Hospitality Technology

Leading provider of innovative hotel management software company called Frontdesk Anywhere, introduces "Direct Connect" inventory and booking interface to Expedia.com which is one of the world's largest online travel agencies provides the ability to book hotels worldwide. By implement "Direct Connect" inventory and booking interface, now hotels can send rate and inventory information directly to Expedia.com and get the real-time booking information from Expedia.com, hotels.com or any of Expedia's affiliate partners. Now hotels manage their inventory effectively by making their rooms available information on the Internet to increase the visibility of sales and receive all the reservations without any manual intervention.

The partnership of Frontdesk Anywhere and Expedia appears to be a great one. This will be particular great for hotels with large room inventories.

Going green is one of the hottest trends in the hospitality industry, but why? General speaking, there are two reasons: Benefit hospitality industry. Through increased efficiency, hospitality facilities can reduce costs, achieve environmental results, gain recognition, win new business, and be more attractive to employees. Protect the environment. Help to conserve natural resources by preventing pollution in regions with a large concentration of hospitality facilities and high resource use. To be specific, there are below several benefits: 1. Cost savings. Going green can maximize energy efficiency and reduce waste. A hotel can reduce its energy consumption by 20-40%. Substantial cost savings can makes hotel more profitable. 2. Competitive advantage. Over time, green practices will be more treasured in the hospitality industry, particularly as the continually rise of non-renewable energy cost. Green programs can also provide a competitive advantage by being recognized for green efforts. 3. Employee retention Environmental programs have proved to be an effective ways of generating enthusiasm and motivating staff to work as a team to achieve a common purpose. The high level of staff enthusiasm and motivation reduces employee turnover rate, in this way, business could save money in training of new staff. 4. Customer loyalty Business which has green practices makes customers feel responsible and reliable. Customer loyalty will increase once they have experienced hotels which have show their environmental commitment. 5. Regulatory compliance Being aware of green and take green practice will avoid potentially higher future costs which may be associated with compliance. 6. Risk management Going green helps companies reduce their environmental risk and potential liabilities. It also can secure investment and reduce their financial and reputational market exposure

7.Cause it's the right thing to do! Business should pay more attention on protecting environment as business growth. Going green is a reflection of business take social responsibility. Larger businesses have been criticized as being the main culprit in releasing excess greenhouse emissions, climate change, environmental devastation, and unfair treatment of employees. The planet is unique, so lager businesses need to increase focus on protect environment.

Going green is definetely a smart move for the above reasons, but it is also a good idea because it is trendy. People want to stay in forward thinking hotels and feel like they are on the edge of technology. Green hotels will get more attention and ultimately more business simply because it is popular. Investors want to put their money towards the wave of the future. As an Oregonian (tree loving hippies, wink) I embrace the attention being given to a greener way of doing business. It is really the best move for all of us, business and society as a whole.

Great article, Craig! I agree that this is a great app for hotel managers to integrate into their company because although they may need to invest money to create these apps, the incoming revenue produced from the app will be well worth it. Tourists usually go on leisurely vacations to relax and be pampered. This app is just another guest service tool that allows the customer to do what they'd like from the comfort of their bed or tanning chair.

One of the biggest complains received from travelers or hotel guests in New York is paying for Wi-Fi and not being able to get cellular data service. While wired and wireless service was available, the lack of cell phone signal for downloads and data service caused travelers to become frustrated. To help out, the Mandarin Oriental, New York decided to deploy a converged IP network and install the Ruckus Wi-Fi wall switches in every room to help with cellular and wireless capacity and coverage. Since installing the Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi system, Mandarin Oriental, New York has seen user capacity more than triple and wireless traffic eclipse traffic on the wired network, while customer wireless complaints have dropped by more than 85%.(But the benefit isn't just for the guests. According to the hotel, the new wall-switch Wi-Fi "dramatically reduces the cost and complexity of installing and managing wired and wireless network services."

This is awesome, especially in New York where the wi-fi traffic is crazy busy all the time. It is true that most guests do complain about having to pay for the wi-fi. I work at a hotel and that is one of the most complaints that I get. Even though in the article they say that the guests still have to pay for the wifi, it does allow the guest to have the confidence that they will receive a strong signal and that the internet will work.

This article addresses the lack of technology being used in the event planning industry. In this article there is a company and women featured who saw the lack and the need for technology in the industry and took the initiative to take charge and began something called planner tech. Basically these are events all over the country to show local event planners how they can benefit from technology. I thought this was so innovative and interesting. It is nice for people who see a gap in our world and they can locate it and show this lack of tech to other people and help them use it to their advantage

This article indicates benefits of events planner to use internet technologies to search event place. Technologies makes process of event planning more efficient and increases communication. The social media and internet application is very important for event planners. People can find proper ervent package for their requirement For instance, PlannerTech will showcase presentations from a selected group of Internet technology companies catering to the event industry, including Event Leadership Institute, Event Farm, Hashable, IML, and ShareSquare. The showcase will be followed by a networking event, where event planners will be able to socialize with peers as well as learn more from the company representatives. Attendees will be able to get their pictures taken at the TwitPic Photo Booth as well.

Changes are coming for New York City hotel workers. A proposal between the Hotel Association of New York and the New York Hotel Trades Council would equip hotel staffers with personal panic alarms. Employees like house keepers are calling for the extra safety measures for fear of being assaulted in a guest room. Concern is also circulating outside New York in places like Sacramento, California. The personal security devices were tested on students at California State University at San Marcos last year. I believe hotels will begin to implement more measures like this in large cities like New York. Similar to airports and large department stores, safety is a major concern. I believe the personal panic button is a great idea for any hospitality space that accommodates a large number of people.

I think this new proposal may draw people's attention to employees' safety issues within the hospitality industry. It is also important for hotels and restaurants to make sure that their employees work in an environment that is danger free and threats free. The panic button can provide the instant location of the staff and once if something goes wrong, the time for rescue will be shorten. It is really a beneficial proposal for the entire hospitality industry.

Pending approval, personal panic alarms would be carried by staff members in all New York City hotels. These panic buttons would be carried by the staff member during their shift so that they are easily and quickly accessible should something happen. Fox News in Sacramento, CA reported that house keepers voiced their desire for more saftey measures to be put in place. Assaults on house keepers may be more common than people think. House keepers tend more often to be women and they tend to work alone or with only one other person. Hotels host many events in which guests may be drinking which in turn creates the potential for violent or inappropriate actions. Not only is the safety of guests important to the hospitality industry but safety of employees is paramount as well. Having personal panic buttons would give house keepers and workers alike more peace of mind should they encounter any uncomfortable or unsafe situation.

The article starts off by explaining that management systems are needed in order to compete in the hotel industry. It explains that having a system put in place will give you the competitive advantage needed to compete against other hotels. The writer explains how these systems make the operations of these companies so much easier and efficient. The best quality of this software is that it secures your data and makes it available anywhere that you can log in to view. The article explains of it allows your customers to do all their booking from anywhere and access information provided to them. Another point the article touched on is how having this system cuts costs as it relates to having IT available to assist with issues. Additionally the software is said to be very easy to operate and the staff would catch on quickly.

Norwegian Cruise Lines is launching a new ship next year "Norwegian Breakaway." Their main target market will be young adults and teenagers. It features the Splash Academy and Entourage that is a youth area dedicated specifically for three different age groups; teens, babies and toddlers, and a designated space where parents can play with their kids. Teenagers in the evening can enjoy the Entourage area that becomes a teens-only nightclub with a dance floor, large screen television and music, including a video jukebox. Using the latest technology Norwegian e-Youth tablet-based electronic registration allows parents to swipe their keycard and input a password to sign in their children to many activities and programs.

This article emphasizes the importance of HVAC for hotel properties. Hotels have to work diligently on replacing the climate controls in HVAC systems and to make sure HVAC systems work properly in order to be more efficient and provide hotel guests with comfortable environment, resulting in guests' overall satisfaction. Large and modern commercial HVACs can save a large amount of money on unnecessary power costs and constant maintenance with proper controls. However, there are many hotels that cannot afford the large machinery of an HVAC, so this article introduces PTAC, Packaged terminal air conditioner, which is a type of self-contained heating and air conditioning system, for small-sized hotel properties. Generally, PTAC generates negative sound and visual impact on a room. Randy Dawes, corporate director of facilities at Select Hotels, advices hotels with PTACs to use transcendental wheel technology over fan blades, which reduces noise. This article also urges hotels to upgrade or replace their old HVACs for state of the art HVACs now. Since there are state and local rebates available for upgrading to modern HVAC technology, it is a good time to do so.

Hybrid meetings - meetings where some part of the event is broadcast to attendees tuning in remotely become more and more popular right now! There are few technical requirements for Skype conferences, video calls and so on which need to be done. First rule - try to communicate before the actual event, check up the sound, try to make a plan, what if smth fails. Second rule - less music and live video. People are using different devices to connect with you, so you cannot be sure everyone can get all the audial part of the presentation clearly. Third rule - speaker issues. We should remember speakers are not necessarily bringing the sound up to the listener just as you say it. There might be some glitches, the sound may delay, sometimes you need to check if the audience have heard everything clearly, or you need to repeat several things.

To speed up the painful and slow check-in process at events, the developers of CheckinEasy spent a year developing the ultimate event planner tool, CheckinEasy. CheckInEasy streamlines and simplifies event check-in and management and significantly increases the speed of check-in. The ultimate goal is to make the day of the event as simple and pain-free as possible.

I am so excited to read this article , I also watched several related videos on youtube. This new technology has so much fun and does help to generate traffic in a event. I always believe that the entertainment is also a very important element in a event or a tradeshow, and with this Virtual Wall Graffiti any event or tradeshow can be much better and lot of fun.

This article introduces several feature event plan companies for hospitality industry. In order to build customer loyalty and brand awareness, partyPOP.com revised their 2012 budget and are going to offer free wedding invitations to attract more engage couple in the United Stated, Canada and United Kingdom. PartyPOP.com is one of the accomplished companies that plan events for customer, there are some similar companies such as ABC Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation and The Theme Factory of Philadelphia. ABC Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation is an event plan company that corporate with the local transportation and travel industry and they have plenty of experiences to meet the client's demand, also they help the people who travel alone. However, The Theme Factory of Philadelphia is a company that provides solutions for planners and project managers for some private or special events.

This article is an interesting one, highlighting the changes in trends in Event Management. The article starts off by explaining that the major changes in the meeting and planning areas of a business is due to the introduction of the smartphone technology in the business. It goes on the explain that there are mobile applications used just for events. It seems that the more that people and businesses become aware of the use of the mobile device as it relates to technology, it will make it even easier to customize and request different things for an event. Technology will be the core to different and new trends in the meeting and planning areas of businesses. It evident that the use of different mobile applications will make every thing easier for event managers. It allows managers to communicate with their customers and understand what exactly it is they need.

This article looks at the rising use of Smartphones and smartphone apps for the event planning industry, and more specifically at industry meetings. The use of the technology makes it easier to connect the audience on points like engagement, interactivity, and business-to-customer- networking. As the importance of social media interaction in business, so does the need for interaction between business leaders increase as well, and helps to create a successful marketing event.

This article highlights 2 properties that were part of a study to show the benefits of installing an Ozone laundry system. An Ozone laundry system is one way a hotel can reduce its carbon footprint by reducing the amount of hot water used verses traditional laundry systems which in turn will reduce utility costs. These systems also reduce the amount of chemicals used and claim to extend the life of fabric. This system installed at a Hampton Inn in Rhode Island and as a result they were able to reduce their carbon footprint by 70,000 lbs and they also received a 79% return on investment in the first year! This article demonstrates how much of an impact a change can make on the environment and the bottom line.

Gipsee announced the new Interactive Allergy Software designed for the restaurant industry especially for non sit-down dining sector in the industry. Most sit-down dining places often maintain eight or more allergy-specific menus.Customers with restrictions have to manually search for items which will be safe for them to eat. This newest offering eliminates the need for restaurants to produce multiple allergy-specific menus and replaces them with an "on-demand" capability based on dynamic user requests. The basic working process is the restaurant staff select and enter food allergies or ingredient restrictions that a customer may have into the software and then instantly produce customized menu choices for the customer. Customer have the flexibility of selecting from hundreds of ingredients and thousands of combinations of restrictions representing a more pragmatic approach to food allergy occurrences. This new software offers advantages including cost-savings and reduces communication errors occurs particularly during busy time slots. Also this new software is available and increasingly used by restaurant such as iPad and other touch-screen display devices

As technology continues to advance, companies are looking into what works well for what kinda consumer. RateTiger is targeting corporate consumers, who want to be in control of room rates and have the ability to negotiate better deal based on services provided. RTC uses RPS, rate parameter shopping that searches thru hundreds of travel sites, hotel brand sites and GDS offeres corporate buyers, OTA's and travel companies the opportunities to build a rate around the best room rate for the perks and services, in comparison to what the public pays.

Excellent Article!...While corporate travelers are noticing fluctuations in "Best Available Rates (BAR)" I can only imagine that hotel owners and stakeholders are seeing a decrease of revenue caused by the ADR (Average Daily Rate). During the recession hotels had to re-shape their thinking and lower Corporate Room Rates to stay afloat; these changes caused the ADR to be lower than usual. As the economy improved, it has been harder for companies to re-negotiate corporate rates in an attempt to increase the ADR and profits for owners/stakeholders. http://www.bcdtravel.com/global/show_document.asp?id=aaaaaaaaaadsveg

This technology will provide business travelers the ability to compare hotel prices based on the type of rooms. This will help the customer in customizing their own needs during travel, while being price savvy. The traveler also has the ability to have default settings that will meet their own room specifications.