We hear a great deal about the "frictionless travel experience" and how it may be a lofty goal, but every day we are getting closer and closer to this reality. Industry leaders agree that low-tech travel experiences are a thing of the past and consumer demand is driving innovation.

dormakaba, the provider of Saflok™ and Ilco™ electronic locks, announced its new white paper detailing why mobile access is becoming essential to property success and how operators can deliver it. The paper, "Guests Demand a 21st Century Stay: Secure Mobile Access Unlocks Your Competitive Edge," reviews the accelerating mobile use in travel, and explains what goes into seamless property mobile access control system delivery. Click here to download the mobile access control system implementation white paper. For more information on dormakaba electronic hotel locks, click here.

Next week members of the Asian American Hotel Owners Assn. can experience hospitality's "most innovative technology" at the AAHOA Annual Convention & Trade Show, to be held March 27 to 30 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. The Beekeeper digital workforce platform, considered to be the best employee app in the industry, will be on display in Booth #1075. With Beekeeper, hoteliers can exchange information, share property updates, and communicate best practices with front- and back-of-house hotel employees who don't sit at a desk or have a company email address. Beekeeper was honored with the 2018 TechOvation Award by Hospitality Technology Next Generation (HTNG) earlier this month.

In July of 2015, The Durham Hotel opened its doors for the first time as an independent hotel property; its historic building previously operated as a local bank for decades. Being in the heart of downtown Durham, NC—amidst a revitalization, increase in market hotel inventory and pricing instability in the market—The Durham Hotel saw the opportunity to change from a manual pricing system to an automated revenue management solution, continuing their efforts to maximize overall revenue opportunities.

Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS), a leading global provider of next-generation hospitality software solutions and services, today announced the release of an HTNG whitepaper on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Stephen Clay, Product Manager, represented Agilysys in the workgroup assembled to discuss the GDPR and its impact on the hospitality industry. The workgroup was coordinated by Hospitality Technology Next Generation (HTNG), a global not-for-profit trade association.

KEYPR®, the leading cloud-based, technology platform for the hospitality industry providing an integrated end-to-end experience for guests and staff through embedded and mobile devices, announced today that The Ivey's Hotel will be implementing its expansive hospitality platform, marking KEYPR's first property in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Since implementing Sertifi eAuthorize, the hotel property has significantly reduced the number of chargeback cases each month and has better control of fraudulent activity. The technology has decreased the number of non-refundable chargeback fees from the hotel's acquiring bank as well as employee time spent on filing and following up on fraud-related cases.All payment authorization forms are now sent to guests via email to complete securely online in a PCI-compliant manner. Each form includes an eSignature from the cardholder to further help reduce the number of disputes, strengthen protection from scams, and prevent revenue loss.

ASSA ABLOY Hospitality, the leading provider of innovative security technologies for the hospitality industry, announces the launch of its VingCard E100 lock, an electronic escutcheon set specifically designed to work together with lock cases that are built according to the German DIN standard (Deutsches Institut für Normung) and Scandinavian Industry Standard (SIS). Compatible with RFID keycards, the escutcheon set was engineered with back-of-house operations in mind, and is ideal for offices and other standard hotel staff areas.

The 2018 TechOvation Award was presented yesterday to Beekeeper by Hospitality Technology Next Generation (HTNG) during the HT-NEXT Award Ceremony in San Diego. The TechOvation Award recognizes companies for innovative products new to the marketplace from 2017 or coming in 2018. Beekeeper earned the coveted award for its workplace app that digitizes hospitality workers who don't sit behind a traditional desk and don't have access to work email. By connecting operational systems and communication channels within one secure, intuitive platform, Beekeeper is helping hoteliers exchange information, share property updates, and communicate best practices within or across departments in 30 languages.

Guestline has partnered with Journey, the UK's leading hotel marketing technology company, to deliver Websuite, a range of website solutions and digital marketing technology to its customers. The new partnership will help hoteliers increase traffic to their website, and in turn maximise conversion rates and direct bookings.