Digiday spoke to the company’s vp of digital marketing, Greg Cannon, who said mobile is important to Caesars and the hospitality industry because it’s an opportunity to catch people before they book a trip and then again once they’re already vacationing to amplify the experience. Cannon explained that personalization is key both online and on mobile.

What’s Caesars’s overall digital strategy?
We’ve always been an analytical company. We’re customer-centric. In digital especially, we’ve been focusing on knowing our customers and getting familiar and intimate with guests. Based on what we know about them, we try and serve content and information relevant to them. We are really big on CRM and have a sizable investment on the mobile side and in our websites. In both mobile and on the Web, we’re trying to get people to stay at our properties and then provide them with tools to amplify their experience while staying with us.

How has mobile changed your business model?
Mobile presents us with the opportunity to reach consumers who are in market to book a trip and those who are already at the property. These are two totally different use cases. There are guests that are doing research from their devices for available dates, prices and special events, and our mobile site really caters to that. On the other hand, our mobile apps concentrate on guests who are already on the property. Based on some of the stuff their looking at in the app, like shows and restaurants, for example, we’ll suggest other things to do and see at the property. The mobile Web for us is about discovery while apps are for amplifying the experience.

What’s your advice to brands from a mobile perspective?
If you look around, our competitors are focusing on providing the same exact information on mobile apps as they provide on the mobile Web. Mobile is not just a brochure. The Web made that mistake. In the early days of the Internet, rather than focusing on loyalty programs and amplifying the experience, a lot of brands just used the Web as a brochure. Our apps, mobile Web site are all very considerate of the fact that what you do at a property dictates your experience. So if you’re looking at a specific area of a business like where to eat, we’ll highlight various restaurants for you. Personalization is key in mobile.

What makes your new redesign unique? What sets you apart from competitors?
It’s a different approach to travel. We’re different from the Four Seasons and Hiltons, because they sell hotel rooms, while we are an integrated resort. We’ve got pools, spas, night life, and we really did our best [in this redesign] to communicate that and help people shape their total experience. Also, we don’t just incorporate entertainment and nightlife that’s in our property. If you go to our competitors’ sites for Las Vegas, their main images on their websites airbrush out the surrounding hotels. With us, it’s what you see is what you get. We show the real experience.

What was the biggest challenge of this overhaul?
There were a few, but the biggest was multitasking. Forty-one sites and their mobile and tablet counterparts is difficult and took us over a year to do. Also, each of our brands is different, and we pay homage and respect to them differently. So making sure the brand tone and voice came through for each, and doing them all in parallel was also a big challenge.

Experts from the hotel and vendor community will collaborate to identify best practices for registering and authenticating a mobile device once (for example, within a hotel, or group of hotels, such as a brand), so that hotel applications (PMS, point-of-sale, activity systems, etc.) can automatically recognize devices carried by regular customers and staff, and allow them unhindered access to appropriate functions.  It could also enable a hotel to recognize that a certain device, such as one carried by a VIP guest, has entered the building, and use this information to trigger a wide array of guest-service responses or capabilities appropriate to that individual.

“This is the first of a series of efforts to enable mobile applications to have a greater impact on hotel staff efficiency and guest satisfaction,” said Douglas Rice, HTNG’s Executive Vice President and CEO.  “Our goal is to bring together leaders in the hotel and technology vendor communities to define develop, and deploy the tools that will enable mobile technology to reach its full potential in the hospitality industry.”

The following companies participated in defining this effort and have already committed to support it:

-  5thGenWireless

-  AT&T

-  Cisco Systems, Inc.

-  Enseo

-  ExteNet Systems

-  Hyatt Hotels Corporation

-  Marriott International

-  Meru Networks Inc.

-  Mitel

-  Motorola Solutions

-  Ruckus Wireless Inc.

-  UIEvolution, Inc.

Additional participants are welcome until July 13, 2013 (and thereafter, with the consent of the group).  A current or new HTNG membership is required to participate, but not to benefit from the results, many of which will be provided to the industry for unrestricted use.

To learn more, or to join, please visit: http://wiki.htng.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Mobile_Device_Identification_and_Authentication&Itemid=716

Since the depths of the dining sector’s downturn in spring 2010, restaurants and drinking places have added 33,400 jobs, a 15 percent increase. Over the same period, the hotel industry has added 2,800 jobs, a 6 percent increase.

It’s a sign of the gathering strength of the economy’s rebound. Experts point out that spending on things such as hotels and restaurants is the first expenditure that consumers cut amid a downturn and the last to come back as the economy rebounds, until people are certain their jobs are secure.

“People are no longer putting their lives on hold,” said Scott Anderson, chief economist with San Francisco-based Bank of the West. “They are going on with their lives. And that means more discretionary spending.”

Take Shuzair Melik, of Pleasanton, who eats out often. “A lot of my friends say they are dining out a lot more these days,” he said. “People are getting back to restaurants.”

Hotels are seeing a similar trend. Hotels and motels in the Bay Area added 900 jobs over the past 12 months, a 2 percent increase. Room rates are up 8.2 percent in the South Bay-Peninsula area, 5.5 percent in the East Bay and 2.8 percent in San Francisco.

During the first three months of this year compared with the first quarter of last year, revenue that hotel owners capture from their rooms is up 7.9 percent in the South Bay, 6.1 percent in San Francisco and 5.9 percent in the East Bay. Those rising revenues reflect both higher room rates and higher occupancy levels.

“Things are not just getting a little better with the hotel industry — they are getting a lot better,” said Alan Reay, president of Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality Group, which analyzes the lodging industry in California. “Silicon Valley, San Francisco — those hotel markets are on fire right now.”

Added Marshall Jones, sales and marketing manager with the Fairmont San Jose: “Last year, the hotel was mainly busy midweek. Now, the hotel is busy all week and on weekends.”

The improvement in the economy is drawing both leisure and business travelers to the region.

“The Bay Area is one of the strongest hotel markets in the entire country,” said Ashish Patel, a consultant with the San Francisco office of PKF Consulting, a firm that tracks the national hotel market. “Silicon Valley is a hub for technology. San Francisco has the leisure market.”

In a sign that tourist travel is sturdy, Napa County hotels have experienced a 7.8percent increase in revenue per available room, PKF reported.

The hotel market has improved so much that Atlas Hospitality has shifted its focus from tracking hotel foreclosures to keeping tabs on construction of new hotels.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_23320619/restaurant-hotel-industry-bounces-back-bay-area

Don’t worry, Boston: just because some New York hotels are opting out of room service doesn’t necessarily mean the practice could trickle down to the city’s own hospitality spots.

After the Hilton in Midtown, one of the largest destinations to stay in New York City, decided to scrap the idea of bringing food directly to the rooms of customers, eliminating more than 50 jobs in a move to “reinvent” the hotel industry, analysts claimed others could follow in their footsteps.

But those familiar with how the system works in Boston say it’s unlikely that it will become a national trend, let alone an envied industry practice. “It’s a convenience to the guest if they want it. The food aspect is there for them, so I don’t see it catching on. It’s a piece of the customer service experience,” says Paul Sacco, CEO and president of the Massachusetts Lodging Association.

Sacco says he spent years in the hotel industry before taking on his role as a lodging representative, and in that time, he says, what hotels have offered to guests staying the night has fluctuated dramatically from providing room service to trying other ways of catering to guests, such as setting up all-night kitchenettes. But the latest move out of New York City doesn’t seem like it will make a lasting impression, despite the predictions.

Patrick Moscaritolo, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, says unlike what happened with the mandatory baggage-check fees that airlines latched onto after several companies began charging, it would be the opposite for hotels. “Unlike what you saw with baggage fees and the airline industries, where they were competing on price and driving down the costs for flying passengers, hotels compete on service. I would find it really difficult for the very high-end brands, the luxury brands to basically move to a business model where they move away form competing on service and service levels,” says Moscaritolo.

If hotels in the area were to drop the room service option however, it would likely benefit the establishment financially, but hurt the customer experience. Sacco says that room service isn’t a “profit-making center” as part of a hotel’s overall operations and that typically, in a hotel of about 500 rooms, roughly 20 people are likely utilizing the extra amenity. “You stay in a hotel, not many people use room service. It’s not like room service is used consistently,” he says of the industry practice.

According to reports, room service represented just 1.2 percent of total hotel revenue, down from 1.3 percent in 2011. And it continues to drop. “The hotels do it for the convenience of the guest. Is it a profit center? No. Emphatically, I can tell you no,” says Sacco.

Simon Mais, general manager of Boston’s Revere Hotel on Stuart Street, says they aren’t playing with the idea of ditching the option because it’s not worth the risk, despite the fact that it doesn’t bring in that much revenue for the property. “Hotels would love to say ‘I don’t need room service,’ but it’s become somewhat synonymous with Four and Five Diamond properties—especially within the luxury market segment. If eliminating room service could jeopardize the AAA Four Diamond rating, than I would hesitate to take that risk,” says Mais, adding that it may be more common for large properties and brands similar to the Hilton to copy. “Statistically, room service is not a profit generator and can be a logistical challenge but to maintain the pedigree of a luxury hotel that accessibility of 24-hour room service is a necessity.”

Especially in the age of online services like TripAdvisor and Yelp, which guides customers to getaways that offer the complete package. For the Revere Hotel, that means offering food to customers even when the kitchen is closed. “[We partner] with South Street Diner to allow guests to order late night delivery to their rooms, during the hours of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., where the main focus is getting hot food late at night,” says Mais.

To read the original article, go to: http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2013/06/04/hotel-room-service-hilton-nyc-boston/

According to the report, French employers plan to increase hiring by 0.3% in 2013 compared to 2012 employment totals. This will create 4400 new jobs, bringing the total nationwide to 1,610,000.  Approximately half of these jobs are contract positions.

The hospitality industry accounts for 14% of this planned increase in hiring. Tourism in the country is the main industry, especially in the largest cities. Business services and health services each total 12% of the total hiring plans.

Often the newly created positions require minimal skills and qualifications. They include cooks, servers, home-care providers and nursing aides. Professionals who specialize in applying socio-cultural concepts to business are also in high demand.

Many of these jobs have low pay or difficult working conditions, making them less attractive to potential workers. Engineering and IT professionals are among the ten most sought-after employees, and certainly garner higher wages and benefits.

Many of the unfilled hospitality and service industry positions are seasonal. For instance, the French hotel industry enjoyed better performance in February 2013 compared to January 2013 simply because occupancy rates increased.

Analysis of the hotel markets by the BMO and other industry-specific reports reinforces the existence of geographical and regional differences in job creation and recruiting needs. Employers report difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified and appropriate candidates for these positions. 40.4% of companies reported difficulties recruiting in spite of a rising unemployment rate that is currently over 10%.

More than 20,000 people have been hired in the hospitality industry every year for the past three years, making this employment the main growth sector in the French economy. Hospitality employs over 4 million people, the fourth largest industry employer in the country. Kitchen help and specialized chefs in 5-star restaurants are in demand as much as cooks and servers in cafeterias. Restaurant and hotel directors are also in demand, along with yield managers to maximize hotel bookings and occupancy rates.

Global Factors Are Strong Drivers of Asia Hotels Revenues

A study of global and local factors that drive changes in hotels’ revenue per available room (RevPAR) in eight major Asian cities found that the revenues for the hotels in these cities are strongly subject to global forces. The study, “Common Global and Local Drivers of RevPAR in Asian Cities,” by Crocker H. Liu, Pamela C. Moulton, and Daniel C. Quan, is available at no charge from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research. Liu, Moulton, and Quan are all faculty members at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration.

“When we initially interviewed the hotel managers, they listed many local events and factors as potential drivers of their revenue, and they were not focused on international forces. But we determined that local or regional events must be extremely large and even disrupting to offset the effects of global forces on hotels’ revenue,” said Moulton. “For example, the 2008 Chinese Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai Expo moved the needle. Sadly, so did the 2011 Japanese tsunami and Thailand floods. Overall, however, global forces, such as Chinese and U.S consumer confidence had noticeable effects for these eight gateway cities.”

One factor, the number of tourist arrivals, is always positively associated with RevPAR changes in the eight cities. Other factors have various levels of influence on revenues. In addition to consumer confidence, two other factors that drive RevPAR in most of the eight cities are inflation and Chinese real estate development (as a proxy for China’s GDP). At one extreme, global factors explain over 90 percent of the changes in RevPAR in Seoul. At the other extreme, local factors explain 66 percent of the changes in RevPAR in Bangkok. Moulton and her coauthors suggest that these findings give hoteliers a window into the factors that drive their properties’ revenues and allow investors a mechanism to make a more accurate risk assessment.

Cornell Study Finds U.S. Restaurants Diving into Social Media

Restaurant operators have moved strongly into social media, but a survey of 166 restaurant managers finds a mixed picture in the way restaurants use social media. The study, “Social Media Use in the Restaurant Industry: A Work in Progress,” by Abigail M. Needles and Gary M. Thompson, found that many restaurants are moving ahead without having well-defined social media goals. Needles, a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University, is a graduate of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, where Thompson is a professor. The study is available at no charge from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research.

“Our respondents believe social media are important, but they have a difficult time in terms of measuring whether social media activities increase customer loyalty, bring in new customers, or boost revenues,” said Needles. “We found that these restaurant operators generally rely on non-financial measurements to determine their return on investment. In fact, we found a lot of uncertainty surrounding how to measure the financial returns of social media.”

Added Thompson: “Restaurant operators have the right idea about social media, but they need to focus on a particular goal and a specific market segment. Then they can select the appropriate social media channel. Most of the restaurants in our study are on Facebook, but perhaps Foursquare or blogs would be a better choice, once they refine their goals.”

Industry Strategy: A Key Focus of the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit

The importance of strategic thinking resonated in numerous presentations at the 2012 Cornell Hospitality Research Summit (CHRS), as explained in a newly released proceedings, “Hotel and Restaurant Strategy: Key Elements for Success,” by Glenn Withiam. The new proceedings publication, which provides summaries of more than a dozen CHRS strategy presentations, is available at no charge from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research.

Since the goal of most strategies is to build customers’ patronage and loyalty, CHRS presenters aimed many of their analyses at the foundations of customer brand loyalty, including employees’ attitudes and actions, a well designed physical environment, and an appropriate set of service offerings. For a strategy to succeed, organizations must align their activities with their stakeholders’ attitudes. A critical element in brand management is to measure whether brand marketing efforts are hitting their intended target.

Like other hospitality industry segments, restaurants are moving rapidly to integrate technology in their operations, notably with social media. Although loyalty programs are an inevitable part of the competitive scene, true loyalty comes through excellence in service that involves attention to detail, hospitality, and appropriate service. For many chains, franchisees are integral to ensuring the brand’s success and thus it’s important to consider the dynamics of a franchise system. Consumer research is also critical to a restaurant’s success.

Read more: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4060764.html

The “Sales Series Workshops” take place in London and Manchester throughout 2013, each session focusing on specific business areas capable of generating more revenue for hotels, quickly:

• Workshop 1: How To Sell More Weddings (June)
• Workshop 2: How to Sell More Meetings and Events (September)
• Workshop 3: How To Sell More Using the Phone (October)
• Workshop 4: How to do the Perfect Wedding Show Around and Sell More (November)

Tried-and-Tested Results

To bring this unique opportunity to the UK market, Hotel Industry Magazine looked to Ireland for successful solutions that have enabled hoteliers there to survive one of the most difficult trading periods in the market’s history.

The new Hotel Industry Learning brand has been developed with Ireland-based Conor Kenny and Associates (CKA), leveraging only their most successful workshops to ensure results in the UK market.

“Currently, there are far too many ineffectual hotel sales workshops in the UK,” said Lee Jamieson, partner at Hotel Industry. “Too many offer generic outcomes and do not respond to the evolving trading conditions in the UK!”

“We sought out CKA precisely because they have a track record of delivering results – and more importantly, in the Irish market, they have already been through the market conditions that UK hoteliers are currently facing. It’s sink or swim; we’ve gone out of our way to find the best swimmers”

Lessons From Ireland!

The limited edition sales workshops will be personally delivered by CKA’s chief executive, Conor Kenny.

“Ireland has a fine tradition of hospitality and has exported hoteliers around the globe into some of the world’s best hotels,” explained Grace Gallagher, CKA’s managing director. “In recent years, thanks to the economic catastrophe that hit the Irish hotel sector in 2008, we have been working with Ireland’s best hotels to help them overcome challenges and survive – our client list is a Who’s Who of excellence!”

“Our collaboration with Hotel Industry Magazine transfers our vast experience into
a powerful series of master-class workshops in London and Manchester that have a proven track record of delivering action, learning and – most importantly – immediate results!”

“Both organisations share a passion for action, measurability and immediate high impact results, so developing Hotel Industry Learning together was a natural progression.”

How to Book Workshops

To book, please contact Linda Halpin on 0844 502 5250 or book online at www.hotel-industry.co.uk/learning

As mobile phones and tablet computers become ubiquitous, the basic nature of a hotel’s guest experience and service has been challenged.

“Mobility is such a big, important area of change right now and it comes in several flavors,” said Doug Rice, EVP and CEO of Hotel Technology Next Generation. “One side relates to distribution, selling hotels through mobile. This is almost getting old. Another side has to do with guests bringing their mobile devices into hotels with the entertainment content they want and interacting with everything in life.”

Rice, however, said he believes the industry-leading iPhone will not shake out to be the dominant platform for hoteliers.

“I really cringed when I watched these hotels make iPhone and iPad apps, because by the time they started developing them it was obvious iOS isn’t going to be the dominant long-term platform,” he said. “Android is becoming more important and overtaking Apple now. The app is an important way things will be delivered, but the only way hotels are ever going to keep up and recoup investment is on a platform that operates across multiple types of devices, making HTML5 the primary choice for hoteliers.”

A Neilsen Co. report from March 2011 found that 33 percent of consumers planning to buy a smartphone in the next year will choose Google’s Android platform, compared to 30 percent for Apple’s iOS. A full 50 percent of recent smartphone buyers chose Android.

“The most valuable technology is going to do less things better,” said Tom Magnuson, CEO of Magnuson Hotels. Magnuson is preparing to launch 2,000 new hotel websites hosted on Google to capitalize on the opportunity for increased direct bookings. “We’re all really networked organizations now, so it is more important than ever to move fast and have really good partners.”

Today’s uncertain economic climate means hoteliers are best off thinking of new mobile sites and applications as new methods of direct distribution.

“Five years ago, who would have ever thought to use the word ‘app’?” said Ted Rusch, director of revenue management for The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, which is managed by Interstate Hotels & Resorts. “If we don’t change, we’re going to get run over by the future. If I can book a hotel room on my iPhone in three minutes, why would I ever call a hotel or brand?”

Rusch said he thinks the biggest technology change the hotel industry will endure in the coming years will have to do with the demise of traditional DOS-based global distribution systems.

“Eventually the GDS will fade into the sunset, yet we still have to use it and manage it,” he said. “We have to plan that it’s going away because it is so much easier to book elsewhere. Right now mobile booking apps are in their infancy. I don’t think we’ve begun to touch on what they can truly do.”

Magnuson agreed with the focus on cutting out unnecessary middlemen and increasing revenue for owners in the process.
“What keeps us working night and day to get this technology hooked up is finding ways that we can go direct and eradicate the costs hotel owners must bear,” he said. “We all operate according to the laws of supply and demand, so it helps to make hotels more profitable by increasing distribution and finding direct ways to do it.”

Bandwidth Blues

Property bandwidth requirements are increasing in lockstep with the advances in cloud-based systems and mobile devices.

“Most bandwidth requirements are doubling every nine months according to studies, so hotels are going to have to find ways to increase bandwidth,” Rice said. “Some hotels believe it’s all going to go to mobile networks, but they’re running out of capacity too. Now mobile companies are figuring out how to get things off mobile and onto terrestrial networks.

“Most likely it will take more than six months and less than two years for this rapid convergence of mobile device traffic onto a single access point within a portion of the hotel that can handle both WiFi and licensed cellular spectrum.”

For Hilton Worldwide, a comprehensive approach to technology advances is prevailing over incremental property updates.

“Burstable, affordable bandwidth at a global level is an increasing demand, and we’ve taken a position that this is a service we’re going to unify on a global level through our partners,” said Mark Satterfield, VP of enterprise architecture and security for Hilton.

And as more systems move offsite, hoteliers are also forced to grapple with increased downtime as systems malfunction.

“You have to consider how many servers are being used, because servers are always down despite what IT people tell us,” Rusch said.

Social Media Landscape Adapting to New Needs

As consumers become more connected by technology, hoteliers have to develop new techniques and channels to engage potential customers.
“We have a position devoted to social media and Internet content; she lives on the Internet so we have a live presence,” said Ted Rusch, director of revenue management for The Roosevelt Hotel in New York. “The beauty is that you have a real live direct relationship with customers that can be viewed by thousands of people. We can respond directly and other people see it, so they see customer service in action at The Roosevelt Hotel.”

Adapting to social media today doesn’t mean your team will be in touch with consumers in the future.

“If you look at Facebook five years ago, people were simply contacting each other,” Rusch said. “Now it’s more of a marketing tool. The nature of the medium is changing and giving hotels opportunities to show customers what kind of service they’re going to see before they walk into your hotel.”

For many, social media is a chance to communicate with consumers on a more direct basis and encourage a lasting dialogue that leads to bookings.

“When you’re global and dealing with 90-plus countries, sending a little email isn’t as simple as we think anymore,” said Mark Satterfield, VP of enterprise architecture and security for Hilton Worldwide. “Consumers are going to force the industry to integrate its programs and be more travel-like.”

HME is a full-day interactive hospitality summit that brings together the brightest minds in digital marketing for the hospitality industry, including Google Travel, Digital Alchemy, and GCommerce. The program was specifically developed for marketers and operators of independent and boutique hotels that are looking for new, profitable ideas on how to maximize the performance of email and web-based marketing initiatives for their properties. Attendees will learn about online planning and execution as it pertains to mobile marketing, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, and more.

Keynote address: “Generating Revenue in Hospitality – Old School Style with Today’s Tools”
Keynote speaker Loren Gray will present “Generating Revenue in Hospitality – Old School Style with Today’s Tools.” As Gray says, “Let’s not forget that it’s always been about the art of hospitality, no matter what era it’s from.” Keynote attendees will learn how to communicate with guests, and vice versa, in the current world of technology. Gray will further address what works, what doesn’t, and what to ‘keep an eye on’, citing specific steps and tools that attendees can begin using right away in any level of service and product. He will also talk about ‘how to rise above the fray’ and keep current without wasting time.

Gray currently serves as Director of eCommerce for Ocean Properties Ltd. & Affiliates, the fourth largest privately held franchise hotel operator in North America and 47^th largest worldwide. He has worked with Ocean Properties since 2001 in an ever-expanding role, beginning as General Manager of several branded and non-branded resorts, to regional responsibilities in sales, and ultimately to Director of eCommerce for Ocean Properties’ entire 130-plus property portfolio. In addition, Gray is involved in a variety of hotel brand committees and hospitality industry organizations, addressing the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing.

Throughout his successful career in hospitality, Gray has served in various management capacities with properties and hotel groups, and has also owned and operated several hospitality-related ventures of his own. This unique and well-rounded operational perspective has allowed him to contribute to the “entrepreneurial success” of eCommerce for Ocean Properties.

Given his extensive experience and unique perspective, attendees of the 2013 HME Conference will gain keen insight and valuable takeaways from the veteran speaker during the keynote session.

Online Registration
For more information, or to register to attend the 2013 Hospitality Marketing Exchange, please visit: http://hospitalitymarketingexchange.com.

It has been posited by analysts that the hotel industry’s current way of handling information and computer resources will soon be turned upside down with the migration to the cloud, regardless of the size of the hotels concerned. As is the case with firms, cloud computing can greatly lower the time requirements and cost of entry for hotels, as it gives a very pliable scale of computing power that can be distributed across different streams in a relatively short amount of time. It can also provide immediate access to hardware resources without needing any capital investments upfront.

However, like in any other industry, most hotels are using the cloud in conventional ways that prevents them from maximizing the potential of the cloud.

Common Benefits of Cloud Computing Technology

Cloud Computing Technology is no longer in its infancy (though the technology itself is still being innovated and polished, and will most likely further evolve in the future), so the industry has already gleaned a good picture of its primary benefits. With regard to the hotel industry, the cloud can help in the following ways:

1. It helps reduce costs and resources – since cloud services can be acquired on an “as needed” basis, hotels no longer need to invest a hefty sum at the forefront just to get a basic backend running, as they only need to pay for the exact amount of computing power and storage that they need.

2. It shortens the deployment process - another benefit of renting the service on an as needed basis is that the hotel management no longer needs to experience delays in the deployment, as the service is ready to use once they acquire it from the provider.

3. Strengthens security – since the data and critical information are all in the cloud, guarded by highly skilled staff of a provider that is ethically and financially obligated to maintain high security levels, and the fact that data is safe from physical damage due to the cloud provider having redundant and off-site backups.

4. Makes information accessible – another benefit of the cloud is that most of the grunt work that requires technical skills is already handled by the cloud provider, and customers only need to learn how to use the systems on an end-user level. This not only saves on training, it also allows even non-tech savvy people from the executive level to gain access to pertinent and mission critical data.

To read this article in full, please go to: http://cloudtimes.org/2013/04/17/opportunities-for-the-hospitality-industry-in-cloud-computing/