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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.

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.”

There are so many great companies out there with lots of great ideas, but any new technology needs to be compatible with current systems in order to be most effective.

While most people have smartphones these days, remember that not everyone does. For those who don’t, use kiosks or other ways to update them on session changes or information about the meeting.

Do something just because it’s a hot new technology.

Today, guests around the world are extremely conscious about the kind of hotels they live and holiday in. They constantly need to be reassured that the hotel they are staying at is environmentally friendly and so, gone are the days when ‘environmental consciousness’ was just a fad

What is LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized Green Building Rating System and measures how efficiently a building or hotel property performs across a relevant set of metrics like energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emission reduction, improved indoor environment quality as well as use of natural resources in construction and their impacts.

LEED is the most widely recognized form of green building certification in the world, and for a hotel that wants to establish a prominent competitive advantage, it is a must.

Our Classic magstripe locks do not store critical security information within individual locks, such as master key information, and any service device must authenticate itself through diversified encryption methods to gain access to the lock software

VingCard Elsafe’s locks can also detect tampering and work to alert hotel security staff using the company’s VISIONLINE system. “[The VISIONLINE system] incudes alarms to alert the hotel front desk if someone attempts to tamper with a door lock as well as providing real time alerts to the hotel’s security staff when activity is detected that a card is being misused,”

Other alarms include detecting that a door is forced open, left open, or ‘mule tool’ intrusions when a door is opened from the inside handle without an occupant in the room.”

For example, McDonalds was recently hit with a nationwide class action alleging that its new Coca-Cola Freestyle beverage dispensers violate the ADA because their touch-screen interfaces are inaccessible to the visually impaired.

The availability of hefty damages in many states increases the potential exposure businesses face. For example, in California, a single violation with respect to a POS device, entitles the plaintiff to a minimum of $4,000 in statutory damages, plus his attorney’s fees and litigation expenses. Potential liability can be overwhelming when these type of lawsuits are brought as class actions.

Quora is not the only social technology company that presents an antisocial attitude to callers

LinkedIn’s voice mail lists an alternate customer service number. Dial it, and the caller is trapped in a telephonic version of the movie “Groundhog Day,” forced to work through the original phone tree again and again until the lesson is clear: stop calling.

On the other end of the line, however, some people may not know how to Google, or do not want to use Twitter. These users may be older, or less technically adept, and they are finding the method of communication they have relied on for a lifetime shifting under their feet. It does not make sense, they say, that a company with products used by millions every day cannot pick up the phone.

looks at how several hotel companies are going a step beyond those ubiquitous towel- and linen-reuse programs, from their guest rooms to their boutiques.

Designed to boost direct bookings and reach hotel guests across all marketing channels—web, mobile, and social — WIHPConnect, the most complete software as a service marketing platform for hoteliers, launched today in private beta.

Beta testers get early access to the most advanced features of the software at no cost, which empowers them to make the most of their marketing campaigns right in time for the Fall tourist rush for special seasonal events

A cloud-based solution, WIHPConnect is the most advanced digital marketing software on the market, offering hoteliers significant competitive advantages over existing resources.

Outsourcing your hotel accounting is an unintelligent move

I said I was going to alternate between the pros and cons. The second pro is cost savings.

A negative aspect of outsourcing is the reduced level of service.

Adoption of mobile locks in the hotel marketplace continues to rise unilaterally across all segments

most magstripe locks are nearing the end of their useful life and the recurring maintenance issues that arise are causing hotels to seek replacement options

“Mobile applications that allow a guest to directly access a hotel room provide more convenience and result in improved guest satisfaction,” said Michael Cline, Salto Systems' VP of hospitality sales. “In many cases, the guest can skip the check-in line at the hotel’s front desk and go directly to their room.”

increasingly competitive

While the growing trend is to take all aspects of event management online with event registration software, many event organizers are still wary that that their participants will be scared away at the thought of submitting their data online.

Quick and easy registration for the participant.

Fortunately, new technology lets restaurants adopt some of ecommerce’s best practices. From an IT perspective, this requires four key elements:   A system to close the loop at the guest level on promotional offers. It’s not enough to have a POS discount key for “Father’s Day promo” anymore. You need to know which dad (or mom!) responded to that offer, what they bought, and who they brought in with them.   The ability (either directly or through your credit card processor) to access payment data in order to identify individual guests when they return. This data set is essential – it’s the lifeblood of ecommerce. Fortunately, the ecommerce players have pioneered safe, secure ways to get at data without compromising PCI safeguards.   A guest-centric data warehouse to store all the key data sets — check level POS data, payment data, marketing data, loyalty program data if available, reservations, online ordering, guest responses, and third party data such as Prizm or Mosaic.   An analytics layer. The requirements here go way beyond static or standardized reporting. Marketing needs to be able to cut data in an ever-changing variety of ways to identify key patterns and segments.   Marketing, in turn, must partner with IT on determining goals. What is the restaurant trying to accomplish and what can be left out? Take joint meetings with IT to look at vendors to help give a sense of what’s possible. But then let IT do their job. Next, build the business case. Moving to a data driven marketing strategy will require shifting budget from other media, or finding new budget dollars. Determine appropriate metrics and the desired payoff. Setting up high level, high visibility “report cards” is critical. For example, “Our 2015 goal is to grow the annual spend of our top three customer groups by 4%, thereby delivering $17.5M of incremental sales.” That will get the CFO’s attention and the goal is doable. Finally, design and execute the marketing plan. That will likely require a trained data and analytics expert, and/or a close partnership with a company that analyzes data 24/7. Either way, it’s important to not over-reach in the beginning. Year one is about becoming familiar with the data, drawing insights, and learning a new language—segments, deciles, annual spend, customer acquisition costs, and lifetime value. The good news is there is usually a great deal of quick wins, such as offer optimization.     Introducing data-driven marketing may seem like a daunting task, but the ability to predictably drive sales should incent even the most cautious. The benefits of bringing an early mover are huge. These restaurants will have more data to work with two to three years out. More data, gathered over a longer period of time, becomes its own competitive advantage. Just ask Amazon.

Technology is not static, it's flexible, and just like processes and services in hotels, it needs to adapt to quickly changing guests expectations and market demands and, if possible, anticipate them.

Scalability and adaptation to market changes must be a hotel's mantra when choosing a technology provider.

For one, there is too much friction between softwares. Integrations are the weak link of our industry. Even for some of the best tech companies, integrations can involve months of development and testing to create stable connections

Nowadays, hotel guests who travel with devices such as phones, tablets and computers no longer see Wi-Fi as a perk, but as a must-have when they check in at a hotel. Hotel guests expect to be able to connect to the internet seamlessly and without too many interruptions, leading hotels to invest in better, faster Wi-Fi infrastructure so that people can do business and use their technology devices with ease when they book their stay. Hotels are also starting to move away from user pay models. In the past, hotels could charge exorbitant rates and guests knew they would have to pay if they wanted to go online. Installing and maintaining a hotel-wide wireless network may be coupled with costs, but many leading hotel groups have started to install high density Wi-Fi and started to offer in-building mobile phone coverage as guests have come to expect these services during their stay (not only for themselves, but also for their guests if they are hosting a conference or function at the hotel). It might not yet be financially feasible for hotels to completely abandon the user pay model, but many of them are re-thinking their current infrastructure and pricing models.

Technology is advancing at a faster pace than ever before, and this is changing both the expectations of patrons as well as the way in which the hospitality industry conducts its business. Some of the trends in industry are leading to great improvements and savings for hospitality industry companies; while some are changing how hotel developers plan their buildings, infrastructure, management structure and staffing requirements.

Near field communication (NFC) technology is the next-generation short-range high frequency wireless communication technology that gives users the ability to exchange data between devices.