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This article takes a deep dive into the emerging tech trends in 2021. They briefly touched on how SaaS is slowly taking over the traditional PMS and how venture capitalist can't get enough of these programs. Another honorable mention in this article is the explosion of guest room tech such as streaming services, voice activation, and guest room tablets. OTAs that have traditionally been top dogs when it came to hotel bookings are slowly declining and big data is becoming super insightful to hoteliers. This article touches on so many avenues of tech and it's definitely a must read!

This article discusses Wyndham's decision to transition its property management into the cloud based services through Oracle Hospitality. Their decision was based on the several advantages offered by Oracle's cloud based system such as cost savings, the simplified application and use of only one central system and the protection from cyber attacks. Wyndham is the first hotel chain to adopt Oracle's new cloud based version of their management system.

This article describes accounting software functions within the Hotel industry. The article states that "Accounting software is used to track the profitability of hotel operations and identify trends in the hospitality industry". It is said that when selecting accounting software, you must identify what results you are looking for from the software; and also the functions that you are able to receive. You must also understand the needs of your property, and industry. The article also discusses various decision criteria, which is a part of the selection process. Some of these criteria's that you must look out for are: annual revenue, budget, location, multiple sites, national or international locations, in-house verses outsource operations. I love the fact that this article also discusses the functions of hotel accounting software. Some of those functions that were stated are: account payable, account receivable, and payroll. The article also brought up some trends about hotel and lodging accounting software. One of the trends that stand out to me was the fact that some companies hand over their entire accounting responsibilities to major accounting companies or, accounting firms; this is referred to as outsource. Having a accounting software is a very beneficial asset for a company.

The hospitality industry has had steady growth, with increasing demands for internal controls and financial accountability. Accounting software is crucial in measuring and tracking the hotel's profitability. Accounting software is used to track the profitability of hotel operations and identify trends in the hospitality industry. So it's important for hotel manager to choose the suitable accounting software. This article tells how to select hotel accounting system properly. Including the decision criteria used in selection process, areas of functionality in hotel accounting software and standards used for accounting and auditing in hotel industry, etc.

Hotel managers are often faced a lot of problem to deal with the accounting system. Now hotel manager can manage all of the accounting responsibilities by use hotel accounting technology. Using Web-based hotel accounting software can save your business money . The functions covered in all of the accounting systems.

This article emphasizes how imperative it is for hospitality businesses to stay on the cutting edge of technology as a part of their business design and strategy if they want to survive in today's competitive market and remain in it, in the near future. The author expresses that today's hospitality market is being driven by Millennials' "the largest generation in the country's history" who patronize businesses that are socially and environmentally responsible. Armed with this information to capture their targeted market, more and more hotels are now incorporating from inception within their physical blueprint infrastructure that is environmentally sustainable and cost-effective. As well as obtaining Green certifications and implementing sustainable software to reduce waste and minimize leakages. This concept has also been adopted by cruise ship operators to reduce environmental impact through the use of technology.

This article introduces the different initiatives that the hospitality industry is taking with regard to technology in order to align with their target market or a large segment of their market. As being perceived, millennials are sought to be the largest generation in the country's history which leads companies to infer that they have a massive amount of buying power in their hands. Hospitality companies are now making strides to become more environmentally conscious. Some of these initiatives is incorporating LED lights throughout the facilities to reduce energy waste and cut down on costs. Another initiative is incorporating new systems in the guest rooms that enhance the stay while keeping it green like systems that adjust temperatures in the rooms, remotely powered shades, etc. Other companies are even using systems as a tool to help track, measure, and reduce food waste for more sustainable and effective restaurant/bar operations. It is no secret that technology is ever-evolving, and it will continue to develop as new features are discovered.

Article discusses millennials as the largest generation in U.S. history, and the speed at which technology progresses. In addition to paying attention to millennials' purchasing decisions, other industries must also meet their financial expectations. Many brands are taking steps to become more sustainable in the hospitality industry despite its reputation for producing massive amounts of waste.

As technology advances and people start to change how they travel, the hotel industry must not shy away from these changes. This article talks about consumer trends that hotels should be implementing onto their properties. Guests are beginning to find places that will allow them to relax but focus on their work. They also want to be assisted immediately, whether from a human being or a kiosk. They want to stay someplace they can brag about to others, which helps your company. They want to do business with a company that are honest with them about any policies or fees included with their stay. Lastly, guests are accepting the change of having things on a digital scale.

This article is about how hospitality and tourism have been reshaped through IT, eMarketing and how it has helped prove sales, information, made destinations more popular and also help travelers plan. eMarketing also is a massive platform for word of mouth. This study also shows what helped eMarketing become what it is. When certain things are typed into search bars, this data is collected and used for eMakreting and to target specific groups of people.

It is very important for hotels to provide excellent security. It makes the customers feel safe and enhance their confidence and safety.Security officers patrolling the hotel's grounds can look out for suspicious activity.Security officers can prevent hotels from incurring property damage, particularly if officers are patrolling the hotel's grounds. They can also assist in incidents involving guests damaging their rooms.

This article is how to be successful in entering the event planning industry. It has tips from insiders on things they did to become successful. It states that networking is key. Volunteer and get to know people in all types of events from school functions to jazz festivals. People interested in the event planning field should join one or more associations in this field. Research should be done, for example read books, articles and learn what you can. If you want to be an event planner in the hotel industry then you should also learn the terminology, sales concepts, and gain a basic understanding into the the hotel/convention business. Last be realistic, this is not a 9 - 5, it is hectic and your schedule will fluctuate from event to event.

The following article is from the ALFA Update, its a case study from Senior Living Executive, and audio files from ALFA's conference sessions. Building and Technology articles focus on  ideas, best practices and solutions to problems related to green living, physical plant, space planning, and security. For instance in this particular article 

The following articles are from the ALFA Update, case studies from Senior Living Executive, and audio files from ALFA's conference sessions. Building and Technology articles focus on  ideas, best practices and solutions to problems related to green living, physical plant, space planning, and security.

This article summarized the advantages and disadvantages of using human resource information system. An HRIS is used for employment actions such as applicant tracking, performance management, attendance, compensation and benefits management, work force analyses, and scheduling. A very popular use of HRIS is employee self-service. There are a lot of advantages of HRIS, such as it is monitored by qualified specialists who know technology and HR functional and tactical processes can manage compliance with federal and state laws, streamline processes for recruitment and selection, and produce analyses, data and reports for internal and external use. What's more, it is easy to use for qualification computer technology specialists, accuracy of information and the ability to perform HR audits using any combination of parameters. It saves a lot of time. The disadvantages included that HRIS may involve human error during information input, costly technology to update the system and malfunctions or insufficient applications to support the human resources needs. There should be a qualified specialist with human resources functional area knowledge to manage this system. The cost to hire an HRIS specialist may be far above the average salary for a computer technology specialist.

With the development of high-tech management system, HRIS is no long strange for us. The HRIS is a software or online solution to data tracking, data management, or all of the data needs of the company within the human resources department. The reason why HRIS is becoming  more popular is that it has some useful functions such as the employee self-service through which employees can find answers to common questions by themselves while not ask a human resources representative. This system can help to save time and money for the company in certain aspects. But in this article, the author compares the advantages and disadvantages that HRIS brings to the company.The disadvantages can be that it may involve human errors during information input, costly technology update and so on. So if a company wants to apply this system, it should also look at these disadvantages, compare them with the advantages and then make a final decision in order to avoid suffering from the bad sides of the system. 

The HRIS is used for applicant tracking, performance management, attendance, compensation and benefits management, work force analyses, and scheduling. HRIS can be also used for employee self-service. The human resources department staff can find answers to common questions they would have asked a human resources representative from the HRIS. HRIS has many advantages. It can help organization manage compliance with laws, streamline processes for recruitment and selection, and produce analyses, data and reports. The ease of use for qualified specialists, accuracy of information and the ability to perform HR audits using any combination of parameters. However, there are still some disadvantages, such as human error during information input, costly technology to update your system and malfunctions or insufficient applications to support human resources needs. In addition, the cost of hiring an HRIS specialist is also a problem for the small business.

This article tells us how Marriott never forgets a guest. First and foremost, the author told us a little story about a guest's experience in Marriott. He told the hotel about his trip, the hotel let the planning coordinator to make an itinerary for the customer including trip details and their favourates. The experience in Marriott made him very satisfied. In addition, the software which made Marriott's velvet-glove treatment come true is called customer management software from Siebel Systems Inc.. This technology aims to combine the customers, hotel and planning coordinator together to share the information of the customers such as the size of the bed, the view of the room or some specific needs of the customer. In this way, people will arrived at the room prepared just as what he liked, which will made the customer satisfied and gains the hotel loyalty and hotel profits. Marriott owns 1850 hotels and resorts worldwide and began using the software in late 1998. Until now, this software has brought a large number of guests and increase sales for the hotel. Many people would like to find the planning coordinator to book their stay during Marriott or by the hotel booking system. More and more people are choosing Marriott instead of other hotels of the personize service provided by the hotel. Finally, Marriott is transforming its sales teams to aggressive marketers for all the Marriott properties. So this makes it easy for the salesperson to book hotel rooms worldwide for his local customers. With the advantages of the software, many hotel chains such as Hilton Hotels Corp. are staring to follow the Marriott's technology lead to satisfy their customers.

The Kana Hotel Group operates over 30 properties from Hilton, IHG, and Marriott. The Kana group is updating security at its 30 properties to ILCO 790 RFID locks. The 790 RFID locks are going to be more reliable for guests to use because the new system eliminates the problem of guests having to return to the front desk to have their keys recoded, due to deactivating the back of the strip. This new system will eliminate the key card from losing its information from other magnetic objects and cell phones. I think upgrading their locks to the ILCO 790 RFID units is a great move. Not only will this bring better security to properties but also this makes a guests experience so much better. More often lately I've had keys deactivate themselves for no reason at all or they were next to something magnetic. It is a hassle sometimes to go all the way back to the front desk after a long day to deal with a key that no longer works. This is a great move since ILCO locks are high quality and this brings additional security to a hotel property.

From lodging to foodservice, the point of service is the premiere place for customers to get their first - and hopefully not last - impression of an establishment. Streamlining and fine-tuning the service that occurs at the POS is of utmost important and operators are always seeking out the latest technologies to make this possible. The move to mobile payment is always top-of-mind as well, but lingering confusion and trepidation still remains for many customers. Owners and operators must seek out ways to implement the technology without intimidating customers. Last month's POS headlines proved this as stories ranged From a study tracking the public perception of mobile payment to improving drive-thru functionality and reducing maintenance costs with cloud-based systems. Study Shows Interest and Confusion Over Mobile Payments At Mobile World Congress, MasterCard in partnership with Prime Research, has released the first global Mobile Payments Social Media Study tracking 85,000 related social media comments across Twitter, Facebook, Online Blogs and Forums From around the world. The study shows a high volume of conversation and consumer interest in adopting mobile payments but cites security, customer support and confusion over the array of options available today as barriers to entry. Taco Bell Streamlines Drive-Thru Experience Across Franchises Desert de Oro Foods' Taco Bell locations had a range of drive-thru communications systems that were deployed over the last five years. However, restaurants were experiencing poor sound quality due to a limited range of wireless capabilities with the current systems. Poor audio quality led to increased wait times for customers as a result of miscommunications and mistakes. In addition, Desert de Oro Foods knew it needed to move to a digital system as the analog bandwidth of its current systems would be ruled out by the FCC at the end of 2012. Panasonic's Attune® drive-thru communications system offered the o

As mobile devices become more advanced, particularly cell phones and tablet devices, more pressure to keep up with mobile and social trends is placed on the hospitality industry. People are using their mobile devices more now than they have in the past. So much so, that "two thirds of Americans sleep with their mobile device in range, something we cannot say about desktops". A world of information is at your fingertips because of the capability of mobile devices. Information that can help us make decisions about anything. Even last-minute decisions about hotels and food. More people are using their mobile devices to book rooms and many of the people that do this, are booking a hotel for the same night. The fact most of the people who do this are under 30 means that it is very likely that this trend will increase. People are expecting the technology to be there so that they can pick a hotel and a restaurant to go to if they are unfamiliar with a city. They are expecting a hotel chain to have a mobile site or better yet an "app" that will not only allow them to book a room, but, one that will give them directions from where they are to the hotel. The same can be said for restaurants. Potential customers want to be able to look over the menu and determine if they want to come to the restaurant, all from their mobile device. Mobile guests are also using customer review sites to determine where they will lodge or dine. They are using sites like TripAdvisor which allows you to post comments about your stay. The sight even allows the guests to post pictures. "Customer reviews are also important to the hotel industry, but the jury is still out on exactly how hotels should react with people who post reviews." It is always great when a guest posts a positive review of the hotel, but imagine how one bad stay could tarnish a hotels reputation. And what if there are cleanliness issues that the guest can photograph and upload to the site? Exactly what to do in this type of e

Almost everyone has a smart phone now and days. Apps are used for almost anything and this article gives evidence to how much you can do with an app. The article focuses on Las Vegas and how many hotels have different apps for every occasion. Vegas Mate caught my attention from how it has things such as "a listing of resort fees, top suites, information for travelers on getting around, conventions, gambling and more" that other Vegas apps don't have. I believe it takes great time and money for these companies to keep up with the ever changing schedules for each hotel. I'm a planner and I was really intrigued on how this certain app pulls up the latest update and weather from around the city and even "keep all those show tickets, dinner reservations and hotel bookings in order." I mean who can beat that? There's no excuse to why hotels and many other tourism spots don't have an app for all the amenities that are offered. It'll surprise guests and make them really pleased with their stay.

With both individual sites like American Airlines or bundle sites like Travelocity; everyone is jumping on the eCommerce train. And what better way to grow customer loyalty than with your very own app. Want to buy a plane ticket or rent a hotel room do it from your smart phone. Problem is how do you get people to down load your app. Well Facebook has figured that out for you. Advertise on their site and customers can install your app with a click of a button. No jumping to other websites and hassling with tricky downloads; just click and your off.

This article talks about a new brand campaign which was launched by Expedia, an online travel site that helps users plan and book travel. This campaign, called FIND YOURS, is about content photos and videos and stories from everyday consumers include Personal Storytelling, Travel Blogger Integration, Social Media and NFFTY which are all about travelers' daily travels to give an image to show travelers' personalities and get personal touch back to business. As we know, information technology steps big forward to the future quickly. Nowadays travel agents turn its most businesses into online due to the less cost and more convenience. By doing the huge business and getting large numbers of information from expanding to the internet, travel agents get a big profit over the last 3 decades. But the personal touch is getting less and less due to this radical change on the internet; humanity is becoming mechanized and electronized and far away from actual contacts. So in my opinion, I am strongly agreed with this campaign and I think Expedia did a good job to make the electrical business to be personalized and more humanity which should be the nature of the business initially