2012

STUDY ON THE USE OF INFORMATIONT ECHNOLOGY IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY

A Research Project given by the Faculty...

Girish; Ishan; Manoj

IHM-HYDERABAD
10/19/2012

INDEX
SL.NO. TOPIC Page No.

1. INTRODUCTION 2. OBJECTIVES & IMPORTANCE 3. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Method of data collection Tools of data analysis

3 4 5 11

5. LIMITATIONS OF STUDY

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INTRODUCTION
Information technology has evolved and has become a major part of every aspect of business.
Hotel industry has accepted changes in IT and is now moving towards fully integrating new technologies in order to fulfill the goal of guest satisfaction.

The use of information technology in the hospitality industry has grown tremendously over
the past 20 years. This journey has not always been smooth, but it has become clear that information technology is now a critical competitive weapon in the industry.

While technology is being slowly but surely adopted in Hotels as with the rest of the
hospitality industry, there are still some issues with how this technology is being applied to get best results. The success of a travel or tourism business is largely dependant on how well they make use of the technology that is available and developing. (Mamaghani, 2009).

In an effort to get closer to the issue of technology adoption in the hotel industry, we need to
research the hurdles in technology adoption. If information technology does not serve the end goal of customer satisfaction and delight, hotels will always hesitate to adopt new technologies.

With more and more hotels providing state of the art facilities for modern hi-tech services
apart from just merely luxurious accommodations and dining options, guests are being subjected to an absolutely new experience.

This case study aims to examine the effects of how IT related interface issues affect the overall
guest experience in Hyatt Place Hotels in the US. The literature review that follows will lay out the path IT has taken and how it has been accepted into the hotel industry in the recent years. Then, the case study will examine some available literature to prove how important the IT systems are to the success of a hotel.

OBJECTIVES & IMPORTANCE

When you have read this article you will be able to: Identify the effects of developments in information technology on hospitality management and operations. Analyse current key issues associated with information technology and explore their implications for the hospitality industry.

Evaluate key challenges limiting the use of technology within the

international hospitality sector.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
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 which 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.

Information technology was first used in the hospitality industry in the 1950s, when multinational hotel chains began experimenting with the developing field of computer science. As in most other industries, the majority of the initial applications focused on accounting and automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Software was borrowed from other industries on the assumption that it could be easily adapted for use by hospitality companies. However, such conversions were usually only partially successful, and a large number of changes to business processes and procedures were often needed to accommodate the requirements of the computerized system. Moreover, the expense and technicality involved in both developing and running systems made the use of computerization economical only for the largest companies (OConnor, 1999). Despite these problems, the hospitality industry at large has pioneered many information system innovations. Airline reservation systems, for example, were completing electronic commerce transactions long before the commercialization of the Internet and the dot-com bubble of the late nineties. In the early 1970s, the Hotel St Jacque in Paris introduced software that automated reservations, check-in, guest billing and various aspects of management control. Punched cards were issued to guests, allowing charges to be instantly posted directly onto their electronic bill. Also the telephones and mini-bars in each room were linked to the system, automatically posting charges directly onto the relevant guest folio. While the improved control introduced by computerized systems justified implementations from a cost perspective, computer systems were still perceived as being overly technical and difficult to use. This was due in part to the manner in which the systems were created by accountants working in conjunction with the developers and to the fact that they had to be ultimately used by front6

line employees. Overly focused on the control of operations, and lacking usability, early systems were resented by end-users generally not involved in the design and development activities. In addition, the fragmentation of the software industry also compounded the problem introducing incompatible systems that could not be easily integrated. These factors combined to make the use of IT with the hospitality industry complex, expensive, and frustrating. Systems were seen as being badly designed, overly technical and inflexible and rather than simplifying hospitality operations and management, they were perceived to make life more difficult.

Considerable resistance to the use of technology built up as a result and was reinforced by the conservative nature of the industry, its widespread fragmentation, the absence of dominant vendors and by a lack of IT understanding on the part of many managers (Whitaker, 1987). Despite such early difficulties, falling hardware prices, the development of the personal computer and graphic user interfaces, and the explosive growth of the Internet have made computerized systems practically ubiquitous throughout all sectors of the industry today. Moreover, as computers have become progressively easier to use and embedded in society, problems stemming from usability have been partially subdued even though the typical hospitality computing environment can be quite complex (see Figure...)

Over time, individual systems have developed to act as the information hubs of the hospitality organization. Within restaurants and food service, the EPOS (electronic point of sales system) performs this role, while within hotels and cruise ships, it is the property management system (PMS) that has developed into the key application. Better integration means that such systems now perform a key coordination and control function, acting as the central system around which all the others revolve and interact. Another IT system in place is the newly emerging kiosk technology. This technology has also evolved through the times and through several industries has found its way in to the Hotel industry. Hotel check-in kiosks need to be able to not only process the check in or check out but also print a receipt and dispense keys preferably within a short amount of time. Therefore, integrated IT Systems can be the backbone of a hotel allowing the hotel management in enhancing guests experience of the brand and in assisting the employees in working efficiently to achieve the organizational goals. However, there is reluctance in hotels to adopt IT systems that enhance guest experience due to several reasons. In the recent years, the reluctance is giving way to acceptance but at the same time, interface issues in IT systems are going to slow the adoption process. According to Siguaw, J.A., Enz, C.A., & Namasivayam, K (2000), IT systems are expected to prioritize and help improve guest services, increase employee productivity and enhance revenue generation. But, it is imperative that to achieve the goal of improved guest services, IT systems have to be customized and guests have to be educated in the use of the IT systems. Typically, in the hospitality industry, market conditions play a significant role in the way the hotels, restaurants and other establishments behave.

The high-level of competition in the hotel industry is reflected by increasingly narrow margins and growing pressure to offer more and better services, with rising costs as a logical consequence (Castellanos-Verdugo et al., 2009). To stay ahead of the competition, hotels strive to find a competitive advantage their brand has in comparison with the other hotels they are in direct competition with. Hyatt Place hotels were designed as a hotel brand that will compete with other hotels in the market with customized service combined with the best use of user-friendly technology. In order to achieve this and subsequently measure this goal, Medallia surveys are collected from randomly selected checked-out guests.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Method of data collection
This study was done with the special reference of Statistical Analysis, Questionnaires, Websites, and different Books.

Tools of data analysis

Simple statistical tools like Percentage, Graphs, and Charts will be used to analyze the data.

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LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
There are lesser in amount of trained and qualified people as compared to new advancements in technologies. Proper care and maintenance can not be done for each technologies used in the Hotel.

Many of the people are not able adapt themselves to technology within the organization because of inappropriate environment.

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