Restaurant and Hospitality News Roundup – April 23, 2014
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
This week in the news, we are warned that hackers are now using third-party vendors to access vulnerable systems, so hotels and restaurants should be checking the security of these third-party systems. And hotels and other retailers are adopting new mobile technology for check-in. And finally, in an interview with Forest Key of Buuteeq, we find out why hotel marketing is flying to the cloud.
Don’t Just Look Under the Bed: Hackers Lurking In Vents And Soda Machines
This article from The New York Times warns of the threat of cyber-attacks that can be tied to a leaky third party, such as online menus, or even heating and cooling providers who now monitor and adjust office temperatures remotely, and vending machine suppliers who can see when their clients are out of Diet Cokes and Cheetos. Hotels and restaurants should ensure that their third party systems are secure. Vendors are tempting targets for hackers because they tend to run older systems, and once hackers have found a way in, the devices offer them a place to hide in plain sight.
Should Your Hotel Being Using Cloud Marketing? Q&A With Forest Key Of Buuteeq
This Tnooz interview looks at how one star business among cloud-based service, Buuteeq, a Seattle startup that provides digital marketing for hotels, is faring. The interview discussed trends in digital marketing, possible consolidation among cloud-based hotel tech startups, and the fates of companies such as Amadeus, Booking.com, Micros, Sabre, and Pegasus. In the comments, Forest Key also shared: “Anything remotely related to mobile and tablets is what GUESTS will be clamoring for, smart hoteliers will be out in front of that trend so that they have a shot at owning that interaction with their customers directly.”
Restaurant and Hospitality News Talking Points
In positive news, this article from the National Restaurant Association, analyzes the latest retail sales figures. Restaurant sales registered a solid gain in March, and returned to the levels reached before the recent soft patch. Although restaurant operators are generally optimistic about sales growth in the months ahead, their outlook for the economy remains mixed.
This article from Hospitality Technology explains how one southern restaurant chain sped up its credit-card transactions and adopted mobile bandwidth technology to achieve higher efficiency. The chain of 650+ locations needed a solution that could take advantage of the growing cellular network, keep its monthly wireless carrier costs low, was easy to implement, and was compact enough to fit into its restaurants’ small footprints.