Hospitality and Tourism technology application enhances customers experience in many different manners, ranging from simplification of the reservation processes to offering in-room entertainment along with connectivity. The legal issues surface in the context of software licensing, implementation alongside the customer services. Technology has empowered tourism and hospitality businesses in that at present it has bolstered direct communication as well as more resourcefully with potential clients and suppliers, and above that it has aided in the achievement of competitive gain. As technology has enhanced the productivity in the Hospitality and Tourism industry, there are also legal, technological issues that have surfaced. This paper will elaborate on the legal challenges that technology has brought in operating Hospitality and Tourism industry.
It is good to note that today’s’ tourism and Hospitality industry operates in a competitive environment. Relative to other the global economy sectors, hospitality, and tourism industry is growing rapidly and the more the businesses, the vaster the legal concern that comes along ( Higham & Miller, 2018) . Therefore, it is up to the managers to keep up their game to flourish in this kind of business setting. Tourism and hospitality industry offers an array of services to the consumer accommodation services, catering and food services, events planning and management, tour, and travel ( Chan, Fong, Law, & Fong, 2018) . With all these services at hand, technology has come to simplify service delivery and the overall management of the industry. Technology has proved to be fundamental in the business operation in this industry which has facilitated reservations, sales, marketing and distribution, communication, guest accounting, room management services as well as safety and security ( Smith, 2014) . In line with the market insight when the hospitality business embraces technology, it gains a competitive edge against the traditional competitors as well as new entrants who may have integrated the use of technology.
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In tourism and hospitality, the information technologies system diffusion will enhance effectiveness, quality, and suppleness whereby it is much easier to offer travel services. The technological advancement seen in the industry has facilitated new services generation, for instance online interactive user platforms ( Budeanu, Miller, Moscardo, & Ooi, 2016) . Customers are the most esteemed entity in the tourism and hospitality industry. Businesses under this category need to strive hard to maintain the market share as clients are the determinants of the business progress and success ( Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014) . The advancement of technology in the industry affects customers in which business operators must be aware of such manifestation in their operation. About the industry, customers’ privacy is a major concern which may raise a legal problem in the event of implementation of technologies in the business ( Higham & Miller, 2018) . Also in unethical operation operators may use the internet to track purchasing pattern, individual transactions alongside a collection of personal data of their customers or even potential clients. Even as the governments have put into effect laws hampering the personal data collection allowing customers to have some control to filter personal information, businesses have a moral obligation to safeguard personal customer records from illegal access.
Furthermore, as a consequence of technology, the operators should be aware of cyber breaches where not only the client information can be compromised but also for the entire business ( Budeanu, Miller, Moscardo, & Ooi, 2016) . Cyber delinquents, using various methods, are capable of infecting the point of sale systems using the credit-card data scraping malicious software that gains control of personal account data to a greater extent during the time of payment. Often the malware may spy and also infect systems of hotels chains and restaurants that are either have a common brand or linked to a common third-party operator ( Smith, 2014) . Above that, the malware may persist for a long time without operators detecting leading to losses and legal liabilities.
In current operation, most hospitality businesses would prefer the use of both ‘off-the-shelf” as well as the tailored software applications to manage different operations, for instance, Food and beverages inventory and reservations ( Jones, Hillier & Comfort, 2016) . The software provider needs to license these software programs legally and by rights maintain it for instance in the annual maintenance agreement with a service provider. Consequently, licensing ensure that updates are applied and also lessen any slip-up relating to such applications that may unfavorably impinge on the business operations.
In sales, marketing and distribution there are legal regulations on local advertising. The fascinating issue considered is the frequency of social media use as an avenue of carrying out marketing activities ( Chan, Fong, Law, & Fong, 2018) . The operators ought to understand that promotions in the hospitality industries the social media can give rise to one or two legal concern. These activities are regulated in a silent series as the businesses incorporating social media platforms are preordained to necessitate the social media terms and conditions in promotions to comply with the local law ( Budeanu, Miller, Moscardo, & Ooi, 2016) . As a result, the tourism and hospitality operators planning online marketing, or aim at customer interaction in the industry, should understand the prerequisite in engaging the social media to comply with local legal liability ( Higham & Miller, 2018) . Thanks to the technological advance operators are obligated to develop social media policies for their employees, for instance, IT Commercialization policy ‘Bring Your Own Device’ policies.
Conclusion
Application of information technologies in the hospitality and tourism system has greatly improved the efficiency and services quality. Every single achievement is attributable to the adoption and changing environment of the industry. With technology, all the players in the industry have made a profound impact to create foundations for a new best practice in the management of hospitality business and cost-effectiveness in the entire operation. In the quest of embracing technology, the operators have to understand the implication and legal liability that come along with it.
References
Budeanu, A., Miller, G., Moscardo, G., & Ooi, C. S. (2016). Sustainable tourism, progress, challenges, and opportunities: an introduction.
Chan, I. C. C., Fong, D. K. C., Law, R., & Fong, L. H. N. (2018). State-of-the-art social customer relationship management. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research , 23 (5), 423-436.
Higham, J., & Miller, G. (2018). Transforming societies and transforming tourism: sustainable tourism in times of change.
Jones, P., Hillier, D., & Comfort, D. (2016). Sustainability in the hospitality industry: Some personal reflections on corporate challenges and research agendas. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , 28 (1), 36-67.
Smith, S. L. (2014). Tourism analysis: A handbook . Routledge.
Zeng, B., & Gerritsen, R. (2014). What do we know about social media in tourism? A review. Tourism Management Perspectives , 10 , 27-36.
