IT solutions for hotels, restaurants and whole Hospitality sector - Hospitality Sector

The hospitality industry is one of the main engines for growth in the UK economy driven by the UK Tourism industry and the robust business outlook. For example, the Internet has made it possible for customers to search hotels, and make comparisons on price and service and then to confirm bookings online. Online business strategy is becoming a popular key word amongst the Hospitality sector. More tourists, whether from home or abroad, are booking independently. The way the sector does business is changing. The hotel sub-sector is increasingly dependent on information technology. IT is used for a variety of functions to facilitate business operations from reservations to cook chill processes. Many hotels now offer e-mail, Internet and video conferencing facilities to guests. Latest developments include broadband and wireless networking available in rooms for suitably equipped lap-tops.

Sector trends and issues

	Hotel groups are looking at ‘guest profiling’ leading to ‘frequent lodger programmes’ allowing guests to take their individual preferences from hotel to hotel with a single guest profile number.
	Hotels in particular are now developing e-marketing strategies both to develop new business and to retain repeat customers. There will be a merging of back office, administration and accounting data with front office customer care and guest histories. All this will link up with reservations, distribution, procurement and supply chain management.
	Big changes are coming in the way payments are accepted by credit and debit cards. The new system is called chip and PIN and it's already in effect starting this year 2005.
	Increasing numbers of restaurants are turning to more technological methods to speed up the process. Hand-held terminals are one way of doing this.
	Consider this; what technology do your guests look for when they arrive in their hotel room? What do they need? What would they like? And what could they do without? For eg, simply everything the business guest requires has a technology implication! From Wireless Broadband TV, Printers and Fax to access internet through TV!
	Online marketing strategies including E-commerce development portal and online application development to facilitate and promote service offerings, hotel bookings online through company website.
	Investing in Property Management Systems, a computer system that links together all the different parts of the hotel. It can be used to gather information from all those systems, such as the phones, restaurant and bar, to calculate guests’ bills and monitor stock and even staff performance.