Skip to main content

Home/ Hospitality Technology/ Group items matching "ship" in title, tags, annotations or url

Group items matching
in title, tags, annotations or url

Sort By: Relevance | Date Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
teresastas

5 Reasons Why You Need A Travel Agent - More Than Ever - 0 views

  • The major search sites routinely leave out flights (lots of them) and even entire airlines. A lot of the flights they do show are ones you don’t want, starting with “basic economy” fares that hit you with tons of restrictions and fees, so the price you see isn’t the one you end up paying, along with connections way too short or way too long, ones that no responsible travel agent would let you book.
    • teresastas
       
      This is a very good point that is often overlooked. Southwest Airlines is one of those who do not publish their fairs on most of these OTA searches.
  • The reality is that while it was widely predicted that the internet was going to kill off travel agents when digital tools were placed at every traveler’s disposal, that just hasn’t happened, for several good reasons.
  • “They can find crazy deals”; “They will be your advocate”; “They’ll take care of the little things”; “They’re true experts” and “They don’t usually cost extra.”
    • teresastas
       
      I think that the general public believe that TA's cost extra to use. For the most part that isn't true...unless it's a cooperate travel.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • Travel agents are a thing of the past - they primarily booked tickets and beds. Travel advisors have taken on a much more complex role - part psychologist, life coach, executive producer, concierge, fixer, dream maker, and ‘Blink Blink’ genie, with the multitude of services that they provide.
  • Anything that causes cancelled flights (or cruises, etc.) means hassles, but the people who get through this process the most smoothly and the ones who get rebooked first and get the few available seats out of Dodge are usually the ones who used a travel agent. It’s that simple. First off, you actually have someone to call, versus long lines at banks of airport phones masquerading as “help desks.” But good agencies are constantly monitoring their clients’ flights and they usually know about your problem before you do - and often have a resolution before you even call them.
    • teresastas
       
      They make a good point about having someone to call.
  • Expertise: No one knows everything about travel, no matter how deeply they are involved in the industry.
    • teresastas
       
      Reason #2: Expertise
  • Emergencies: This is the one most applicable to the average occasional travel.
    • teresastas
       
      Reason #2: Expertise
  • It is important to remember that these advantages are not just for luxury travelers. Good travel advisors do not just know what the best hotel is, they know what the best hotel is for you and your budget and can help you find the right fit.
  • Connections: Whether you are trying to book space at a coveted 8-villa safari lodge in Africa or get a room in a top Paris hotel during Fashion Week, most hoteliers keep emergency inventory and guess who gets it? The travel advisors they have known for years who book a lot of guests and send them a lot of business.
    • teresastas
       
      Reason #3: Connections
  • “Travel advisors provide our clients with access: access to people, places, and experiences that could never be replicated, much less imagined. A great travel advisor has invested time and relationships in creating their ‘black book’ of contacts and relationships, so that when their clients travel, they are treated as a VIPs, not just a credit card number.” In my experience, everyone likes being treated like a VIP.
    • teresastas
       
      I think this lends itself to who your travel agent is and what they are most experienced in. I couldn't agree that all travel agents are going to give their clients VIP experiences.
  • “Information overload, thousands of new hotels on the scene, all sorts of new cruise ships, passport and visa issues, weather, transit strikes, political unrest, natural disasters, travel insurance, travel providers going out of business, it’s never ending. How does one navigate all of this? To avoid the travel landmines that lay in front of you, you need to get a great travel advisor!
  • Extras: When you get more than you expected for the same price, that’s a great deal, and with travel advisors this happens all the time.
    • teresastas
       
      Reason #4: Extras
  • “The millennial generation specifically may have seen their parents use a travel advisor, but don’t feel like they need one - until they are deep in the spiral of research. By shifting gears to planning with an expert, they feel liberated from the immense pressure of choosing the ‘best’ resort - because we’re cutting through the noise of all the conflicting opinions they’re seeing online.
    • teresastas
       
      This is a great point. I know first hand that when booking an actual vacation it can be so much easier to have an expert weed out the options they know won't work for you.
  • Air: If you are trying to buy the cheapest round-trip economy ticket from New York to Dallas, even the best advisors probably can’t get it for less than you can buy it online, though you still have to deal with all the pitfalls of the online travel sites and you will lose the safety net advisors provide when things go wrong. But in a couple of other cases, buying your air through an agent can actually save you money, or miles, or both.
    • teresastas
       
      Reason 5: Air Fare You will usually be able to find the cheapest economy online but there are times when a travel agent might be able to save you fees on airlines.
  • It just doesn’t seem possible, but it is, real tickets, same airline, better seats, less money. I don’t know how they do it, and frankly I don’t care, but if you know who to call this happens all the time (if you are not a client of SmartFlyer booking your vacation or business trip, they will charge you a fee to do the legwork and find you great deals on premium and mileage tickets, but in almost every case I’ve seen, it still saves you money).
    • teresastas
       
      This is a great travel tip!
  • Better Trips! At the end of the day this is the bottom line, the big win you get with a good travel advisor. They know more than you do, they are better connected, they have access to benefits you can’t get yourself, and they can match and often beat any prices you find. They plan a better trip and then provide a safety net.
    • teresastas
       
      Reason number 6: Better Trips Your trip is better all around when you use a good travel advisor!
  • Travel advisors take the overwhelming amount of information out there and distill it into the key points that apply to you - the best hotel/destination/tour for your interests, your budget, and your time frame.
  • 5 Reasons Why You Need A Travel Agent - More Than Ever
    • teresastas
       
      We have been discussing a lot about the role of GDS's and OTA's it has become clear that the role of the traditional travel agent has evolved. The question of what is the role of a travel agent and why should we still use them has come up a lot and this article breaks down the answer giving 5 reasons why we still need travel agents. The reasons are listed as emergencies, expertise, connections, airfare and extras. All of these reason collectively make a better trip all around. After reading this it makes me want to book my next vacation through a travel agent!
mrodr1442

CARNIVAL IS LATEST TRAVEL BRAND HIT WITH RANSOMWARE ATTACK - 0 views

http://sco.lt/5LcodM As discussed within Hospitality and Tourism Technology Innovations this week, It is crucial to have better protection for businesses. In this article, it shows how a couple wee...

http:__sco.lt_5LcodM

started by mrodr1442 on 31 Aug 21 no follow-up yet
khiyara_00

Quality Is More Than Making a Good Product - 0 views

  • Yet 49% of 7,000 consumers surveyed in a separate 1981 study said that the quality of U.S. products had declined in the past five years. In addition, 59% expected quality to stay down or decline further in the upcoming five years.2
  • The first is the greater emphasis advertisements place on the word quality and on such themes as reliab
  • Quality should be primarily customer-driven, not technology-driven, production-driven, or competitor-driven.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • a company’s or a product’s quality image obviously cannot be improved overnight
  • how do customers define quality, and why are they suddenly demanding high
  • d why are they suddenly demanding high
  • Product performance and customer service are closely linked in any quality program
  • Asking dealers to conduct a quality audit as soon as the products are received and to attribute defects to either assembly errors or shipping damages.
  • Consumers’ priorities and perceptions also change over time.
  • Companies that try to define their customers’ attitudes on product and service quality often focus too narrowly on the meaning of quality for their products and services; an understanding of changing attitudes in the broader marketplace can be equally valuable.
  •  
    This article provided data on customer's who feel quality of products have depreciated over the years. It also goes to mention how companies incorporate word to make consumers think they have the best quality product although in reality they have done nothing different to make it more reliable. It also goes to mention different ways companies try to retain its customers by offering warranties and other promotional programs.
mmorr116

Green Computing: The Future of Computing - 1 views

  • The concept of Green Computing has started to gain prominence over the past few years as organizations begin to examine their carbon footprints and the impact they are having on the environment.
  • Green Computing is “Where organizations adopt a policy of ensuring that the setup and operations of Information Technology produces the minimal carbon footprint”.  It is “the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems” in an environmentally friendly and responsible way.
  • Basically, the “green issue’ came about when people realized that the earth was not a boundless resource of energy, minerals and means to support life.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The manufacturers and users of PCs must adapt manage the three key areas; the ‘triple fundamental concerns’ of how the equipment is made and shipped, how the equipment is used and maintained and finally how it is disposed and processed
  •  
    Due to increasing weight being given to to environmental and social impacts of business, greener computing alternatives are becoming more and more attractive. Going green computer-wise includes more than using green materials in production. It also extends to reduction and control of energy during production and use as well as disposal and reuse of devices.
  •  
    Green computing (also known as Green IT) is a concept and/ or action, which was launched in the early 1990's after realizing that the planet is not an endless source of energy. Creating, distributing, maintaining, and most importantly, disposing machinery related to technology has become the focal point of Green IT. So, the "whole life" of the IT equipment plays a vital role concerning its objective/ aim of having a positive impact on the environment. Additionally, targets of this program include curtailing energy consumptions, raising awareness and utilization of green energy, properly disposing equipment, reducing footprint, reuse/ refurbish/ recycle, and more.
avanzado

The disruptive mobile wallet in the hospitality industry: An extended mobile technology acceptance model - ScienceDirect - 2 views

  • A self-administered questionnaire was utilised to collect data from mobile wallet users who have used a mobile wallet while dining out in restaurants and cafes. Other than technology self-efficacy and perceived critical mass, mobile usefulness, mobile ease of use, mobile self-efficacy, and perceived enjoyment were discovered to have a positive and significant association with the behavioural intention to adopt mobile wallet in the hospitality industry.
  • M-wallet is a service that enables users to store their debit or credit card information, pay for goods and services, and request/send money from/to their contacts [5]. Just like a physical wallet, a m-wallet can store credit card numbers, electronic cash, owner identity, information of contact, billing or shipping details and other information [6]. As the popularity of m-devices continues to increase, m-wallet is expected to be a prevalent payment method in the future for various financial transactions [4].
  • The Central Bank of Malaysia has been continuing its efforts to accelerate the promotion of m-wallet adoption and use [9]. M-wallet is expected to play a pivotal role in catalysing new consumer behaviours that move users away from cash and towards electronic transactions.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • In particular, 93% of Malaysians still prefer to pay cash when dining out [10]. In other words, the utilisation of m-wallet is only at a maximum of 7% in this context.
  • Also, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic that demands everyone to practice a “new normal”, m-wallet is encouraged over cash in making payments to avoid infection [27,28].
  •  
    This article goes into depth directly within the Malaysian hospitality industry, of using mobile wallet specifically in restaurants. The Malaysian country wants to to only use mobile wallet however the citizens are mostly cash users. Mobile wallet or M-wallet is used on our telephones that hold our credit/debit card information and have the ability to pay services, people and more. It can be used in stores, restaurants, online and through applications. Malaysia would like to shed light on the m-wallet for their country to shift to a cashless society. As Covid-19 is a way for the m-wallet to be more seen and used to prevent cash exchanges therefore preventing spreading germs. It then goes into the theories and hypothesis of m-wallet as a whole; the technology used. There was a total of 450 questionnaires and 413 responses for the data in whether using mobile wallet was efficient and the level of difficulty it holds. While in this day and age we all have the ability to use mobile wallet. I believe this change in Malaysia will attract tourism from Americans being able to use m-wallet. This will then limit the currency change and we will be able to use our phones for payments without having to exchange money and being able to be as contact-less as possible. Now, while I do not know what the effects of Covid-19 have been in Malaysia, if the mobile wallet is now their everyday use. I hope that their shift has started to work and is making progress.
anonymous

Data Privacy and Security in the Travel Industry - Security Boulevard - 0 views

  • As COVID-19 mauls the travel sector and hotels, airlines and cruise lines shutter their doors or park their planes and ships, this interlude may present them an opportunity to address how they handle passenger information. Each of these sectors of the travel industry collects personally identifiable information and each has suffered considerable breaches or lapses in how data is handled.
  • Like British Airways, the hotelier Marriott Corp. was socked with a £99 million fine by the ICO for its 2018 exposure of 383 million customers booking information.There is no doubt that the hotel industry is awash with personal data on their guests and are ripe for targeting by cybercriminals.
  • Every infosec professional will tell you, don’t collect what you can’t protect. These examples from within the travel industry serve to drive home that point. In the case of the Gekko Group and Spice Jet, their attempts to protect their data revealed configuration errors or a lack of understanding. With respect to Marriott, British Airways and Carnival, they were subjected to an attack that managed to maneuver through their defenses. What is inexplicable is the time delay between discovery and disclosure
  •  
    The article breaks down Data Privacy in the Travel Industry. It explains how the pause due to the pandemic is a good time to address security concerns. The article covers examples in the cruise sector, the airline sector and the hotel sector. It also warns companies that it shouldn't collect what it cant protect.
jalipman

Apple expands global recycling programs - Apple - 1 views

  • Apple will also be supporting the efforts of environmentally-focused non-profits Conservation International, SEE Foundation and The Recycling Partnership — expanding on its conservation and resource efficiency work from last year.
  • Today, Apple released its 2019 Environment report, which contains additional information on the company’s climate change solutions, including its recent announcement that 44 of its suppliers have committed to 100 percent renewable energy for their Apple production
    • jalipman
       
      Apple is working to cut down their carbon footprint in all facets further than just e waste.
  • Apple today also announced the opening of its Material Recovery Lab dedicated to discovering future recycling processes. The new 9,000-square-foot facility in Austin, Texas, will look for innovative solutions involving robotics and machine learning to improve on traditional methods like targeted disassembly, sorting and shredding. The Lab will work with Apple engineering teams as well as academia to address and propose solutions to today’s industry recycling challenges.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Starting this year, aluminum recovered through the Apple Trade In program is being remelted into the enclosures for the MacBook Air.
    • jalipman
       
      The other question that comes from this information. While it is very good that they are doing this. Would they be doing it if they had the option to cheaply ship it off to china.
  • he company’s engineering of an aluminum alloy made from 100 percent recycled aluminum allows the new MacBook Air and Mac mini to have nearly half the carbon footprint of earlier models
  • Apple also uses 100 percent recycled tin in a key component of the main logic boards of 11 different products.
  • Once materials have been recovered from Daisy, they are recycled back into the manufacturing process. For cobalt, which is a key battery material, Apple sends iPhone batteries recovered by Daisy upstream in its supply chain. They are then combined with scrap from select manufacturing sites and, for the first time, cobalt recovered through this process is now being used to make brand-new Apple batteries — a true closed loop for this precious material.
    • jalipman
       
      Here they have closed the loop and allowed for them to not be taking away from our natural resources as was discussed in "the story of stuff" Shows apple is being environmentally conscious. Would be very interesting to see the ratio of how many phones they implement the old cobalt and how many are new.
  • Daisy is now able to disassemble 15 different iPhone models at the rate of 200 per hour, recovering even more important materials for re-use.
  • Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. “We work hard to design products that our customers can rely on for a long time. When it comes time to recycle them, we hope that the convenience and benefit of our programs will encourage everyone to bring in their old devices.”
    • jalipman
       
      This is very interesting considered apple has been known to create products that DO NOT last very long. Also it is surprising that this position within their company even exists.
  • In 2018, the company refurbished more than 7.8 million Apple devices and helped divert more than 48,000 metric tons of electronic waste from landfills. 
    • jalipman
       
      Apple clearly has been working to brand themselves as a green company. Since they are one of the main companies that quickly cycles through products and getting rid of your old one it is smart that they are now moving towards putting used products and materials back into the cycle for a second time.
  • Customers can also turn in their eligible devices to be recycled at any Apple Store or through apple.com as part of the Apple Trade In program.
  • pple today announced a major expansion of its recycling programs, quadrupling the number of locations US customers can send their iPhone to be disassembled by Daisy, its recycling robot.
naxiang2001

The disruptive mobile wallet in the hospitality industry: An extended mobile technology acceptance model - 1 views

shared by naxiang2001 on 14 Mar 22 - No Cached
  • Just like a physical wallet, a m-wallet can store credit card numbers, electronic cash, owner identity, information of contact, billing or shipping details and other information
  • Also, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic that demands everyone to practice a “new normal”, m-wallet is encouraged over cash in making payments to avoid infection [
  • . Under this sampling technique and similar to the past literature on m-payment, only participants who have used a m-wallet in the past 12 months were selected
  •  
    This paper discusses the increasing usage of the mobile wallet in restaurants and how this technology is changing how restaurants operate. The main disruption the mobile wallet is causing are challenges for smaller restaurants to remain competitive without offering mobile payment options. Larger franchises have easier access to funds necessary to make the switch while smaller operations struggle to fund needed technological upgrades. In addition to this, while many find offering mobile payment options to be a competitive advantage, this paper has shown that people rarely exclusively use mobile payment methods as most continue to also use physical cards and even cash. This makes it difficult for many managers to justify the expenditure on mobile payment systems because while lacking them may make your competitors that do more appealing, acquiring mobile payment methods may not actually increase your customer base at all.
jsanc478

Getting E-waste Right | Green Lodging News - 8 views

  • In the past decade, televisions have grown bigger, then flatter, then bigger again. The emphasis is on the new: buy now, because your old television is clearly, decidedly obsolete.
  • The demand for the current and the top of the line strikes a chord especially in the hospitality industry.
  • equal to, or greater than, those offered by their competitors.
  • ...22 more annotations...
  • The result is a product cycle that matches the pace of innovation:
  • Between consumers and businesses, an estimated 50 million tons of electronic waste is disposed of each year. Some of that is recycled properly. The rest is not.
  • Nearly 400 million units of consumer electronics are sold per year. Relatively light regulations and recycling standards result in th
  • Multiple Solutions for Hoteliers Despite the doom and gloom, there are a multitude of solutions to the hospitality industry’s e-waste problem.
  • The remaining 86.4 percent made its way into landfills,
  • Old TVs and computer monitors contain lead, cadmium and brominated flame retardants; all of which are hazardous to personal and environmental well-being.
  • 90 percent of the e-waste that is recycled is sent overseas.
  • Developing countries have become ground zero for e-waste collection
  • . According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, only 13.6 percent of all e-waste was recycled properly in 2007
  • That hotels upgrade their televisions is not an issue as long as their existing units are recycled properly
  • It starts with awareness:
  • Then hoteliers can move to change a different statistic:
  • , hoteliers should seek out domestic recyclers and take care of their e-waste recycling with proven, safe commodities.
  • Environmentally responsible, eco-savvy hotels are in vogue right now, appealing to customers with promises of sustainable travel and accommodation
  • Sustainable building materials, recycling services and even linen reuse programs are tangible ways for guests to see that their hosts are eco-conscious.
  • Green Hospitality with a Backbone
  • Green hospitality makes money, but it mustn’t be without a backbone.
  • Actual green hospitality outweighs the appearance of green hospitality
  • organizations hop on the sustainability bandwagon, it is more important than ever that recycling becomes permanent,
  • This means actively looking for and implementing recycling solutions, not simply shipping our problems overseas.
  • e recycle and reuse more than ever. B
  • E-waste recycling, for most people and companies, is not a day-to-day occurrence, which means we should be ready to handle it when the time comes
  •  
    This article is based on how we can improved e-wastes on doing little changes that will benefit on our future. Most of the e-waste is not recycle properly, we buy things after things and more after more, every time a new technology comes up there is the motivation on buying what is the lasted cool technology, and what about what we have , where does it go ? to the trash or recycle, but we do not know where that recycling goes, I believe learning more about it will help on our routine of how to recycle better and help with this process to proceed right.
  •  
    We quickly move to 'next' as far as technology goes and rarely think about how to get rid of it when obsolete. In the Caribbean for example, there are not may recycling plants for e-waste, in fact, many rarely do recycling on a whole. In the Turks and Caicos, disposing of a television or a phone is as simple as throwing it in the trash among everything else. What happens next? It goes into the landfills and there they lie. Imagine the toxic waste from over 40,000 inhabitants on a small island. While moving with the crowd seems to be the way of the world, I believe government entities must act swiftly in ensuring e-waste is disposed of correctly to preserve this island and its inhabitants for generations to come. The technology should not outpace the disposal thereof.
CHARLENE ESCOE BARNETT

THE MATERIALS ECONOMY(A LINEAR SYSTEM) - 0 views

  • The Materials Economy is a production system that dominates our manufacturing world. It is a system that starts with the extraction of raw materials from the ground and their processing into usable materials. This is followed by the refined materials being used to manufacture products in factories (called production)
  • The environment is damaged by the Materials Economy. The extraction of raw materials from the ground, damages the environment and causes pollution and physical scars on our planted. The manufacturing processes create further environmental damage, in the form of atmospheric pollution. The dumping of waste materials and the use of energy produced by fossil fuels, also contribute to environmental damage. The distribution of products, releases CO2 gases into the atmosphere, as lorries, ships and planes burn the fossil fuels, required to transport the products, from the factory to the retailer and then to
  • ed on renewable fuels, such as hydrogen or electricity (produced by wind, sea, solar and biomass). Local manufacturing rather than remote manufacture, dramatically reducing our carbon footprint / pollution. A system totally focussed on the long ter
  •  
    This article outlines the linear cycle of the Materials of Economy, explaining each step and bringing to a close the number one issues, the damage to he planet and ultimately the people.
krikooo94

Cleaning Up Electronic Waste (E-Waste) | US EPA - 0 views

  • EPA works bilaterally with governments and environmental officials around the world on e-waste management.  U.S. EPA and Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (Taiwan EPA) coordinate the International E-Waste Management Network (IEMN), which has brought together environmental officials from Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and North America to exchange best practices on e-waste management since 2011. 
  • EPA also collaborates with the Solving the E-waste Problem Initiative (Step)Exit Exit EPA website  to jointly address the e-waste problem in developing countries. Step, formerly known as UNU-Step, was previously an initiative under the United Nations University (UNU)
  • “E-waste”, “electronic waste”, “e-scrap” and “end-of-life electronics” are terms often used to describe used electronics that are nearing the end of their useful life, and are discarded, donated or given to a recycler.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • An undetermined amount of used electronics is shipped from the United States and other developed countries to developing countries that lack the capacity to reject imports or to handle these materials appropriately. Without proper standards and enforcement, improper practices may result in public health and environmental concerns, even in countries where processing facilities exist.
  • For example, there are problems with open-air burning and acid baths being used to recover valuable materials from electronic components, which expose workers to harmful substances. There are also problems with toxic materials leaching into the environment. These practices can expose workers to high levels of contaminants such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic, which can lead to irreversible health effects, including cancers, miscarriages, neurological damage and diminished IQs.
  • To this end, EPA funded UNU-StEP to lead a study on US exports of used electronics in an attempt to better define the US contribution to the overall e-waste problem.  StEP collaborated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER)
  • In July 2011, the Task Force released the National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship report, which details the federal government’s plan to enhance the management of electronics by: 1) incentivizing greener design of electronics; 2) leading by example; 3) increasing domestic recycling; and 4) reducing harmful exports of e-waste and building capacity in developing countries.  
  •  
    This article is explaining electronic waste and its danger to developing countries when the materials are not properly disposed of. Many countries have joined forces to create the International E-Waste Management Network (IEMN).
« First ‹ Previous 101 - 111 of 111
Showing 20 items per page