Here is my final entry.
Name of the authors: Ted Horner and Floor Bleeker
Title of the article: “Dubai - One of the World’s Most Exciting Countries for New Hotel Developments”
Magazine name: Hospitality Upgrade
Issue: 10/1/2007
URL of the article: http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_magazine/magazine_Detail.asp?ID=245
Summary:
This article gives us a quick look of the hotel technology in Dubai. Since Dubai is the commercial hub of the world’s top oil-exporting region, it creates a favorable condition to capitalize and contribute to the hotel development. As the authors said, it is estimated that 750,000 new hotel rooms will be built in the Gulf (including Dubai) between now and the year 2020. Jumeirah, Dubai-based luxury international hospitality management company, is one the main developers. With the introducing of the Stay Different philosophy, Jumeirah accentuates the individuality by using the technology. There are two main areas: CRM and in-room technology. Jumeirah developed a customer data integration hub for CRM. The hub serves as the central profile depository gathering preferences and behaviors of the guests from all guest-facing applications including PMS, Sirius and restaurant reservations. With the preferences acquired in the CRM system, in-room technology allows for personalization based on the hotel own individual technology concept. And the technology has to be guest-friendly and easily accessible. Finally, the authors also pointed out that Jumeirah wants to help its customers to reduce their carbon footprint through sophisticated energy management systems that do not compromise the level of service to a guest.
My Reflection:
This article gave me a picture of Dubai today. I totally agree with the author. Indeed, Dubai has become one of the world’s most exciting countries for new hotel developments. As a future hotelier, it is necessary to pay attention on this potential growth. As we know that, Burj Al Arab, the world’s only seven-star hotel, has become not only a luxurious landmark in Dubai but also an index of the most luxury hotel in the world. After reading this article, I know how Jumeirah, the management company of Burj Al Arab, uses the technology to emphasize their philosophy. With the CRM system, they gather the guest’s data as much as possible and present those back in order to deliver true individualized service. Therefore, they can customize the room to guests desired before they arrive. In the article, the authors use Burj Al Arab pillow menu and TV channels as examples. In my opinion, it can even go down to room temperature, pre-set phone number, favorite arts and dining preferences. So, by the time when guests arrive, they can have their own room ready for their enjoyment. Also, we can drive the business through different kinds of promotion based on their interests.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
The Personal Data Privacy & Security Act: Are you Ready?
Here is my forth entry.
Name of the author: Rick Warner
Title of the article: “The Personal Data Privacy & Security Act: Are you Ready?”
Magazine name: Hospitality Upgrade
Issue: 10/26/2006
URL of the article: http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_magazine/magazine_Detail.asp?ID=50
Summary:
This article focuses on the data privacy and security issue in the hospitality industry. By the rapid development of the internet, the numbers of high-visibility customer data thefts and losses have occurred. For this reason, Congress plans to enact a protective legislation called “Personal Data Privacy and Security Act”, which is intended to assist consumers to better protect the privacy of their personal information in the face of recurrent data security breaches across the country. There are seven key areas of the legislation. One of the key features which the author mentioned is to ensure that any business engaging in interstate commerce that involves collecting, accessing, transmitting, using, storing or disposing of “personally identifiable” information in electronic or digital form on 10,000 or more U.S. persons to apply strict data privacy and security safeguards. The civil penalties are up to $5,000 per violation per day. Then the author further suggested two steps to prevent an incident occurred or be attacked. The first step is to conduct a compliance assessment, which is a gap analysis for the organization. After that, the companies can develop a custom program to address all seven of the key areas of focus set forth in the legislation.
My Reflection:
I totally agree with the author. I think that it is the time to think about the data privacy and security issue to keep pace with the rapid development of technology. Hackers are everywhere. They are tricky and always seeking new ways to steal the customer data. You might be attacked several times without realized it. Therefore, the protective legislation is definitely a must. Once this legislation pass into law, it will impact the way that customer data will be handled going forward, especially for hotel chains and large independent operators, which store a lot of personally identifiable information such as credit card numbers. Therefore, they need to document and maintain all data security procedures in order to better protect the guest information. However, to effective restrain the hackers, only the legislation is not enough. Besides this, there are two other important exposures which the author stated. First, individual consumers can initiate civil lawsuits which can involve large penalties if lost or stolen customer data ultimately results in the theft of their identity. Second, the companies can look for the help by the national media which can release the news of any customer data loss. With all these method, the companies can at least minimize the risk of being attack to protect the data security.
Name of the author: Rick Warner
Title of the article: “The Personal Data Privacy & Security Act: Are you Ready?”
Magazine name: Hospitality Upgrade
Issue: 10/26/2006
URL of the article: http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_magazine/magazine_Detail.asp?ID=50
Summary:
This article focuses on the data privacy and security issue in the hospitality industry. By the rapid development of the internet, the numbers of high-visibility customer data thefts and losses have occurred. For this reason, Congress plans to enact a protective legislation called “Personal Data Privacy and Security Act”, which is intended to assist consumers to better protect the privacy of their personal information in the face of recurrent data security breaches across the country. There are seven key areas of the legislation. One of the key features which the author mentioned is to ensure that any business engaging in interstate commerce that involves collecting, accessing, transmitting, using, storing or disposing of “personally identifiable” information in electronic or digital form on 10,000 or more U.S. persons to apply strict data privacy and security safeguards. The civil penalties are up to $5,000 per violation per day. Then the author further suggested two steps to prevent an incident occurred or be attacked. The first step is to conduct a compliance assessment, which is a gap analysis for the organization. After that, the companies can develop a custom program to address all seven of the key areas of focus set forth in the legislation.
My Reflection:
I totally agree with the author. I think that it is the time to think about the data privacy and security issue to keep pace with the rapid development of technology. Hackers are everywhere. They are tricky and always seeking new ways to steal the customer data. You might be attacked several times without realized it. Therefore, the protective legislation is definitely a must. Once this legislation pass into law, it will impact the way that customer data will be handled going forward, especially for hotel chains and large independent operators, which store a lot of personally identifiable information such as credit card numbers. Therefore, they need to document and maintain all data security procedures in order to better protect the guest information. However, to effective restrain the hackers, only the legislation is not enough. Besides this, there are two other important exposures which the author stated. First, individual consumers can initiate civil lawsuits which can involve large penalties if lost or stolen customer data ultimately results in the theft of their identity. Second, the companies can look for the help by the national media which can release the news of any customer data loss. With all these method, the companies can at least minimize the risk of being attack to protect the data security.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Feeling Lucky?
Here is my third entry.
Name of the author: Jon Inge
Title of the article: “Feeling Lucky?”
Magazine name: Hospitality Upgrade
Issue: 13/3/2007
URL of the article: http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_magazine/magazine_Detail.asp?ID=78
Summary:
This article focuses on the gaming technology in casino hotels. It takes a look at two main aspects. First introduces the gaming systems in use at many casinos today. Then it further explains the extra demands typical hotel systems must satisfy when installed in a casino hotel. In the gaming technology, they use the slot management interconnecting and electronically monitoring the individual slot or video console play. The network of machines not only allow management to collect player and machine statistics, but also letting guests to customize the default games displayed on the machines. For the group-play table games, they offer RFID chips and coded cards. Through instantly scanning and recording against the player ID card and optical tracking the invisible bar code stripes on the edge of the chips, they can prevent the use of counterfeit tokens and enhance the CRM and security value of all the data recorded. In the aspect of hotel systems, three significant factors are specific gaming related functionality like handling complimentary accounting, a much higher degree of integration between different systems such as linking the player’s standing with CRM and PMS, and the sheer scale of the operation, which means the capability of handling massive traffic volumes with quick response times.
My Reflection:
After reading this article, I truly believe that casino operators put a lot of effort to make the customers feeling lucky. The casino offers the customers with wide-screen displays, touch screens function, customize displayed, comfortable booth-style seating, easily accessing a wide range of information in the machine and so on. The only purpose of all of these features is keeping the player involved for as long as possible. However, the gaming operators are never satisfied. They think that the casino itself is not enough. Nowadays, casinos even rent or lease different kinds of remotely hosted games from vendors on a software-as-a service basis, downloaded to networked generic consoles. Obviously, this flexibility is definitely attracting the customers. Another important element which makes me impressive is sophisticated customer relationship management (CRM) tool. I totally agree that this is a key to modern casino profitability. Through detailed data collection of individual player statistics, the gaming operators know their valuable client’s playing habits and preferences very well. With the data analysis, casinos can even arrange the machines and games that were most popular with each type of player. In my opinion, although there is a lot of advanced technology applying to the casino, we cannot blindly rely on technology without thinking. Remain observation of the human behavior is necessary indeed.
Name of the author: Jon Inge
Title of the article: “Feeling Lucky?”
Magazine name: Hospitality Upgrade
Issue: 13/3/2007
URL of the article: http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_magazine/magazine_Detail.asp?ID=78
Summary:
This article focuses on the gaming technology in casino hotels. It takes a look at two main aspects. First introduces the gaming systems in use at many casinos today. Then it further explains the extra demands typical hotel systems must satisfy when installed in a casino hotel. In the gaming technology, they use the slot management interconnecting and electronically monitoring the individual slot or video console play. The network of machines not only allow management to collect player and machine statistics, but also letting guests to customize the default games displayed on the machines. For the group-play table games, they offer RFID chips and coded cards. Through instantly scanning and recording against the player ID card and optical tracking the invisible bar code stripes on the edge of the chips, they can prevent the use of counterfeit tokens and enhance the CRM and security value of all the data recorded. In the aspect of hotel systems, three significant factors are specific gaming related functionality like handling complimentary accounting, a much higher degree of integration between different systems such as linking the player’s standing with CRM and PMS, and the sheer scale of the operation, which means the capability of handling massive traffic volumes with quick response times.
My Reflection:
After reading this article, I truly believe that casino operators put a lot of effort to make the customers feeling lucky. The casino offers the customers with wide-screen displays, touch screens function, customize displayed, comfortable booth-style seating, easily accessing a wide range of information in the machine and so on. The only purpose of all of these features is keeping the player involved for as long as possible. However, the gaming operators are never satisfied. They think that the casino itself is not enough. Nowadays, casinos even rent or lease different kinds of remotely hosted games from vendors on a software-as-a service basis, downloaded to networked generic consoles. Obviously, this flexibility is definitely attracting the customers. Another important element which makes me impressive is sophisticated customer relationship management (CRM) tool. I totally agree that this is a key to modern casino profitability. Through detailed data collection of individual player statistics, the gaming operators know their valuable client’s playing habits and preferences very well. With the data analysis, casinos can even arrange the machines and games that were most popular with each type of player. In my opinion, although there is a lot of advanced technology applying to the casino, we cannot blindly rely on technology without thinking. Remain observation of the human behavior is necessary indeed.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
The Electronic Guestroom
Here is my second entry.
Name of the author: Jon Inge
Title of the article: “The Electronic Guestroom”
Magazine name: Hospitality Upgrade
Issue: 3/1/2006
URL of the article: http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_magazine/magazine_Detail.asp?ID=56
Summary:
This article focuses on the issue of electronic guestroom in the hospitality industry. Since an increasingly sophisticated technology people have at home, it is no doubt that they have relatively higher expectations of the guestroom in hotels. However, with a fast pace of change of technology, it is hard to predict and plan for the demand in the future. Two key answers that authors mentioned about are Internet Protocol-based standards and central systems management. The purposes of using it are producing more cohesive system flexibly and efficiently at an affordable price. There are five general categories for the guestroom systems: The first category is the audio-visual entertainment which included flat-panel displays with connectors to hook in guest’s personal music and video players, 5.1 theater-style surround-sound set-up, a variety of program channel and pay-per-view digital movies. Second is the guest service which included mini-bars that monitored by central management systems, in-room safes and electronic do-not-disturb/maid service indicators. The third category is communication which included voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones and wired, wireless or both high-speed 802.11 Internet access (HSIA). Forth is security and environment control which included intelligent thermostats and electronic locks by using biometric controls, radio-frequency ID (RFID) keycards or smart cards. Lastly, infrastructure simply means hotel networks. The development of a separate all-in-one guestroom control unit will be a potential outcome in the future.
My Reflection:
It is true that guestroom technology has become a critical issue for hospitality industry. The goal is as functional as possible at an affordable price. In my opinion, all five categories which are mentioned above are highly demandable. However, the high-speed Internet access (HSIA) is definitely essential. Nowadays, wired connection is not enough. Many hotels are providing wireless access in order to achieve larger range of coverage since many more access points are needed. Streaming programming from inexpensive online movie libraries becomes very common by combining HSIA with flat-panel displays. It can even extend the usefulness by integrating with other hotel systems. Guests can access the hotel information to make dining reservations, order room service, access concierge services, enter wakeup calls, check their meeting agenda and room location, view diagrams of the resort layout and focus on specific attractions, view folio information and check out and so on. However, this flexibility does have the drawback. The obvious one is causing a data traffic because of the heavy usage. To solve this problem, hotels can limit their consumption by providing free HSIA for reasonable usage such as e-mail and general surfing but charging for continuous heavy usage for streaming video. With the good use of information technology, it will be a multiple benefits to all of us.
Name of the author: Jon Inge
Title of the article: “The Electronic Guestroom”
Magazine name: Hospitality Upgrade
Issue: 3/1/2006
URL of the article: http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_magazine/magazine_Detail.asp?ID=56
Summary:
This article focuses on the issue of electronic guestroom in the hospitality industry. Since an increasingly sophisticated technology people have at home, it is no doubt that they have relatively higher expectations of the guestroom in hotels. However, with a fast pace of change of technology, it is hard to predict and plan for the demand in the future. Two key answers that authors mentioned about are Internet Protocol-based standards and central systems management. The purposes of using it are producing more cohesive system flexibly and efficiently at an affordable price. There are five general categories for the guestroom systems: The first category is the audio-visual entertainment which included flat-panel displays with connectors to hook in guest’s personal music and video players, 5.1 theater-style surround-sound set-up, a variety of program channel and pay-per-view digital movies. Second is the guest service which included mini-bars that monitored by central management systems, in-room safes and electronic do-not-disturb/maid service indicators. The third category is communication which included voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones and wired, wireless or both high-speed 802.11 Internet access (HSIA). Forth is security and environment control which included intelligent thermostats and electronic locks by using biometric controls, radio-frequency ID (RFID) keycards or smart cards. Lastly, infrastructure simply means hotel networks. The development of a separate all-in-one guestroom control unit will be a potential outcome in the future.
My Reflection:
It is true that guestroom technology has become a critical issue for hospitality industry. The goal is as functional as possible at an affordable price. In my opinion, all five categories which are mentioned above are highly demandable. However, the high-speed Internet access (HSIA) is definitely essential. Nowadays, wired connection is not enough. Many hotels are providing wireless access in order to achieve larger range of coverage since many more access points are needed. Streaming programming from inexpensive online movie libraries becomes very common by combining HSIA with flat-panel displays. It can even extend the usefulness by integrating with other hotel systems. Guests can access the hotel information to make dining reservations, order room service, access concierge services, enter wakeup calls, check their meeting agenda and room location, view diagrams of the resort layout and focus on specific attractions, view folio information and check out and so on. However, this flexibility does have the drawback. The obvious one is causing a data traffic because of the heavy usage. To solve this problem, hotels can limit their consumption by providing free HSIA for reasonable usage such as e-mail and general surfing but charging for continuous heavy usage for streaming video. With the good use of information technology, it will be a multiple benefits to all of us.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Back to the Future and Leaping Ahead
Today I read an article in Hospitality Upgrade. Here is my first entry.
Name of the author: Jon Inge
Title of the article: “Back to the Future and Leaping Ahead”
Magazine name: Hospitality Upgrade
Issue: 6/17/2006
URL of the article: https://mycourses.udel.edu/SCRIPT/HRIM450_050_07F/scripts/student/serve_page.pl/HRIM450_050_07F/assignments/blog_assignment.htm?1156632400+1157344260+OFF+resources.htm+
Summary:
Due to the improvement of the tools nowadays, it is far easier to satisfy our increasingly sophisticated guest’s expectations. However, those expectations have become so wide-ranging. It means we need to have a better understanding of our changing business models. In this article, author emphasized eight interlinked trends at work. First, “continuing demand for more complete data” is required for the future marketing and booking approaches. To have a more completed guest’s profiles, many vendors are developing IP-based integration engines to acquire “more data analysis” accurately, which is the trend number two. This trend is particularly used by multi-property chains to simplify the task to ensure all properties use the same data fields for consistent input and to analyze cross-property information. Third, travelers are beginning to use the flexibility of the “web-enabled access to data”. In addition to the sites will need Internet-query access to the various hotel data bases, add links on other peer-review sites and blogs will be a great way for marketing. Forth, “increased focus on the individual guest” is continued growing. To better tailoring the guest’s specific preference, special-offer e-mails, individual e-mailed follow-up surveys and web packaging can drive their recognition. Fifth, “wider application of revenue management” is critical to remain competitive. Now, it is being extended from its guestroom focus to cover more aspects of booking. “More centralization of systems” is the sixth. It gives a better support and easier data analysis, with a growing concern of the security. Seventh, “more efficient vendor operations” allows more flexible integration and speeds up implementations through remote control. Finally, “guestroom technology” has many aspects which included flat panel displays, hook-ups for guest devices and the integration with the Internet, phone, PMS and many other systems.
My Comments:
Nowadays, technology is inseparable from our life. This article gave me a complete picture of eight interlinked trends at work in 2006 in order to satisfy higher expectations from the guest. From my point of view, “web-enabled access to data for new approaches to marketing and booking” and “Increasingly individualized guest contact” is my best two. For “web-enabled access to data”, it is true that some peer-review sites and are far more powerful than any other advertisements. For example, on the TripAdvisor.com, it is easy to find out how the hotel is by the other traveler’s comments. Therefore, taking care of those comments and showing a sincere concern by response is the only way to maintain a positive image and a high rank. “Increased focus on the individual guest” is another critical element nowadays. From my past experience, as a room service trainee in a five-star hotel in Zurich, we do take care of the guest’s specific catering preferences. Every people have their different needs. Some of the guests prefer to drink a hot water while eating; some of them prefer us to just leave the table outsides without disturbed; some of them prefer to have their favorite flowers in the room before they arrive. However, all these needs have to be fulfilled.
Name of the author: Jon Inge
Title of the article: “Back to the Future and Leaping Ahead”
Magazine name: Hospitality Upgrade
Issue: 6/17/2006
URL of the article: https://mycourses.udel.edu/SCRIPT/HRIM450_050_07F/scripts/student/serve_page.pl/HRIM450_050_07F/assignments/blog_assignment.htm?1156632400+1157344260+OFF+resources.htm+
Summary:
Due to the improvement of the tools nowadays, it is far easier to satisfy our increasingly sophisticated guest’s expectations. However, those expectations have become so wide-ranging. It means we need to have a better understanding of our changing business models. In this article, author emphasized eight interlinked trends at work. First, “continuing demand for more complete data” is required for the future marketing and booking approaches. To have a more completed guest’s profiles, many vendors are developing IP-based integration engines to acquire “more data analysis” accurately, which is the trend number two. This trend is particularly used by multi-property chains to simplify the task to ensure all properties use the same data fields for consistent input and to analyze cross-property information. Third, travelers are beginning to use the flexibility of the “web-enabled access to data”. In addition to the sites will need Internet-query access to the various hotel data bases, add links on other peer-review sites and blogs will be a great way for marketing. Forth, “increased focus on the individual guest” is continued growing. To better tailoring the guest’s specific preference, special-offer e-mails, individual e-mailed follow-up surveys and web packaging can drive their recognition. Fifth, “wider application of revenue management” is critical to remain competitive. Now, it is being extended from its guestroom focus to cover more aspects of booking. “More centralization of systems” is the sixth. It gives a better support and easier data analysis, with a growing concern of the security. Seventh, “more efficient vendor operations” allows more flexible integration and speeds up implementations through remote control. Finally, “guestroom technology” has many aspects which included flat panel displays, hook-ups for guest devices and the integration with the Internet, phone, PMS and many other systems.
My Comments:
Nowadays, technology is inseparable from our life. This article gave me a complete picture of eight interlinked trends at work in 2006 in order to satisfy higher expectations from the guest. From my point of view, “web-enabled access to data for new approaches to marketing and booking” and “Increasingly individualized guest contact” is my best two. For “web-enabled access to data”, it is true that some peer-review sites and are far more powerful than any other advertisements. For example, on the TripAdvisor.com, it is easy to find out how the hotel is by the other traveler’s comments. Therefore, taking care of those comments and showing a sincere concern by response is the only way to maintain a positive image and a high rank. “Increased focus on the individual guest” is another critical element nowadays. From my past experience, as a room service trainee in a five-star hotel in Zurich, we do take care of the guest’s specific catering preferences. Every people have their different needs. Some of the guests prefer to drink a hot water while eating; some of them prefer us to just leave the table outsides without disturbed; some of them prefer to have their favorite flowers in the room before they arrive. However, all these needs have to be fulfilled.
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