Guiyu is known as the largest e-waste recycling site in the world, and the city’s residents exhibit substantial digestive, neurological, respiratory, and bone problems. For example, 80 percent of Guiyu’s children experience respiratory ailments, and are especially at risk of lead poisoning.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal bans the exchange of hazardous waste, including e-waste, between developed and developing countries.

The United States is the largest generator of e-waste worldwide and the only industrialized nation not yet ratifying the Basel Convention.

Upon a tourist's entry into a particular zone or establishment, such as a hotel that the tourist has already booked, the OTA is able to send announcements and offers regarding restaurants, events and other attractions in the vicinity.

Online travel agencies can collect information such as the traveler’s age, marital status and number of children (if any), most visited places, preferences and travel behaviors to target travel services and deals.

n particular zone of a city, village or other tourist destination, a geofencing can be used to drive awareness and enable visitors to book local restaurants or hotels; buy tickets for attractions, museums, concerts or other events; or shop retail malls and outlets.

A beacon is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device that transmit signals normally up to 50 meters.

An OTA might use beacons to advertise deals on tickets. Guests in a hotel or resort can receive personalized offers, such as discounts with affiliated restaurants, nightclubs, retail stores and museums, through their mobile devices.

Proximity marketing affords flexibility and convenience for planning vacations or trips.

Now, travelers can explore on the go once they arrive and choices and arrangements can be made at the destination.

By using online data, mobile app data and location information, OTAs can provide personalized recommendations to consumers for booking additional services, enhance customer relationships with a sustainable brand loyalty and enhanced customer lifetime value (CLV).

As already Marriott Mobile App allows guests to access their room skipping hotel front desk protocol.

Hotels should have by now a connected system that is acquiring, processing and analysing guest data. Turning it into predictive and actionable insights to create a better guests experience.

And the entry of new business models such as alternative accommodation models (Airbnb, house trips, etc.…) which are changing the consumer perception of traditional hospitality. But it is time now to take on board technology that other industries had already integrated and create a better hotel experience.

While it is true that SaaS providers likely store your data on encrypted storage, it is also likely that the SaaS provider maintains control over the encryption keys that are used when accessing the data.

A SaaS provider might sell data (or insights into the data) to advertisers, government agencies, research analysts, or even your competitors.

After all, data leakage and breaches can have devastating financial consequences, and companies simply cannot afford to take a chance on a cloud provider that plays games with subscriber data.

Fifty percent of full-service restaurant operators said they have added digital menu access via QR codes since March 2020, according to NRA’s 2021 State of the Industry Report. But it hasn’t become a point of differentiation in the mind of the consumer — only 1 in 5 diners said the option of accessing a restaurant’s menu through their phone or a QR code would make them more likely to choose one restaurant over another in the next few months. 

"People were less inclined to look up drinks, cocktails and wine through the QR code, so more often than not we would drop the beverage menu with each guest [that featured] a QR code for the food menu, and if they wanted a [physical] food menu it was available upon request."

The functionality of an NFC tag or a QR code on a table brings so much digital transformation opportunity that maybe the aesthetic that used to be a primary concern is now a secondary concern."

among diners who plan to eat inside a dining room or fast food concept in the next few months, 64% say they would sit in the section that offers traditional table service

Allowing diners to order and pay at their tables without a waiter, however, could have a material impact on sales and diner satisfaction, he said, because it takes pressure off restaurant employees and diners when the dining room is very busy.

There was a stat we were able to generate that paying on your own device rather than waiting for a server to drop off the check actually saves 21 minutes of table time on average across our network… and that’s great for a restaurant because they have the ability to increase their revenue per hour per seat,

Digital integration at the table also primes diners to become more loyal customers and gives restaurants greater customer ownership in and outside of the restaurant

I can automatically redeem my offers and my coupons from a loyalty program. And from a digital transformation transformation perspective, I'm now a user within that restaurant's ecosystem," May said. "So that means online I can be provided offers that are tailored and personalized to what I had [during] the meal at the restaurant."

Some experts believe that air technology within restaurants could eventually become featured design elements as well.

According to NRA data, 85% of adults believe going out to a restaurant with family or friends is a better use for down time than cooking at home, and 67% of consumers surveyed between Dec. 4-6 reported they aren’t using restaurants as much as they’d like.