The article talks about the switch companies are making from in-person to virtual event platforms. With the current pandemic and the increase of remote working, virtual events are gaining in popularity. They are convenient and allow attendees to network and connect with sponsors, performers, and exhibitors digitally. Virtual event platform companies are using the cloud to integrate customizable solutions for clients. They are also engaging in collaborations and strategic partnerships with innovative companies to incorporate new technology solutions such as AI and Deep Learning into their platforms. This technology also enhances data collection from your attendees that businesses and organizations will use to identify consumer sentiment and deliver customized and improved solutions on future events. Vendors will use this data to develop new strategies for technology enhancements and modifications to their virtual content to adapt to businesses' changing needs. This technology isn't just being used in the hospitality industry. End-users in many different sectors such as banking, financial services, healthcare, and academia, are using this technology to stay connected for high profile meetings and share information to provide better research on COVID-19. These businesses are partnering with networking and connectivity providers to gain technical support and collaboration. This will be a trend that will significantly impact events in the hospitality field as it provides convenience for attendees and cost savings for the companies as they do not need to spend on venues, F&B, and hotel accommodations.

The article is interesting as it talks about the use of proximity beacons that we have been learning about this week for marketing purposes; however, this article highlights the technology being used in employee security. In recent years hotels have increasingly committed to enhancing employee safety policies, training, and resources such as employee safety devices or ESDs. These are mostly implemented in the housekeeping department, where the employees are often alone in guest rooms and can be vulnerable. Amid the global pandemic, safety for both guests and employees is at the forefront of the industry's priority list. Many companies are taking advantage of this downtime to install personal alert systems or panic buttons. While ESDs are not necessarily new and have been around for some time, the technology has drastically improved. React Mobile, a leading provider of panic button solutions for hotels, has three updated products for the modern age. The Sidekick, which needs to be tethered to a smartphone, is a small panic button that transmits an SOS signal to alert management that an employee is in an emergency situation and requires assistance. The device is discrete and wearable, and with the aid of Bluetooth beacons, it can identify the employee's precise location. The Stand-alone LTE panic button has all the same features of the Sidekick; however, it does not need to be tied to a cellphone. It automatically connects to any available 4G cellular network to send out the SOS transmission. The BLE 5.0 Beacon offers the most advanced and incredibly accurate location information, even within high-rise hotels. When activated, it is so precise that it can provide the exact room number in which the incident occurs. These technologies can also be used outside the hotel property, where the system sends out GPS coordinates to follow an incident in real-time. This security technology provides hotels with the ability to immediately respond in emergency situations and gives t

The article highlights the hospitality industry's issues by not adopting and investing in new technologies and the solutions to those problems. In 2018 digital travel sales worldwide reached $694 billion, indicating that having an online presence is a must to reach and attract more travelers. Hotels have increased spending on marketing techniques with metasearch and online travel review sites to increase online visibility. A majority of marketing budget spending now goes into online activities. The goal is to drive more direct bookings, and these techniques, along with mobile sites, are effective distribution channels. In addition to this, hotels are investing in reputation management tools to maintain a positive online reputation. Over 95% of travelers read reviews before booking reservations, so having a positive presence is crucial. Technology is also driving the personalization of the guest experience. Investments into services like mobile check-in/check-out, keyless entry, smart climate and lighting control, location-based digital guided tours, and in-room tablets enhance guest satisfaction and provide a more seamless experience. With the emergence of the pandemic, this technology is getting pushed to the forefront of investments as must-haves to comply with new regulations and gain consumer confidence in coming back. This technology also collects data on your guest's preferences and behaviors, which will lead to better personalized services on their future stays. In addition to enhancing the guest experience, it also enhances your hotel operations. Investing in technologies increases employee productivity and improves operating efficiency.

The article talks about Hotelogix, a cloud-based hotel PMS, teaming up with Xperium's new technology that enables complete contactless check-in and check-outs. This new technology allows guests to perform all the normal check-in activities right on their cell phone, without the need to download a specific app. It digitizes the paperwork so the guests can electronically review the reservation and sign off on the registration card. They can also select their room right from their phone. This new technology complies with the COVID-19 guidelines and will be key in the industry's recovery. The new technology doesn't just end with the check-in process. It offers various capabilities such as collecting guest feedback and preferences, up-selling rooms, ordering room service, and can even take credit card payments. With the pandemic and the need for contactless services, this will help push cloud-based PMS to the forefront. The speed in which hotels adopt these new types of technologies will be crucial to their recovery in the new normal.

The article's main point ties into the third question on this week's discussion: is there a need for the GDS today? Hoteliers have recently been focusing on the OTA sales channel, which leads them to ignore their high-value, corporate guests, and guests who like to use traditional travel agents. The main reason for this is because hoteliers do not want to pay the fees associated with GDS's; however, they are still paying commission fees to OTAs. On average, hotels pay a 20% fee to a GDS when a room is booked, which is typically less than what is paid in commissions to the top OTAs. So why do they still use OTAs and pay the fees? Because they work, and GDS's work also. By eliminating a tried and true method such as the GDS, you are shooting yourself in the foot by getting rid of an effective channel that was bringing in revenue. The author argues that a GDS is still useful in creating more visibility and increased revenues from bulk bookings, travel agents, and especially from corporate and luxury travelers. Corporate and luxury travelers are less concerned about price and typically pay higher rates. They also spend more on ancillary charges in the hotel, which leads to recouping some of that money spent on fees. Given this perspective, I would agree with the points made in the article and how the GDS is still a viable system to be used today. It is especially important to gain exposure to corporate travelers, which is a big market that you don't want to leave untapped.

The article starts off by addressing the most essential desire of the modern traveler, which is well performing WiFi. Based on a study in 2018, 89% of guests decide where to stay based on free reliable WiFi. This makes access to connectivity the top priority hospitality firms should be looking at for their guests. Poor WiFi experiences can lead to negative guests satisfaction which leads to a loss of repeat business and poor guest reviews. Connectivity also plays a crucial role in the operation of the business. As more business applications move to a wireless or cloud base, the need for strong connectivity increases. This allows room for new innovations to enhance the guest experience. A front desk agent can now check someone in on a cell phone rather than a desktop. This enables you to greet the guest at the door and complete a check-in while in route to their room, eliminating the need to wait in the lobby. Another benefit is with the advent of cloud computing, a hotel can reduce their hardware costs by not having to have a LAN at each property. They can run a centralized cloud server that all properties can log into. This also eliminates the need to have dedicated IT staff at each location. A major issue with this though is that IT loses visibility of the local delivery path of the network. This makes it difficult for them to locate and resolve issues that might happen, such as slow WiFi speeds. They are then challenged to develop a network performance monitoring solution that can account for all the apps working off the network, including the guest's, to gain visibility to be able to troubleshoot when issues arise. I think moving to a cloud based system to reduce hardware and labor costs will become standard for large hospitality firms. For brands with thousands of properties, this can be a great way to reduce expenses. There are certainly challenges that go along with this new technology, however I believe the ROI to be greater and I can see these companies m

I can see these companies making the initial investments to perfect this method. You already see it in a majority of software applications moving to a cloud/web based system. This helps to greatly reduce hard drive storage needs and makes the programs accessible from anywhere. In this post-covid environment, remote accessibility has become a necessity.

The article highlights some of the major ways technology is used in the hospitality industry and how this technology has become standard. Researching on third party booking sites, booking, receiving travel updates, digital boarding passes, and loyalty apps are some of the most common technology uses we find in the industry. What is most interesting in the advent of new camera based technology to be used in facial recognition of repeat customers. I think this poises some serious concerns with privacy violations and it would be interesting to see how customers would react to firms using this technology.