Tag Archives: Technology

by | April 18, 2011 · 6:21 pm

Hospitality Industry Guest Risks: Hotels From Hawaii to New York Have Employed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) To Reduce Towel Theft

“…Linen Technology Tracking, a Miami-based company (has)  patented a washable Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip for hotels to sew into towels, robes and bed sheets…”

The chip can trigger an alarm if a guest tries to take a tagged item from the premises. The New York Times reports that three hotels in Honolulu, Manhattan and Miami have introduced the system but wish to remain unnamed.

William Serbin, the executive Vice President of Linen Technology Tracking tells the New York Times that high cotton prices led to costlier towels which served as motivation for developing an anti-theft system. He adds that the technology has a double purpose — in addition to catching thieves, it helps hotels monitor linen demand and adjust their supply accordingly.

It’s a successful system. The Honolulu hotel has saved nearly $15,000 since implementing the tags last summer and their monthly towel theft is now less than a quarter of what it was before. Can travelers hope for rapid rate reductions as a result? Probably not, but NewsFeed can dream.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/18/want-to-steal-a-hotel-towel-check-for-a-new-tracking-chip-first/#ixzz1JvjQgc7I

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by | February 21, 2011 · 10:52 am

Hospitality Industry Internet Risks: Hotel Management Must Train Employees To "Check Security Software And Certifications On Websites" To Prevent Downloading Internet Viruses

“These Internet scammers are very sophisticated…They’ll send an e-mail that looks like eBay or PayPal, asking for your information. The attorney general speaks often about Internet safety, and he encourages consumers to check the security software and certifications on websites and never store their personal information there. We have an identity theft protection tool on our website, www.Ag.ky.gov…”

Every website you visit tags your computer with a tracking device called a “cookie.” Your every move online — e-mail, downloads, credit-card purchases — is stored on your own computer’s hard drive as a digital footprint, even though you religiously delete and empty your recycle bin.

(A woman) was digitally minding her own business and was accosted by a phony website phishing for her personal information — something all too common on the Internet. As technology insidiously pervades every aspect of life, personal privacy becomes more endangered and difficult to maintain. Erik Eckel, a managing partner at Louisville Geek and Berg’s computer service tech, called her problem “one of the biggest trends we’ve seen.

Users will click on a link on someone’s Facebook page, or travel to a site that’s infected and they receive a pop-up window saying, ‘You’re infected. You want to go ahead and license the software? Only $39.95.’ The pop-up won’t go away, people buy it and then an illegitimate user has their credit-card number.” And then there are hackers, like David Kernel, now serving a yearlong sentence at the Ashland Federal Correctional Institution in Kentucky for invading Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s private e-mail account during the 2008 election and sharing her password and telephone number.

Even Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway was a victim of identity theft, weeks after announcing a special unit on cybercrime.

For more:  http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110222/FEATURES/302220033/With-latest-Web-perils-it-s-wise-to-be-paranoid?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFEATURES

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by | February 4, 2011 · 2:58 pm

Hospitality Industry Risk Solutions: New York Hotel Introduces "iPads" Into Guestrooms For Room Service, Concierge Communications, And Room Controls As Technology Delivers Instantaneous Quality Control Throughout Property

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/19170938]

 At the touch of a screen, guests are able to order room service, make restaurant reservations, communicate directly with the concierge, request wake-up calls, explore NYC destination guides, and even check airline schedules and print boarding passes (which are promptly delivered to their room). Guests can even use the iPad to control the lights in their room as well as the heat and air conditioning systems.

New York’s Plaza Hotel is offering iPads in each of its guest rooms and suites. The program, which launched in January, makes the landmark hotel on Central Park South the first hotel in the world to provide guests services and room controls using iPads and Intelity’s ICE (Interactive Customer Experience) software to all of its guests.

“We chose the iPad because it is a great piece of equipment that is here to stay and won’t disappear tomorrow,” adds Krige. “It brings another five star element to the hotel.”

The iPads will not replace the human element at The Plaza.

“They are not meant to replace our concierge service and the personal touch we are known for,” Krige says. “It is to provide more choice. At a five star hotel you should have choices—if you want to use the iPad, you can do so. If you want a butler service, that is available, too. If you want to be left alone, that is a choice, as well. By putting the iPads in the guest rooms, we are bringing a new technology to everyone’s fingertips.”

In addition to providing a service to guests, the system helps the hotel track how it responds to requests made by guests, such as how long it takes to deliver a requested toothbrush. “If you order a pair of slippers, the request will go directly to the slipper department with no intermediary,” says Krige. “The requests go directly to the end producer, so that they can be very efficient.

For more:  http://www.luxist.com/2011/02/03/the-plaza-in-new-york-offers-ipads-in-all-guest-rooms-and-suites/

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by | January 27, 2011 · 7:16 pm

Hospitality Industry Technology Issues: Hotel Managers Must Recognize The Importance Of Video For Marketing, Information Sharing, Communication And Education

“… innovation is going to be led by video and many companies are not prepared to capitalize on its power.  Everywhere around you people have smart phones and they do something with it that has an element of video. That is very different than we did a couple of years ago.”

(As) video becomes integrated in many different business models and sooner or later all companies, regardless of industry, will need to find creative ways to incorporate video into marketing, sharing of information, communication, and learning. Those companies that are unable to cater to different audiences via various media will suffer.

“It’s not just the phone industry or the media industry. It is going to be incorporated into every business model you find around the globe.”

Verwaayen says the U.S. and Europe have embraced different content formats and that Asia is catching on. ” The world is going to be a place where applications are going to cater to the taste of consumers and from that perspective consumers have all the power.”

For more:  http://blogs.forbes.com/miasaini/2011/01/26/davos-explosion-of-video-is-next-technological-innovation/

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by | January 26, 2011 · 4:38 pm

Hotel Industry Technology: Hotel Owners Will Raise "Guest Satisfaction" With Increased Availability Of Mobile Device "Host-Based" Applications On Hotel Facilities And Events

“…a conference application, which put all the materials you typically get at a conference on the device, but also a directory of all the other people at the conference, with photos. We could push video and photos to the device during the meeting and update things real time as the conference was happening.”

Clearly the consumers, the guests we serve, are increasingly on the road and increasingly connecting to us through mobile devices, and there’s a tremendous pace of innovation on these devices. We don’t talk about smart phones now as much as we talk about super phones.

We’ve already launched applications for the iPhone across our brand, but we’re also building out applications for other mobile devices–a whole host of location-based services. You could imagine a time when a guest wants to find things around the hotel, or even within the hotel they’re at—if they need to find a coffee shop or a clothing store because they have forgotten something for their trip.

We rolled out 2,500 iPads—the largest one-day rollout of the iPad ever. We included on those iPads a couple interesting applications—a conference application, which put all the materials you typically get at a conference on the device, but also a directory of all the other people at the conference, with photos. We could push video and photos to the device during the meeting and update things real time as the conference was happening.

The other application we piloted was the beginning of a virtual concierge idea. It allows our guests to order room service from the device, find out more information about the hotel, see all the information that is typically in a booklet on the desk in the hotel room—with rich video and audio and linked right into the property management system at the hotel.

For more:  http://www.smartplanet.com/people/blog/pure-genius/hilton-cio-mobile-device-use-in-hotels-is-skyrocketing/5332/

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by | January 24, 2011 · 7:43 am

Hospitality Industry Payment Systems Risk: Process, Controls & Instrumentation (PCI) Compliance In America Must Address "More Secure Methods Of Payment Authorization"

“…more incentives (should be) put in place to encourage more secure methods of payment authorization. One example of this is the “chip and PIN” system in use outside of the United States. In this system, credit cards use a tiny PIN-activated microchip that protects payment information...”

“As it stands, virtually every Western and Eastern nation have migrated to this (system)…which countries haven’t? Iran and the U.S.”

Data security also is going to be a major focus at this year’s Hospitality Law Conference.

Right now, liability is on the merchants’ side of things but not on the payment systems, and that has to change, said Cannon, who is counsel to the Merchants Payment Coalition.

“Right now, all liability runs downhill and at the bottom is the merchants’ coalition and, partially, the hospitality industry,” he said.

The federal government is reviewing the issue of data security liability and could potentially come up with a new way of assigning liability by 21 July of this year.

“In terms of the regulatory process, this is the speed of light,” Cannon said.

For more:  http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/4809/Hospitality-Law-event-to-examine-privacy-PR

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by | January 3, 2011 · 4:54 pm

Hotel Industry Trends: Technological Advances Will Be "Among The Most Important Forces Driving Hotel Industry"

The Fraunhofer Institute believes that technological advances with be among the most important forces driving the hotel industry, leading to some major changes over the next ten years.

  • The hotel room is decorated to meet guests’ particular tastes
  • The bath water is just how they like it
  • The minibar is stocked with their preferred range of drinks
  • Their favourite music is playing in the background.
  • Guests will be checked in by robots, which will also provide a first class range of services for the duration of their stay.
  • Automated ‘smart’ rooms will be fully equipped to meet the needs of guests.
  • Guests will have their own profiles, which they can either enter via a PIN on a smart phone or which are transmitted by means of biometric authentification.

This data can then be used to individually adapt the lighting, air conditioning and even the colour of the room. In the hotel rooms of the future the entire infrastructure will be designed to aid relaxation:

  • Gentle curves instead of sharp edges
  • Smart ‘energy beds’
  • Wall displays with giant screens, serving as an interactive interface to all the different communication channels and providing a workspace for business travellers.

However, technological innovation is not the only topic under consideration in planning the hotels of the future, and ecological aspects will play an increasingly important role in meeting the needs of guests.

For more:  http://www1.messe-berlin.de/vip8_1/website/Internet/Internet/www.itb-berlin/englisch/Media_Centre/Press_Releases_and_News/index.jsp?lang=1&newslang=en&newssys_id=31619&source_oid=550&year=2011

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by | December 20, 2010 · 6:24 am

Hospitality Industry Guest Room Security: Hotels Are Deploying New Technology For In-Room Guest Security And Satisfaction (Video)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s1EOY8P__4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL]

David Heckaman, VP of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, walks us through some of the cool features built into their new Hotel in Las Vegas. the technology is by Control4, Guestlink, Saflok and Axxess. The system adds security, huge Energy savings and provides Guests with the best in-Room experience they can possibly have.

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by | December 18, 2010 · 3:22 am

Hospitality Technology: New Hotel Sensors Reduce Energy Consumption While Increasing Guest Safety And Comfort

The Westin Resort & Spa Whistler is continuing their quest to become one of Whistler’s most sustainable properties with the recent addition of new environmentally sustainable operations and programs.

  • The Westin Resort & Spa is the first resort in Whistler to install the Energex sensors, greatly increasing the green options for guests during their stay. The infrared-based technology can detect the presence of a guest in a suite, and when vacant, automatically adjust the temperature to a more moderate, energy-efficient level.
  • A centralized building automation system also allows real time control of the temperature of every suite simultaneously to conserve energy during periods of lower occupancy.  The system is expected to reduce the property’s carbon footprint by more than 54 tons of greenhouse gasses annually.
  • Housekeeping and engineering staff can detect when a suite is occupied before having to knock. Service to a suite can be discretely scheduled without ever disturbing a guest. 
  • The system also aids in guest safety by providing important information to expedite a building evacuation.
  • Guests can decline housekeeping service for stays over one night to conserve laundry, energy and cleaning chemicals, and in return carbon-offset credits are purchased on their behalf.

For more:  http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article50999.html

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by | December 9, 2010 · 6:37 am

Hotel Industry Technology Issues: Successful Hotels Of Future Must Invest In Mobile Phone And In-Room Technology To Earn Sophisticated Guest Loyalty

To be successful, hotel companies need to spend more on initiatives such as mobile phone booking technology, smart cards, social networking and product innovation in rooms, Deloitte said yesterday at the launch in Dubai of its Hospitality 2015 five-year report on the future of the hotel industry.

  • By 2015 hotel rooms could have floors with built-in sensors that light the way for guests
  • Doors that can be unlocked through mobile phones
  • Alarm clocks that wake guests by increasing the amount of light in their rooms.
  • Guests should be able to text or e-mail their preferences so their rooms are set up to meet their requirements.

 “As an industry we are dreadful at technology,” said Alex Kyriakidis, the global managing partner at Deloitte’s tourism, hospitality and leisure division.

Technology spending in the sector is predicted to rise by just 0.9 per cent a year between 2008 and 2013 in terms of the compound annual growth rate.

“In our industry, of course, the airline is leading,” said Mr Kyriakidis.

“Now the airline has converged the entire experience on to your PDA [personal digital assistant]. With some carriers today you can do everything on your mobile phone from your booking, to your check-in, to boarding at the gate by scanning your mobile phone, all the way through on to your chosen seat on the aircraft.

For more:  http://www.thenational.ae/business/travel-tourism/hotel-industry-urged-to-get-technology-up-to-speed

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