Information Technology In The Hospitality Industry PDF

I N F O R M AT I O N T E C H N O LO G Y I N T H E H O S P I TA L I T Y I N D U S T RY Chapter 1  It is advantageous for tourism and hospitality managers in general and marketing managers in particular to be aware of the recent changes in IT and their relationship with customer service. With...

I N F O R M AT I O N T E C H N O LO G Y I N T H E H O S P I TA L I T Y I N D U S T RY Chapter 1  It is advantageous for tourism and hospitality managers in general and marketing managers in particular to be aware of the recent changes in IT and their relationship with customer service. With travelers becoming increasingly tech-savvy, hotels who do not embrace the latest technology to deliver innovative services to their guests stand out to lose big time. A D VA N TA G E S O F I N F O R M AT I O N T E C H N O L O G Y I N T H E H O S P I TA L I T Y I N D U S T RY Reduce Operational Cost- The use of Information technology can replace the role of human in performing some routine tasks. Reduce Workload of Staff- Some IT applications are also designed to reduce the staff’s workload by assisting them in performing their job duties. Increase Efficiency- As customers always expect quick services to be provided by the service staff, some applications have been specifically designed to simplify some time-consuming procedures. Increase Revenue- IT application also facilitate new services to customers. Access and Share Information- Computers and some hotel interfaces enable sharing of information among departments. Achieve Better Planning and Management- Customer Information including their preferences and consumption records are kept in the customer database. ISSUES AND CONCERNS OF I N F O R M AT I O N T E C H N O L O G Y I N T H E H O S P I TA L I T Y I N D U S T RY Lack of Knowledge of Top Management- Without much IT training in their work experience, top management normally has limited knowledge of the most updated IT being applied in the accommodation sector. Huge Investment Cost- Although the application of IT may improve the service effiency and lower down the operational cost in the long run, some applications may involve huge investment in installation and long term maintenance. Resistance to Change of Personnel- There are two potential problems to be faced by the existing staff worked in the accommodation sector. THE INTERNET AND THE WORLD -WIDE WEB While thriving to be competitive In the global market, exactly the hospitality industry is exposed and overburdened by exclusively high costs for: Promotion in the Global Market, Immediate communication / Interactively with the clients / tourists, Booking by guests from distant tourist generating destinations, Market research. Many people use the terms Internet and World Wide Web (aka. The Web) Interchangeably, but in fact the two terms are not synonymous. The internet and the Web are two separate but related things The internet is a massive network of networks, a networking infrastructure. It was conceptualized during 1969 by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). It Connects millions of computers together globally, forming a network in which any computer can communicate with any other computer as long as the are both connected to the internet. The World Wide Web, or simply web, is much newer compared to the internet and was initialized during the 1900s. The WWW is such an immensely popular internet facility that for many users, it has become synonymous with the internet. The World Wide Web is a collection of web pages linked together with hypertext links. Alternatively. The Internet can be viewed as a big book store while the WEB can be viewed as collection of books on that store. At a high level, we can even think of the internet as hardware and the Web as software. BENEFITS OF INTERNET AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB Competitive Advantages of Using the Internet in the Hospitality Industry are: 1. Service improvement concerning Large choice of access to a website Faster payment processing Reduced delivery time for many products Faster and greater availability of support literature More detailed and particularized 2. Low costs of: Marketing Processing of booking and payments Automation of tasks Establishing direct links between the producer and the consumer distribution 3. Differentiation from competition: creating, presenting and selling high quality, distinctive products. 4. Creating up to date enterprise image 5. Information usage including the following concepts: Addressability Interactivity Flexibility Accessbility 6. Efficiency in operational management and communication 7. Obtain know how through discussion with news groups on the internet P O T E N T I A L D I S A D VA N TA G E S O R T H R E AT S O F I N T E R N E T U S A G E I N T H E H O S P I TA L I T Y I N D U S T RY ARE: Standardization of legal procedures of doing business over the internet The problem of inefficient accessibility to the website / unfavorable indexing by search engines Spam Bad quality of individual websites which might damage whole destination image Nonprofessional determination of purpose the website is supposed to fulfill.