Hospitality industry operators often collect information to better serve their customers.  Information may be collected during various touch points, including employee-guest interactions, the company website, and through business partners, and may include personal identifiable information, preferences, groups with which customers are affiliated, etc.  While customers understand that sharing their personal information helps businesses better serve their needs, they also have a right to know how that personal information is being collected, used and shared.

Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change:  A Proposed Framework for Business and Policymakers

This final report calls on Congress to enact general privacy, data security and breach notification, and data broker legislation in order to protect consumer privacy.

A majority of consumers expect to use technology to order food at restaurants more often in the coming year, and very few (just 3 percent) expect to use it less than they currently do, signaling opportunity for operators who haven’t already integrated the latest technologies into their business.

consumers express the most interest in tableside touchscreen devices that enable them to self-order and pay, iPad/tablet menus and digital rewards tied to loyalty programs.  

but also receptive to trying an array of new technologies at their favorite restaurants,

hotel SalesPro Mobile

hotel SalesPro Mobile gives traveling sales teams the perfect tool to close more business.

Now sales people have secure mobile access to comprehensive account and property information including current property group and meeting space availability.

all five of its locations were required to be Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant

According to American Express, Level 2 merchants process anywhere from 250,000 to one million American Express transactions annually. Therefore, it is paramount that retailers protect the data being transmitted.

Card accepting merchants are required to comply with these data security standards.

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The RTI Total Oil Management® (TOM) solution eliminates the often messy and time-consuming process of manually handling oil, while maximizing food quality and bottom line.

Eliminating the “grease shuttle” removes a kitchen safety hazard.

that current POS were not well integrated into other IT systems (28%); that the POS is not ready to grow with their company (26%); and that it is difficult to add additional modules or functionalities to the current POS (30%).

negative perceptions of wireless POS have given way to a more positive outlook

E-wallet payment was the most widely recognized new payment option with 36% of respondents indicating they wanted it with their next POS.

Hilton, InterContinental, Starwood and Golden Tulip have all made strides in the past year in consolidating their property management systems and integrating the systems with other technology components, all of which will enhance distribution and guest data capabilities.

to ramp up their system to operate large hotels.

Schrils pointed to another trend of managing systems out of a central location rather than within each hotel. It's another method of improving consistency, and such negotiated items outside of rates as free high-speed Internet access can be managed out of a centralized system, he said.

A quick check on 10 features that you should be looking for in a web based property management system are listed below

1. Web Reservation

. Revenue Management:

In many ways ecommerce is more competitive than hospitality – with more focus on price and less flexibility to differentiate your offering with an exceptional guest experience.

Focus on the landing pages

ensure your hotel description pages are very compelling.

As the number of hotel guests expected to start booking travel via mobile is anticipated to double to more than 15 million this year, the need for hotels to put forth a sleek mobile presence is now more critical than ever.

Make mobile booking easy and clean

A mobile site should be accessible and a room should be bookable within a few clicks.

Fotopedia, the publisher of popular iOS apps, and Expedia, the world's leading online travel agency, unveiled their first collaboration by introducing the ability for people to easily find and book a hotel from anywhere within Fotopedia’s applications.

An Expedia icon is now available on every image within these Fotopedia apps, giving people the ability to view the hotels near the landmark they are currently viewing and reserve a room.

Now, when viewing a photo of a specific point of interest, people can click one button that will launch the Expedia Hotels application and help them find a hotel nearby. And in the event that the user does not already have the Expedia Hotels app, they will be directed to the App Store to download it for free.