Hotels collect large amounts of data from guests staying at their hotel directly and through third parties. As hotels continue to invest into technology to improve their guests' experience technology can also lead to more breaches. When guests use their smartphone to customize their stay by ordering room service, planning activities or purchasing upgrades it increases the chances of a breach and allows the hotel to collect more data. Multiple systems that a hotel uses can also create potential risks. Hotels need to take control, prepare for the inevitable, respond to breaches and create a culture of security.

I remember when we used to stay in hotels when they started being greener by suggesting their hotel guests to reuse towels and only put them on the floor if they wished for them to be replaced. In today's world with so much technology hotels can be more successful at being eco friendly. This is a must because consumers are wanting to see hotels implement more impactful eco-friendly efforts. The article talks about how hotels are making the switch by renewable energy production, smart energy management and food waste management technology. These are just some ways that hotels have started using to improve sustainable practices with use of technology.

A question we have all been asking is how can our data that we share be safe with businesses as technology continues to improve and progress into the hospitality industry. Biometrics are biological measurements or physical characteristics that are used to identify individuals like fingerprint mapping or facial recognition. Marriott hotels in China are already using facial recognition technology for checking in and charging the room fee and deposit to the guest's account. Many hotels also use biometrics for their IT operations. The closer connection between biometric methods and the user the security is greater. A person's phone is effectively safer than a hotel's facial recognition system and provides increased security of data.

Technology has been present in the travel and hospitality industry for years but only until the pandemic has it really blossomed. Technology is changing the way we travel and it's going to accelerate with VR in a post-pandemic environment. Countries like Germany and Ireland are turning to VR to capture visitors virtually and this results in them actually booking tickets with the goal of one day visiting the country. VR technologies are a cost-effective method to help people feel more comfortable and more willing to travel.

This article talked about the importance of travel agents. Before the pandemic people often thought that travel agencies weren't necessary was a dying career, however since this past year they have really proven their worth and won't be going away any time soon. Travel agents were able to cancel trips and get their customers money refunded or switched gears and planned a different trip for the future. Using the internet to cut out the middleman and save money isn't always the best way to plan a trip and the pandemic proved this.

Before the pandemic, companies were afraid to invest in cloud due to the concerns of the cost, time, and security. But in today's world technology is something companies need to adopt. It's time for travel companies to see the cloud for what it is, the passport to future value. All sections can benefit from this technology including hotels, airlines, and airports. This is the best time to invest into technology to benefit the industry by taking a deep relook at strategy, organization, practices, technology, and talent function. As travel is being rebuilt, cloud-related investments will deliver higher returns on capital than investment in new aircraft, new hotels, and new ships. This is the perfect time to invest into cloud adoption.

The hospitality industry struggled to survive during covid, and they are still fighting by incorporating technology to improve traveler's confidence during this pandemic and still managing to make a profit for the company. They are using technologies to keep both guests and employees safe during this time. Technology features that used to be a bonus are now becoming a necessity in the hotel industry. As the hotel industry adopts to these changes, this is likely to be the new norm instead of eventually reverting to the old normal. This goes past digital check-in and check-out. New technologies are being used like e-newspapers or magazines for guests to use instead of picking one up in the lobby. This includes contactless payments, scannable QR codes for the restaurant menus and chatbots or live-chats with the on-property staff. These new technological advancements can allow a guest to completely skip the front desk and most human interactions all together if they chose to.