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This is a company that is leading the way in IT related event planning technology.

I believe that the increase in Caribbean hotel's net operating income indicates that more travelers are now traveling to these destinations compare to few years ago. Coming back from the economical downtime, the hospitality is now seeing increases of revenue after the depression since 2008.Caribbean is an unique place for travel, and often required air/ sea transit for travelers all over the world. Thus also encouraged the purchase decision for airline and cruise services. And by adopting technology to being green, the hotel is able to reduce the utility cost. And we are seeing more new hotels under construction in the Caribbean region.

Properties throughout the Caribbean have offered amazing deals for quite some time, but during the economic downturn, a Caribbean vacation was either unfeasible or seemed like an unnecessary extravagance for the average consumer. Despite incentives to visit, the $4/gallon fuel cost has hit us all in the wallet. This is reflected in an enormous increase in airfare and makes having a rental car that much more difficult. I wish the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry all the best, but I don't think we're going to see a full recovery for the next few years.

Great article! I might biased but I love Hilton Chain. In the article they go on to say how they are taking the mobile frenzy to the hotels! They will be implementing not only apps but allowing guests to checkin/out with their phones, and use their phone to open the door. 

Meeting industry is fast growing industry in nowadays. It can generate a lot of revenues and provide a large amount of job opportunities for the nation. And the trend of this industry is technology based. Meeting planers and suppliers prefer electronically communication. And video conference is becoming more and more popular. It is safe to say that in today' meeting and convention industry, venues that continues to advance their technological assets will continue to enjoy a competitive advantages over those that go without.

A recent study by the top-ranked School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University has found that certification by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, also known as LEED certification, actually provides a boost in revenue for hotels. The Council takes various factors into account prior to certifying a hotel, including "water efficiency, energy use, and indoor environmental quality. When compared to 514 non-certified hotels, the 93 hotels afforded LEED certification excelled in their gross income based on the average daily rate (ADR) standard. Over a time of two years, the LEED-certified hotels outperformed their non-certified competitors. In fact, LEED-certified hotels were able to match the levels of occupancy of non-certified hotels in a single year. Since LEED certification in the hospitality industry is fairly new, there is little empirical evidence to further back the conclusions of this particular study. Though LEED certification of hotels has actually declined since 2010, I believe that the more hotel controllers start to understand its benefits, the quicker we will see it adopted as an industry standard. It is worth noting that this study specifically focused on 93 upscale and luxury properties, but compared them to nearly five times as many hotels without certification. I think a more accurate study will divide up hotels based on their pricing category (budget, midscale, upscale, luxury, extended stay, etc.) and compare the benefits of LEED certification with that in mind. Lastly, it is unclear if the study found any higher level of consumer preference for LEED certified hotels. Instead, the benefits seem to come with the standards that LEED certified hotels must meet, in turn resulting in lower expenditures. Perhaps more sophisticated customers at luxury properties are more keen to environmental protection and stewardship, and thus take LEED certification into account. However, I believe that most of

Digital technology has revolutionized our way of life, our very existence. With the prevalence of smart phones, the lines between physical and virtual market places are getting blurred due to e-commerce, show-rooming and brick and click. Typically to find a local business, customers use a smart phone, social recommendations, opt-in push notifications and retargeted ads from websites previously visited. Enter Proximity Marketing: It describes location technologies for attracting customers by direct communication on their smart-phones or Bluetooth or GPS enabled devices. It provides the right promotions at the right place and time for the right price. This not only reaches customers, it converts them. Statistics show, ads served in the vicinity of the store tends to get 5X more conversions. With omnichannel browsing, personalized buying patterns of consumers are used along with techniques such as NFC, geofencing, beacons, social checking and retargeting to capture business. Using this 4R principle, Centaream, the new Proximity Marketing mobile marketing platform will start facilitating business for merchants by October 2018 in the U.S.A, Singapore and India. In my opinion, proximity marketing makes sense and should be a big success.

Marriott's data breach which affected more then 500 million accounts raises questions about cyber security in the hospitality industry. Hotels are in the business of maximizing revenue and unfortunately cyber security is a cost rather than a profit therefore it is sometimes overlooked. However, companies in the hospitality can take steps the strengthen their cyber security and ultimately protect the data of their customers.

Going green not only helps the environment, but it invests in communities and the environment.  Many guests are looking for places to stay that offer more green trends.  

This article makes me very proud, as I work for 1 Hotel South Beach and know that this Hotel definitely practices what they preach. They have been awarded LEED Silver (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) which was developed by the U.S. Green Council (USGBC). The hotel has a very unique and simple design. The guest rooms are designed with left over construction materials from its surrounding resources. The use of wood, natural material, leather, and stone, silk, linen, cotton are what make our facility so earthy and green. 1 Hotel hopes to start a trend in the Hotel industry by following the sustainable practices that our Hotel makes. More than 82,000 commercial institutional projects are actively participating in LEED. This is huge! and means that the trend 1 Hotel has started is being adopted by other companies.

Even though the wine industry was once considered more of a "boy's club", woman are now leading the way in the growing Natural Wine Movement as a market dedicated to organic ingredients and sustainable practices continues to emerge. This is largely due to the fact that women outnumber men as the lead consumer of wine in both retail and restaurant bottle purchases, as well as several studies that suggest that woman eat/drink more nutritiously than their male counterparts. This has led to organic and biodynamic wines growing at rates between 10 percent and 20 percent per year in volume from 2013 to 2016, and organic vineyards almost tripling word wide over the last decade. Being in charge of the Beverage Ordering and Menu Creation at my restaurant, I have seen first hand the increase demand for organic and biodynamic wines. It has become so prevalent that I have begun printing menus with asterisks to highlight which of our wines fall into either of these categories. According to a Mintel Study, 60 percent of millennials and 55 percent of Gen-Xers are concerned about harmful ingredients in their food and groceries. With millennials constituting for 36 percent of wine consumers, according to a report by Beverage Dynamics, it is a essential that both the restaurant and wine industries continue to cater and adept to our consumers wants and needs. It would only make sense that Women are the ones leading this growing trend, as they constitute the majority of the market for it as well.

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.

RoomOrders is now available for free trails in the United States offering a digital menu in the cloud to streamline food and beverage options. The web app helps answer hotel dilemmas as well as solving problems which include language barriers, reprinting menus, and customer satisfaction with signal and unresourceful staff members.

Airbnb has paired with several of their hosts to offer free housing for individuals affected by Hurricane Dorian. This program was started back when Hurricane Sandy took affect but they have decided to bring back this concept and help those in need. In hospitality we must offer what we can at all times with arms open and Airbnb is offering shelter to those that lost it all.

This article goes over the idea of zero waste. It continues on to explain what it means and how hotels are adapting to it.

The article discusses the advancement of digital payments as a direct result of the pandemic. It discusses how cash use is on a steady decline as nearly a third of US adults said they typically make no purchases using cash. Lastly, it emphasizes on how Millennials are the ones leading the charge toward a cashless future and how the impact of the pandemic has led companies like Apple, Square, and Paypal to outstanding performances in the contactless segment.

Sabre Corporation has teamed up with BYHOURS, the leading international platform for hotel microstays, in order to provide Sabre's agency community the ability to sell rooms by the hour through BYHOURS' Sabre Red App. Travel agents using Sabre's GDS will now have access to BYHOURS' content in order to meet the new demand for microstays from buyers who want more options with regards to their stays. This agreement comes as the hospitality and hotel needs have shifted due to COVID-19 conditions that include needing to work and meet remotely and has increased interest in leisure staycations and stopover travel. Customers have the ability to select check-in time, length of stay and pay the time they use the rooms. BYHOURS is headquartered in Barcelona and has a second office in Mexico City which serves as the hub for Latin America and the U.S. The agreement with Sabre reinforces their objective to open up the North American market.

This article focuses on the ways AI and automation can help the hospitality industry get back on track by helping guests to feel safe while they travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. By using different software guests can have a contactless check-in, request digital room keys, use AI based devices to control lighting/TV and/or make housekeeping/front desk requests, and housekeeping can use electrostatic sprayers to help mitigate the chances of guests contracting or spreading COVID. It notes the losses in revenue and occupancy by several major hotelier groups, especially some Las Vegas properties, as well the high number of furloughed employees that COVID has caused while showcasing ways that hotel groups can help get back on track by easing the fears of guests. It offers data to show that through these technologies, guests are returning because the feel their safety concerns have been addressed. comment by Jwilc019 " https://diigo.com/0ica77

The Hospitality industry have been greatly impacted over the years by the advancements made in technology. Customers have everything assessable by the click of a button or utilization of an app. Various software is being created to provide for quick and easy service but in turn takes away from the personal experiences.

This article is about the new advances in technology and investing whether it has been taken too far. It analyzes the new advancements such as apps where reservations are made. These new technologies have been made to enhance experience but not replace the warm feeling that hospitality gives you. The article concludes that we haven't taken it too far, instead it has made guest experience better. Especially when it comes to checking in, and not having to wait a huge line when you just want to get to your room.

As we learned this week, technology is impacting the hospitality industry. As the article states- "improving a guest's experience depends on the ability to identify the individual guest's preferences." This reminded me of the Smart Bar video we watched this week. Technology can enhance the quality of experience. However, depending on the businness/ company- most people would be unwilling to put a an investment into tech unless they see a significant uptake from the technology. Even though technology plays a major role in the industry, it has not completely took over human interaction.