(1 of 3) This Hotel Technology News article discusses the various technology advancements in Hotel Event Planning and what their effects were predicted to be for 2020. As the article states, "With each passing year, events seem to get bigger and better, boasting exciting new technology, catering to attendees' needs in finer detail, and bringing guests together in unique venue spaces for a variety of occasions." The event industry continues to grow as people continue to desire more unique, memorable experiences. Event planners struggle with advancing their experiences, but with the help of technology they are able to continue to grow each year. This process starts with the booking experience and Venue Management Technology has gained popularity in creating seamless booking experiences. "Whether marketing to a transient guest, event attendees, or a corporate group, hoteliers and event planners are in the business of meeting and exceeding expectations." With venue management technology, event planners are able to make memorable experiences starting with the booking of the venue all the way until days after the event. Venue management platforms provide everything to the event planners at their fingertips.

(2 of 3) The article continues on to discuss that while large events are extremely lucrative, venues must make sure to consider smaller events as well. "Ensure your venue space is equipped for events and meetings of various scale, and work closely with planners to ensure an attentive, personalized experience while bringing their event or meeting to life." Meetings are going to continue to grow so venues must continue to adjust and be equipped for anything a consumer might desire. This may include non-traditional events or venue spaces as well. While classic hotel convention spaces may not be as popular anymore, hotels are challenged to utilize and market their space differently to attract new consumers. With the event industry, as with any segment in hospitality, the ultimate purpose is to leave lasting impressions on guests. In recent years, the use of technology has been great in assisting this idea. Venues who have mastered creating a memorable experience have often done so by "using new-age features and platforms to create a frictionless event, engage attendees on a deeper level, and create meaningful, memorable experiences." Venue management tools are also used in making these experiences for guests. The article left readers with three takeaways. The first being that venues need to utilize technology to make them more effective in areas such as RFP response and the way that they offer their services. The second takeaway is that businesses need to evaluate their current technology partners and make sure to choose a partner that will allow them to best create memorable events. The final key takeaway is that venues must increase conversions and improve venue listings with things such as real-time availability and strategic pricing.

(3 of 3) This article was very interesting in its description of the technology used in the event industry and predictions for the future of events. It is quite apparent that this article was written at the beginning of 2020, though. I do believe the event industry was headed in this direction, but, as with the rest of the hospitality industry, I believe events will see a massive decrease over the next few years and then pick back up in the future. Due to the risks associated with Covid-19, consumers are not finding in-person meetings or events necessary. Many organizations have resorted to digital meetings and cancelled any events, causing a huge loss for the industry. I believe that as the rest of the industry recovers, events will slowly follow and eventually make their way back to their pre-pandemic predictions.

(1 of 2) "The hospitality sector has always been a popular target for cyberattacks." This is the first line of this Recorded Future article published in January. The article discusses breaches that happened for both Marriott and British Airways and how this is a regular occurrence in the industry as it is such a big target with so many possible points that can be attacked. While the statistics for the hospitality industry have improved greatly in the last decade, in 2019, they were still accounting for 10% of all breaches. Not only does a breach affect the way an organization operates, but also it also severely effects their bottom-line and takes quite a but of time for them to recover. "According to Ponemon's 2019 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average hospitality data breach costs $1.99 million to contain, at a cost per record of $123. These high costs are due in part to the time needed to adequately respond to a breach. On average, it takes 200 days to identify a hospitality data breach and a further 75 days to contain it." The article continues by stating that hackers are typically seeking payment card data when compromising the hospitality industry.

(2 of 2) The article then discusses the many reasons why it is so difficult for hospitality-oriented companies to secure their assets versus other organizations of similar stature. Some of these reasons include the large, complex networks which are typically publicly accessible and contain many customers in the databases, the fact that customers are always onsite and so are attackers, the high turnover leading to inconsistent training and sharing of credentials, franchisers owning the responsibility of security yet not knowing much about it, and the risk associated with all of the various third parties the hotels do business with. While intelligence has come a very long, "security professionals in the industry are tasked with defending highly complex networks with many endpoints against a constant barrage of attacks and a constantly churning workforce… [AND] they have limited security resources to work with." Comprehensive security intelligence systems are now capable of protecting many aspects of the organization. Some of these updated features include responding rapidly to security incidents, blocking online brand abuse and impersonation, managing third-party risk, reducing breach containment times, and better allocating security resources. Property data security is so important to the hospitality industry. If a business does not take the proper precautions to protect their systems and their customers, then it could lead to a devastating event for the business. While security intelligence has progressed within the last decade, a business needs to make sure that they have chosen a reliable agent to partner with who will produce consistent service. If the business keeps up with their system updates and protections, they should not have to worry about their security system failing.

(1 of 2) PKF O'Connor and Davies published an article at the beginning of the pandemic laying out how important hospitality accounting is and what accounting teams need to be cognizant of during a time that is very uncertain. The article states, "The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in substantial volatility in the global economy. The coronavirus outbreak has had ‒ and will continue to have ‒ an adverse effect on the results of operations of those companies operating in the hospitality and tourism industry." The article warns that as more information emerges about the disease, the industry will continue to be impacted in everyday decisions and operations. The article also states, "a company's management should be considering the possible effects on future results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition," along with many other important operating items. A business owner needs to be concerned with the "going concern" and making sure that they can keep their financials stable enough to continue business. Businesses also need to worry about the effect of the closure on their long-lived assets and being able to continually comply with loan and mortgage covenants. While many businesses are relying on the ability to work from home, the hospitality industry needs to make sure they are taking a look at internal controls over financial reporting as well. Finally, businesses need to be thinking about the future and subsequent event disclosures.

(2 of 2) We are in very uncertain times right now with the Covid-19 crisis. PKF is making sure businesses are looking at the bigger picture and considering their businesses as a whole, while also taking into consideration what a business may need to do to preserve operation for the future. Unfortunately, the hospitality industry has been devastated because of the effects that the virus has had on the economy and many businesses have had to close their doors. Other businesses have gotten very creative in the way they are functioning, and if businesses can continue to adapt and introduce new ideas, they may be able to settle their accounts and make it through this terrible time.

(1 of 3) POSUSA had originally published an article in 2017 about the definition of Point-of-Sale (POS) and a guide to understanding POS more in depth. This article was updated in May of 2021 to represent the ongoing challenges in the hospitality industry due to COVID-19. The article begins by defining a POS transaction as "what takes place between a merchant and a customer when a product or service is purchased, commonly using a point of sale system to complete the transaction." The original idea of a POS system was that of a cash register, but what is in the system make up today is far more complex. A POS system and a POS terminal are one in the same, as the terminal is the physical piece of equipment that processes the information for the POS. The system is composed of many different components as with any piece of technology. "The hardware components bundle will typically include a POS terminal, receipt printer, credit card reader, cash drawer, barcode scanner, kitchen or bar printer (for restaurants), and possibly even an on-site computer server for older legacy systems." These systems continue to make advancements that evolve with the times and can keep up efficiently with the business they are working with.

(2 of 3) The article continues on to discuss the many different types of POS systems and how they can be used for different types of businesses. The restaurant POS system, for example, is the most complex POS system and is the most commonly seen system in the industry. Through the restaurant POS, a business can have a restaurant management system, which helps them run the business efficiently through features such as recipe costing, customer management, reporting, and many other features discussed. Bar, nightclub, retail, small business, salon, and spa POS systems all have very similar features, but are catered to each businesses specific operational need. Cloud-based and mobile POS systems are also discussed in the article as a way to store all POS information in the cloud. The advantages of mPOS were discussed in depth as this can be accessed through an application, making mobility much easier in our ever-advancing technological world.

(3 of 3) The article also provided an introduction of how POS systems work, as a basic understanding is necessary when considering purchasing a system. Through understanding how the POS system works, we see that a POS transaction is "simply any transaction that occurs within a business." POS payment is "when a customer and merchant exchange products or services completing a POS transaction aka point of sale purchase," which can sometimes be referred to as point of purchase, or POP. Finally, the article discusses how POS systems have played a role during the pandemic. While online POS systems have been used for many years to keep businesses on their feet, during the current state of the world this has become even more necessary. The article discusses how important it is to keep the payment process simple, yet secure so that the business may rely on this as a way to make income and customers can enjoy a seamless experience. This article does a very good job of explaining in-depth what a POS system is and how it is relevant to every line of business in the hospitality industry. As online sales continue to grow and as the state of the world remains uncertain, POS system popularity will only continue to rise and advance to create the best possible experience for both the businesses and consumers involved.

(Part 1 of 2) This eInsights article reminds us how important exceeding guest expectations can be in making a guest's stay memorable. Both hospitality and ecommerce need to be able to deliver exceptional guests service, and we are in a society now where that is very much possible. The article goes into detail about how automated service can improve a guest's experience. It suggests that AI play more of an active role in the industry, as AI has created things such as chatbots that can resolve problems and provide efficient service. eInsights continued the discussion by expressing that, "Content is the lifeblood of ecommerce businesses." Content is something that, if utilized properly, can strengthen customer-brand relationships. Tools such as blogs or hotel websites can be used to communicate unique information to guests and then guests can use the tools to create their entire trip seamlessly. It is much better for hotels to keep their websites and navigation channels simple. Guests expects a quick experience and "a streamlined checkout with a simple, linear process and as few choices as possible." Guests are already overwhelmed with the hustle and bustle of their daily lives, so they do not want vacation planning to be complicated as well.

(Part 2 of 2) The final point that the articled discussed was about the importance of social media and how it can make for an even better guest stay. We are in a world where we can learn all about a guest's needs or preferences and can communicate with them before they ever step through the lobby doors. Being in the hospitality industry, we get to take this one step further and actually have the human element as part of the scenario as well. Online social interactions are "a valuable touchpoint between you and your customers, one that delivers a breadth of benefits for customer experience." When we utilize these properly, we can make an enhanced, enjoyable guest experience. Ecommerce and the hospitality industry work hand-in-hand to create a unique, memorable guest experience each and every stay.

eInsights has written an article discussing the trends of how the hospitality industry has become green. "Over the last decade, guests have looked beyond amenities to decide where they want to stay. Now, they compare a property's sustainable efforts to see if it matches their firmly held beliefs." It has come to the attention of the entire industry that we are leaving a huge footprint on the environment and we are taking strides to fix something that has been ongoing for quite some time. The first topic discussed was that hotels are minimizing their water usage and waste. This is often the most common first step for any hotel to work on their sustainability. Guests are often already privy to saving water in their own homes and will carry this over to their hotel stay. The second topic covered was that hotels are reducing their plastic products. This is a very popular topic within the industry as hotels have many options such as turning their plastic straws or water bottles into reusable items. Within the hospitality industry, sometimes food waste is unpreventable. Hotels have made great efforts to work with each of their departments to see where their waste originates and find the best solutions to reduce it. "Sustainability promotes a healthier environment," which often leads to hotels introducing new allergy-friendly options for their guests. Items such as allergy-friendly flooring or self-sustaining plants are just a few ways that hotels can create a healthier environment for their guests. Finally, the article discusses the importance of monitoring carbon emissions for the entire industry. "The UN recently called attention to hotel emissions, saying they account for 1% of all carbon waste." Hotels will often employ a professional to evaluate their property and make recommendations of how they can reduce their carbon footprint. After a hotel adds a new sustainability effort, it is important that they get guest feedback.

A combination of positive guest feedback and minimizing energy usage will let a hotel know that they are moving in the right direction. It is so important for every hotel to try their best to employ whatever sustainability efforts they can and reduce their impacts on the environment as a whole. The emissions from the industry were overlooked for such a long time and have gotten out of control. With some of the popular industry trends, it is getting easier for hotels to make strides in the right direction.

The company Meyers has created a new, safe way for guests to enter their hotel rooms with the current conditions of the world today. "Meyers has developed a paper RFID key card - called the AssureCard - that looks and feels like a plastic key card but is made from renewable paper pulp and may be disposed of after a single use." It has been customary in the past for hotels to reuse plastic room keys from guest to guest. This practice is often a deterrent for guests and is also quite unsanitary. Provenance Hotels has been using this technology since January of 2020. Their corporate director, Christopher Bebo stated, "the single-user key concept provides a fresh card to each guest and prevents germs from getting passed to your guests or your employees... Plus, hotels that use AssureCards can do so with the environment in mind by helping to reduce the plastic that goes into landfills." I believe that this technology is an amazing advancement for the health and safety of our guests. The keys are produced at similar costs to what organizations are already paying for plastic keys and they can still provide guests with something that meets their brand standard and expectations. AssureCard is a "proven technology" that is good for the environment and it is going to help to keep our staff and guests safe in a time that is so uncertain.