Effective Solution Design involves a systematic and holistic approach to all aspects of development, including human and technical engineering, to build a comprehensive product that allows for changes over time as the business landscape evolves. These concepts are essential components for success in the travel tech industry, as the examples illustrate in the final article in this Solution Design series.

Guest arrival is a crucial moment in the guest journey that sets the tone for the entire hotel stay. By the time a guest actually checks in, they have likely undergone a long, tiresome and sometimes irritating travel experience. At this point, their typical mindset is along the lines of, 'I can't wait to get to my room, freshen up and start unwinding'. So it is no surprise that check-in is when a lot things can go wrong. The operational challenge is not how fast you can check the guest in, but how fast you can get the guest in their room without a break-down in communication or guest experience.

Last month, Hilton Hotels, in partnership with IBM, introduced "Connie," the first Watson-enabled robot concierge for the hospitality industry. Named for the founder of Hilton Hotels, Conrad Hilton, Connie can tell guests where to eat, what to do nearby, and what they need to know about the hotel's amenities and services. Connie uses both a combination of Watson APIs and information gleaned from WayBlazer to deliver its picks. And the more guests interact with Connie, the more the robot will "learn" and thus adjust its recommendations. Currently, Connie is only available at the Hilton McLean in Virginia.

Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS), a leading global provider of next-generation hospitality software solutions and services, today announced that Odawa Casino Resort in Petoskey, Mich., has selected an industry-leading solution suite — including Visual One® PMS, InfoGenesis® POS and rGuest® Pay — to streamline efficiency and optimize guest service at the 137-room property.

What is Big Data? I hear this question almost every day. It is indeed not so easy to explain Big Data in simple words. Although Big Data and intelligent use of data are highly relevant topics and present throughout the media, only a few experts are able to deliver a logical and clear definition.

In response to very strong demand for protel Air, the leading cloud based property management system, Xn protel Systems has opened a Sydney-based data centre. The city joins Berlin as the second major data centre for protel Air and will deliver optimal performance to users in Australia, New Zealand and the wider region. This investment marks a major milestone in Xn protel Systems' focus on delivering best-in-class cloud computing to hotels, motels, serviced apartments and other accommodation providers in the region.

Guestline are delighted to launch a range of revenue consultancy services to customers who will learn more about the core components of revenue management and how to apply these operationally on-site.

Consumer shopping and buying behaviors are always evolving, but the most disruptive changes are still ahead. The latest research study from Sabre (NASDAQ: SABR) examines today's emerging trends to reveal what travelers will want tomorrow.

After cautiously testing the cloud computing waters for almost twenty years, the hospitality industry has been diving in head first lately, and for the most part, made nice, controlled entries with minimal splash. And for the majority, the dive was followed by a graceful, controlled float to the top. Others, however, found themselves disoriented, bumping into other swimmers, and gasping for breath. The cloud is indeed like a community pool in many ways, but after reading this article, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to quickly find your lane and swim faster laps than ever.

Last month, we sat down with our New York City hotel GMs to talk about how they currently leverage data at their hotels. Although there's much to be gained, wrangling hotel data is not without its challenges. Our GMs describe their three biggest pain points when it comes to hotel data.