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Contents contributed and discussions participated by irinadolgopolova

irinadolgopolova

Event App Security: Access & Data Privacy Best Practices - EventMobi - 1 views

  • Due to heightened sensitivity around data breaches and privacy, event planners are having to pay special attention to how their technology vendors—like event app providers such as EventMobi—are using and storing their event data.
  • Provide passcodes for private events. Requiring participants have a passcode to log into an event app allows planners to limit access to only those people they share the passcode with, such as a list of registrants.
  • Restricting app access to registered participants only (based on their email address) ensures the greatest control over event details and participant listings by locking out anyone not registered to attend.
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  • Aside from ensuring your event app provider is security-conscious, it’s important to consider implementing processes that mitigate risk around how other vendors and/or your employees access or use event participant data.
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    This article tells about how important the security features are for the event registration software and apps. The authors tells what security ensuring procedures have to be implemented in the apps, what kinds of information should the attendees agree to before signing up and the regulations that have to followed by the event planners using the event apps.
irinadolgopolova

How to Prevent Malware Attacks and Promote Cybersecurity at Your Hotel - 0 views

  • Each time a hotel’s guest records get breached, the property is burdened with financial strain and faces broken trust with guests. As a hotelier, you don’t need to be an expert in cybersecurity, but you absolutely need to understand the basics to protect your business and your guests.
  • hotels process lots of transactions and store tons of guest data. A hacker can simultaneously target a property’s point-of-sale and property management system to capture payment card information as well as personal data, like passport numbers and email addresses.
  • Research from Symantec, a cybersecurity firm, found that more than 65% of hotels are routinely leaking booking reference codes through third-party sites. Why is this important? Because the information shared through these codes would allow a bad actor to login to a reservation, view personal details, and even cancel a booking altogether. When this happens, your guest information is vulnerable and you risk destroying the guest relationship.
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  • Compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) not only helps to ensure that data security software, hardware, and practices are safer, but also helps to protect against fines and penalties when a breach occurs,
  • The right technology is only half the equation; over the years, security experts have also identified employees as part of the problem. Hotels must train their staff to handle personal information security, comply with privacy policies, and change user access credentials regularly.
  • Even with a great PMS/POS system and the right training, it’s important to perform routine penetration testing and risk assessments. There’s no straightforward answer as to how often you should pen test your network, but experts warn once a year probably isn’t frequently enough
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    The article is about the reasons why the hotels are attractive for hackers, the author also explains the key concepts in the cyber security. Then, the biggest cyber attacks in hotel industry are described in the article. At the end, the author tells us how hoteliers can improve the security measures.
irinadolgopolova

5 Signs Your Hotel Should Invest in Technology - Hospitality Tech News - 1 views

  • With digital transformation gaining ground, more and more hoteliers are now adopting the new state-of-the-art technologies. As a result, they’re able to enjoy smoother processes that make their lives easier and provide improved guest experiences that make their guests happy.
  • Independent lodging properties now spend most of their marketing budget on online activities, where they perceive greater return on investment.
  • online travel review sites and metasearch are the most effective techniques to gain visibility, with almost 62% of respondents ranking them as very or most effective. Search engine marketing, social media integration, and email marketing are a few more examples of digital services that entice today’s guests.
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  • metasearch and mobile as effective distribution channels, driving significant proportions of bookings directly to properties in a cost-effective manner.” Other than metasearch and mobile sites, make sure you have a well-designed website and an efficient booking engine to ensure more direct bookings.
  • winning hospitality brands are providing personalized experiences to guests throughout their customer journey, well before and well after a hotel booking with the help of hotel technologies.
  • In order to maintain a property’s positive online reputation, you need to first measure its online reputation. A hotel’s online ratings don’t only help predict future bookings, they also offer valuable insight into how efficient the property’s operational and guest experience standards are. Thus, investing in an online reputation management tool is crucial for every hospitality business.
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    In this article, the authors pointed out the problems that can be solved by implementing modern technologies into the hotel's processes. The author stated all kinds of the techs that are important to the hoteliers today, from the PMS to the rating index tool, that helps hotels to assess their online reputation, as far as the amount of bookings depend on the online reputation.
irinadolgopolova

Why It's Crucial to Use Accounting Software Built for Restaurants | QSR magazine - 0 views

  • “Every business uses an accounting system of some sort, and every dollar should end up there,” says Tony Smith, CEO of Restaurant365.
  • a true all-in-one accounting system is more useful for restaurants because it monitors inventory, pays vendors, reconciles bank statements, tracks fixed assets, forecasts scheduling, and produces financial statements.
  • it can be difficult for multi-unit operators using a generic accounting system to see if a certain vendor is billing above the contracted price or pinpoint specific ingredients that might be leaking money due to someone over-portioning a recipe
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  • According to Smith, most financial accounting systems focus on monthly or fiscal periods which provide a comprehensive breakdown only at the end of a particular cycle. But in restaurants, where the week is so important and sales for a month which has five Saturdays can be drastically different from a month that only has four Saturdays, it’s much more important to compare data on a weekly basis by using an integrated, restaurant-specific software.
  • By adding technology that provides better visibility and guidance, operators can greatly increase efficiency and tracking in their restaurants
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    The author talks about the importance of having a specific to restaurants accounting system. They also point out the importance of having a system that can send alerts in cases of suspicious activity or expenses not lining up with the inventory. They also say that it is important to have the ability to review reports on a day-to-day or weekly basis.
irinadolgopolova

6 0cBenefits 0c 0cof 0c 0ca Food & Beverage 0cPOS 0c 0cSystem 0c 0c 0c - 1 views

  • An effective POS solution for restaurants, bars or food service at attractions, entertainment and leisure venues can streamline a restaurant’s activities, saving time processing orders and money due to potential human error and customer loss.
  • The great thing about restaurant, entertainment or fun center POS systems now is that as they revolve around cloud-based software, the costs to upgrade to update is much lower as the equipment is already there and ready to go.
  • Once you’ve set up your entertianment POS or fun center POS system you must transfer your menu into the POS software to enable your servers to quickly record the customer’s order and allow for the customer to be charged the correct amount. To make the most out of the inventory management you will additionally have to record existing levels of stock, and how much each item on your menu depletes the respective products within your inventory. This will also mean that you must consistently update the inventory levels when they are replenished.
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  • Waiters have continuous mobility around the restaurant, while clearly communicating and recording orders. This gives the customers the convenience of table side ordering, whilst also allowing the orders to recorded and distributed seamlessly.
  • Another great benefit of using a entertianment POS or fun center POS system is that it avoids a lot of human errors in the communication between the waiters and the kitchen or bar staff. The cloud based system means that the orders are clearly recorded for the staff, forgoing any potential penmanship or shorthand issues.
  • Inventory management is another great feature of the entertianment POS or fun center POS system and it will allow your business to keep up to date with its inventory levels and knowing exactly when to restock their goods.
  • Through the continuous tracking of your levels of inventory, you’ll be able to identify trends in how each of your individual levels of stock are used in specific times. Not only can this aid in the planning and managing of stock, but it will also identify which products are popular within specific times of the year. This is valuable information and can be effectively utilized through your promotion and marketing, enticing more people to your family entertainment centre.
  • A entertianment POS or fun center POS system with a modern payment processor can allow your business to stay up to date with the majority of businesses, accepting credit cards and allowing customers to use their tap and go cards or functions like Apple Wallet and Google Pay. A entertianment POS or fun center POS system will also greatly improve the overall speed of the checkout process, making hard copies of orders expendable and recording them digitally in real-time.
  • Theft control may not seem like a particularly pressing issue, especially if your products are behind the counter and require customers to order and pay for them before accessing them. Regardless, a entertianment POS or fun center POS system will make you aware of any potential issues of theft through tracking what is ordered and what is paid for.
  • It is important to have set measures for staff to follow in recipes, which allows you to see how much inventory is actually left compared to how much should be left based on the inventory management system.
  • it can also be utilized in the building of customer relationships. Collecting customer details, namely an email address, will mean that you can communicate with past customers after their visit.
  • Managing an entertainment business requires a great deal of organization throughout all levels of the business. POS systems offer a great range of benefits aiding in the simplification of many business processes, from inventory management to staff management.
  • Clearly managing time clocks, scheduling which employees work each shift, keeping payroll up to date are all tasks entertianment POS or fun center POS can potentially assist with.
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    In this article the food and beverage POS systems are described and discussed. The author explains why POS systems are important for the restaurants and entertainment centers, how to build those systems, how much would it cost to the businesses and what POS is exactly. Other than that, the benefits of installing POS systems are pointed.
irinadolgopolova

Are You Leveraging the Benefits of Hotel PMS Integrations? - 0 views

  • hotel property management system is not an integrated one. This means, as a standalone application, the Hotel PMS you have adopted is doing a great job by bringing in the much-needed higher degree of automation. But it lacks integration capabilities with a host of operationally imperative third-party hospitality technology solutions like channel manager, online reputation management solutions and many more.
  • #1 – Channel Manager Integration
  • The two-way integration between the Hotel PMS System and the channel manager software helps you update all the OTAs with your rates and inventory in real-time. reservations made on any OTA will reflect in your Hotel PMS in real-time, making sure that there is no discrepancy on the availability of rooms on various channels. Similarly, this integration updates reservation cancellations/modifications on all the sales channels.
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  • Hotel PMS that is integrated with online reputation management solution
  • #2 - Reputation Management Solution Integration
  • Benefits- Real-time and automatic update of inventory & rates across multiple OTAs- Increased online visibility of your hotel leads to more booking coming from OTAs- No more overbooking/double booking- Save time
  • The Hotel PMS System automatically sends out the email to the guest seeking their feedback on your services. This process helps increase your chances of getting more reviews from your guest and displays latest reviews online. All these help you to generate more bookings.
  • Benefits- Collect personalized feedback from your guest- Analyze guest sentiment, understand their concerns and serve them better- Read and reply to reviews from 150 plus platforms- Effectively increase your online score and rating
  • #3 - Booking Engine Integration
  • The Hotel PMS Software and Booking Engine integration turns your hotel website into a source of driving more direct bookings. Moreover, see if your Hotel PMS partner can help you with a booking engine that can be integrated with your Facebook page. This helps you get more bookings from your Facebook page.
  • It helps you turn lookers into bookers on your TripAdvisor page. Here too, you can save on hefty OTA commission fees.
  • Benefits- Get more direct bookings- Lower your dependency on OTAs- Save significantly on huge OTA commission- Earn more room revenue and increase your profitability
  • #4 – Revenue Management Integration
  • it is advisable to adopt a hotel property management system that comes integrated with a host of smart and intuitive revenue management tools
  • The PMS captures all types of discounts and refunds given on orders created at the POS in real-time and also captures category-wise POS details, so that sales are posted on appropriate account heads. Moreover, the integration also enables you to accept payments in multiple ways including cash, credit card, debit card, cheque, coupons, via online transfer methods like wallets, etc.
  • Benefits- Ensures efficient and streamlined billing process- Zero billing discrepancies, no loss of revenue- Get insights on performance of all the POS outlets at your hotel
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    Using the PMS that integrates with different operational processes in the hotel can extremely benefit the managers, as they will have more time to work on improving the guests' experience, rather than supervising the operations related to PMS and other hotel departments' interactions. In this article, the different types of PMS integrations are described, along with the benefits of implementing those integrations.
irinadolgopolova

Keeping Green: Sustainability and Covid-19 - Short Term Rentals - 1 views

  • It is important in a moment like this to ask the question – will sustainability stay as important to hospitality?
  • Sharmista Mitra-Kelly, senior associate at JCJ Architecture, noted: “They all have different expectations, but a very similar mindset when it comes to wellness and preservation [both self and natural], and that means a focus on sustainability.”
  • Giles Fuchs, entrepreneur and owner of the Burgh Island Hotel, said: “For business hotels, such as Premier Inn, they have found that individuals are far more likely to stay in hotels who are making an effort to provide a more sustainable environment.”
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  • The idea of green business is prominent in short-term rentals and serviced apartments as well.
  • Fuchs added: “There’s that obvious tension between price and quality.”This tension is at the heart of all business and tends to become unbalanced during times of hardship. When businesses are existentially threatened, as some say hospitality is with the coronavirus outbreak, logic would dictate that price takes over afterwards.
  • For some hospitality businesses, sustainability may actually be a solution to cut costs with a more difficult market. Basic measures, such as opting out of turndown services and using energy efficient lights and recycling water can realistically be used to shave certain expenses.
  • In this instance sustainable development can be a double-edged sword. High upfront costs can hamstring businesses with less cash on hand but can create necessary savings for those with just enough.
  • Madu Rajesh, director for International Tourism Partnership, told HospitalityNet: “There is a strong business case for sustainable hotels including reducing operational costs through utility savings, benefiting from national and local incentives, and increasing control of energy costs through installing on-site renewables.”
  • The consensus among many professionals is, however, that sustainability is no longer a choice that can really be made by businesses. The future of hospitality will be inherently sustainable.
  • Paolo Trevisan, head of design at Pininfarina of America, said: “Over the next six to twelve months, consumers will be giving everything a more critical look, from their homes to their vacations. As such, we believe that sustainability –– especially principles of biophilia (access to natural light, green space, etc.) –– will continue to be a topic on the forefront of people’s minds.
  • Mitra-Kelly said: “More than anything, this pandemic is teaching us that we are so dependent on things that are not locally sourced or sustained.”
  • The ethics of sustainability are dependent upon the personal views of those who lead a company, but the business sense is not.
  • For some, sustainability may be the way to recover from a time of genuine business concern. For others it may fall by the wayside.The idea, however, is still present and, while maybe temporarily deprioritised, is set for a significant comeback.
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    The article describes the origins of green hotel and hospitality movement, provides the experts' opinions on green movement within the industry and predicts the possible future actions of the hotels in the after COVID-19 times. Financial aspects of the implementation of environment friendly actions are also discussed.
irinadolgopolova

Where do OTAs Stand in the Covid-19 Era? - 0 views

  • airlines have decreased capacities, withdrawn from routes, issued free cancellations and refunds to travelers, enacted flexible amendment policies to accommodate itinerary changes. However, these initiatives have also had negative impact on airlines’ operations and the balance sheets.
  • Historically, OTAs would offer alternate destinations or flight options to its travelers in times of crisis – hoping to still put a sale on its books. This time around, it is different. With several travel advisories, quarantine measures, and lockdowns in effect, people are least likely to spend their disposable incomes on travel just as yet.
  • Trip.com also guided towards a 45-50% year-over-year decrease in company-wide net revenues for the first quarter of 2020.
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  • The sudden spike in cancellations and limited interest in future travels is surely putting OTAs through an uncomfortable patch.
  • Considering the weak booking period that is to follow, the group has decided to reduce its cost base, curtailing projects, reduce marketing, overheads and discretionary spend, freeze new hiring, deferring salary increases and waiving off management bonuses.
  • The goodwill earned based on their actions during the ongoing crisis will likely pay off when the world bounces back and returns to traveling.
  • In-Airport Initiatives: OTAs such as Indonesia’s Traveloka handed over face masks to travelers visiting the affected countries (until border lockdowns were announced). Several also shared best airport and in-flight hygiene practices with their customer base.
  • Operating calls come with attached overheads, and despite the scale of cancelations most OTAs are absorbing this as part of their customer service initiatives. OTAs, however (and obviously) are prioritizing their assistance based on travel dates.
  • a number of OTAs have rolled out self-service tools, including chatbots, to mitigate the pressure from call center operations and offer instant resolution to travelers’ needs. These (semi-) automated modules are found across OTA websites and apps, which allows travelers to either opt for OTA credit for future bookings or instant refunds (subject to the airline policy).
  • With all the components now hurting, OTAs also have the unique position to revive growth in the industry.
  • Trip.com recently launched Travel Revival V Plan in China, the ground zero for Covid-19. Through the initiative, the OTA group aims to bring together hotels, tours, flights and attractions; and contribute over RMB 1 billion to boost measures for travel industry recovery.
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    As the entire travel industry, OTAs suffere a lot because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article are described not only financial losses of the OTAs, but also the steps that they are going to take towards the safety of the travelers, and the possible future conditions for the OTAs operations.
irinadolgopolova

A Look at Cloud Computing in the Food and Beverage Sector | Charles Phillips - 0 views

  • Today, everyone from individual restaurants to giant F&B manufacturers is reaping the benefits of cloud computing.
  • Cloud computing gives F&B entities the support that they need to extract critical reporting data and use it to their advantage. At the manufacturing level, organizations can use the built-in analytics resources of the cloud to mine the necessary data to make and execute business decisions in a timely manner.
  • Using cloud platforms, those in the F&B sector can access information about their inventory purchases, learn how long it has been since they purchased certain items, and make additions to their stock. This allows them to more easily manage the flow of their inventory and determine if and when they must make changes to inventory protocol.
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  • In the cloud, for example, F&B businesses can greatly mitigate the risks surrounding the potential loss of data. Instead of using an internal system, they will rely on POS software that they access through the Internet. Since an outside vendor maintains this system on their behalf, they do not need to worry about losing their data if their on-premises hardware should fail.
  • If a glitch causes their in-house system to go down, they can rest assured that they can still access their payment system online.
  • Cloud computing is critical for F&B organizations with structures like these because it allows them to consolidate these various locations into a single enterprise cloud platform. This gives them the ability to oversee all infrastructure—from pieces of equipment to digital systems—from a central location and integrate these disparate resources efficiently.
  • F&B businesses can also leverage cloud platforms to facilitate innovative marketing campaigns through customer interactions. For instance, restaurants can deploy loyalty programs that link with customer information, allowing them to engage with their audience outside of the brick-and-mortar establishment.
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    An article describes the ways in that F&B companies can benefit from using cloud computing. The streamline options, great security offered by cloud computing providers, the abilities to work with all size enterprises, and ways to improve customer experience are discussed.
irinadolgopolova

Robotic Technology in the Hospitality Industry Set to Shift | - 2 views

  • In hospitality, the use of robots can be considered a bit trickier because they would be required to interact directly with humans. Human responses are largely less predictable than machine communication
  • They can work with peak efficiency for longer periods than humans. Robots are also able to carry out a whole lot of tasks faster than humans. Additionally, when robots are used, human error is eliminated. You can expect a very high level of precision and accuracy.
  • robots cannot act beyond their pre-programmed range of actions. Sure, with artificial intelligence, they can learn a few things, but whatever new information they would learn has to be within certain confines.
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  • Right now, the duties of robots have moved from being just the dangerous and difficult tasks that we don’t want for humans. Robots now do the everyday job of making people happy, serving them food, waiting on them and making children laugh
  • Looking ahead, robots would be data goldmines in the nearest future.
  • The patterns recorded and learnt by the robots can be used as data to predict customer preferences and adjust services accordingly.
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    The article discusses advantages and disadvantages of the potential usage of robots in hospitality-related companies. Robots can make people's jobs easier. They should be wisely programmed to communicate with humans. Robots are also used to collect data for future research and analysis.
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