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The article discusses how American Arlines (AA) flights could not be found on Expedia or Orbitz because the company could not reach an agreement with Expedia. AA then suggested customers book flights directly via their website or via Direct Connect, a new system. Southwest airlines is another company that does not sell via third party or GDS sites, they only sell on their on site. When companies begin to remove themselves from traditional GDS systems it changes the way consumers and travel agents begin to book flights. It will make more difficult because we will spend more time comparing multiple sites and we we will never be sure if we are getting the best deal.

Although short, I found this article incredibly interesting after learning about the MIS manager role. MIS managers are meant to keep track of information systems, making sure the results are correct and being implemented. Well, what if you had an "accountant" who did all that for you, and more? It seems cloud accounting is doing just that for any industry, including the hospitality sector. The cloud software is a system that brings all the company's information systems together under one virtual roof, this can include POS, payroll systems, and more. Not only does the cloud accountant promise more accurate data, but also saves time and money, allowing businesses to better service their guests. 

The following article reviews the hospitality E-Business as well as the industries "E-profile". It was interesting to read how the article breaks down the realities of the new millennium and what it has brought to the table for the entire hospitality industry. It is vital for the hospitality industry to be available to evolve with the current technological trends and innovations. The article reviews how e-business has removed the traditional barriers to commerce; for example, time, distance and physical location. The future for "Web-enablement" within the industry has major potential and will soon be implemented. Ex; virtual tours, guest history and loyalty programs, sales force automation, etc.

Module 2: Hardware/Software (Berkley Alessandrini) The following article compares the current top/trendy management software programs within the hospitality industry - specifically within lodging operations. Obviously manually updating your hotel's information is no longer an effective way to do things. The following article breaks down certain software programs like; My Cloud PMS, Oracle, roomMaster, etc, and gives information on each that differentiates them. I can relate to the article because I have experience working with a few different types of software programs and I know first-hand how important it is to have a software that is convenient, organized, and user friendly. Depending on the program, they have the ability to be customised based on needs of the hotel and can even add certain features if necessary. After analysing the article, I believe that it is vital to compare the different programs available to find a PMS that fits best for your specific hotel. In some cases, maybe your property will not benefit from the "top" management software system; therefore you must compare and find one that will work best with your needs, requirements, budget, etc. It is important for the Lodging Industry to take full advantage of the technology that is provided to them and as technology is constantly evolving - you must (as a business) evolve with the changes and update your current technology to lead and stay ahead of the trends. Having a software that provides your hotel with the best features, availability, etc. is a must!

This article states the differences in job description of both digital marketing manager and revenue manager, but LaRose focuses on the importance of having them work closely to best reach their goals. Basically you cant have one without the other and each position has something unique to offer to the hotels growth and popularity. Every hotel must sell a story and meet the demands of their guests, consistently adapting and changing, adding and subtracting when needed in order to maximize revenue and continue to be attractive to its consumer.

This article reviews a survey conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association which reveals that 23% of consumers say they have been misled by third-party traveler re-sellers. The article further explains the Federal Trade Commission's investigation of one of these companies, Reservation Counter, LLC which resulted in legal action. The article concludes that to protect consumers AHLA will support legislation known as the Stop Online Booking Scams Acts and strongly encourages travelers to book directly through the hotel or trusted travel agent. I think we are seeing the AHLA's opposition to OTA's in defense of hotel properties that want direct booking. The protection of customers is important, but it seems like an implied warning of ligitimate OTA's like www.booking.com.

Plate IQ has formed a partnership with Square announcing an integration with Square's new Restaurant service. Plate IQ's daily dales software enables restaurants to "automatically input guest payment data from Square for Restaurants into many existing accounting software platforms and create valuable summaries of daily transactions." This integration has multiple benefits including more accurate, faster and detailed bookkeeping and more efficient cost of goods sold management. At my restaurant, we use a very similar software to this called Avero. Avero is integrated with our Aloha POS system and the information is automatically inputted every morning from the day before. As a General Manager, I find software like this necessary to day to day operations. It enables me to generate reports on product mixes, individual server sales, categorical sales and even enables me to monitor labor compared to my revenue.

RealView is a Chicago-based mobile software company that assists hotels with emergencies by equipping first responders with hotel's up-to-date floor plans and other relevant information. "We provide a preplan program where we make everything a responder would need available to them ahead of time," Stephen Nardi, CEO of RealView, said. "With planning, both employees and responders won't be operating on trial and error but reality." All of this information is streamlined to portable tablets or security stations and can be updated remotely and shared digitally. This software is important not only because of the safety of hotel patrons and visitors, but also to protect a hotel from a liability standpoint. "The front-end policies you have will protect you in the moment and in the end," Justin Parafinczuk, a partner for the defense law firm Koch, Parafinczuk, Wolf and Susen said. ""Any break in the chain is a liability. It's a minefield." In my opinion, this type of software not only makes sense but should be required in all hotels. When dealing with emergencies that involve life and death, seconds matter. It is software like RealView that can be the difference in saving peoples live's. RealView offers the ability to streamline real time information and make it easily sharable. I believe that not having this type of software should be considered a legal liability to hotels and they should be held accountable if they do not have this type of software implemented.

The article talks about the increased innovation in PMS and hotel systems overall and how technology is necessary to meet guest expectations. The integration of all hotel systems including the PMS allows for an enhanced guest experience. Hoteliers will have a better perspective of their guests and be better able to anticipate requests and manage pricing etc. A suggested new technology in the article is artificial intelligence chat-bots that can respond and assist with customer inquiries. Additionally the use of mobile is a tool that can empower hotel guests to communicate with the property the same way they use their smartphone for so many other activities. With the proper mobile integration with the PMS a guest could order room service to any location on property, view media and make requests. A combination of highly integrated PMS and hotel software with top notch customer service will provide an exceptional experience that will exceed guest expectations.

A new study done by IBM has discovered that nearly sixty percent of organizations are embracing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), having their sights set on improving privacy, security, and data management. This is a relief to see as this particular subject in the hospitality industry has frequently come up as a major talking point with the developing technologies in the industry; the fact that industry leaders are viewing the GDPR in this manner rather than a compliance issue/restriction is refreshing. Seventy percent of survey responders are disposing data ahead of the deadline for compliance in an attempt to reduce their exposure. IBM did a separate poll that found only twenty percent of US consumers completely trusted organizations to maintain the privacy of their data. Due to this, businesses are using the recent GDPR compliance as a statement to consumers that they're looking to build trust and reliability with customers and drive innovation. However, even with the opportunities at hand, only thirty six percent of responders believed they will be fully compliant by the deadline. To minimize the amount of data an organization is managing, companies are taking measures such as reducing the number of people who have access to personal data or simply cutting down on the amount of data stored. Additionally, studies have found that the primary challenges organizations are facing with the GDPR include finding all the of the personal data stored in their business, ensuring the accuracy of said data, and making sure this data is in compliance in how it is shared or used. Another challenge to the new compliance is that companies are to report data breaches to regulators within 72 hours of the breach, yet IBM has found that only thirty one percent of companies have taken a look at the measures they have in place for incident response to account for this new rule in compliance.

A hotel workforce communications platform named Quora is helping operators ensure that all their pools, hot tubs, and spas meet water safety standards within a Pool Readings module. The recurring app enables hotel engineers to test a pool/s chlorine, PH, alkalinity, and calcium levels as well as water temperature and PSI flow rates identifying if the pool water is safe for hotel guests. 

Not only are PMSs valuable for hotel management, but also for commercial and residential properties. The ability to predictively prepare for any issues that may occur allows for less onsite staffing at any given moment aside from the already lowered costs of using these online systems allows. These systems can also track energy usage to allow for better property management across the board.

This article about proximity marketing does description in the potential revenue for retailers, hotels, casinos, and connections with consumers that encourage more guest loyalty.

This article outlines how hotels are trying to become eco-friendly sustainable and still able to paramount guest needs. With this initiative, modern consumers are showing a definitive preference for experiential purchasing over material goods.

The POS system is saving time by reducing the amount of times that a server visits the main terminal It also assists management with keeping tracking of its inventory. An example of some of the new innovations with POS software is online ordering, online payment integration, and increased customer engagement.

As we all know, all hotels need some variation of a property management system, which PMSs come in many different forms. In this article, the author has seen PMSs as a superior way to handle all these tasks with ease at hotels because of its ability to deeply integrate with channel managers, booking engines, and revenue management systems. However, there are still certain concerns over PMSs, and this author has clarified some rumors of the validity and cost effectiveness of PMSs in this article.

All hotels need some variation of a property management system (PMS). However they come in many different forms and are not all created equal. There are still properties trying to manage their business in a traditional way with books and ledgers, others are using server-based systems, while many used web-based systems. One of the most valuable things to a hotel manager is time, and money of course. The first two systems listed are a drain on both time and finances, while the latter has obviously become the optimal way to manage hotel operations. Cloud-based PMSs are a superior way to automate and accelerate all the important processes at your hotel such as taking and confirming bookings, managing reservations, generating bills and reports, check-in/out, room transfers, checking/editing availability, guest communication, the list goes in.

In the hospitality industry, HRIS not only can increase efficiency but also can improve customer service. There are lots of benefits for the hotel. Using HRIS can extend beyond the workforce. Hotel place this software to solve lots of problems. It also can help reduce administrative costs and improve the efficiency of the HR department. This includes the time-consuming tasks of handling salary and dealing with employee scheduling. Employees can check their own payroll by HRIS. If employees don't satisfy their schedule they can email leader directly. This HRIS can reduce lots of procedures that you want to contact someone. Customer service is an integral part of the hospitality sector. By increasing the efficiency and morale of the workforce, people can directly improve the ability to deliver exceptional customer service.

This article looks at the reasons a property should entertain the idea of using HR software and why? Most managers do not understand all of the functionalities of the software and how it increases efficiency while also providing efficiencies that are not strictly payroll centered. The article also noted that manual processes slow production and efficiency, thus HR software saves time, which equals cost savings.

Adjara Group has signed a deal with Cendyn to power CRM across all of their hotels in Georgia which will help them utilize data collected from multiple sources to provide an accurate, single source of truth of each guest. Cendyn is a tool used to provide marketing automation and guest intelligence sitting on top of a hotel's property management system or call center application.