Hotel rooms are ready to go high-tech with new security products that can enhance the guest experience. As the organization Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) prepared the 2012 guestroom exhibit Guestroom 20X for last week's HITEC tradeshow, the group sought new ways to make the room more modern, efficient and self-serviced.

As we can see technology is rapidly making its way into our field. This article explains how technology implemented in the guest rooms allow the guest to have a more personalized experience and feel that there belongings are also secure in the hotel. "The key thing is to provide something that's valuable to the person that uses it, the person that administers it and the person that supplies it," said Shea, whose firm's technology is one of many showcased in the futuristic room. This is very true considering that technology is not cheap and a lot of money has to be put into this new technological wave, but the consumers seem to be paying the money. Overall, technology is changing our industry and our companies either have to embrace it, or be left behind.

NEW YORK, NY, Jun 26, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Infor, a leading provider of business application software serving more than 70,000 customers, today announced the availability of Infor10 HMS Hotel Check-In, an innovative hospitality management application for the Apple(TM) iPad.

The Infor10 HMS Hotel Check-In enables check-in to run much more smoothly with staff now having the ability to provide room assignments, registration cards with online signature options, credit card swipes and hotel room key generation straight from the iPad. Our society is based now based around the use of technology in our everyday lives. Almost everyone has a smartphone these days and everyone uses it like their own personal assistant. The hospitality industry has to keep up with this growing trend and this is a step in the right direction. . "Enabling many hotel functions on mobile devices will help hotels better communicate, allowing them to respond to guest questions and needs in real-time giving them a leg up on the competition. Providing a more personalized experience to guests will help increase overall satisfaction, encouraging more repeat visits." This innovative technology is not just to increase customer arrival experience but also to increase operational efficiency. This device is equipped with the lastest technology that can connect the front of the house to the back of the house and basically throughout the hotel to ease communication. This tool is just one of many that I believe will be seen in the coming years in the hotel/lodging industry. It will increase the customer arrival experience and contribute to the increase of repeating guests.

Upcoming changes will make POS systems more convenient and easier to use than ever before. More businesses are expected to upgrade as a result of POS systems being able to handle more complex tasks.Sarasota, FL (PRWEB) June 13, 2012 Many restaurant owners are beginning to recognize the significance of restaurant POS systems and how they are utilized on a daily basis.

POS systems are essential in the hospitality industry, moreover in the restaurant industry. These systems are very basic now, but researchers are looking to complicate these tasks. They believe that POS systems should take on more complex tasks and be more customizable for the individual business. One of the changes Westshore is looking to make is giving every employee their own password for logging into the system. This can be an ideal option for tracking what employees are doing and how many sales they are making within a typical day. Owners can easily monitor employee accountability and reduce any risks of errors that are made within the rush of dealing with multiple clients.

There's more good news for the hotel industry, according to a new analysis by advisory firm PwC. Based on statistics provided by Smith Travel Research and other research firms, PwC estimates that revenue per available room this year will increase by 6.5% and 5.6% next year.

The hospitality and tourism industry will unlikely ever see a full decline; people are always going to travel and vacation, they are just likely to go about it differently. So whats the solution? Hotel owners need to shift their focus from rates to value. For example, although a discounted rate might attract consumers, value is what drives the consumer to purchase and remain loyal. The industry can no longer rely on the fact that people want luxury in their lives and are going to travel because times have changed- today's consumer is much more conscientious about frivolous expenses.Now might be a better time than ever for students to earn hospitality degree and enter the field. There are more opportunites out there today than ever before.

At the 2012 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition & Conference, an India-based technology solutions provider will introduce a solution that is bringing all room amenities together in the palms of the guests' hands; It's Easy, Efficient & Exciting; Intuitive, Iconic & Touch Sized; Flexible, Robust & Scalable; Tested, Tried & Installed; See it ... Touch it ... Enjoy it ... DigiValet™

About DigiValet

DigiValet is a convergence platform which interfaces with in room amenities, back of the house services and the hotel management services. It brings all of these on one common platform and offers a unified interface to the guest to interact with these services. In terms of the in room systems the DigiValet interfaces to the RMS (Lights, AC, Curtains, DND, MUR), Hotel TV, Door Camera, Door Strike. The DigiValet at the back end interfaces to the PMS, POS, VoD, IPTV. The guest interface is available on Apple iPod / Apple iPad.


.......This new wave of technology will help make each guest's stay at a hotel that much more personalized. Like the article says imagine the hotel knowng your preferences in television, food, etc. before you even step foot in the place. I believe this is a step in the right direction with incorporating more technology in the hotel industry. However, we also must be careful that it doesn't take away from the personalized customer service given at the front desk as well. We don't everything to be robotic.

World Travel Market Vision Conference-Florence May 23, 2012 The travel and tourism industry's longer-term prospects are good, delegates were told last week at the World Travel Market (WTM )Vision Conference-Florence. Despite the global financial problems, which continue to impact the industry, Euromonitor International Travel and Tourism Analyst Angelo Rossini predicted the "the next 5 years would look brighter."

This article is good news for all of us in the hospitality industry. There are "growing middle classes and they are hungry for travel." The article suggests that within the next five years people will be looking to vacation on short costs, most likely traveling on short breaks or low-cost holidays. This article also brings attention to the technology aspect in this rapidly growing industry. They say that the technology is very far behind and needs to be updated to better suit people's needs. Overall, even though the tourism industry is headed in the right direction there are still many things that need to be updated on a periodic basis to keep up with the changing times.

Today, computers and software can give solutions to the most complicated logical problems in any operation. Computers make life easier in getting right reports at the right time that helps in decision making process easier and faster. Computer systems can prompt if any mistake are made, it can prompt opportunities and it can prompt to take corrective action in a pro-active manner. Yield Management in rooms division or Menu Engineering in food and beverage division is example of such functions. The computer system can be used to enable both planning and control function to achieve the objectives of the organization. Yet, man made the computer and not the other way. One has to understand, man is intelligent and intellectual. Computer is made with intellect of man and hence works only with logic of mind. Logic of mind cannot go beyond mathematics! Intelligence is beyond mathematics. Man cannot be replaced at any level. In spite of having most advanced system, one has to rely on the supervision of man to see the level of satisfaction guests get in a hotel. Expression of satisfaction from the guests can be seen only when you see them eye to eye.

The hospitality industry is focused on the innovative technological advances in our everyday world. Most hotels have the latest systems to properly run their business and even now in some restaurants they are taking away personalized service and people are ordering through an iPad. I do believe that technology is the wave of the future, but I don't think that customer service should be compromised. It is a personalized interaction between people and also a very good way of networking, and isn't that basically what our field relies on? Word of mouth and getting our name out there. Overusing technology and not recognizing the service aspect dismisses our networking ability. Moreover, as this article states, man made technology. There will always have to be someone to rely on in any field to make sure the guest gets the level of satisfaction from the technology as well as the customer service.