IoT) has ultimately been the forefront of wireless innovations and mobile apps are being developed on a daily basis to satisfy sector-specific needs. Being easily accessible over Wi-Fi or broadband networks allow great reach and consistent connectivity. Manufacturers are staying relevant through developing joint solutions with other companies to meet end user demands. For example LMR radio and smart phone makers have been working with PTT app firms as well as network providers to satisfy the amount of PoC demand. The trend on replacing two-way radios with smartphones has been seen; however, some are reluctant to change. Some manufacturers have created devices that look like traditional radios but ultimately are just 4G phones on the inside. As soon as safety, productivity, and response time are improved and stable, this transition will become commonplace. In the very near future, through the use of Bluetooth technologies, hotels will send keys directly to smartphones for guests who wish to skip the check-in process.

Technology delivers valuable intel such as: which item brings customer back the most which bartender is too lenient and giving away too many free drinks whether it's more profitable to spend advertising dollars on brunch or on wine tasting Being able to put a slow server on the slowest night because he's amazing at upselling wine is an effective way to micromanage your limited resources. "As soon a guest is seated, the server can see important information about that guests (visit history, order history, food preferences, and more) and use this insight to deliver a VIP experience." This statement of course runs into the problem of user acceptance. The two sides of "They care enough to notice what I like" vs "This is stalkerish" require much consideration. Investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to implement this program only to find out the media comments this restaurant as being invasive would be tragic. For this reason, if I am the owner of a restaurant, I would be more likely to use AI to assist me in the back end of the operation: using sophisticated forecasting to automate scheduling or optimizing menu design, items, and purchase orders.