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This article discussed some of the biggest cyber security threats to the hotel industry. One of the biggest threats is that of the POS system, this is not new but we should still watch over it. Another threat that is old is a phishing scam the scams are getting more sophisticated now, hackers get into the email accounts of executives and order large transactions to be made. Internal protocols cannot wipe of the hack but can minimize the risk of employees falling for the fake emails. Ransomware and DDos are also hacks though not as common they still carry big risks.

Several different hotel chains have fallen victim to hackers who have stolen the personal information of their guests therefore Hyatt is taking matters into their own hands. The hotel chain is offering a bug bounty program via HackerOne which will reward ethical hackers with monetary compensation for reporting flaws in their network and programs. They will then take the information that these hackers provide them with & work to strengthen the weaknesses in their cyber security.

The cloud will provide the digital infrastructure for the cities of tomorrow, where an estimated 6 billion of the world's population will live by 2045. A commercial aviation cloud will help airlines. A utilities cloud will automatically repair faults in the power grid to ensure a smooth supply of power to homes and businesses. A banking cloud will scan thousands of transactions per second to prevent fraud. The cloud will help society cope with growing volumes of data. High definition video will account for 89% of individual user traffic by 2025, of which image and video content will be for non-entertainment purposes. The cloud will support the emerging artificial intelligence technologies which will be adapted to mobile use, notably the cell phones which overlook PC sales in 2011. Although driverless cars are still a ways off, it will be realized soon, thanks to the power of the cloud.

This article discusses POS systems and the positive effect that it has on the hospitality industry. Not only do they assist the customers by enabling them through the choice of purchases, but it also makes the service a lot quicker. The advancement in POS Systems also assist servers within the industry by way of making their jobs a little smoother, instead of replacing the server and his or her role. POS systems are also sale drivers and assist the hospitality industry by way of knowing what sells the most, what a customer likes the most, and also by way of loyalty programs.

technological advances are changing the way we live our lives - and for the hospitality industry, the most dramatic developments are taking place thanks to the latest, highly sophisticated POS systems. Today's guests and customers are now accustomed to personalized service that is smoother and more efficient than ever before, thanks to better customer data and faster payment systems that eliminate the laborious processes of the past. They have contactless, pre-pay and mobile ordering.

This article provides 8 tips on how to email marketing. Email marketing which is a part of e-marketing is a great way to reach customers, the service is also cost effective and time efficient. The main ways to optimize emails are to get a an organic list of contacts to make sure they do not end up in the junk bin. Next the emails should be functional they should be mobile friendly and the links should work. In regards to the content it should contain more than just rate specials they can contain events or insider city tips and they should be targeted at the correct audience. Finally the sender should test it out by receiving one first.

According to Rob Hard, sustainability awareness has grown quite substantially. Now it is a must for for all employees in the industry, not only leaders, to extend their knowledge in sustainability practices. This article focuses on event planners and how understanding a hotel green initiatives can help make their selection of a hotel to be in the clients interest. Nowadays, hotels are slowly transitioning into becoming a green hotel for this reason. Some few initiatives that were talked about were the following: energy conservation, water conservation, bottled water alternatives, and recycling and waste reduction.

The right property management system plays a key roles in the success of any hotel. Property management systems store guests' information which helps make for a pleasurable stay at the hotel. On the back end having the proper property management system can be key tool in making a successful stay at the hotel. The front end has software that handles the point of sale, account receivable, banquets, conferences, restaurant, housekeeping, inventory, payroll, among other apps and modules that connect to make the hotel run successful smooth. The information that is stored in these systems generate reports that the hotel can review for decision making. Much like other software, technology can be exhausting at times when it doesn't do what we want it to do. The hotel software market is full of many different option management can choose do off with. A few things a hotel should consider when choosing software should be: How many modules will your new hotel software offer? Does your new property management system have third party products merged into it? Is your hotel software compatible with third party software? Does your property management system help you enhance revenue? Considering all these questions while choosing a new property management system can help management choose the best system that will be most beneficial for the hotel. As someone who has been part of choosing a PMS it is very important to consider everything. Every vendor tells you why theirs is the best. It takes a lot of time to review everything and determine what system will work best for the company. I think where companies go wrong when getting a new system is training. The companies I've worked for often do very little training. I think lack of training for employees contributes to employees not using systems correctly and to full capacity which causes errors in reports. As a sales director, I often read reports and knew the information wasn't correct and it was due to input error. This

This article was very interesting and it gives advice to any person thinking about opening a hotel in what software you can use. A hotel software is extremely important because that has all the guest information and store there experience that they had at the hotel. You have to see what software you want to implement when changing the hotel management system or property management system you need to know who is selling it to you and what is included in the software. If you are just getting a new system, you have to make sure that everything you already have is included and more. You also have to make sure that the software you get is compatible with a third party hardware. A hotel software system can make you or break you in a hotel. You really have to know the vendor that is selling you the software and make sure that they have experience with the software. The better the software that you have in the hotel, the smoother the hotel will run.

The article talks about the importance of using a PMS or Property Management System. The use of a property management system is very important to the success of a property. The article is also able to aid those who looking to implement a property management system by helping them narrow down what they will need. The article poses questions toward the reader to see what they are looking for in a PMS.

I found this article interesting as we are on the verge of changing over a large portion of our payment system in restaurants here in United States. A large portion of our European industry has already made this move and the technology wave that is in the process of trying to sweep through restaurants is interesting. The dining experience includes the payment process... and the whole thing is very ritualistic, so this represents a larger shift than just switching out payment terminals and SOP's. The article itself really goes into the valuation of the wireless pos terminal industry. The discussion of needed software and hardware. Its all about credit card and personal security when you are allowing access to businesses to your bank for the payment process.

This article tells us about the fact, that now days the global hospitality industry is one of the industries which is most frequently targeted by hackers. In order to avoid any attacks there must be tighter control across a hotel and its network of partners. So the main 3 aspects which will help to avoid attacks are: -assess risks everywhere -protect the POS system -find malware and keep data protected

With Disney hotels already having incorporated the use of smart technology in wristbands to make purchases and enter hotel rooms without a key card, it was only a matter of time before technology in other forms started to trickle in to make guests' stays easier and more accommodating. In this article, the introduction of Ivy, a 24-hour virtual concierge service, is discussed. Caesar's Entertainment Las Vegas Resorts are the first, according to the article, to debut this technology. It is also the first text message service that has artificial intelligence built-in. So, in other words, during their stay, guests have (assuming they have an iPhone) two Siri's. According to the information provided in the article, it's as simple as guests having the ability to send text messages if and when they need something. In over 6,000 rooms of the Caesar's Entertainment Resorts, Ivy is currently live. Already this February, it is expected to expand to Planet Hollywood Las Vegas. The SVP, Michael Marino, asserted that the new technology allows for the hotel to increase the quality of the guests' experience and improve efficiency. It is automatic, so as soon as guests provide their phone numbers, they are greeted with a text message from Ivy prompting them to text her with any questions or concerns they may have during their stay at the hotel. Surveys are also held during the stay so that if anything is going wrong or a guest is unhappy, the circumstances can be improved in the moment. Overall, the use and implementation of this new technology is an example of technology boosting productivity, speed and efficiency in the customer service aspect of the hospitality industry.

This article takes a look at 3 to 5 star hotels in Zimbabwe and South Africa and their environmentally friendly practices. Research shows that the hotel industry has a huge impact on the environment and the use of natural resources. The hotel industry has been negatively impacting the environment by consuming large amount of energy and water, and by producing large amounts of waste. The government has been demanding that hotels implement green practices, these are methods and products that do not negatively impact the environment. The results from the data collected from these two countries showed that none of the hotels had a written green management policy. Even though some of the hotels insisted that there is a green management policy in effect, it was not written down. It is important for policies like this to be written so there is a clear understanding of what is expected.

It seems the main motivation to implement more eco-friendly practices would be legislation/regulation but I wonder how that would be received? Outside the hotel industry,. I wonder how much focus is generally given to environmental concerns? Interesting research.

This article discusses the increasing demand for e-commerce and third party delivery in the food and beverage industry, as well as the costs associated with it. Restaurants are currently facing a growth problem in the United States as foot traffic has declined due to a "millennial generation shift" that sees diners doing more in their homes, while third party companies like Grubhub have seen it's stock rise 141 percent from a year ago. For many restaurants, it is a matter of opportunity cost. As explained in this article by Warren Solocheck, a restaurant industry analyst at NPD, "We're going to see more and more quick-service chains begin to try out delivery," he said. "The margins associated with third-party delivery may be slimmed down. But, the question for restaurants is, 'If I don't do it and I'm not delivering my food, am I in the game anymore? Am I in people's consideration? It boils down to being an opportunity cost. The hope is that at some point people will like the food enough to come in and sit down." I found this article very interesting as a General Manager. We recently decided as a brand to begin offering delivery through third party services as we noticed a decline in covers leading to a decline in revenue. This new revenue stream, although at a higher cost, still brings in revenue that we would be missing out on either way. We also offer free appetizer cards for a consumer's next in house visit to help attract new guests.

The article highlights the recent security concerns regarding travel to the Dominican Republic. The article gives key safety tips to take, not just for the current level 2 alert but for any international travel as an appropriate security plan of long distance traveling.

This article talks about Mews, a start-up company, receiving a huge investment after there showing of "the first property management systems built for the internet era." Basically, a system that keeps track of all the hotel's check-in, check-outs, and transactions, this is an important system for those hotels who intend to keep up with the ever-changing digital age that we are in. This article focuses on the landscape of many of these types of tech groups who are all competing as well as the growth of this tech company and how they came up with this idea. Though with all new technology, there could be a potential drawback of data hackers mining for information. Thus, it is up to this group to prevent these problems while rolling out their new technology.

Current hospitality trends within the hospitality industry. These current trends are bringing awareness to cloud base storage, application mobility, social media marketing, and integration of amenity software. Companies are now outsourcing its IT department to minimize operating expense.

@corrie242 these six trends discussed are very important to keep efficiencies and competitive advantage, and I can confirm that at the Hotel company I work for, most of these are all in use. The social media use and monitoring has been a big shift in how we have changed the way we capture our guests' sentiment from comment cards being left or mailed to the hotel, to being able to receive immediate feedback in a very public way such as through Tripadvisor, Open Table, Facebook, Twitter, etc. We employ a digital media manager who assists in monitoring all that is said about us through these different channels so we can respond and try to stay on top of what is being commented.

This article was a very interesting read and focuses on the savings and improvements that technology can deliver by outlining six trends. The main item that peaked my interest was the trend of Cloud / Software as a Service (SaaS) or cloud computing. I have been introduced to this concept over recent discussions with a close family member. Like the article noted, the argument that was given by my relative in support of this system was that this concept is the new way to go in information technology. This option is very cost efficient and like the article mentioned it has no initial hardware costs or associated expenses like full time, in-house IT staff to maintain the system. It can also allow management of your network system to be done offsite giving hospitality operators the time to service their guests more efficiently and effectively. With technology constantly changing it is very important for hospitality operators to be aware of the emerging trends in the industry. These trends can aid in considerable growth and improvements that can be beneficial to their businesses.

These 7 features really help put into practice what a hotel needs to run successfully. It takes what we learned in class and puts it in a hotel perspective. Each of these features are needed in any and all hotels. The 7 features listed are all parts of the different software types we learned about. To summarize it first starts with the type of software you will have cloud or on-premise. The second feature is the guest experience management which helps keep guest profiles. Things like what they like or don't like if they are returning guests. The third is housekeeping and maintenance which is very important for a hotel to keep track of. Number 4 is OTA integration. Being able to connect to OTA's easily and seamlessly. The fifth is payment processing. Very important as you need to have a way to ring up a guests credit card. Number 6 is review management. Reviews are very important these days you need to have a system to keep track and reply. And the last one is wearable integration. Wearables are integration tech that helps add other features to your system.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is and will continue to be a huge part of the hospitality/tourism industry. Hotels are barely scratching the surface of what this network can accomplish at full capacity as we still have some places that still manually put in data onto their software. With IoT, we are taking control of many aspects of the day to day operations of a hotel. From using key cards on your phone via Bluetooth, sensors checking out if there is anyone in the room, and other neat futures; hotels are optimizing so they can focus more on customer service and other pressing matters. My opinion though on the matter, which is one that is reflected at the end of the article, is we can't have too much reliance on IoT. If the system fails is obviously the worst part, but could happen to jobs on the property. Would staff get retrained or let go? Do we get to a point where the hotel can run on its own? Obviously, these are questions that might be way in the future, but with the rapid growth of this network, it might be time to think about it.

This article outlines the advance of Facial recognition capabilities and technology in the Hospitality Industry. The amazing advance of combining a persons visual image and being able to tie it to data on the back end and come up with the means to truly personalize the product and provide efficiencies to the guest is truly remarkable. The 30s check in claim that the adopting company Shijin was touting truly seems possible. This technology could be extrapolated to Hotel security systems for rooms, marketing, especially proximity marketing that be recognized in all of the hotel venues and of course simple customer recognition by staff. I do however see a privacy issue related to the retention of this data and of course consumers may vote no with their feet in the North American or European markets, but for hoteliers it does offer a tantalizing breath of options to innovate.