The human resource department is a vital section of the hotel industry. Human resources is everything involve the companies employees. From how employees get treated, to payroll, to healthcare benefits, to providing information, system help and more. It is crucial for a hotel to have a strong human resource department to maintain a stable staff. Sometimes, however, small hotels may neglect the HRM department believing its not important compared to other departments. HRM is an investment That can lead to business sustainability and success, since staff members are the most precious resource that a service sector firm has.

To briefly summarize, as mentioned in the section of the book, a physical plant of a hospitality operation compromises of the ground, exterior and interior finishes, building systems, FF&E, HVAC systems, and plumbing too. Protecting the physical plant ensures the hotel controls and minimizes energy. Maintenance cost is a big concern when overseeing the physical plant sense it is such a big portion of the hotel. Technical and managerial functions must be performed to ensure the hotel is running smoothly and all maintenance are being kept up and to check that energy is not being wasted.

Technology has a huge impact in the hospitality industry, especially over the years that social media and research engines have become such a big part of our every day lives. Digital marketing has become one of the most reliable ways to promote and establish brands. One of the most effective method is content marketing which involves sharing or posting photos, videos, and articles on social media to promote the business. SEO is another strategy which involves having the marketing team use key words for the businesses main page to help the business pop up on the main page of search engines. Search engine advertisment is used to promote the business through search engines like google, for example. Being one of the business in the top of the first page makes it more likely for your business to receive recognition.Sociall media marketing and internet presence is the key to e-marketing.

According to the article, in 2020 event planners will have to be more alert and ready. The need for events and meetings is growing rapidly. Due to this, planners need to be more alert and ready to book group event spaces. It would be wise to increase rates to guarantee a profit out of it. Apart from this, planners would need to book months in advance to guarantee a good spot and a decent rate. Planners now need to be open to networking and face-to-face meetings to be able to get good rates, meet more clients, and find good venues to use. A new trend occurring is how people now want their trips or days to be planned out to every detail. Event planners need to be aware to book accordingly and create am agenda for their clients.

The article discussed MGM Grand new security procedures they are taking with their hotel. They will have their elevators modified to only allow guest access to the floors they are in and not other floors. MGM Grand explained no incident has occurred within the hotel as reasoning behind this but it is expected the hotel is implementing this because of past incidents in Vegas. In Vegas there has been a mass shooting in the last years and tourist have been stabbed to death by a suspect who sneaked in to their room. Due to all of these horrible incidents hotels have begun to enhance their security to ensure guest safety. I think having guest access only the floors they are in is a a good way to keep guest safe. This allows strangers from going to the floors or in to guest rooms and creates more limitation to guest floors.

IT assist hotels to run their organization and make appropriate investment decisions. In the article, it was stated that IT has been suggested to transform the nature of tourism and how crucial it is for a business to have proper systems to help them manager their information-intensive business. As IT development becomes more sophisticated, more business and investors have trouble deciding what new IT systems to chose from. Owners and Investors generally do not have a clear understanding of how advanced IT can improve their business performance. In order to remain competitive, owners should explore the potential opportunities emerging through IT, and be proactive in recognizing the capability of technology.

The Florida Theatre had been using standard cash drawers and credit card machines to process their guest payments. They had been having multiple issues as far as cash drawer balancing or credit cards not being read correctly. It was affecting their financial statements. They implemented a new POS system to modernize themselves.The POS prophet systems involved the theatre to have to use less equipment and help keep track of their inventory. The POS system overall was a success for the theatre and showed results of having all the cash drawers be balanced . The POS system handles the theatre's inventory and accounting.

The article overall discussed the the most necessary things one must observe when choosing a new PMS system. A PMS system must first of foremost be budget friendly. PMS system is the main software for a hotel so the cost is valued highly. Most companies would prefer a pms system that is cost efficient. A PMS system also needs to be easy to use, it must be able to be handle by employees and easy to read and maneuver. The PMS system must also be secure and have controlled access. It also needs to be able to mold to the hotels system.

The article discusses the many ways the IT world is finding new ways to be sustainable in the hospitality industry. Changing the way a hotel runs by introducing e-mails to guest and other companies to reduce the paper flow or allowing guest to do mobile check-ins can reduce a lot of paper waste. Also, having guest use their phones as key cards for their rooms can aid in avoiding wasting and needing to create key cards. By hotels having an energy saving system, they reduce electrical waste by having computers on low power consumption mode. One main thing the article mentioned that I personally see a lot of hotels doing is digital advertising. Instead of relying on paper advertisement, hotels rely heavily on ads on social medias, facebook, google, and third party vendors.

The article briefly reviews the digital marketing branch in the hospitality industry. In this modern age, hotels need to have an updated and optimized website running. Most guest or OTA rely on hotel websites to gain information about the hotel and amenities and prices they have to offer. They must be visually appealing and easy to access. Apart from using hotel websites, search engines are also popular amongst bookers. Search engines like google or bing use keywords to narrow their search when finding hotels so having such keywords or phrases in the hotel main page on the website will allow people to access their hotel website quicker. Hotels also rely on advertising on sites like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Heavy populated social platforms is one of he best ways to have a business advertise themselves to the public. The best part is that social media marketing can be cost-effective.

The article discussed the significance of hotels using the Global Distribution System and how the GDS helps promote and influence bookings.The GDS is basically the main source of booking reservations for a travel agent. The GDS shows all rates and inventory for hotels, airlines, and rental car centers. According to the article, GDS is used mainly by international travel agents, but it is used my travel agents all over the globe. When looking at the GDS, travel agents ted to focus mainly on the rate information it is advertising, usually the BAR rate is what travel agents are aiming to get for their clients. The GDS is relied on heavily by travel agents to offer the best rate to their client, which in return will help them gain more clientele. The more accurate and visually appealing the GDS is, the more the agents are willing to use it.

The article briefly explained the benefits hospitality softwares have within the hospitality business. Hospitality softwares help control and run all operations of hotels. For example, PMS systems is what is used to control all guest related operations, like guest check-in or charging guest. Softwares are also what are used to control the finances of the hotels. The article mentioned how easy it is to set up system softwares and how effortlessly it is for users. Softwares have also a 24-hour monitoring service and back-up support. in my opinion, as someone who works for a hotel, using softwares within my company is crucial. The hotel cannot function properly without the use of softwares. Softwares help maintain all needed guest, payment, and hotel information.