A little bit older of an article but it shows us the different programs that can be used in the HR field of business. Companies have many choices to make when purchasing an HR software program. They have to decide on and in-house system or a web-based system etc. Some of the functions that HR software performs are maintaining employee's salary, benefits, performance reviews, and time taken off. They assist these companies in moving towards a paperless operations. This in itself will help in the costs of running your hotel.

As if any of us can afford a vacation these days, Holland America is offering reduced rates for National Cruise Vacation Week. The cruise line promoted this sale through a series of e-mails, flyers, and website banner ads in order to make it easier for possible consumers to view option and then make their reservations online. By completing this booking, guests were able to receive a $200 credit on board of the ship to use for services or souvenirs.

As close to home as this hits, with a security breach at my hotel recently, I'm happy to see that companies are upgrading their systems. The Black Hat cyber security conference in Vegas had a hacker present how easy it was to gain access into a hotel room. He had less than $50 in equipment that he used to infiltrate the locks on the hotel doors. In response to this, Onity, the company whose locks were tested, came out with a plan for a "two-tier" security upgrade. This makes me feel a little bit better but at the same time, it seems like hotels aren't being proactive about protecting their customers, so maybe more hotels needs to be exploited.

IT Investments are on the rise in this world. The thought of savings money and appearing to be environmentally conciscious catches the eye of many big companies and industries. In the case of this article, United States health care providers are now demanding that hospitals make the switch from traditional paper systems to an all electronic system. This investment will cost health providers billions of dollars for the time being, however the return on investment could be a $40 billion savings for the industry in savings alone. The return on investment regarding this switch from paper to computer will require proper training and management skills in order to be successful.

I would like to thank all of you in advance for the lack of highlighting on my part regarding this article. Since the beginning of time, or at least since August, my computer has had a vendetta towards Diigo for reasons that I will never be able to comprehend. Now to the article. A 2.95% increase in the value of United States hotel stock was observed in the month of August and over and 18% per our year-to-date model. For these numbers, we have the accountants to thank. Assuming that the work of accountants is done correctly, we are able to gauge that the status of one our largest industries. In the event that the accountants for these companies do the work incorrectly, the number that we are looking at maybe completely false. The point to all of this is that our market's statistics, such as growth and profit, are all dependent on the work of each company's accountants.

I think I posted this article before but...ehh.. It talks about how restaurants will soon be using mobile applications as points of sales for customers. The reasoning behind the development of this company is to provide convenience to the clients and deliver services faster.

Although I am a supporter of property management systems, I do find this article to be rather intriguing. Apparently, this group in Texas, Genares, has teamed up with RDX to eliminate the middle man as well as confusion from booking. What the partnership will do is reduce the amount that a hotel will spend on their PMS because it won't be utilized as much as it previously was. RDX is a two way connectivity system, which means that it can gain access to more than one access point at a time. Not only will this make it easier to make reservations, but the constant communication will allow for faster and more accurately detailed information.

More than 52,000 surveys were completed by the American Hotel & Lodging Association regarding various concepts of hotels. As for this weeks theme: Hotels report that ecofriendly practices are still a top priority. According to the website, water saving programs are in use at 75% of properties and about the same about have a linen and towel reuse program. Although a short article, the results from the survey were able to be found. The numbers prove that the hospitality field is clearly moving towards a greener foundation; whether that is because of political pressure of because they actually care about the environment is till up for grabs.

Another interesting article here regarding smart phones and the booking process. How many times have you gone home to your computer to book a flight or a hotel? Well according to this article you are one of the few. Expedia reported that 65% of hotel bookings in a random 24 hour period were booked on the go. With smartphone sales reaching $982 million this year, there are many companies that are now doing "mobile-only" booking. eMarketer indicates that ecommerce sales are going to reach $119 billion this year. With that being said, travel agencies should be bracing themselves for a hit. If people are using sites like Priceline and Expedia more and more everyday, eventually there will be no need for agencies.

Another interesting article that we all can relate to. A study recently had results disclosed where 500 people were surveyed into how they decide on where to eat out and how internet sites are influencing decisions. To start off, about 50% of people who go out to eat refer to a friend before making a decision on where to eat. As it relates to our class, before choosing a place to eat, 27.7% of consumers use a user generated review site and 27% use the actual restaurant's website. Consumers preferred to use user friendly websites the most and sometimes even referred to blogs for opinions. Google was actually cited as the third most utilized website for those seeking a second opinion with 16.5%. I thought the most interesting fact was that Food Network actually ranked on the list to getting some more insight on where to eat, with 1.7% of consumers using that website. Next time you are going out to eat somewhere, think about if you use websites or apps to assist you in making the decision. I guess you can make a review site about anything.

Very interesting article here regarding the habits of hotels guests who used mobile devices during travel. It opened my mind to how dependent on this technology we are. The project was completed by Four Points by Sheraton, a brand by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Over the duration of the experiment, 6,000 people were polled. What I found to be the most interesting fact in this study was that the majority of us use 3 - 4 mobile devices whenever we travel. If you think to when you were younger, you had your walkman and the hotel phone.