How the Travel and Hospitality Industry Uses Connected Devices to Improve Experiences

UPI Study › Courses › Ethics in Technology › Free lessons › Lesson 14.9 Free with a free account

How the Travel and Hospitality Industry Uses Connected Devices to Improve Experiences

Ethics in Technology · Chapter 14: Tomorrow's Technology: AI, Biotech, IoT, and the Connected FutureSection 14.9 · lesson 97 of 11616 min · free with a free account

← Connected Medical Devices That Monitor, Diagnose, and Treat Patients RemotelyNext lesson: Intelligent Climate Control, Security, and Maintenance in Modern Buildings →

Earn 3 college credits for Ethics in TechnologyRecommended for credit by NCCRS · Computer Science 195 · self-paced · one payment, lifetime access
Enroll in Ethics in Technology · $250 →Download the syllabus (PDF)

In this lesson

Smart rooms, luggage visibility, airport operations, personalization, and guest privacy.

  • Explain how connected devices support the airport-to-hotel journey.
  • Compare Bluetooth, RFID, and GPS-based asset tracking.
  • Describe smart rooms, keyless entry, and linked guest preferences.
  • Analyze location records, wider data sharing, vulnerability, and meaningful choices.

Free study notes

Get this lesson's notes by email

The key points and 4 practice questions with answers, in your inbox. One email, free.

One email. Unsubscribe in one click.

Transcript

Everything said in the video, section by section (2,015 words). Read along, or search it.

Tomorrow's Technology: AI, Biotech, IoT, and the Connected Future

Connected Travel and Hospitality

A connected trip can begin with a luggage tag and continue into a personalized hotel room. Travelers may notice convenient information and smoother service, without thinking about the systems producing those results. A personal tracker can provide bag-location information, while airport systems support handling and navigation. A phone may hold a digital room credential, connecting an everyday device with hotel access. Inside a connected room, temperature, lighting, service requests, and remembered preferences can work together. Those services depend on equipment, compatible applications, and information that identifies the relevant guest or item. We will compare Bluetooth, RFID, and GPS-based tracking, since their capabilities and limitations differ. A displayed location may come from an earlier detection. It does not guarantee continuous live visibility. Airport beacons and sensors can support operations, while apps determine how some information reaches travelers. Personalization links past information with present decisions, sometimes across different properties and different visits. That connection creates privacy questions concerning location, sharing, device vulnerability, and meaningful awareness or choice. Keyless entry adds phone and account protection to an access system that also needs other security layers. Assess the useful service alongside its information source, actual limits, security arrangements, and wider data trail.

A Connected Trip

Follow the Services from a Tagged Bag to a Prepared Room

The first stage is tagging luggage, using either a traveler’s own tracker or the airline’s baggage system. The resulting information may describe a detected location or a recorded event in the handling process. The next stage is navigating the airport, where compatible apps and infrastructure can support wayfinding. Beacons may help position the traveler, while signs or apps present useful route and waiting information. The traveler may then check in through a supported digital process and receive a room-access credential. Required check-in steps still depend on the property and circumstances, so keyless access does not erase every procedure. Finally, connected room controls can apply known lighting, temperature, or other settings for that guest. These examples show a progression of services, rather than one universal system shared by every provider. A traveler needs compatible equipment, while the airport and hotel must support the relevant functions. Some benefits depend on identifying a specific guest, and others depend on tracking an item or aggregate conditions. The information is useful because it supports a decision or action at the next part of the journey. Every link creates questions about access, accuracy, and intended purpose. The traveler’s understanding also matters. Following the trip makes those dependencies visible, even when the connected infrastructure itself remains unobtrusive.

The Smart Room

Several Connected Functions Can Use a Guest Profile

The room diagram organizes five functions around a connected room associated with relevant guest information. Keyless entry allows a supported phone credential or electronic card to control access to the room. Climate control can apply a known preferred temperature, helping the space suit the arriving guest. Smart lighting can adjust brightness or settings in response to time, controls, or a voice command. A voice assistant may relay service requests, such as extra towels or a wake-up call. Preference synchronization recalls relevant settings from a previous stay and connects them with the current visit. These are possible connected-room functions, rather than promises about every hotel or every individual room. Their value depends on supported equipment. The connection must also match the guest’s present needs. The room should not apply another person’s profile merely because a record was incorrectly matched. A remembered setting may also be outdated, so guests need an appropriate way to adjust it. Each function has a particular information need, which should guide what the system collects and uses. A towel request, room credential, and temperature preference do not all need identical information or permissions. The diagram helps connect the convenience of a smart room with the records and controls that enable it.

Keyless Entry

Digital Credentials Add Device and Account Security to Access

Keyless entry replaces a traditional metal key with a supported electronic credential used for room access. A phone-based credential can let the guest use a device they already carry during the trip. Where the property supports digital check-in, this can reduce some waiting and front-desk friction. The credential must still be issued to the right person and associated with the correct room. Protecting the guest’s phone and app account therefore becomes relevant to controlling access. If those are compromised, an unauthorized person might gain access to the credential or related functions. That risk does not mean the phone alone determines every part of the door’s security. The physical lock and credential validation also matter. So do the backend and authorized issuance processes. The hotel needs ways to end access appropriately, such as when a stay or authorization ends. Availability also matters, since guests need a workable access process when a digital component cannot function. Keyless access adds convenience alongside a dependence on device and account protection. A complete assessment considers those dependencies together with the rest of the hotel’s access controls. Keyless entry changes how credentials are carried and used, while preserving the need for trustworthy authorization.

Asset Tracking

Three Technologies Offer Different Forms of Luggage Visibility

Asset tracking uses tags or sensors to obtain information about the location or handling of an item. A personal Bluetooth tag communicates over a nearby radio link, supporting detection through a compatible phone. Some services can relay detections from other compatible devices, extending visibility beyond the owner’s immediate vicinity. An RFID baggage tag is read by compatible scanners at instrumented points in the handling system. Those records support airline operations, and some airlines also provide associated updates to travelers. A GPS-based tracker uses received satellite signals to estimate its position, rather than relying on a nearby phone. GPS positioning alone does not send that estimate to a distant owner or monitoring service. A separate communication link is needed to report the position remotely. Suitable power and coverage also matter. These differences make Bluetooth, RFID, and GPS useful for different personal and operational tracking purposes. None guarantees a continuously fresh location record throughout every part of an item’s journey. Battery condition, nearby detections, reader placement, satellite visibility, and reporting frequency can affect the result. A map may therefore show a recent or last-known location, even when the bag has since moved. Understand how an update was obtained before treating it as proof of the item’s exact current position.

Personal versus Airline Visibility

Choose the Information Source, then Check Its Limits

A traveler might add a personal Bluetooth tracker to obtain information associated with their own tag and account. The app provides a separate view of available detections, rather than relying only on airline records. That can offer reassurance or useful context when the traveler wants another source of information. Remote visibility may depend on compatible devices passing close enough to detect the tag. If that detection does not occur, the app may continue showing an older or last-known position. Airline baggage tracking serves a different operational role, recording handling events across supported checkpoints. It can help the carrier understand whether a bag was accepted, loaded, transferred, or delivered. Some airlines expose these updates through a customer app or another tracking service. Some services provide this information directly to the traveler. Available records depend on the carrier, airport infrastructure, and itinerary. Only captured events can generate records. Neither a personal tag nor airline updates guarantee constant visibility, immediate recovery, or complete coverage. Comparing timestamps and understanding the source of each update can make the combined information more useful. The personal tracker adds a perspective; it does not replace the airline’s handling process or resolve every missing-bag problem.

Airport Operations

Connected Infrastructure Supports Routes, Bags, Queues, and Conditions

Airport connected infrastructure often operates in the background, helping travelers navigate and helping staff manage operations. A wayfinding beacon sends nearby signals that a compatible application can use when determining position. The application can then support routes toward a gate, service, or other relevant destination. A broadcasting beacon does not itself necessarily identify everyone walking through its signal range. What gets recorded depends on the application, participating equipment, permissions, and the collection arrangement. Smart baggage systems record handling information that supports sorting, loading, and other operational decisions. Queue and crowd sensors can estimate movement or waiting conditions, informing staffing and signs. Environmental sensors monitor conditions such as air quality, temperature, or occupancy within terminal spaces. The traveler may mainly notice easier navigation, improved information, or a more manageable wait. Those experience benefits explain why the infrastructure is often designed to be unobtrusive. Unobtrusive operation should still allow people to understand relevant collection, instead of making data practices invisible. An operational sensor can measure aggregate conditions. Its record need not identify an individual traveler. Evaluate both the service improvement and the particular information collected by the system providing it.

Personalization

Connect Past Information with a Present Service Decision

Personalization uses information about a guest to tailor settings, recommendations, or other parts of the experience. A returning guest’s room might be prepared using a temperature preference recorded during an earlier stay. A loyalty application might suggest a restaurant using relevant information from the guest’s past visits. Authorized staff might receive a known allergy note to help support meal preparation. These examples depend on connecting previously collected information with a decision during the current visit. Sometimes that connection occurs across different properties, rather than within the place where the information originated. Preference synchronization therefore needs a reliable match between the record and the present guest. It also needs a legitimate intended use, rather than assuming every stored detail should influence every service. Past information can change. That includes preferences and health-related details relevant to an allergy note. An old profile should not be treated as automatically complete, correct, or suitable for every new context. Guests benefit when they can understand and adjust the information used to tailor their stay. The convenience is produced by a specific data connection, rather than appearing automatically from the room hardware. That same connection makes access, accuracy, scope, and appropriate sharing central parts of responsible personalization.

Guest Privacy

A Convenient Connection Can Also Widen the Information Trail

Guest privacy concerns begin with the information trail that connected services can create during a trip. Location-related app interactions or keyless access logs can reveal where someone went and when. Those records may be detailed, but they do not necessarily provide a complete continuous account of every movement. Cross-property sharing creates another issue, because information can travel beyond the location where the guest supplied it. The guest may not understand how widely a preference or history is being used across the chain. Device vulnerability adds security concerns when a poorly protected lock or room system exposes information or access. Awareness and meaningful choice matter because people may otherwise struggle to understand or manage optional collection. Clear explanations should identify what is collected, why it is needed, and who can receive it. Guests need appropriate controls for optional features. They should also manage relevant sharing choices. Protective design must address devices and connected services, rather than treating a privacy notice as the only safeguard. Useful personalization does not justify unlimited collection or unrestricted reuse of everything known about a traveler. The aim is a convenient experience with understandable scope, suitable protection, and choices appropriate to the service. The wider the connection reaches, the more carefully its information practices need to match the guest’s expectations.

Review and Apply

Evaluate the Service and the Information Behind It

To review, explain why a mobile room key makes phone and account security relevant to access. The credential is carried on the device, while other hotel authorization and lock protections also remain necessary. Next, explain why a traveler may prefer adding a personal Bluetooth tag to airline baggage information. It supplies another view of available detections, while updates can still be delayed or unavailable. Airport infrastructure is often unobtrusive because its purpose is smoother navigation and operations. That design goal should coexist with understandable information practices, rather than conceal relevant collection. Automatic room settings require a current guest match that connects stored preferences with supported room controls. A remembered temperature can help, but an incorrect or outdated preference may need adjustment. Finally, explain why sharing across properties raises questions beyond those associated with a single stay. The information can reach places and services the guest did not realize were part of its use. Connected travel links convenience with data sources, so assess both the capability and the trail it creates. Each tracking technology has particular uses and limits. Smart rooms and airport sensors have their own. Responsible hospitality makes those services useful while protecting credentials, records, guest expectations, and meaningful choices.

About Ethics in Technology at UPI Study

Ethics in Technology (Computer Science 195) is a self-paced online course of 116 video lessons in 15 chapters, from cybersecurity basics, privacy and surveillance to big data, hacking, malware, network defense, intellectual property, cybercrime, encryption, emerging technology and digital citizenship. It carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits.

Every lesson transcript is free on pages like this one, and the videos are free with a free UPI Study account. Enrolling adds a practice quiz after each lesson, the graded work and final exam that earn the credit, lifetime access, and an official transcript on completion. UPI Study has helped over 130,000 students with college credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Enroll now → Course details Download the syllabus All Computer Science courses

Compare: Cybersecurity vs Ethics in Technology · Which ethics course?

Why take it here

Why students take Ethics in Technology with UPI Study

The right and wrong of the digital worldEthics in Technology looks at the choices technology forces on people and organizations: security and privacy, surveillance and the law, big data, hacking and cyber warfare, malware and breaches, intellectual property, cybercrime, encryption, artificial intelligence and responsible digital citizenship. It suits computer science, information technology and business degrees.
Credit at a fraction of the priceThe same 3 credits can cost $750 or more at a US college. Here it is one payment, self-paced, with lifetime access.
Finish your degree soonerTransfer credits reduce the courses you still owe, so you can graduate earlier or lighten a heavy semester.
Strengthen an applicationA completed college-level course on an official transcript shows admissions and scholarship committees you can do the work.
Study on your own scheduleNo start dates, no deadlines. Watch the lessons, practice, and take the final when you are ready.
130,000+students helped with college creditsACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Where the credit goes

Universities that work with NCCRS

Ethics in Technology carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Thomas Edison State UniversityThomas Edison State UniversitySigned partnerUniversity of the PeopleUniversity of the PeopleSigned partnerCharter Oak State CollegeCharter Oak State CollegeSigned partnerStrayer UniversityStrayer UniversitySigned partnerColumbia Southern UniversityColumbia Southern UniversitySigned partnerIndiana TechIndiana TechSigned partnerPenn StatePenn StateWorks with NCCRSSouthern New Hampshire UniversitySouthern New Hampshire UniversityWorks with NCCRSSUNYSUNYWorks with NCCRS +many more cooperating universitiesFind my college →

Find my college → Not listed? Ask Athena in the corner of this page, or book a 15-minute call.

FAQ

Questions students ask us

About How the Travel and Hospitality Industry Uses Connected Devices to Improve Experiences

How do Bluetooth, RFID, and GPS luggage trackers differ?
They locate a bag in different ways. A Bluetooth tag talks to nearby compatible phones, and some networks relay detections from other people's devices. An RFID baggage tag is read by airline scanners at fixed points in the handling system. A GPS tracker estimates its own position from satellite signals but needs a separate link, such as a cellular connection, to report it remotely. Each has different limits on coverage, power and update frequency.
Why does a luggage tracker sometimes show the wrong location?
A tracker map often shows a last-known location rather than a live position. A Bluetooth tag needs a compatible phone to pass nearby, RFID records exist only where a scanner captured an event, and GPS reports depend on satellite visibility, battery, coverage and reporting frequency. When no new detection occurs, the app keeps showing an older point, so check the timestamp and source of each update before treating it as the bag's exact current position.
Is a mobile hotel room key secure?
A mobile room key can be secure, but it makes the guest's phone and app account part of room access. If the device or account is compromised, someone else might misuse the credential. Security also depends on the physical lock, credential validation, the hotel's backend systems and issuing the credential to the right guest for the right room. Hotels also need a way to end access when a stay ends and a fallback when a digital component fails.
What privacy risks come with smart hotel rooms and personalized travel services?
The main risks come from the data trail connected services create. Keyless entry logs and location-related app activity can reveal where a guest went and when, and preferences or allergy notes may be shared across a chain's properties without the guest realizing it. Poorly protected locks or room systems add security exposure. Good practice explains what is collected, why and who receives it, keeps profiles accurate, and gives guests real choices about optional features.

About the Ethics in Technology course

How many college credits is Ethics in Technology?
Ethics in Technology (Computer Science 195) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does Ethics in Technology cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 116 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. It is sold on its own and is not part of UPI Study PRO.
Which universities accept UPI Study credits?
UPI Study has signed partner agreements with universities such as Thomas Edison State University, University of the People and Charter Oak State College, and works with universities such as Penn State, SNHU and SUNY. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Use "Find my college" on this page to check yours.
How long does Ethics in Technology take?
It is self-paced with no deadlines. The 116 lessons total about 28 hours of video; most students add reading and practice time and finish in a few weeks to a few months, on their own schedule.
How are the exams done?
Quizzes and assignments are online in the course. The final exam is taken online with proctoring; a person on the UPI Study team checks assignments, usually within two days.
How do my credits reach my college?
When the course shows 100% complete, request the official transcript from your dashboard. It is sent to the college you name, and you can send it to more than one. Check your college first with "Find my college" on this page, or ask Athena.

Ready for the full course? Earn 3 credits in Ethics in Technology.

116 video lessons, a quiz after each one, and the graded work that earns the credit. Recommended for credit by NCCRS.

Enroll in Ethics in Technology →Download the syllabus
Ethics in Technology
3 credits · NCCRSEnroll →