Hospitality Technology

In the late eighteen-century, customers use postal service to reserve lodging. After that telegraph became effective way to book and reserve. Until 1940s, airlines build a relationship with travel agents and their hotels, an original network was formed. In the end of the 1970s, the airlines provide electronic system for travel agencies to checking availability and reserving airline seats which we called GDS. It offers efficient and costless booking channel. On the other hand, the hotel suffer three commission costs for a single booking which are travel agent, switching company and GDS proprietor. In 1994, Hyatt developed internet distribution system (IDS) which reduce some costs but add intermediary cost. In the last century, the OTAs became a new channel. Customers booking is variables and each channel have its own attendant costs. The hotel should flexible when dealing with the rate, meanwhile carefully monitored the cost of each channel. Therefore the automated channel management system become a trend. Softeware systems now can analyze real-time market data and adjust rate across all the channels 24 hours a day.

Touristlink is new online network that has been created as a means to connect tourists with other tourists as well as experts in the travel and tourism field. This type of network allows users to access the entire website by connecting them with travel agents, hoteliers, tour guides and many other people from all over the world. I personally believe that the Touristlink network facilitates planning a vacation because it centralizes all of the travelers questions and concerns to one particular location. It also puts the traveler in contact with the right people for planning a vacation.

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.

This article discusses the importance of having wifi available in hotels. Based on a survey completed by hotels.com, a prominent site for booking travel accomodations, travelers highly base their hotel decision on whether wifi is available and if its free to guests. The internet is an important part of traveling, whether it's used for business, researching local attractions or connecting with family and friends. I agree that wifi should be offered for free to hotel guests, perhaps provide a passcode for it to be used; however, from a manager's point of view, I understand why they charge. Guests will pay whatever it takes to get connected which in turn results in revenue for the hotel.

The definition of connectivity can simply perceive as connecting two system together--a distribution system and a hotel reservation system. But anybody who have experience of connectivity will tell you it is not as simple as connection. It is much more complicated.With push and pull system, both of them have advantages and disadvantages. So as a distributor who have to consider how to obtain ARI which refers to availability, rate, inventory for their customers. The complexities with connectivity and a great amount thought and careful planning incurred by ARI system create a environment of opportunity of third-parties.

"Groupon has evolved quite bit since we launched three years ago. We started off with a single 'deal of the day' in each city, and today we often offer dozens of deals in numerous cities, across many categories (travel, goods, etc.). We think of it more as a curated deal marketplace then a daily deal site now." With all the deals being presented to the American public on a daily basis, it is interesting to see how many people are employed by Groupon outside the US. While outsourcing may seem like a good idea for businesses since people don't need to be paid as much, this is ruining the job market within. The founder of Groupon, however, is very smart, considering his age. I like to call Groupon "Food Stamps for the middle class", and Andrew Mason really hit the nail on the head.

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.

A company in Denmark has piloted a solar panel system (Zenros Solar Touch Panels) they believe will save hotels 35% in energy costs (heating light and power) over the current sensor based system.The system draws power from natural and man-made light and wirelessly communicates with all electrical devices in the room allowing for efficient function. Unlike other systems, this one does not require rewiring of the hotel because it is wireless. A hotel in Qatar has purchased the system and is set to go live with the new green hotel soon.

It sounds like a good plan. I mean if it will reduce the energy costs by 35% they should definitely try the system out in a certain group of hotels around the world. Some people like to stay in hotels that are all about being green, so if these solar panels can help reduce costs and increase in rooms sold it is basically a win win for everyone. The only thing I would be unsure about is the mechanical aspect of it. It may reduce the energy costs but will the maintenance cost increase to keep the devices running.

I find myself wondering why the United States is not more proactive in green technology. A lot of the information I came across centered around other areas of the world pushing forwards with innovation. I would assume that all technology will require maintenance, but once a system has the bugs worked out of it, most modern technology runs pretty well. Maybe that is why more hotels are not using the technology. They could be waiting to see how the pioneer hotels do.

This article discusses the new web site Roomkey.com, which is currently in beta mode. The site which was created by Hilton, Marriott, Choice Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, InterContinental, and Wyndham Aims to cut out third party online travel sites like Travelocity, and Expedia. Room key allows users to search for hotels by the city name, ZIP code, address and airport code, which then allows the user to filter search results by price, star rating, distance, and hotel name. Once the user finds a hotel, they can click on it to see photos, amenities and even a map, and if the user wants to book the hotel it takes them directly to the hotels website to book a room.

Google Transit, which uses data from over 500 global markets' transportation systems, is partnering up with Google Hotel Finder to make tourists' stays more time efficient. Google Hotel Finder added a new filter that shows consumers the maximum travel time from any point of interest to their hotel. It has placed a 20 minute default distance from point to point. Tourists can type a specific attraction, like Buckingham Palace, and it will show you hotels within 20 minutes of it. Google also allows you to choose the transit time; the smaller the time the smaller number of hotels within the range. Moreover, Google Hotel Finder can also search for hotels in selected areas for popular city locations. Prior to this, Google had Google Calendar, which allowed business consumers to choose hotels based on travel distance to their business meetings. Overall, Google's Hotel Finder targets both the leisure and business consumers. As a consumer searching for hotels in unfamiliar areas, this feature would be really beneficial because it allows me to plan my stay more accordingly. Usually, consumers choose a hotel based on travel time from the main points of interests, whether they are attractions or business meetings. Google Hotel Finder will now share this information with consumers before they actually even choose a hotel. I have a strong inclination that this type of consumer technology will drive hotels to use travel times as advertising tools when they use Google as an advertising medium.

This article is about the Starwood brand reloacate their headquater in Stamford. This action creates more than 800 jobs to Connecticut and it becomes a LEED certified showcase to their hotel brands. The new headquater will be a good model for saving energy and water and using economic-friendly lights. In addition, Starwood is also one of the largest hotel operators in New York City which is the only city in the world to boast all nine Starwood brands.Harbor Points is also focusing on urban redevelopment which converts an industrial area into a commercial/residential district and exciting urban destination.

A good example of CSR (Coporate Social Responsibility) on Starwood's part to join the LEED movement. I do wonder what they did with their old headquarters in White Plains, NY. Did they sell it to an environmentally friendly buyer or just wash their hands of it.

Summary of the article Contactless payment is a new technology being used in the UK. Compare to the previous quarter, in the last month of 2011, cardholders using this system to pay for food has been increased. The contactless system allow customers to make a payment over 15 Europe dollar by scanning their credit card over the machine, it can reduce waiting time, especially in some popular branches. Although this machine has been available in the UK for 2 years, Visa card still limits its acceptance level to prevent those who may become a every-day habit. However, according to Mark Austin, he believes, especially in London, the Olympics could bring more people in using contactless payment as long as they get a chance to use it once, they will know how the convenience is. Based on the Visa card research, experts believe that contactless payment technology will become wildly used in the coming year than cash. For example, more and more retailers such as Subway, Burger King offer this system currently and Starbucks will offer the service soon.

Technological developments are contributing to the redefinition of the functioning of hotels, resorts, bed and breakfast service providers, and others related to hospitality industry. Hotel software can be used to store and organize large amounts of information.It helps the hotel to provide guests with everything that they need to make their stay an enjoyable one. .With the use of advanced hotel software, customers are ensured of better services.Using hotel software can also prevents human error from becoming a problem.By using the right software, a hotel administration can easily administer data partaking to provisional rooms, special requests and checkouts.

a useful software is seriously important for a hotel's operation, such as the following areas: the reception; the billing process should be very fast;the technological compatibility, we should pay attention to the newest software' the visitor's profile, the software should have features to incorporate various details of customer's history; security is important for the details of no matter the hotel or the guests. the software should be integrated, comprehensive, timely and validated.

Yes, software helps hotel to manage the information and data in a easy way to control. For customers, it becomes easier to book and register and experience the service of hotel. It is a platform for the communication and operations.

Hotels put their information on the search engines, such as the Google, for their potential guests getting the information about their hotels. When people search on the Internet, they will focus on the first page of the search results, and for the hotels, if they are being listed in the top pages, they have more chances for attracting guests. However, how to boost their visibility in the hotel space on Google, Bing and the other local search engines? This article gives us three steps. Firstly, claim your local listings. Claiming your local listings will help the hotels ensure the name, address and phone number being consistent across the Internet correctly, and also show that the hotel is an active business owner. Secondly, tweak your onsite location pages. Here contains two basic steps: the corporate umbrella website conundrum , which is suitable for a hotel management group; and single domain per location, refers to a smaller business with one location. Thirdly, get a little more technical. Do not ignore the small changes, such as repeating addresses and other location information, these small changes can strengthen your credibility and lead to increased visibility.

From my personal experience I will choose the search result on the top page. So this article is very useful for the hotels to increase the website visit. The high website visit means more potential customers.

Yeah, put information of hotels on search engines is a great idea as a advertisement promotion. But it takes lots of money, and more expensive with the more popular search-engine. How to spend lowest money to have most benefit? Anyway, this is another problem, this article is good to summarize a guidance for hotels.

This article is describing a new reservation system program which is going to support Sceptre Hospitality Resources' hotels.  This system allows users to make reservation using social media. it also allows managers to control hotel activities on their iPhones and iPads.  This program is going to maximize hotel's revenues, but upgrading users after the selection is made. 

Geographic information systems (GIS) are powerful tools when married to data.It is useful to analysis the trend and patterns of hotel operation with RevPAR and other STR database. To divide segments in the whole hospitality market with different color is one of its special advantages to other hotel software

This article shares how ARAMARK, introduces new techonolgy using the iPad. This is occurring at the home of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers. It allows luxury suite owners to not only order food and drinks, but gives the guest the ability to buy team logo merchandise, see and buy tickets for upcoming events at the arena, while serving as an electronic concierge. Smarttouch will allow the arena operators to see first hand what their guests like and want more of. By providing this type of service to its guests, it will build a stronger bond between the fan/guest and the team/arena owner. If indeed this does increase loyalty, the increase in spending will surely follow. I believe this is a very strategic move on behalf of Aramark and the arena, because those who spend the type of money to have box/suites in the arena, will spend in other areas. Business owners would support the organization, by entertaining their clients, through advertisements and via word of mouth of the latest and greatest experience they had at the arena. Additionally, revenues generated from the other service offerings, will help justify costs needed to upgrade the facility to support the type of infrastructure needed to operate the Smarttouch.

This article is talking about current situation of how green concepts influences hospitality industry. Become more and more green and sustainable is the goal of many hotels, they've tried to achieve the goal through many ways in recent years. The hospitality industry is recognizing the compelling need to adopt sustainable operating practices for the sake of efficiency, cost savings and green building requirements. And also they are considering whether green can drive greater returns. Corporate travel executives set the rewards to encourage sustainable purchasing by reward. In fact, different people have different opinions of "green". Mostly, hostels chose to become more sustainable through strategic selection of products and services. Such as they use the conserving energy coverlets, shower, window, toilet and so on. Besides, hospitality managers want a consistent guidelines and performance targets to be used by purchase influencers and decision makers to make solutions for cost saving more effective. Now there are more and more people realize this concept and there already has a preliminary guideline for prioritizing actionable, practical solutions to achieve long-term growth of having a "green forest in hospitality".

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.

Facts show that when your product is more expensive than competition it limits sales and as the article shows it aided ipad to have higher sale rates Intels atom processor and Microsoft's Windows 7 Starter Edition operating system found a way to tender a distinguished product that could justify lower expenses to help create further market share. If Microsoft and Intel learned from their occurrence with net book, the prospect of lower costs could let them compete based on price. Microsoft still has the possibility of succeeding along side Windows 8 tablets and that is by leaving Intel out, and instead run on ARM based hardware which is less expensive.

Overall some ways that Microsoft can win against Ipad besides prices is functionality. If Windows 8 desktop or intel tablet improved by ensure ample app offerings, watched quality control, and figuring out how users with a full version of Microsoft Office are able to work together with users packing ARM-powered tablets and their less-capable Microsoft's productivity tools.