Current Trends in Hospitality

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Accompanying the technological revolution of the 1990s there are many new opportunities and challenges for the hospitality industries. Since hospitality, global industry information is its life-blood and technology has become fundamental to the ability of the industry to operate effectively and competitively. Poon (1993) suggests that the whole system of information technologies is being rapidly diffused throughout the tourism and hospitality industry and no player will escape information technologies impacts.

Understanding the effects, both good and bad, of innovative technology in today?s hospitality industry. Whether we are keen on the technological gadgets introduced into the workplace or not, we need to adapt because technology is improving and expanding daily in an attempt to make our lives easier. In this day and age, there is a technological device or software used by a device for every operation in the hospitality world, such as reservation systems, security cameras, point of sale systems, property management systems, mobile communication, meeting matrix, energy management systems, key card encoder, etc. By incorporating the use of such devices into the workplace, it has changed the way we conduct business while saving time and money as it dismisses many time-consuming tasks.

The wide range of innovations will continue to assist hotels in keeping up with their competition. Although gadgets will bring lots of benefits to the workplace, it will bring some hotels to an all-time low for the reason that they may not be able to keep up with such investments and competitors. Regardless of what is brought to the table, the whole point will always be to meet and exceed the needs of guests.

New innovative technology trends that are currently being used in some hotels are the following:

The do-it-all remote (room personalization) ? This allows guests to dim or turn on/off lights, control room temperature, open/close curtains, order room service, turn on the do not disturb sign, set wake-up calls, view TV channels and movies all on the television with the click of a button on a remote. However, understandably, some guests may be somewhat queasy at the thought of touching a remote that has been in the hands of so many others, after all, it is a hotel room. There is an easy alternative for guests who feel that way, to still take advantage of the in-room technology from their iPhone, iPad or Android. They can just simply download the app called Lodge net and sync their Smartphone with the TV, which will then give access to all the functions the remote has to offer.

Self Service Concierge ? This touch smart screen kiosk is located in the lobbies of hotels, which can help a guest find out information(restaurants, activities, flights) without the hassle of carrying a laptop or waiting for someone to assist them.

New hospitality technology trends will play a key role in delivering a personalized experience and help in better managing operations, maximizing overall performance, enhancing the effectiveness of sales and marketing approaches, increasing efficiency and reducing costs.

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This report gives an insight into the importance of the application of technologies and the use of the Internet in tourism hospitality industries. This paper also aims to show how technological innovations and information systems can be beneficial for hotel companies.