It has been found that most hoteliers handle their payments outside the hotel’s daily business operations and don’t rely on a payment gateway. This leads to disordered payment systems. Payment processes in themselves can be complicated, costly, and time-consuming. There are many critical points to satisfy, such as a customer’s preferred form of payment and any security issues to address. ...
Merchants involved in the hotel industry know it can be challenging to obtain a travel merchant account. Even large hotel brands are labeled as “high risk.” Traditional banks, worried about risk and legal exposure, try to stay away from high-risk businesses. Data Breaches in the Hotel Industry The hotel sector has experienced well-publicized data breaches in recent years. Particularly, Hilton Worldwide,...
New national lodging service, Airbnb, has come under fire lately. The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA) is lobbying for more government regulation of the peer-to-peer lodging company. The association argues that Airbnb should follow the same safety and health standards, and pay the same taxes as all hotels do. But Airbnb claims they are a fundamentally different business from...
“Profitability is coming from productivity, efficiency, management, austerity, and the way to manage the business.” – Carlos Slim Merchants in the hotel industry should take control of their credit card processing performance and find the right merchant account provider that would give them the best available terms of service. Hotel Card Payment Authorization Through authorization, card issuers approve or decline...
The U.S. hotel industry has continued to sail forward, despite slowing employment growth and tepid gross domestic product. RevPar, a key industry metric calculated by multiplying a hotel’s average daily room rate (ADR) by its occupancy rate, also rose for major U.S. hotels. As long as the U.S. economy does not plummet in 2016, many in the industry are anticipating...
After being in a slump, the hotel industry is finally seeing an upsurge. Experts are saying the shift is due to several factors such as; the economic recovery, easier and less expensive hotel bookings, changes in demographics, demand for more properties, and international demand. A recent Forbes report shows that hotel owners are making more revenue per room. Occupancy rates...
Hotels have become a cyber attacker’s paradise. The latest security breach of a large hotel franchise occurred at a few Hilton Hotels (HLT) reports Washington Post. Hotels are low hanging fruit for cybercriminals as many in the hospitality industry are at the forefront of business technology, but often lag behind in the technology to keep consumer information safe. The cybersecurity...
In only a few weeks, the payment processing system in the United States will undergo a major shift as retailers across the country upgrade their processing systems to accept EMV enabled cards. EMV or Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, has been the standard across many countries for the last decade. EMV cards are fraud deterring chips embedded within debit and credit...
Booking-dot-what? Online traveling booking is hot right now, thanks to many discount travel apps and websites. According to a recent survey, nearly 180 million people visited travel websites in June 2015. This number is huge, and it is expected to rise in the coming months. The prices are great, and the service is quick, but are these websites really worth...
We have seen the commercials and online ads for booking websites. These websites promise to book your hotel room, rental car, and airplane ticket for a fraction of the original fee. While most of these sites are legit, and there are few problems with consumers, the hotel and airline industries hate these sites. They cost them money, as people are...
