Technology has been a key driver of growth for the hospitality sector over the last decade. New technologies for jobs like real-time inventory access, seamless exchange of operational information and collation of key performance data, have transformed the hotel and restaurant business. And the biggest positive from this process has been the enhanced customer experience, leading to higher loyalty. Thus, technology has increased profits for restaurants and hotels, and also helped in reining in costs on a long-term basis by reducing manpower and improving the quality of service.

Key technologies used Currently the most popular technologies being used are accounting systems for back office needs and the Internet, along with POS solutions for front office solutions. These systems are found in over 90 per cent of the establishments in the industry.   K Ramakrishnan, president, Marketing, Café Coffee Day, says “The two key technologies we use are POS for our café operations and ‘SAP IS Retail’ for the back-end warehouse supply chain requirements. Besides, our Cafés are Wi-Fi enabled. We also use Facebook and Twitter to understand and listen to what our consumers have to  say. It serves as an excellent tool to receive reviews on what we do and how we can make the café space more fun and exciting. We use these inputs to refresh our menu, look and overall feel,” he adds.

Touch screen POS: Point of sale systems now have a touch screen  display to allow cashiers and servers to input orders. It automatically sends the order to the kitchen without the need for a call or a manual dining ticket. The latest POSs can even send separate dining tickets for different food preparations, for an order. Stock and time clock management: These two components can be directly integrated in the latest POS terminals, allowing employees to clock in and out of any POS. The central computer keeps tab of the hours worked. It also allows computers to keep track of food and dry stock, based on the orders that are coming back through the POS system. It alerts the server, if a particular ingredient is out of stock. Technology also helps accurately measure the exact amount that goes into a fryer basket or in portions/ servings. This helps in maintaining the same standards each time an order is placed. Modern financial control tools allow managers to make balance sheets, statements of cash flow and income. There are advanced softwares available, which help the management get a clear view of the finances involved in the day-to-day running of the restaurant. Future technologies Many new technologies are also knocking at the door of the Indian hospitality industry. Internationally, these tools are already in use to improve efficiency. For instance, client server technologies (CST) offer great advantages to mid and large sized multi-property hospitality chains. They allow owners to effectively integrate disparate systems like multiple computer platforms or software, accumulated over the years. They simplify report generation and MIS (management information system) support, making these functions more efficient. Players that are in expansion mode and are trying to overhaul their IT infrastructure can use these solutions to reduce their IT costs and improve staff productivity. Software as a service (SaaS) or pay as-you-go services (where software such as ERP solutions are made available on demand over the Internet and users are required to pay a monthly rental based on the time and nature of use) have also emerged as another cost effective way of handling data and processes over the Internet. Here, companies can reap big dividends by effectively cutting down on their system maintenance costs. Green technology is another option, players can look at. It helps improve sustainability in areas like energy efficiency through the use of solar power for cooking or water heating. Solid waste management, plastic and paper recycling machines, rain water harvesting, and water efficient technologies, are other green technologies. If deployed in earnest, restaurants and hotels can reap long term benefits,besides scoring high on environment friendliness and brand image improvement, among customers.

The growth in database marketing and the emergence of e-commerce driven by the exponential growth of the Internet requires marketers to capitalize on the full advantage provided by information technology to be competitive. The key component of database marketing is its ability to enhance an organization’s marketing program by identifying customers that are likely to be more receptive to a specific offering. Indeed, competent database marketing practice needs to be integrated with other marketing strategies and practices. The interactive Web environment and the advent of Internet marketing present an explicit opportunity for firms to achieve maximum database marketing benefits.

A prerequisite for the successful translation of the relationship marketing paradigm from industrial to consumer markets is accurate customer information. Improved quality of customer information enables marketers to target their most valuable prospects more effectively, tailor their offerings to individual needs, improve customer satisfaction and retention, and identify opportunities for new products or services. Therefore, the key focus of e-marketing is customer data that can be used to inform operational, tactical, and strategic decision making (Chaffey et al., 2003).

In brief, Internet technology has made it relatively easy to collect vast amounts of individual customer information (Prabhaker, 2000). Data quality, entity recognition, synchronization, and integrated databases enable firms to target content to demographics so precisely that they can reach markets as narrowly defined as a single customer. This results in greater levels of customer satisfaction and increased organizational learning. However, merging the off-line and online databases raises issues, such as technology compatibility, data quality and format variances, how to use the sheer volume of data collected, and consumer privacy concerns. This chapter aims to develop a framework about how the integration of database and Internet marketing can be applied, based on rigorous research.

Those airports chose to opt out of direct TSA security screening in favor of the Screening Partnership Program (SSP), which has been around since the TSA was formed in 2001. In essence, the partnership program uses private screeners who perform the same security duties as the federal workforce, though oversight remains with the TSA. As I said, some think this is a great idea; after all, if customers, meaning passengers, aren't happy with a security officer, a private company could simply get rid of that worker, right? Well, that's a big maybe, but it doesn't matter now because TSA Administrator John Pistole has suspended the program.

Good news if you're a flyer, since that's one less delay to worry about. But it's not so good for a unionized employee, I would think. Makes you wonder whether some of those TSA officers are feeling beleaguered enough to worry about protecting their own junk. This work is the opinion of the columnist and does not reflect the opinion of ABC News.

The best solution to have an effective hotel management is through having a hotel point of sale system. It is a great way of analysing the strengths and weaknesses of a hotel.

Apart from the aforementioned details, the POS systems are also capable of an efficient recording of food orders, reservation dates, extra charges, expenses and a lot more. This system can also be linked up to the kitchen for a fast and easy way of food delivery.  It also promotes the accuracy of orders.

The Hotel POS systems can be used with different operating systems such as Windows and Unix. It is important to take note of the system’s compatibility with the computer operating system so that there will be no hassle when it comes to recording and registering of items delivered to every room. An easy assessment and evaluation of the transaction details would be achieved through the local data storage containing all the necessary information. But now a lot of hotels deal with the web industry wherein their clients could have an easy registration by just visiting the hotel’s website.

before the recession is over, the number of hotels in bankruptcy or foreclosure could rise above the 2,000 or so reached in the industry’s last big downturn in the 1990s.

Since these hotels have greater fixed operating costs because of their extra services and larger staffs, they need higher occupancy rates just to break even. This is compounded by what many analysts have called the “A.I.G. effect,” as companies worry about public or regulatory scrutiny if their employees stay at lavish properties or hold events there.

Although the troubled economy has hit hotels across the United States, some areas have it tougher than others. MGM Mirage and Harrah’s Entertainment own 19 casino hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. Harrah’s delayed construction on a hotel tower and has been able to refinance its debt over a longer period to reduce its payments. MGM recently sunk $200 million into CityCenter, a mixed-use project under construction, after its development partner skipped a payment. Other Las Vegas properties are struggling, too. The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas spent much of 2008 in Chapter 11 and was bought last month by its third owner in just over a year.

Optima Go Green allows the hotels using Optima Hotel Management Solution to go the extra mile and reduce the total amount of paper used by implementing Optima green solutions. The solution meets two valuable targets by helping the environment and saving costs of operations.

Optima Green Check In – advance check in that can be done on the Internet or Smart-phones up to 24 hours before check in, saving the need to print registration cards and speeds up the checkin process at the hotel. Optima Green Check Out that includes presentation of guest folio on an iPad, or similar device, instead of printing folio statement and sending the invoice to the guest or company directly by email. Optima Fax and files attachment allowing attachment of faxes and other documents to the reservation and view them at any given time. The files attached to the reservations ad folios can be vied even years after the guest has checked out. Optima passports and IDs scanning allowing scanning of various IDs and insert the details directly into the Guest Profile information, including picture of the guest (when using Optima CRM) and attach the scanned document to the reservation. Paperless night process – all the statistics and financial information is stored in the database and can be viewed at any time. No need to print anything. Optima Managers’ Snapshots – daily reports sent daily to selective managers and owners saving the need to print these reports to managers who do not have access to Optima. Optima Mobile – allowing managers and sales people to view availability and prices online on their smart-phones instead of relying on reports that may be outdated

Technology is increasingly becoming a brand differentiator for hotels and chains which want to identify with a certain market,"

The type of guest drawn to technology and smart design is an attractive demographic to target,

at the Andaz hotels, guests are greeted by a host bearing an iPad, which they can use to check in over a glass of wine in the lobby.

In a culture obsessed with efficiency, mind-wandering is often derided as useless—the kind of thinking we rely on when we don’t really want to think. Freud, for instance, described daydreams as “infantile” and a means of escaping from the necessary chores of the world into fantasies of “wish-fulfillment.”

A daydream is that fountain spurting, spilling strange new thoughts into the stream of consciousness. And these spurts turn out to be surprisingly useful.

Schooler argues that it’s clear evidence that those twelve minutes of daydreaming allowed the subjects to invent additional possibilities, as their unconscious minds pondered new ways to make use of toothpicks.

1. New age customer relationship management programs prompt hotels to obtain information regarding guest preferences from different systems at the basic property level and spreads the same throughout the company. The process is operated by merging property level CRM data with a greater CRM system located at the headquarters for an entire chain of hotels. The information is used to provide customized services as guests check into a hotel of the same chain. It does not end here, historical transaction data of the guest is also supplied to avoid prior mistakes and ensure complete satisfaction. Various softwares like BizTalk Server 2006 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM help in information management and assist in comprehending the trends, behaviors and habits of various guests. 2. In-room systems incorporated by different hotels offer gaming options, bill display, thermostat and light control, in-room music apart from the privilege to watch first-run movies with wide screen plasma monitors. Some hotels also have device oriented interaction facilities that helps in reducing the hurdle of maintaining multiple service offerings for different areas of a multi-use property cum residence. The Microsoft Media Center with advanced plug-ins facilitates the process. 3. The new Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system enable guests to locate each other at a ski resort and allow them to pay for a meal resulting in a cashless payment system that is capable of being used on and off property. It helps in yielding an immediate return on investment while raising the profit level. The whole process is facilitated through the implementation of Microsoft BizTalk Server and Microsoft MapPoint Location Server in combination with RFID and other location based services. It thus allows better security and freedom apart from the option to pay for meals. 4. Implementation of efficient business processes is possible through interchange of data. Creation of specific interfaces leads to integration between property-level systems. The process is operated through implementation of an "Information Hub" powered by Microsoft BizTalk Server at the property level which routers all collected informations to different systems and runs the business by streamlining data exchanges. 5. The dynamic platform offers a self-healing hotel technology for constantly monitoring a hotel's systems to solve problems before they spread throughout the property.