Jan 22, 2010 TravelCLICK has unveiled Hotelligence 360, a suite of interactive business intelligence applications that enable hotels to identify new growth opportunities and improve financial performance. The program provides hoteliers with frequently updated booking data backed by 100 percent of the global distribution system (GDS) channel, allowing hotels to compare revenue performances with their competitors, source new customers, and maximize profit.

Hotelligence 360 reporting is a great example of HRIS in the hospitality industry. The reports generated pull market information for the competitve you set for your area (usually approximately 5 competitor properties plus yours, additional ones can be added for additional fees). To gain access to the reporting, some of your marketing budget would need to be spent on it, but this helps gain some critical information for your market area and competitors in terms of agencies utilizing GDS systems to book hotel rooms. It displays data such as top 150 agencies, ADR, lead time, market share, average LOS, and more. It shows which of the 4 GDS tools are being used for the agency (Galileo, Sabre, Apollo, Amadeus) and where the business is coming from. There are great details in trying to capture business from the area. I find it to be most beneficial to a new hotelier trying to secure new business and deter them from the competition, it gains knowledge of good startingplaces for cold calls and attempting the relationship building to capture their market. In decifering these reports, you can get a good feel for what the agencies are valueing in ther selection, be it location, amenities, or price prior to speaking with them. It helps to gain an advantage when securing the proper contact and having the conversation in capturing their business. There are plenty more advantages to reading these reports, this was just my version of the most important tools provided.

Hotel ProposalPro Creates and Tracks Professional Proposals and RFP Responses; Shares Leads Throughout an Enterprise to Increase Sales and Revenue

Hotel ProposalPro works either as a seperate entity, or in conjunction with any of Hotel SystemsPro's other programs, such as SalesPro. It allows management companies to share leads in a more productive fashion, as well as helps with creating and closing contracts with clients. I am personally jealous at this point. I am required to use Delphi.net, which has been "undergoing a transistion" to .LDC for the last 8 months (which has yet to make it to me). The functionality of Delphi is not nearly as user-friendly as some of the other programs, such as SalesPro. To hear that SalesPro is now having the option of adding on ProposalPro, just makes the program that much more desireable to me. I'm sure it has it's flaws as well, as every program does, but I would really like to make the change to almost any other program.

Courtesy Patricia Martin Retired Marine Cpl. Nathan Kemnitz during a TSA screening at the airport in Sacramento, Calif. A wounded Purple Heart Marine's humiliating experience at a security checkpoint in California has left supporters and an assemblyman outraged. The extra scrutiny faced by Marine Cpl.

I have an awful lot of respect for the military. In this situation, I am thankful that TSA was following protocol; however, I wish they had a little different of a procedure. They could have taken him into a screening room instead of publicly embarrassing the Marine. I don't quite understand how we can embarrass him one minute, while he is on his way to being honored for his service. They also mention in the article a wounded vet that had to remove his prosthetic legs. Again, please take him into a private room to do so. The pain and embarrassment the soldier went through to have that kind of an injury and to deal with it on a daily basis is more than enough. He or she shouldn't have to face those challenges in public as well.

ALPHARETTA, Ga., Jun 26, 2013 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Agilysys, Inc. , a leading provider of innovative information technology and hospitality software solutions and services, today announced that Apache Casino Hotel in Lawton, Okla., has selected the Lodging Management System(R) (LMS) property management solution and the InfoGenesis(TM) POS system to streamline operations at its casino and new 132-room hotel.

The Apache Casino hotel recently expanded their property, putting them in a position of need for a technology system that would work for all aspects of the property. It would appear that they did their research before deciding on LMS and InfoGenesis to integrate with some of their currently used applications. Not only was it beneficial that they chose a company that works well with current programs, but they lked the partnership approach that Agilsys gave them. It would appear that their technology works hand in hand with multiple variations of outlets at a facility both as an individual unit, and for a property as a whole. Having a system with these kinds of capabilities proves to be very beneficial in being able to properly account for all accounting aspects in a way that can specifically identify profits and losses for the various aspects. It can be a challenge to sort through these details when there are such a large quantity of outlets, such as the room revenues,.food and beverage, meeting space, casino, etc. I wouldn't want to have to break down every department manually to determine if there is a huge profit margin somewhere that we can capitalize on or if there is a huge loss appearing from an aspect that we need to track to correct. Sounds to me like they made a good decision!

Stacked could have easily failed for being "ahead of its time" when it launched its cutting edge iPad ordering system last year in Southern California. From start to finish, the iPad's touch-screen technology allows customers to control their dining experience -- from delivery of the first drink to type of burger toppings to timing of the check.

Based on this article "Stacked" seems to have had great success with implementing the Ipad/eMenu type ordering in their establishment. I found this article to be very useful with the Q&A, addressing some of the major concerns with trying to adopt a similar system. One of the questions involved an older couple "shoing" the server away when offering ordering assistance. I had originally thought of that as a challenge, but when reading the answers, I discovered that it's not as big of an issue. It almost seems like a new challenge for customers to beat when faced with it the first few times. I have actually encouraged a friend of mine that lives in California to visit the restaurant and give me their feedback, I'm excited to hear the results when they come!

MICROS Systems, a leading provider of information technology solutions for the hospitality and retail industries, is pleased to announce that Morgans Hotel Group has chosen to implement cloud-based MICROS OPERA across its hotel portfolio, which includes 13 locations. The solution will be hosted in the MICROS US Datacenter. MICROS OPERA Property Management Solution (PMS) will be implemented initially at Hudson in New York, and is planned to be deployed at all Morgans Hotel Group properties by the end of 2013.

Morgans Hotel Group recently made a decision to use Micros Opera for their PMS system at all 13, and growing, locations. They made their decision based on the needs of their company and what the future has in store for them. Based on the article, I would say they probably did a lot of research before officially deciding what program to use. When comparing options, I can honestly say that no PMS system or similar is perfect. There will always be something that can be improved and there will always be different pros and cons with each one, it's a matter of determining what is important for your company and what will be beneficial for the future. As frustrated as I may get with some of these systems, I would say Opera is one of the most widely functional systems to use. I have noticed that Micros is good at listening to feedback and seeing where they can improve. If it's feasible, you can usually expect an update somewhere that will help increase their functionality.

TripAdvisor just launched the new TripAdvisor GreenLeaders program, which ranks hotels across the U.S. according to their engagement in environmentally-friendly practices like linen and towel re-use, recycling and composting, solar panel and electric car charging station implementation, and green roofing.

With TripAdvisor's launch of the new GreenLeaders program, it will help hoteliers as well as restaurants and other businesses increase their Green initiative commitment. I know for the Florida Green Lodging Certification, it is a simple, yet tedious, form to complete, covering many aspects that can help reduce waste of products, energy, and gasses. Thanks to a bill that was passed in the not-so-distant past, certain aspects of the government travel requires their selection of lodging and/or meeting facilities to be green. This is in an effort to encourage those changes in order to secure government business, as well as to encourage personal & leisure travel, government or not, to choose green facilities. The more we increase the demand for green properties, the more properties will seek to make the necessary changes and commitment. In addition, the application process changes periodically, increasing the information and steps necessary to become green. Through all of that, we will begin to notice bigger steps to be made to save our resources and our environment. TripAdvisor launching this program will only help in these efforts. Along with increasing efforts, the feedback will be a great tool for use when selecting how to make those changes. Sure, nothing is perfect and you will still have those that prefer the convenience instead of the overall "Save the Earth" way of life, but we will be able to see what is working and what may need to be adjusted a bit.

According to the latest Pegasus data, North American corporate bookings struggled to maintain the record global pace of +8.8% with a more modest +5.0% increase over April 2012. However, the regions leisure market surged ahead by an impressive +7.0%, surpassing the global rate of +6.2%.

In this article, we learn of the great increase in leisure travel. In the corporate market, we still see some increase, but not at the margin the leisure is leading with. From a hotel's point of view, the increases are welcomed with open arms. This kind of data is imperative to making daily decisions on rates for the properties. As a sales person or revenue management, we do have the option to subscribe to reports that would show us the market area, who's leading in bookings, where it comes from, how far out they book, how long their average stays are, and how much they are spending. GDS connected sources are the only ones we are able to view (for the specific report I am referring to). While this prevents us from having completely accurate data from across the board bookings, it does help us to see those portals, accounting for a fifth of our business and setting the trends for the rest of the booking sources. I'm so glad to see the increases and hopefully it will remain steady. I am seeing a huge surge in the real estate market as well, which gives a clear idea of our economy starting to come back to life!

Following a robbery at a Houston hotel in which thieves exploited security flaws in Onity locks first revealed at the Black Hat conference in July, Hotel Management spoke with Todd Seiders, director of risk management at Petra Risk Solutions and former director of loss prevention at Marriott, for tips on how hoteliers can keep their rooms secure.

Though this was posted in January, I can still remember the situation like it was yesterday. Of course news articles tend to reach the public later than the issue arises; however, we try to be on top of our game. We heard rumor of the break-ins happening, so we did our research and actually found videos on You Tube on how to create the hacking device and use a dry erase marker to conceal the microchip. It was ridiculously simple, yet a huge threat to the entire industry. We called Onity immediately and had our locks all updated with the new software and hardware to prevent the issues. It was a ridiculous charge per lock for them to come out and manually fix them all, which wasn't at all in our budget, but definitely worth the security increase. That's where there is a problem. Most hotels didn't predict this kind of an issue, so it wasn't accounted for in their budgets. Some are willing to spend the extra to ensure safety and security, but some would prefer to do the "mail-in" procedure to get the motherboard replaced for free. That being said, most hotels do not carry an entire second set of locks, I would estimate 10-20% of the number of rooms is the number of extra locks on hand at any given time, functional or not. So, this process takes up quite a bit of time in doing it in the "mail-in" way, as it would take a minimum of 6 shipments to get all locks replaced. That is beyond time consuming and way too long to wait for this important of a matter. I hope all hotels are done with this by now, but still something for everyone to keep in mind while travelling. Always use your deadbolts and privacy locks, never leave your valuables in plain sight, use the in-room safe or safety deposit boxes where available, and use your instincts. Even as a guest, you can still follow the 5 foot rule and greet everyone you see, not only to be nice or courteous, but also to try and weed out the potential thieves!

"Patrick Pacious of Choice describes how technology can help hoteliers be more profitable. LOS ANGELES-Steve Joyce, CEO of Choice Hotels International, knows today's hotel owners have more options when it comes to partnering with a brand or, for that matter, remaining independent." This article struck my attention as most brands do outsource their technology development. This is an innovative approach at gaining the upper hand in the industry. The idea of making a cloud-based PMS system is ingenious, yet risky at the same time. I find a lot of hotels are scared to approach the cloud world for reasons of data privacy & security, as well as, the thought of information being saved into an invisible world. I have to wonder, just how risky is it to give hotel managers that type of remote access, when no one is clear what the future holds? If that individual loses his or her job, voluntarily or involuntarily, user access privileges need to be revoked immediately, and even then, is it already too late? I have to admit, being the first brand to develop an online booking app deserves accolades. In most cases, I would have to guess (based on experience) that mobile apps account for 3-5% of hotel bookings or revenue. While that may not seem like a large number to some, what should be considered is that fact that those 3-5% are taking stress off of front desk or reservations staff. Phones can get hectic and having the ability to book a room at your fingertips while pumping gas or stopping for dinner makes a world of a difference to the clerk that is working alone on a Friday night, or a reservation agent located in a central office half-way across the country that doesn't know the area well, other than the few details loaded into GDS or listed as a point of interest log. Not only does this help the hotel staff and the guest travelling down the road, it increases guest loyalty to the brand. Th mobile apps are all brand specific (other than your third party travel agents and si