Traditionally, hotels were largely dependent on cards and paperwork at the front desk to keep in touch with old and current customers. They were largely at the mercy of the desires of vacationers to arrive, and on their own efforts and staff to be ready for potential surges or long droughts of occupancy. Luckily, such inconvenience and old-fashioned methods are long since past, thanks to advances in information technology.

The first area in which information technology became important was in regards to billing. Old-fashioned paper-based book-keeping was time consuming and inefficient, and was not able to quickly tell a hotel owner what the situation of their hotel was. Luckily, advances in modern record keeping allow for a hotel owner to keep track of what they have on hand, how much of it they have, and how much it costs. Accounting is complicated, but advanced accounting software, especially that tailored to the unique needs of the hospitality industry, helps to enable hotel owners to make smart decisions. Services and products that are no longer used can be quickly cut off to save money, while those who show demand can be increased in quantity or modified so as to reduce the heavy usage.

Most hotels are familiar with booking rooms and reservations over the phone, but information technology has expanded well beyond that. Hotels can now work with various online travel companies and booking services to have their rooms booked online, with no need to employ expensive staff. This also allows a hotel to advertise their open rooms and special deals directly to persons who would be most likely to purchase them, instead of wasting lots of money advertising in an unfocused manner. High quality information technology thus allows for better arrangement and management of bookings in order to allow a hotel to better maximize occupancy, and to know in advance when large groups or lean times are approaching. This allows a hotel manager to make plans regarding temporary staff, good times to renovate or expand, or other concerns, because he/she can determine the state of their hotel currently and for the next few months with only a few clicks on the computer.

I love video games, I love my computer, and I love my flat screen, but I find myself wondering sometimes if technology is making social anxiety worse. Has the convenience that technology has given to us also hindered us from overcoming social anxiety as a whole? Has technology made overcoming social anxiety even more difficult by placing a virtual barrier between human interaction and physical contact?

We can research and make friends with people online, but there is a lack of human interaction. The advantage of being online is that you can find a community to help you with whatever problem you have, but the disadvantage is the lack of action. We start using the internet as our outlet to being social.
There is a huge lack of “real” interaction. We can sit at home and keep ourselves entertained with the hundreds of channels we have. We can live our vicariously through the character we play on video games, hell we can even pay our bills online so we don’t have to interact with another human being.

I love the benefits that are given to us because of technology, don’t get me wrong. I think it’s great that I can do everything I listed above. I love the fact that I can save time and money by sitting at home. I think technology can help and hurt you at the same time.