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Deutsche bank has long been viewed as a corporate leader on green issues-so much so that in 2010, a vice chairman of the bank was invited to join heads of state, finance ministers and other diplomacy types comprising a U.N. advisory panel to help find funding sources for projects related to climate change.

If a company adopts a new energy, the cost of change will soon be back from the energy bill savings , and this will be a long-term investment for the company, this is a favorable.

Hotels going green is being appreaciated by the guests

go green is important not only for the industry but also for the whole earth, because pollution is one of the biggest issue for every countries' government. in this article, it also talk about the major concerns in hotel industry, AC system and water conservation. go green not only save hotels' money, but also increase profit margin. Go green is a important step for hotel to go, and it have to go green for the future step for hotels.

I realy like this article because it talks about hotels that are trying to go green and customers like it and contribute to this cause. The hotels are trying to reduce the use of water, energy and waste, and they give the option to the customer to do it or not. For example to "reuse your towel" or turn off the A/C when you are not in the room. This helps the hotels to save money and increased their profit margin. Some hotels beleive this is costly for them, but in the long-run it will help. People are more conscious now and like that hotels are more environmentally responsible.

The hotel is a perfect place for hackers to attack because they have easy access to retrieve thousands of guest information including credit card information, billing addresses, and much more personal information. Nicholas Percoco, senior vice president of Trustwave's SpiderLabs, mentioned that the credit card and debit card information is the most in demand by hackers because it is easiest to turn into cash quickly. There are three main steps in a typical data breach and how attackers mostly operate at each level: initial entry, data harvesting, and exfiltration. Close to half of these attacks occur via remote access applications, of which 90 percent exploit default or weak passwords. Around 42 percent of attacks occurred via third-party connections; 6 percent via SQL injection; 4 percent via exposed services; and 2 percent via remote file inclusion attacks. Interestingly, less than 1 percent began with an email Trojan. As an IT manager of the hotel, it is crucial to recognize how serious the consequences are for the hotel should the data not be protected well. 

Hey all, here is an article I found that talks about hackers taking over the hospitality industry. It mentions how hackers main objective is to gain access to debit accounts and gain access to customer cash. Also, hackers are also able to infiltrate POS systems along with other valuable technology with in the hospitality industry. Nearly half of these attacks occur via remote access applications, of which 90 percent exploit default or weak passwords, according to the report. Around 42 percent of attacks occurred via third-party connections; 6 percent, SQL injection; 4 percent, exposed services; and 2 percent, remote file inclusion attacks. Interestingly, less than 1 percent began with an email Trojan.

hackers are EVERYWHERE!

HFTP is short for Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals. It is working with members of several organizations, including EHL, HFTP's Research institute at the University of Houston, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hospitality Professionals Association. From the article, HFTP has start developing a global hospitality accounting system users guide. The global guide will provide the industry with a comprehensive glossary of inventory terminology, charts of accounts and will benchmark common allocation for specific regions of the world. The project is planned as a three-step process. 1. Final year bachelor students at Ecole Hoteliere De Lausanne (EHL) in Switzerland working on their Student Business Project are gathering data, surveying hotel operations and assembling terms of reference. 2. Once the data is assembled, it will be distributed to regional teams of industry professionals that are chaired by industry consultants. These teams will develop sample charts of accounts and common allocations for their specific areas. 3. The team chairs will finalize the project by authoring a discussion on similarities or differences of allocations. The initial guide will be published in English, with plans to distribute globally in multiple languages.

This article expounds how customers demand more from their e-commerce web sites and how their preference for consistency while shopping online must be satisfied in order for any business to remain successful. The article points out and elaborates on how e-commerce is really an all encompassing strategy that companies could use to sell their products and services, both online and offline to potential customers. The article also mentions how consumers are more likely to purchase any products or services from companies that leave them feeling more informed and secure in their purchase decisions. Most e-commerce platforms facilitate the integration of multiple applications such as online storefronts, POS systems, real-time inventory tracking and customer analytics into a single management platform. Lastly, because online shoppers are empowered with an abundance of competitive advantages it is important for retailers and other hospitality businesses to strive to improve data integration processes by centralizing databases and sharing information throughout their company.

This article looks at hotel maintenance management from an engineering perspective, with some attention to I.T. It lays out and explains in detail requirements for successful operation and upkeep of a physical plant. For example, it discusses building maintenance, citing "roofing repair leakages, reproofing the entire building, taking care of building surfaces, pitting, & erosion of exterior surfaces," etc.

This article gives us a glance at six different technological trends being used and "revolutionizing" the hospitality industry. The six trends are cloud/software services, mobility, social media, personalized systems, integration, and globalization. The trends are all seen across the board in hospitality nowadays and are making huge changes in the industry. We have been talking about cloud computing and the pros and cons of using a cloud to store information and even with all the controversy, companies are investing and using the cloud. The use of tablets and smartphones has changed the way we interact with technology and the hospitality field is not staying behind. They are developing mobile sites and apps to help customers look at pictures and reviews about a place, check in and check out or make other arrangements. Social media is also revolutionizing hospitality by creating a reputation for businesses whether they be positive or negative. People can freely post about whether they enjoyed their stay at a certain hotel and helps build the online reputation of the company. In addition, more and more companies are looking to become more personalized experience. When I think about this part, I think mostly of the new systems rolling out at Disney World that scream personalization, guests can select their Fastpasses ahead of time, can use MagicBands to purchase things, get into their hotel, get into the park as well as to utilize the Fastpass system and every time a MagicBand is scanned at a touchpoint, the cast members know the person's name and whether they are celebrating something. With integration, customers and staff can access information from different departments all on one system and with globalization companies are trying to use systems that are global and used worldwide. 

Technological developments continue to have a great effect on all aspects of our lives, the hospitality industry not being an exception. Calum McIndoe in his article "Six Technology Trends Revolutionising the hospitality industry" outlines areas of technology that managers within the industry need to take advantage of. Cloud technology, though this concept is fairly new it can provide great financial benefits to companies as it cuts cost greatly due to the fact that it eliminates the heavy hardware requirements traditional technology offered. Mobility, the fact that portable devices can add a competitive edge to the service offered. Think traditional services being provided on the go away from a fixed station. Social; the popularity of social networking sites have changed the face of hospitality and tourism marketing completely. Properties are now forced to monitor social networking sites to learn about customer demands and to also learn about the image their company has out there and how they can improve it. According to Mr. "for any hotel to not at least monitor social medis is tantamount to willingly flying blind." Personalized systems; value for customers within this industry has to do greatly with the personal touch added to the service delivered. These merged systems allows properites to use data to ensure that guest needs are met. Integration; the joining of isolated systems used in all areas of operations on the property. The use of integrated systems allows for the pulling of data from the different departments thus ensuring proper management of services delivered and revenue management. Globalisation; It is important that hospitality companies adapt to changes and trends brought about by globalisation. Whether the current global outlook is taken into consideration when considering how a company operates can greatly impact the final product.

((NOTE: The author already highlighted the article in yellow when I found it, my personal highlighting is in PINK. Sections 5 and 6 are not highlighted in pink because I agree with the parts that the author highlighted yellow in those sections; Diigo toolbar will not let you highlight over something that has already been highlighted.)) This article mainly focuses on the technological changes in the hotel industry in pertinence with storing hotel information versus the traditional method(s) used by hotels that involved little to no technology at all. The article lists six different points or examples and states that businesses, especially small or upcoming businesses, need to follow by these six trends. The part of the article that stood out to me the most when reflecting on the lectures and power points for this week is the first trend. The first trend speaks about a "cloud" software (which I am not really familiar with so excuse me if my explanation is not 100% sound) and announces that "around 85% of the queries we see from hospitality companies and hotels include a serious look at cloud computing". The author lists a few reasons why such a high percentage of hotels are doing it this way. He basically says that you do not need special staff or special training to maintain the system; the system maintains itself so you can have more time to focus on your guests and trends in their patterns. Also, as far as the cost is concerned, "upfront investment is lower with the cloud as there are no initial hardware costs or associated expense…". Even though I am not very familiar with this service just yet, I like the idea of freeing up employee time to go and interact more with the customers; attending to the customers' needs is the most important thing in my eyes. The article goes on to list mobility, social media, personalized systems, integration, and globalization as all equally important parts to this revolution of technology pertaining to the hospitality industr

The element by Westin brand for extended stay have revolutionized the market and found a niche for travelers who are environmentally conscious and eco-friendly. This brand uses green initiatives from design to construction and eventually during operation. Element hotels use this as a branding strategy but more hotels should adopt this model for conservation and to reduce expenses.

Due to the increase in water usage around the world, the hospitality industry will be force to integrate responsible water usage policies. As mentioned in the article, technology plays an important role in supporting hotels in their water sustainable water management initiatives by integrating devices and systems that respond to a property water usage patterns. By having systems generate usage reports, property manager could react timely to leaks and faults and act proactively by calculating lifespan depending on usage. Depending on property location, those predictable and recurrent drought conditions would not benefit of rainwater recycling and those that experience rain often could incorporate rainwater harvesting an integrate it with greywater recycling.

Consumers and hoteliers are focusing more on green technology since global warming, water shortage and other environmental problems are becoming serious. Some surveys revealed that more consumers would like to choose sustainable hotels even they have to pay more for that. Additionally, some hoteliers would budget more on green technologies, such as wireless controllers, new lightening and air conditioning system, etc. Although some eco-friendly technologies may cost more, hoteliers have to think about their social responsibility and long-term development. Considering the above factors, hoteliers should introduce green technology as a foreseeable choice.

More and more people are deciding their hotel accomodations based on how eco-friendly they are. This is forcing hoteliers to make changes to their hotels so they can be competitive with the other green hotels.

Green Initiative

This hotel group is designing properties that will have a ZERO imprint on the environment

This article talks about some of the creative ways hotels are going green. As more and more guests are looking to stay at environmentally friendly hotels, properties have to go beyond just offering a towel initiative or just using LEED lights. Hotel chains like Kimpton, The Charles Hotel, Starwood, and Calistoga Ranch are all coming up with new ways to be more eco-friendly. About five years ago Kimpton Hotels implemented a complimentary bike service. Guests are able to check out the bikes and use them to navigate throughout the city. As this service became more popular, Kimpton started investing in more bikes at each property. The Charles Hotel in Cambridge Massachusetts offers a similar program for guests. Their program started eight years ago when they purchased a property in Boston. The program enables guests to experience the city, all-while being environmentally friendly. Hotels are also finding new ways to be eco-friendly with their food and beverage options. The Charles Hotel actually operates a farmers market on-site with local fruits, vegetables, and meats. Other companies like Kimpton focus on offering sustainable seafood in their restaurants. Kimpton has removed whale, turtle, and shark fin from their menus due to environmental concerns. Calistoga Ranch in Napa Valley has come up with a creative way to reduce their carbon footprint when it comes to yard maintenance. About 11 years ago, they brought in babydoll Southdown sheep to graze on property in order to reduce their usage of lawn mowers. These babydolls help Calistoga Ranch reduce noise and reduce usage of gas-powered lawn mowers. Guests love to visit with the baby sheep, which is an added benefit. Hotels like Kimpton, Starwood, The Charles Hotel, Calistoga Ranch and other have to come up with more creative ways to be eco-friendly as more and more guests identify that this is important when considering where to stay.

Lee Nazari is the CEO and founder of a payment solutions company in the UK. He provides his thoughts on the tendency for British hospitality merchants to be slower at adopting modern technologies, particularly in the point-of-sale category. Nazari exalts the power of beacon-based advertising and marketing tied to these technological solutions. He illustrates a scenario in which even a micro-business can affordably increase visibility in the marketplace and, consequently, foot traffic and revenues. In particular, Mr. Nazari describes the shifting expectation of consumers to integrate convenient, highly visible technological solutions into hospitality interactions and implores British operators to move past their concerns regarding the initial investment in the technology for the sake of their long-term success. He warns that operations that fail to "fall in line with consumer expectations" will "be left behind".

In recent news, Arby's acknowledge a data breach within its restaurants. "Arby's said the breach involved malware placed on payment systems inside Arby's corporate stores, and that Arby's franchised restaurant locations were not impacted." Once figured out the company hired security experts to solve the problem. The initial sign of breach came from a service organization that serves more than 800 credit unions called PSCU. An alert was sent to all cardholders that a fast food chain had been compromised, but no specifics were mentioned. This article points out that, "point of sale malware has driven most of the major retail industry credit card breaches over the past two years." Monitoring your credit/debit card transactions is the best way to be safe in this situation- as long as you report the fraudulent charges you aren't liable. While IT has many positives for any organization, it's not risk adverse. Once a system is hacked all information of company and past users is up for grabs, and credit card companies are forced to take the blow.

In order to combat cyber attacks within the hospitality industry, the National Restaurant Association and PCI Security Standards Council have partnered. They have created.. "Small Merchant Taskforce, which raises payment card security awareness for the hospitality industry." With cybercrime increasing it is a necessary step to take, not all businesses, especially small, can afford the "best" cyber security systems. This task force will help educate various members and help find solutions to protect businesses and customers. "A study by Verizon stated that 99 percent of breaches in 2014 were caused by known vulnerabilities with fixable patches." That being said, all business operators need to take the initiative and be proactive when it comes to handling customers' private information.

I think one the biggest issues related to cyber attacks is that owners are not aware of the issue. So it is important to educate them and help them understand the importance to budget cyber security into their expenses. I am glad that the task force is taking that step to help protect business owners and customers from cyber attacks.

This article in USATODAY published in 2011 talks about the cost benefit analysis of RFID tags and hotel linens. Hotels are using this technology to keep an accurate count of all their linens: bathrobes, bed sheets, towels, bathmats, pool towels, etc. The benefit of having an accurate count is especially significant today with the rising price of oil which in turn raises everything including cotton. By investing an additional dollar per towel the Hotel can cut down on labor costs and improve housekeeping productivity. The initial investment is high which is why many hotels cannot afford the technology. I would recommend that high-end luxury hotels invest in the RFID tags however because of the higher prices of luxury linens. By preventing asset pilfering the Hotel will retain their initial investment in linens.

I saw that and I enjoyed your cruise ship article very much. However I am glad that cruise ships are still making RFID wrist bands optional because of privacy concerns, the last thing you want to worry about while on vacation.

In my opinion it's an ideal solution but a bit impratical. Is it worth spending that one extra dollar on all the linens in a hotel just to prevent 5% to 20% known loss? Intention of cutting losses might end with increasing cost. Don't forget the tracking RFID also requires maintenance, which also costs extra.

The communication tools you use for any given message depends on the preference of your intended market. Small business I believe the communication depend on the way it appeals to your audience. Communication on emails is inexpensive and efficient and their results can be measured accurately, websites are effective tool to establish credibility, but can be expensive, and social media such as Twitter and LinkedIn, it allows you to extend the reach of your message for your business and add value to your client relationship. Technology on communication as it advances by the minute the more resource people will have to be able to grow.

This Global Distribution System "Sabre" was selected by Hotel Okura to provide revenue through the forms of sales, account management, customer care and technology with a team of professionals who are all fluent in Japanese.Sabre is used by more then 12,000 properties around the world.JAL Hotels who is under the control of Hotel Okura experienced an impressive 18 percent increase in revenue after their initial migration to Sabre in 2009.This proves that GDS are still a huge factor of the online reservation industry.

This Hilton is taking on a very ambitious project to help save a lot of money in power costs. They are installing wind turbines on the rooftop of the hotel. The good thing about these turbines is that they seem to be sort of "stylish" and not the typical field turbines. The turbines, a total of six to start, will assist in creating more sources of electricity as opposed to the conventional methods. Electricity is probably one of the most expensive costs a hotel has to deal with. Using turbines will definitely help cut costs. Additionally, Hilton is not new to using green initiatives. They are planning to install solar panels in 2013. Both the turbines and the solar panels are expected to supply about 5 to 10 percent of the needed electricity. Also, the windows are built to block out the heat from the sun and to withstand the forces of a hurricane. Of note: this particularly Hilton was the very first hotel in Broward County, FL to receive the Florida Green Lodging designation. Erica

The partnership of AutoClerk, Inc., Technology At Work, and PhoneSuite is changing the approach to technology packages for hotels. This technology addresses the issues of solely-based cloud based solutions by additionally offering "premise-based property management solutions". Its application for property management and phone systems is most compelling. The software extends its use to smaller boutique hotels, B&Bs, and larger corporate hotels with its variety in package solutions. For international guests, the use of Interactive Voice Response allows for the use of their own native language, tailoring the hotel experience to the individual and group needs.

The three companies AutoClerk, Inc., Technology At Work and PhoneSuite. They provide complete techonology packages for hotels. The packages mainly include software, hardware, IP-based Private Branch Exchange phone system and network design. The package could use the same computer to run the hotel's Property Management system. It is able to offer could-based and premise-based property management solutions. The AutoClerk could interface to many standard systems, such as Internet reservations or restaurant Point-of-sale. The PhoneSuite developed a server-based hotel phone system called Voiceware. It coud run both administrative and guest room Session Initiation Protocol phones.It can be hosted "in the cloud" as a server.