Maritz Travel Company have recently chosen to use Cvent Cloud Event Management System. Due to Maritz Travel Company Maritz Travel books an annual of 1.2 million hotel room nights for meeting and travel program where they use Cvent which will increase attendee and decrease cost for their clients. The Cvent software helps control time consuming task which helps event planners focus on meeting strategies goal.

Some of the major concern hotel such as Houston hotel are facing is robbery. A lot of the older locks in the hotel are so old that it may be easy to rob precious items from the guest rooms. NFC has a new lock where the newer lock does not have an encryption code, instead the guest will get a new code from the front desk. The new lock ensure that hackers can not easily hack into a guest rooms. In addition, the new NFC-compatible locks help guests skip the check in process at the front desk and instead use their mobile phone to open their guest room doors and check themselves into the hotel.

Just last year Shangri-La have launched a mobile application for its diverse guests to make reservation on their smart phone. The application is  available in Ipad and android phone. Guest can view special promotion and their membership points (Golden Circle). Guests can redeem their points to book complimentary nights for their next stay. In addition, the applications will have built in QR code scanner.  Shangri-La plans to add features in the first quarter of 2013, that include room text, voice message, special requests, local weathers and to set up wake up calls. User that download the application can also share stories about their stay in "Your Circle". 

Harbortouch and Tabbedout have joined forces to develop a touch screen POS systems that can be pay by using your mobile phone. The POS system was developed to help business generate more revenue while increasing guest satisfaction. Tabbedout let restaurant know what are the frequent items guests love to order and these information help restaurant understand their guests more. In addition, Tabbedout let mobile user input any feedback about their dining experience. Both Tabbedout and Harbortouch help restaurant focus more on food quality and delivering their food to the dining table quicker. Tabbledout also give guests coupon to invite them again in the near future for another dining experience.

This article by Leo Huang suggest ideas, base on his research at Taiwan, on how to generate more revenue in Bed & Breakfast market by having eCommerce. Mr. Huang send out survey to B&B that have less then 15 rooms in Taiwan to get an insight on eCommerce development in local area. Mr. Huang was able to obtain 51.32% of the target population and a total sample size of 302 B&B owner survey. At the end of the research, Mr. Huang recommend B&B owner should work with travel industry when developing their eCommerce strategy. Mr. Huang also suggest that owner should seek partners to attracts customers during off season and to have a strong pricing strategy. Base on the research result, B&B business will get resource, competitive and performance advantages by having eCommerce The research also say that it increases sales and better in ROI.

This article talks about the benefit of having Energy management system. Wisuite USA technology can save owner money by using their energy management system. The system interface with the PMS to adjust the temperature of a guest room when a guest check in or out of a hotel. It can also let the engineer department know when to change the filter base on the data they get. The data they get from the system can also adjust the room temperature to the guest comfort level. I feel that the this energy saving system is a great system for the hotel industry. It doesn't make sense to leave the air conditioner on at 50 degree Fahrenheit when the guest check out and it save the housekeeping team time from having to adjust the temperature to the right temperature.

The first and last impression upon guest check in/out process plays a critical role in guest satisfaction and experience. Throughout the hospitality industry, the Valet department is the first and last department guests interact when they pick up or drop off their car. This article offer some technology and software that the hotel industries can use to enhance guest Valet experience. One of the major problem Valet department face is locating the car and the car keys when the guests come in to pick up their car. To reduce the traffic time that are spend in locating the car and car keys, this article recommend a hand held device that comes with a software suites to enhance guest wait time experience. The Valet attendant would enter guest information which will then transfer this information to the hotel wirelessly. Furthermore, this hand held device could scan the Car VIN number or license plates to eliminate error in typing information into the device. This device also remind Valet attendant to input the location of where the car was parked and confirm that the key are secure. I feel that this device will save Valet attendant time in serving the guests. Attendant will take less time in inputting the number of the license plate and can track the location of where the car was park easier and faster. An Automated parking access and revenue control system is also introduced in the article. This system helps parking facilities save money where guests can process their ticket at the pay station instead of having a cashier to process their ticket upon departures. Guests can pay the bill and leave without making any stop at the exit to make payment. This system will be great amenity for business traveler that have a limited time yet hotel should not use this system to cut labor expenses. Such system should be offer but guest should have the access to talk to a Valet attendant to obtain their bill and provide feedback about their Valet experience and overall hotel exper