In the past, the hotel room reservation processes is mainly based on Plain Old Telephone System (POTS). Whenever a person is planning to go on a business trip or leisure tour, they will normally call up the different agencies' numbers as advertised on papers or referrals from relatives and friends to enquire about the "best" bundle of deal from the consumers' point of view. Hotel reservations are already imputed as part of the deal or package where a tour package or business trip is concerned. The responsibility and administrations of room reservation is being handled by the travel agent. Upon arrival at the destination, personnel from the travel agency would collect the passport from you and completes the checking in on your behalf.
After an individual has made his or her decision, he or she will normally be required to travel personally down to the agencies to have their reservations made, and to also try to find out more information from the agencies. consumers will tend enquire about the hotel star rating, prices, food, places of interests visiting, transportation, level of comfort or luxury desired, etc. But the information often provided by the travel agencies is limited. Consumers usually are not able to get the answer that they wanted from the agencies. With the help of technologies, the public could now obtain more information from the Internet.
The procedures of past hotel reservations as mentioned above are still prevalent in today’s world. However, consumers now have more information, options and choices than before in terms of whether to let the travel agency do the work or do it themselves. Based on the set of info (be it prices / accessibility etc.) gathered mainly from the internet (WAN). Consumers choose their best deal from transaction-brokers, like Agoda, Asiarooms, Octopus Travel, etc. Or consumers could also make room reservation directly from the hotel's official website. If the better deal is found other than from the travel agency, the transaction begins online. Consumers select dates and types of rooms they prefer and pay via credit cards or bank transfer. Consumers just have to print out confirmation slips and bring it along on the day of arrival.
At present, the main sources hotel reservations are: 1) Reservation of rooms directly through the hotel’s website; 2) Reservation of rooms through a third-party (e.g. transaction-brokers, travel agencies.)
1) Reservation of rooms directly through the Hotel’s website.
Singapore Marriott Hotel (5*) vs The Fullerton Hotel (5*)
In order to achieve more accuracy in our findings, we have selected our research parties based on the criteria of their hotel stars rating. In this case, we have chosen two 5 stars rating hotel; Singapore Marriott Hotel and The Fullerton Hotel; to be our research sources. Based on the findings, consumers can make reservations for their hotel room through 3 main options. They are the telephone (POTS), transaction brokers, and making reservations through the hotels’ respective websites. These websites are usually designed and setup in such a way that it is very user-friendly and easily accessible.
In today’s world, technology has become so advanced that an individual can easily make room reservations without the need to hold on to the phone line and wait for the next available customer service officer to attend to them. Neither do they need to travel personally down to the hotel’s reception to make a room reservation. On-line Reservations not only provides reservation for hotel room, it also provides a wide variety of services to their clients. Services and information like Hotel fact sheet, Photo Videos, Aerial view Maps and Transportation, Currency Calculator, room preferences, etc.
Figure 1: Aerial Map view of hotel
Figure 1: Aerial Map view of hotel
Not only does the website allow customers to make reservations for their hotel room, they could also choose the room according to their individual preferences. Selections like room preference – size of bed, or smoking/ non-smoking rooms, pillow preference – feather or foam, rollaway crib preference, room locations – high/ low floor/ near elevator. Hotels even provide hotel packages for their customers to choose from. Reservations for packages like “Room + Breakfast + City Tour” can also be made through the on-line reservation. In the past when online reservations method has not been adopted, customers will need to wait till they check into the hotel before they can request for the room preferences, or etc. Valuable time is wasted on waiting for arrangements and preparations to be done by the hotel staffs. Now with improving technology and with the help of ICT, customers can select their room according to their individual preferences and everything will be readily arranged before they check into the hotel as the hotel staff could obtain the customer preference information in advance. No time is wasted in waiting for preparations to be made.
Customers can even view the hotel room in a 360° view video. Customers can get know more about the hotel’s environment through the virtual tour available through their websites at https://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-photos/sindt-singapore-marriott-hotel/
Figure 2: Hotel Packages & other information available
Figure 3: Room Preferences
Figure 4: Examples of selection fields
In order to encourage customers to fully utilise their on-line reservation services, hotels have also came up with membership programs which serves to award regular customers (e.g. points awarded for each room reservation made, recognised through logging in to their account by registering with the hotel). Not only can customer enjoy the discount benefits or the members discount, they could also enjoy the benefits of avoiding the fuss to fill up their guest information for faster reservation.
Figure 5: Faster Reservation
Figure 5: Faster Reservation
Figure 6: Cancellation Policy
There are a lot of similarities in the kind of services provided by Singapore Marriott Hotel and The Fullerton Hotel. For examples like:
- Both provide on-line reservations.
- Both provide standard rooms reservations or packae reservations (but packages content differs)
- Both allow free cancellation but cancellation has to be done 1 day in advance.
- Both have membership services which allow customers to sign-up to become their member and thereby enjoy loyalty benefits and also help to avoid the hassle of filling up the guests' information and details.
The only main difference between Singapore Marriott Hotel and The Fullerton Hotel is Singapore Marriott Hotel allows customers to select their room preferences but The Fullerton Hotel does not.
2) Reservation of rooms through a third-party (e.g. transaction-brokers, travel agencies.)
There are an increasing number of 3rd party providers that allows individuals to make reservation through their website. We will explore the types of providers available, the approach they take and the similarities and differences between these providers
www.hotels.com and www.holidayinn.com
These 3rd party providers are hotel reservation website that has a directory which provides a list of hotels available in a country. They also provide hotels and travel information for the users. The details given by these website providers are comparable to those given by the principle website of the hotels.
With ICT, this provider platform not only allows users to find out more information on the hotels they are going, it also allows them to make comparisons between hotels to find one which will fit their tour the best. Users will be able to make better informed decisions from these websites.Figure 1: List of Hotels Available in London
In order to increase the likelihood of filling the rooms, hotels may make reduce the price of unfilled rooms. Hence some of these 3rd party provider may create may make prior agreement with the hotel to display such deals. Thus there are various deals finder functions available for the users. To enjoy more savings, users can also join the membership of these providers and gain reward points just by making reservations online.
With the ease of ICT in hotel reservation, more users are making hotel reservations online. Thus to be on the competitive edge, 3rd party providers are adding more facilities on their website to attract more users. An example of the unique service www.hotels.com provides is a set of comprehensive travel guide of various countries for users. Instead of the normal guides on places of attractions that many providers give, it provides travel guides ranging from food guides to shopping guides.
Figure 2: Comprehensive Guides from www.hotels.com
Consisting of Staunton Street, Shelley Street and Elgin Street, the SoHo district is particularly popular with diners as there are plenty of restaurants to be found here offering reasonably priced authentic meals. There are many different cuisines available here such as French, Nepalese, Italian, Mexican and Indian.
Figure 3: Last Minute Deals and Deals Finder in www.hotels.com
www.asiatravel.com and www.ctrip.com
Another type of 3rd party providers is the large online travel sites. These travel sites contains hotel reservation services which is also comparable to that of the principle hotels. Two examples of these websites are www.asiatravel.com and www.ctrips.com. Both of these large online travel sites provide various facilities for the users. Some of the facilities are:
· Flight reservation services for both one way and round trips
· Tour packages
· Hotel reservation services which includes the features of:
o Google map for ease in locating the hotels and places of attraction
o Rating, reviews and comments given by users
o Images of the hotels
o General information of hotels including contact information of the hotels
With these features available that covers all the area of travel the users requires, it is the best place for users to make last minute travel arrangement.
However, there are also some differences that set them apart. www.ctrip.com is a websites that cater to China tours. As its main focus is on China, the website provides more detailed information on China compared to the international websites. There is a reward feature that gives users ctrip rewards points when user book online. In addition, it also has a special feature that allows its users to make reservations on car rental online. These cars come with a driver and provide chauffer service within the cities of China.
Figure 4: Car Rental Service
www.asiatravel.com also has its own unique feature which sets it apart from its competitors. It allows users to buy travel insurance online which provides access to 24 hours emergency medical and travel assistance from anywhere around the world.
Another unique feature www.asiatravel have is the TravelTV function which consist of travel videos with a short summary of its content. The video ranges from destination videos to hotel videos. Users would be able to not only view the hotels through the videos, they would also be able to learn more about the facilities and special features the hotels have.
Figure 5: Basic Insurance Coverage for Asia
Notes: ALL claims are paid in Singapore dollars based on the Sum Insured shown in Singapore Dollars.
The Sums Insured shown in USD are for information only USD AMOUNTS ARE APPROXIMATIONS (based on an exchange rate of USD = 1.5 SGD)
Figure 6: Travel Videos on Hotels
Conclusion of how info-communication technologies change hotel room reservation services.
From consumers' point of view, ICT has enable service providers to cater to individual preference of consumers, examples like comfort, luxury, facilities, timing, availability, prices, location, accessibility of hotel etc. They are able to compare qualities of deal or transaction e.g. pictures of hotels rooms' view, prices, facilities, meals, accessibility of hotel via Google map view etc. These give them the convenience, comfort and accessibility to secure a hotel room that caters/suits their own individual preferences and needs.
From Hotel Operators' pt of view, ICT has created a "level-playing field" amongst hotels as smaller sized and less reputable hotels are also able to publicize market and attract customers through the internet because I also found budget hotels while "Googling". Be it a budget hotel or 5 stars rated hotel, ICT has allowed them to save manpower in terms of staff having to answer phone calls and checking availability of rooms & prices. Conversely, consumers get to keep checking and changing dates that suit or cater to their needs (financial/time constraints) and even wait for special offers. With the reduction of phone enquiry calls, there's savings in manpower, administrative, paper and phone costs.
Hotels staff are able to engage in other more effective and efficient works.
Paperless transaction (environmentally friendly), saves time in filling up customers' particulars while checking in and inevitably reduces the queue and makes the process quicker.
Hotels staff are able to engage in other more effective and efficient works.
Paperless transaction (environmentally friendly), saves time in filling up customers' particulars while checking in and inevitably reduces the queue and makes the process quicker.
Instead of just meeting the demands of people visiting the hotel directly, they have to widen their services to attract those customers that are making reservations online, such as the creations of principal website to host services including that of reservation services.
In conclusion:
· Hotel reservations website not only consists of the function for customers to male hotel reservations, it also provides a variety of useful information which allows travelers to make informed decisions. Fullerton Hotel is one such hotel that provides such services.
o It has images of the exterior and the interior of the hotel to allow the customers to have an idea of how the hotel looks like and all the images of the different types of rooms available.
o It also provides information on the various facilities that the hotel have.
o The website also has information regarding the history and information to provide more credibility to the hotel so as to attract more customers into making reservations.
· Other than just relying on the hotel’s principal website, there are also many other platforms that allow reservations to be made online. These websites provides other services that a traveler need when going on a holiday. Holidayinn.com is one such platform that integrated the various functions together.
o The website provides all the places of attractions in the countries and the hotels that are nearby.
o It also allows customer to view the hotel’s pictures and maps online so that customers can have an idea of how the hotel looks like
o With the various hotels given online, the customers will have more variety to choose from and they can make reservation on one that suite their needs.
o Hotel packages and promotions are also available online.
· There are many other providers online that cater to the travelers and each one have their unique services such as asiarooms.com shows the customers the top destinations of the country and the hotels available. It also provides the reviews on hotels and rating of the hotels. It even has a currency converter to let customers find out how much the rates are in their local currencies.
· Another provider is ctrip.com. This provider allows customer to not only book their flights online, but also make reservations for car rental services.
· Other than the providers, there are also websites such as the tripdvisor.com which gives an overall review of the hotels.
o It has the world ranking of the hotels and the overall rating of the hotels.
o Details of the hotels such as the address and contact information are given on the website.
o It allows people to make ratings on the different aspects of the hotels such as the room services and also post their reviews on the website.
o Hotel photos, amenities and maps are also available for the customers on the websites.
o This website also allows the customer to check the rates and the availability of the rooms. In addition, it also have links to the principal website.
· Advantages of ICT for hotel
o It is a good advertising platform for the hotels it is a more globalised method of reaching out to more customers worldwide.
§ With the providers available, the all the hotels will be listed on the website. Thus customers will get to find out more about the hotels that they did not know.
§ Hotels can also advertise by having special packages placed on the web providers
§ Customers looking for other information such as the places of interest will also be able to view the hotels in the area.
o The website also provides pictures of the hotel for the customers to view. This can allow the hotel to attract more customers with the pictures
o The facilities of the hotel will also be displayed so hotels can use this opportunity to promote their unique facilities.
o It increase the likelihood of filling the rooms
o Hotels which do not have the expertise or connection can use the 3rd party providers to connect them to the world.
o It also helps improve the likelihood to fill up the hotel rooms, because with the help of ICT, consumers would be able to find out which hotel still has available rooms especially during peak season where all other hotels have been fully booked.
· Advantages of ICT for customers
o With the online review, customers can have an idea of the good and bad point of the hotel. The rating available will also be a good guide for them to choose the hotel.
o Maps and places of interest will be available on the website so customers can have a better idea of which hotel is the most suitable one for them.
o On peak season, the hotels the customers want may not have vacancies. The website not only allows them to make reservation in advance, it also allows them to find the next best available hotel easily on the website.
o Customers can have a place to voice any discontentment through the web providers.
o There are applications on the phone that allows customers to make reservations anywhere so it increases the convenience of hotel reservation.
o ICT increases the ease of making last minute arrangements. This is especially useful for last minute travelers.
· Disadvantages of ICT for hotel
o Face more competition as other hotels around the area will also be featured in the providers.
o Hotels have to maintain certain level of standard as there are more providers that allow customers to make review. If standards are not kept in check, it will damage the hotel’s image badly.
o Hotel have to spend more on the ICT to be able to compete with other and this may be difficult especially to the smaller hotels with capital constraints
o The hotel reservation system online are becoming more similar. Thus hotels have to rely on other methods to attract customers.
· Disadvantages for customers
o Those older generations who are not very good with computers will have troubles finding vacancies on peak season especially rooms in popular hotels.
