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This article is about the discussion of HOSPACE expansion. HOSPA(Hospitality Professionals Association for Finance, Revenue Management and IT) and its partner HFTP(Hospitality Financial Technology Professionals) decided to make another big development for HOSPACE. I think the alliance of this two organization will create better resuts and improvement for the financial technology in the future.

Information technology serves a big party in keeping up with the latest trends especially in the restaurant sector of the hospitality industry. Restaurants owners have seen an increase in revenue from partnering with application developers to create online ordering applications for mobile devices. Consumer data collected from these mobile applications for online ordering most be processed properly especially if employees are in the mix. Companies must ensure that their property management system integrates efficiently and properly with the application that is being developed to ensure proper completion of orders.

SocialTables is one of the latest and most successful hospitality start-ups. It is essentially a hospitality SaaS. It was founded by Dan Berger, an event-planner turned programmer. Founded in 2012 and based in Washington D.C., one of the premier corporate hospitality locations in the US, the start-up has recently raised $8 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, and followed by Thayer Ventures. This funding adds to the previous $1.6 million the company raised, which helped them streamline their event planning tools. According to its website, SocialTables is a cloud-based solution that offers event diagramming, seating, and check-in tools for event planners. The software can make room layouts that event planners can use to show clients, compose detailed seating charts and arrangements, and it offers a fast check-in app. All of this is done on a colorful, intuitive, cloud-based site with mobile integration. In two years, SocialTables has grown considerably. It has over 2,500 customers and 30,000 users. Additionally, two-thirds of its customer base is actually composed of venue-owners, including major corporations like Hyatt Hotels and Caesar's Entertainment. Academic institutions like Harvard Business School and The Ohio State University also subscribe to SocialTables. Additionally, one-third of its customers are private party planners. SocialTables is becoming an affordable, customizable, tech-progressive solution for event planners of all levels. Industry leaders like Hyatt and Caesar's already subscribe to its services. In the future, I think that the start-up should focus on increasing its ability to provide affordable and capable solutions for private event planners, particularly in the wedding category. While that is an extremely competitive and saturated market, SocialTables could provide an industry-leading software solution and use its credibility to entice private planners into its cloud-based ecosystem.

MobileDemand and Peak-Ryzex have recently announced that they have partnered up to enable Peak-Ryzex to integrate MobileDemand tablet Pcs into their portfolio of supply chain and mobility solutions. MobileDemand is a worldwide provider of tablet PCs. They are better known for their ruggedized products. Peak-Ryzex is one of the top providers of supply chain and mobility solutions. This partnership allows for companies to make business decisions and complete business transactions in the mist of it all. With the tablet's special design, it has the potential to last longer than others with daily use. The tablet is built with the user in mind; specialized docks allowing for better productivity. Tools such as a tablet made to withstand harsh conditions is a particle and mush needed product in the hospitality industry, more so in the Food & Beverage industry. A ruggedized tablet would allow a chef to focus more on the meal they are creating rather than the tablet falling or breaking.

Even though the GDS had reformed the distribution system of the travel industry, will it continue to grow and update it's current model to upkeep the growing age of tourism? The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is looking for newer ways to revolutionize the travel industry. Tony Tyler, IATA CEO, feels that the Global Distribution System (GDS) is lacking upgrades and says "the GDS model is too clunky to adapt easily to the emergence of trends". As a result, the IATA is working on a new distribution capability (NDC) that will enable the industry to become on trend with online retailers and transform distribution. However, the GDS will still play an important role in aiding the NDS to get there. Tyler spoke at the SITA Air Transport IT Summit in Belgium, asking the IT partners to help innovate the air transport industry. He also explained that the IT already did and will continue on doing a great job with facilitating the operational efficiency.

This article is all about Global Distribution Systems (GDS) in the hotel industry. The author defines GDS as an "advanced network of travel agents who specialize in selling and booking travel products, including hotel rooms and packages." The purpose of GDS in hotels is to broadcast their rates, availability and packages onto the network that way everyone is viewing the same thing, it is smart of the GDS operator is within the industry that way they have a better understanding on how to manage different properties. The article mentioned a few reasons why a hotel needs a GDS, some are to help increase revenue and to market other markets. In my opinion as a manager it is very important to know your audience and what your target market is. Many hotels outsource marketing teams and you need to be sure that you are proving them with the correct marketing and you have to be open to branching out to another market if you are not doing well with sales. When selecting a GDS, the article recommends that it have the following requirements: pooled inventory, commission-free structure, integration capabilities, comprehensive reporting, and the ability to target specific markets. I believe these are all very important especially being able to access booking data reports and having the ability to target specific markets. As a manager, you know always know how your occupancy rate of the hotel is and why it is suffering. Could it be because of different crowds that are coming in? Is it a new hotel in the area that is cheaper? You must know all of this in other to compete and be successful in this industry. The benefits of partnering with a hotel GDS are "your exposure will increase significantly, connecting to agents if quick and affordable, you no longer have to deal with manual booking entries, you can make better decisions for your hotel, and you will be able to discover interested travelers from every location around the world." I believe this is very important because a

GDS also knows as global distrbution system is an advanced netwrok that us used by travel agents who sell and book travel products such as hotel rooms and packages for customers. Pretty much, when a hotel operator connects with a GDS, the operator will have access to all agnets within the GDS network such as, Booking.com, Expedia, Hotes.com, and so much more. Hotels that partner with GDS, will be able to promote their rates availability and packages to the GDS network which will then allow travel agent to finalise all reservations to their clients by having the accessibility to the GDS network. Hotels should and need GDS as their distribution strategy because, the number of bookings generated through a GDS generally outpaces that of direct bookings, revenue increases largely because the GDS places the hotel's information, availability and rates in prominent locations where it is easy for travel agents to find this valuable information, the GDS can help hotel managers uncover new market segments to promote their products to, and so much more.

This article was a huge help during my additional research on proximity marketing. The article sums up some pros and cons of the software. I think it did a thorough job on explaining some of the points and definitely peaked my interest to do more research. Proximity Marketing seems cool but at the same time it makes me nervous. As consumers we literally don't get a break to simply just function and be normal. This is our new normal, technology overkill that is supposed to help us and make things easier but at times can seem intrusive.

While reading this article, I found that the statistic pertaining to the notion that 82% mobile market penetration will be anticipated by 2020 in the United States is quite significant. Considering that there is an estimated 40 million messages per year, proximity marketing does indeed sound captivating. Thanks to geolocation tags, they can properly attract consumers such as in the article's example of Macy's with Black Friday. Do you think this type of proximity marketing is attractive to all types of consumers? In my personal opinion, there are certain locations which do not specifically mean that the user wants to be bombarded by messages. For instance, an individual may go to a business meeting in Madison Avenue in New York, and due to the geolocations she may receive messages pertaining to nearby sales. However, these may become a bit too intrusive at times.

StayNTouch which is a mobile hotel PMS technology provider, is partnering with Ruby Hospitality. The owner, Jerry Dicker, chose StayNTouch because it fits in with their mission to deliver a unique high quality product with amazing service at a great value as well as their commitment on forward-thinking innovation.

ISS facility management company is partnering with IBM's Watson to increase the service aspect of different places. ISS is a group that focuses on different services that include cleaning, catering, property services, etc. IBM is a technological company that has its own form of artificial intelligence called Watson. ISS has a plan to place a multitude of sensors all over the interior of a building. This can mean doors, chairs, desks, etc. These sensors are going to monitor everything in the area around them, and report all of the data it obtains using ambient intelligence, or technology that is able to learn from its surroundings. This data will be logged on a blockchain ledger, and analyzed by Watson. With this data, Watson can text guests about the things they need in a room, turn off unused equipment, and calculate how many utensils or plates that guests in a room may need. The focus is not to only lower costs, but improve service as a whole. ISS has already implemented this into their Copenhagen headquarters, and they plan to spread it to over 20,000 more locations.

This is an interesting article which shows the need for hotels to look at their Property Management System software and how it affects associates and their guests. The choice that is made in regards to which system is utilized has a major impact on the need for IT support, training, and issues hotels face due to loss of data from connection issues. As stated, it is important as well to ensure this system is able to help the hotel satisfy the guest's need while staying at the hotel.

It appears that the old mantra "keep it simple stupid" also applies to Property Management Systems as well. The easier a system is to use, the more likely it is that your staff and your guests will be able to take full advantage of it. Often times we can be mislead into believing that "the more complex the system, the better it must be". I disagree. A system that is easy to use, is more likely to be used by your staff and guests. If your staff requires significant training in order to utilize the system, you will waste time and money on this training. If it is too complex, the average guest may not be able to figure it out. It is extremely important to spend a significant amount of time discovering exactly what it is that you want your Property Management System to accomplish. After doing this, find the system that can achieve these goals in the most simplified manner. The time you spend in upfront research will be returned to you in reduced training, and guest satisfaction.

This article was very interesting to read because it shines a light on the fact that hotels need to focus and always improve and manage their PMS systems because it directly effects the employees and guest experience

Duetto (a revenue management platform) and GuestCentric (a all in one hotel digital marketing tool) are partnering up to reach a new level of personalization and guest services on both sides of the scale. For hoteliers and casino owners/management this is very exciting news because now more than ever they will be able to get to know their guests and target them in the most efficient and effective way possible. The goal is to increase customized marketing and get more bookings and return customers.

In regards to Module 2: Post a hospitality/tourism network, telecommunications, or green related article, I chose to post about a green related article and found an awesome article of "Eight Ways Hotels Are Helping To Protect The Environment." In honor of the past April 22's Earth Day, the article displayed the examples for some of the hotels in the United States that were committed to aid in preserving the environment for the hoteliers and guests alike to keep sustainability strong for the respective hospitality companies as well as travelers who are striving to travel with eco-friendly options. Located in Oahu, Hawaii, the Turtle Bay Resort is home to an on-property horse stable, tennis and golf courses, a 15 mile hiking/mountain biking trails, many health conscious classes such as fitness, wellness, and even a surf school. With its advantageous beach location, water adventures such as eco-kayaking, snorkeling, and swimming enable guests to view many of the natural resources, mammals, and endangered species that visit along the shores of the resort. With all of the above activities, it is crucial for this resort to take especially good care of the natural resources that benefit the resort by attracting guests. With that being said, the resort team members initiate beach cleanups every month for about 5 miles of the beach's shoreline. As well, back in 2009, the resort developed a Green Committee to plan and map out methods to reduce the resort's carbon footprint. Some examples of this was adding solar roof panels, convert 70% of the resort's lighting to Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs, initiated recycling for the entire resort, and changed cups utilized at the F&B outlets to environmental friendly options. Located in Leesburg, Virginia, The National Conference Center's food and beverage program partnered with local Virginia Farms to source their food from local farmers to enhance the consumer's yearning for the farm-to-table cuisine. For Earth Day, the company i

This article emphasizes the fact that Chinese consumers is thriving in outbound travel. The number of people in China traveling is expected to increase from the current number of 150 million trips to 700 millions trips in the upcoming five years. With its significant growth, Marriott is taking extra measures to capture the eye of the interest of Chinese travelers. The Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group and Marriott declared a joint venture with their main purpose of building guest loyalty and uplifting the traveling experience for the Chinese market. With the increased income for the average Chinese middle class, traveling to the United States and Europe has become popular. Therefore, enabling "Alipay" through Fliggy (which is Alibaba's travel service platform) assists Chinese consumers to conveniently access digital pay for their trips. This particular venture was a huge stepping stone in forming the relationship with the known e-commerce company. Particular information pertaining to Chinese travelers, such as favored promotions, programs, and content also became more accessible to Marriott as this venture launched. Marriott's owners as well as franchisees are expecting to grasp these information to seize an ever growing Chinese travel market. Although Alipay is only available in certain Asia-Pacific hotels, it is expected to expand to the U.S. markets as well as the European market. Easy to use technology will aid in all steps of the booking process, starting from planning, booking, to paying and even managing a particular trip. Additionally, for Chinese consumers, Alipay, as mentioned above, is the main method of payment for Alibaba. 80% of e-commerce is made in Alibaba. Finally, this joint venture also enhances a crossover loyalty program feature. Through Marriott and Alibaba's loyalty program, point will be exchangeable and redeemable to further enhance consumer satisfaction.

The topic of the article is about the use of Chatbot within the industry and how it could be valuable to e business. Chatbot is a messenger tool that allows for customers to communicate with someone to provide a more personalized and better customer experience when booking online. The article mentions that Chatbot is used on a variety of hotels, airlines and even booking agents to provide a different way of booking trips and experiences. It focuses on providing images, prices and descriptions to enhance the "online shopping experience." (Knight, 2018) The way Chatbot seems to operate through different partners by providing the guest with requests, transportation, last minute reservations and up to date information regarding hotels, airlines, etc. Knight takes into account the potential that Chatbot has in the future to help the hospitality industry grow earnings while positive service. Although, Chatbot seems like the newest way to appeal to those guests that are within the technology wave, i feel like apps like these are already implemented. It is convenient to have the information coming from one source, but hotels brands like Marriott have the mobile app and GXI where you can communicate with someone in assist with creating reservations, add requests and also create a profile that gives the hotel an idea of what someone expects at the hotel. The same goes for those airline apps such as American and Delta, providing similar services. What i do take into consideration is that bots like these where it be a direct bot or Chatbot are being used more and more daily to enhance the experience a customer receives which helps to increase sales for the industry.

The Augustine Casino in Austin, Texas has partnered with Epicor Software Corporation in order to expand their business capabilities. Epicor is a global provider that has offered industry-specific services for over 40 year. Their HCM allows HR managers to track employee data from application to retirement

This article discusses how it is difficult for many businesses to get into the e-commerce world the same way Amazon is. It also explains how to develop a successful e-commerce strategy. Every business is trying to achieve the same success that Amazon has, but businesses are struggling. In the article it states, "the e-commerce strategies most retailers employ don't address the root causes of their problems. Their strategies don't address customers' needs, so their customers go elsewhere." This simply means that businesses are trying to fix their issues with different solutions. They are not going into the e-commerce industry with all the right reasons. Some fashion businesses are addressing the customer need for affordable fashion better than other businesses. In order for businesses to tackle the e-commerce world, they must follow the steps stated in the article. Step 1: Identify the targeted customer segment - Businesses need to have the ability to target each customer segment differently based on interests. Step 2: Identify customer needs of the targeted segment - understanding customer needs is one of the most important steps. Step 3: Develop strategies to meet those needs - strategies need to be put into action to be able to satisfy customer needs. Step 4: Enable with technology - It is highly recommended that companies use the right technology when starting their online business. They could either partner with other sites such as Amazon, or use different technology (software) to create it themselves. In the end, businesses need to solely understand the customer needs above all else. Understanding needs will lead the business to know how to sell their products/services online. Businesses will be able to take over the e-commerce world when they apply these simple steps to conduct strategies.

This article looks at the benefits of proximity and its disadvantages. The author explores multiple reasons why modern businesses should use proximity marketing. For instance, it helps businesses to target ideal customers at the right time. it also improves customer experience, customer loyalty, and thus, creating a competitiveadvantage in the marlket. Conversely, it has some negatives. therefore, before implementing the technology, entrepreneurs should look out for ways to minize the demerits in order to gain the most from the technology.

This article speaks about physical plant systems and how the new trend in hospitality is to create unique spaces and bring the outside in. MGM Resorts has partnered with Delos which is a group that has done extensive research in collaboration with Mayo Clinic to study biophilia or the idea that humans have an innate connection to the natural world. MGM Hotels have found that post-conference survey results show that attendees felt more connected and engaged in meetings where there was biophilic elements incorporated such as meeting rooms with patterned carpets and active green walls constructed from plants or moss. The Delos group also works with Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and Marriot Resorts International to add live plants and other innovative biophilic elements in their spaces. Science shows that biophilic design does add satisfaction to occupants and keeps us happier, focused and engaged.