In this article posted on August 30th, 2012, twitter announced a new feature for promoting tweets on their website. Now, like Facebook, they will be able to target a specific audience with specific interests, as well as a particular username and people with similar interests to them. The promoted feature is a great marketing strategy because it shows up along the users twitter feed usually with some eye-catching words, and a link to take you to their website. As well as enacting a new way to promote to the audience, they are also making the minimum bid for these tweets a lot cheaper, allowing smaller businesses to get involved and be able to get their brand out to millions of people.

Now that cloud computing systems have become more widely used, hotels are also turning to this emerging technology. Cloud computing is far more convenient than traditional methods and this article states: "Delta Hotels and Resorts is piloting Micros Opera 9 hotel management software, which works with popular browsers and tablet devices, including the iPad. Through the transition, Micros will release Opera 9 modules that complement, and add value to the current Opera V5 application." "Using the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, the iTesso Enterprise Lodging System eliminates the perpetual licensing fees that are standard with traditional, premise-based software. Instead, hoteliers pay a monthly fee per room for full use of the web-based system. The company claims that the SaaS model is more cost-efficient and offers perks like quick deployment, continuous upgrades, no up-front investment in either software or server hardware, and no property software or hardware to maintain."

"Hotels may have come late to technology, but recently they have been jumping in as travelers, especially those on business trips, demand to be constantly connected and expect hotels to make that possible. Hotels now see technology as a way to stand out in the crowd of brands." "The No. 1 thing travelers want, she said, is high-speed Internet access and enough bandwidth to download videos, social media and music. According to a 2011 Concur/Global Business Travel Association study, 91 percent of business travelers use a laptop computer, 81 percent use wireless broadband, 73 percent a personal smartphone and 67 percent use mobile travel apps on their phone." Hotels are coming up in the world of IT investment. This article shares about how hotels have benefited by utilizing technology such as interactive computer services such as early check in, valet services, and recreation room instructions. Although certain parts of IT investment remain expensive for hotels, like investing in adequate bandwith for all parts of the hotel, this article proves that the investments have been worth it. "John R. Hach, senior vice president for global product management at TravelClick, a hotel service provider in New York, said that hotels with optimized Web sites were capturing 10 percent or more of their reservations from mobile devices." For hotels, IT investment has proved to be the right decision. Hotels do not want to be left behind in this technological advancement.

This is an article I found which compares POS systems use in the hospitality fields versus use in the retail sector. The writer of the article, Paul Broome, feels that the hospitality industry is not fully utilizing the sets of data that could help their business grow. He explains, "The amount of data in the world is doubling every two years..." For the retail fields, this data shows product patterns of customers, but for hospitality, this data "hold insights about customer behaviour that could transform their business and allow them to stay one step ahead of their competition." Broome provides multiple ways in which hospitality organizations can better utilize the mass sets of data available. One of these is for the organizations to use evidence and strategy rather than instinct in analyzing data. Another important strategy, according to Broome, would be to use the sets of data for future marketing purposes. "For organisations in the hospitality sector, these vast sets of data hold insights about customer behaviour that could transform their business and allow them to stay one step ahead of their competition. Times are tough - but there are huge opportunities for those that get it right."

The article reveals how tablet devices offer many advantages to hotels, because many business processes become more and more independent of location. Allowing your employees to work more effective is the main objective for the hospitality and tourism business. A few examples: Hotels can use iPads as "floating front desks", offering guests mobile services like check-in or check-out. iPads could even be employed as support work stations to reduce demand peaks. The ability to having a floating front desk and being able to accomodate guest is beneficial." The app offers access to guest relevant functions of the property management system like booking services. It also offers access to location based services, advertising local events and facilities, and to the hotel's social networking sites" Having the application to allow guest to have 24 hour service is a convenience comparable to none.

I chose this article because it is an opinion article from the Huffington Post about the balance of luxury and being eco-friendly. Joanna Zelman shares her views on green hotels. She presents the question of whether living luxuriously during your hotel visit means sacrificing our planet. She also shares that hotels are indeed recognizing the major amounts of waste they have been producing. Zelman feels that hotels are trying to be green, but in the end they let the guests decide how green they want to be.

"Some hotels now recognize the astronomical amount of waste they produce daily, and a green hotel movement is underway. The Hilton Americas-Houston generates a reported 675,000 pounds of dirty linens per month. With the purchase of an AquaRecycle water recycling system, they reduced their water usage by 75%, from 630,000 gallons to 157,500 gallons per month."

"Despite the challenges unfolding at a regional level in the Middle East and North Africa, hoteliers were still able to raise rates enough in February to achieve average rate growth worldwide and capture more bookings than last year. "Consumers are not only traveling, but they are also willing to spend more. Additionally, the corporate market is booking more groups and meetings business from corporations of all sizes as February bookings, rate and revenue growth was coupled with increases in length of stay and booking lead time. Even though at the time, hoteliers continue to raise rates, but people are still continuing to travel and spend money. The traveling public understands that their leisure time is valuable and are willing to pay for peace of mind. Also, bookings made through online channels provide a perfect virtual marketplace for travel inventory sellers.

By this time next year, thousands of people will be using a new, longer-range kind of Wi-Fi, commonly called "super-Wi-Fi". Super Wi-Fi isn't used like regular Wi-Fi. It uses underused spectrum known as white noises and this allows the Wi-Fi to run at lower frequencies, thus causing it to run at a lower cost and at greater distances, and through obstacles, such as trees and buildings. It is being championed by companies such as Microsoft and Google, and got the final okay last December after original opposition from broadcasters. Although not many strides have been made in the super Wi-Fi industry, Spectrum Bridge, a key company in the development of super Wi-Fi, just announced a new program to help equipment makers get white spaces radios approved to be sold, so they will be more readily available in 2013. Many universities have already announced that they will deploy super Wi-Fi on their campuses across the country. Super Wi-Fi is exciting because it is more powerful than existing Wi-Fi. I would have to agree with this because it is unbelievable the strides technology has made. They are able to take something and make it more powerful and at lower cost. This is also great because if they are able to extend it to greater areas, more rural areas will be able to receive high speed Internet for the first time in history.

In this article by USA Today, David Grossman stresses the importance of recycling everything from plastic, to aluminum, even to grocery bags. In California, not only do they recycle the usual newspapers and bottles, but they also dispose of batteries, light bulbs and other hazardous materials that could do extra damage on the environment. Across the country hotels are taking basic measures to protect the environment by maximizing the recycling of towels, and bed linens, but in this article Grossman goes into great detail about the different hotels across the country that has taken extra measures to "go green". For example, The Kimpton Hotels based in San Francisco has equipped every room in in the 40 hotels nationwide with recycle bins and installed water-efficiency faucets, toilets, and efficient lighting. They also have implemented the use of non-toxic cleaners which not only benefits the environment, but also the employees because they are not constantly handling harsh chemicals and ammonia based cleaners. Like the Kimpton hotel, the orchard hotel in San Francisco has replaced these same dangerous cleaners with biodegradable cleansers made of fruit based essences. They have also added low emissions wallpaper and carpets, along with a key card control system that shuts off the electricity when guests leave. By hotels across the country doing their part, we can slowly eliminate the negative effects on the environment.

I agree with the different conservation methods because we have limited resources in the world, and we need to protect them.