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enables them to generate additional positive publicity and engage with existing and new target customers.

responding to the challenges of the recession and keeping overheads down

meant that environmental issues were given a low priority – ignoring the fact that there are often cost savings associated with such things as improved energy and waste management.

While GMs spend most of their time on property, district managers often monitor the three key performance metrics in real time for multiple properties.

Youngblood said remote technology gives him the opportunity to be more flexible.

Youngblood said he uses a mobile app from Revinate to monitor his hotel’s social media engagement. He said he receives alerts anytime a new review is posted about the Hilton, whether he’s “on the floors working with my team or at my kid’s basketball game on the weekend.”

Based on the false premise that security adds nothing to the bottom line, police departments and professional security agencies have seen their budgets curtailed precisely when they are most needed. This police and security cutback is especially challenging to every form of tourism: from hotels to attractions, from restaurants to transportation providers. To help you place this need in perspective, consider the following:

Do not let the media scare you about an increase in crime due to an economic turndown.

Without tourism security even the best marketing will fail

Hotels, conference centers and other meeting venues are increasing group business with new technology, and it isn’t just a hotel app. To invest in the property’s overall capital, hoteliers are creating cool technology tools that market venues, increase group business and enhance the guest experience. Technology is just another way hotels are winning group business and marketing a hotel or conference center. What are some of these new hot tools for leisure and business travelers?

Investment in Hotel Technology Pays Off with Increased Group Revenue Tuesday, July 10, 2012 by Sarah Vining Hotels, conference centers and other meeting venues are increasing group business with new technology, and it isn’t just a hotel app. To invest in the property’s overall capital, hoteliers are creating cool technology tools that market venues, increase group business and enhance the guest experience. Technology is just another way hotels are winning group business and marketing a hotel or conference center. What are some of these new hot tools for leisure and business travelers? Virtual concierge service on guest room TVs At Hyatt Hotels with in-room HD TVs by Roomlinx Inc., guests are able make service requests, check email/weather, use the Business Center, print documents, and receive customized messages from meeting planners. Service requests like housekeeping and in-room dining are instantly sent through the system, improving the venue’s departmental efficiency. All of these virtual functions are hoped to appeal to new markets and drive group business. More efficient billing In the article, “Insert IACC blog post title URL” we learn that in 2012, meeting and group planners are prioritizing finance as very important during in their planning process (which made the top 10 list for the first time). Hotels making large investments in revenue management systems are taking advantage of new features that automate and process data to improve efficiency and increase revenue for properties. Virtual business centers Socialization through technology and food and beverage outlets is increasing revenue for TRYP by Wyndham in the NYC Times Square South property. Google TVs and access to Google Chrome laptops near the Gastro Bar in the hotel’s lobby offers guests an opportunity to enjoy a dining experience with the comfort of complimentary technology use. On-staff IT team When planners were surveyed, reliability was listed as a top concern of IT services in the white paper “What Do Planners and Trainers Really Want in Their Meeting Service?” All IACC-certified conference centers are required to have an on-site IT team to ensure technology functions properly. Now, the need for a knowledgeable IT team that really understands technology and can cater to individuals and group business is spreading to other hotel markets.   These impressive technology tools improve the guest experience and lead to a quick return on investment, especially in F&B. As we move beyond the discussion of required hotel Wi-Fi services, there will be a focus on technology amenities that provide the same comforts of home or the office. To increase group business, hoteliers are comfortable with this investment knowing there’s a return on investment with generated buzz/venue marketing and satisfied guests. Want to learn about other ways hotels are using technology to build relationships? Check out Enhancing Your Social Networking Site with a Social Concierge! to maximize social media and connect with guests, attendees and planners!

Oh sure, many companies have green initiatives. Apple in particular has made notable, documented efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, powering a majority of its retail stores and data centers with renewable energy, developing more efficient packaging design, and designing products that use less power than their predecessors. But if your products are going to be tossed out in a year, none of that is particularly brag-worthy. That’s a tremendous amount of wasted resources.

In the past, computers were designed to be relatively easy to disassemble, like HP’s towers and older versions of the Mac Mini. You could swap out dead parts and batteries, add more memory if it got sluggish, even replace a motherboard. But in the mid-2000s, things started to change. Apple introduced the ultra-thin, ultra-light MacBook Air and the industry enthusiastically followed with heaping helpings of devices that, while slim, were very difficult to repair due to the construction compromises required to achieve that svelte profile. Smartphones and tablets followed with an even faster purchasing and chucking cycle.

Therefore, the easier it is to disassemble something, the more likely it is to be worth someone’s time to recycle it. And that’s where issues arise

For the end user, having the ability to conduct payments on mobile is extremely convenient. For businesses and financial institutions, the convenience and security of mobile payments can bring new revenue sources via e-commerce, and enhance customer loyalty through programs that leverage consumers’ mobile data

The hospitality industry has been quick to embrace mobile payment technology as operators seek industry-tailored mobile solutions that improve efficiency, boost profitability and increase guest satisfaction. Case in point: Gaylord Hotels’  poolside ordering and payment uses an iPod Touch, featuring mobile POS software and an attachment that allows the server to scan, collect payment and print a receipt from anywhere, so guests never have to leave their cabana

The future of mobile payments offers unrivalled opportunity for businesses, but ensuring its security is vital to maintain consumers’ trust. End users expect secure access to services from any device. With application security growing increasingly threatened, fraud prevention in this area is top priority. Ultimately, non-intrusive clientless verification of fraud activity helps both businesses and consumers

The IT or technology team is not always on the front line of attention when it comes to Guest Service skills.

Their roles and guest demand for technology services has increased and is going up and yet, guest service may not be a priority in this department

Ms. Nedry Guest Service / Customer Experience Mgmt The "IT” Factor in Service...How Does the Information Technology Team Fit into Today’s Guest Experience?

Under the Green Chemistry Initiative, manufacturers of “Priority Products” – product/chemical combinations targeted by the DTSC – must conduct an Alternatives Analysis, evaluating the use of substitute chemicals with lesser environmental harm and reporting results to regulators.

Mobile ubiquity.

To meet escalating guest expectations, 54% of hotels will spend more on technology this year, according to HT’s 2016 Lodging Technology Study. Their biggest priorities for technology spending, in order, are: payment security, guest room tech, bandwidth, and mobile engagement

Mobile solutions in particular will dominate the list of capital investments this year — six of the top new rollouts have a mobile component, ranging from mobile keys, to mobile payments, to location-based technology (see fig. 2 below). Also high on to-do lists are improving data accessibility and security.

most notably, the introduction of tablets. Whether standard-issue, all-purpose models or devices specialized to the task at hand, tablets make it possible to put full POS terminal functionality in the palms of servers’ hands. Yet the benefits of POS mobility are certainly not the only reason that so many hotel operators are upgrading their restaurant technology capabilities. The growing need to accept new payment methods, including chip credit cards and e-wallet apps, also ranks as high priority in many peoples’ minds.

the hospitality industry is the number 1 target for cyber criminals.

Most breaches in hospitality target the POS (91%), but other targets can include reservations procedures and unsecure integrations between software applications.

you are a potential target for hackers.

“Specials and Discounts” cannot be the only reason you send an email to your hotel database.

It’s not practical or advisable to send out emails from your own server.

Instead, go with tools that let you send emails the right way, give you excellent analytics, and help you grow your list effectively.

Global distribution systems (GDSs) are computerized networks/platforms that centralize services and provide travel-related transactions. They cover everything from airline tickets, to car rentals, to hotel rooms, and more. Global distribution systems were originally set up for use by the airlines but were later extended to travel agents. Today, the systems allow users to purchase tickets from multiple different providers or airlines. Global distribution systems are also the back end of most Internet-based travel services.

To see how global distribution systems work, take a closer look at one of the largest—Amadeus. Amadeus was created in 1987 as a joint venture between Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa, and SAS and has grown considerably over the past twenty-five years.

There's no doubt that global distribution systems will play an important part in the travel landscape for many years to come, but their traditional role is changing and being challenged by all the changes taking place in the travel industry. Two important considerations impacting the role of global distribution systems are the growth of online travel websites that offer price comparisons and the increased push from airlines and other travel service providers to encourage consumers to make bookings directly via their websites.

The data breach hitting Marriott Hotels Group was huge. The joint-second largest to have ever taken place, in fact, after Yahoo’s disastrous 2013 breach (and on par with Yahoo’s 2014 breach). While the amount of data that was taken from Starwood Hotels’ reservation systems (a company acquired by Marriott in 2016) was vast, what’s most staggering is the fact the breach went undetected for four years, and an acquisition also took place but the alarm still wasn’t raised. Since news originally broke of the release, it’s also been revealed that the hotel group’s own security team was hit by an attack in June 2017. Clearly something has gone amiss.

The issue is compounded by the fact that security is still not high enough up the list of priorities for business leaders. Despite well-known organizations frequently hitting the headlines for data breaches (in 2018 alone we’ve had Ticketmaster, Quora, British Airways, Under Armour and plenty more) and a ‘when not if’ warning  being peddled by the security industry for years, many businesses still haven't got to grips with just how critical proper security is. The fact that reviewing security may not have been part of the acquisition process of Starwood by Marriott – and if it was, not well enough – is further evidence of this apparent blindness to the impact of poor security. So, what’s going wrong? A research report from security company Bromium earlier this year suggested that the average large enterprise spends $16.7 million per annum on security, with the vast majority found to be on ‘the human cost of maintaining cyber security systems’. While most firms clearly aren’t 2,000 people sized enterprises, the research provides a good indication that spending on security isn’t the issue. Instead, it’s people.

We need to look at different approaches to skills development and, in many ways, imitate cyber criminals themselves who are continually iterating ideas to solve problems, rewarding perseverance and curiosity as well as encouraging further development. The ‘white hats’ need to approach their roles the same way – not rely on what they heard in a classroom six months previously.

Today’s hospitality is being transformed into a 100% digital technology-enabled industry powered by online, mobile, cloud, IoT, AI and blockchain tools and applications. Digital technology is making its way into every aspect of the industry: hotel operations, guest services, communications, revenue management, distribution, CRM and marketing.

Guest Engagement, Acquisition, and Retention Technology – these are technology applications focused on engaging and bringing the guest to the property, continuing the conversation pre-, during and post-stay and eventually turning the guest into a loyal and repeat guest. Guest Services Technology – these are on-property hardware devices and appliances, and software applications (on-premises or cloud-based) that provide or enhance guest services, improve guest comfort and satisfaction and enable customer service and communications.

Reluctance to invest in digital technology: This reluctance to invest in digital technology comes from the lack of understanding that we are serving technology obsessed travel consumers who demand a hotel technological experience be equal or better to what they have at home.

the heart that keeps the machine beating perfectly

integral to the functioning

security to be their top priority

What’s more, we found something very surprising: Investment in IT had a greater impact on a company’s profits than comparable spending on either advertising or R&D.

creativity and innovation.

enhance profitability more than others.

The practice of sustainable building has existed in one form or another for decades now, but it seems that its only in recent years that a drive for the construction of environmentally responsible, energy efficient and sustainable homes and commercial buildings has truly come to the forefront of the design, planning and construction industries.

The smart use of materials contributes greatly to reducing embodied energy in sustainable building projects.

Sustainable buildings generally require less maintenance than buildings without sustainability as a priority in their design and construction.