CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

In traditional hotel industries it made a great emphasis on the provision of quality service to

guests. With the increasing demand for intensive information from customers and hotel

practitioners, hotels have adopted computer-based IT facilities to improve operational efficiency,

reduce costs, and enhance service quality (Camison, 2000; Cobanoglu et al., 2001; Siguaw and

Enz, 1999; van Hoof et al., 1996).

The Hotel Industry like any other business opens up socioeconomic opportunities for both owner

and customer. It has the function of providing hospitality services to customers. These customers

can be travelers, foreigners, businessmen, tourists, visitors, etc. Customers are mostly

constrained in trying to get a room to pass the night, as the usual practice is to look for a hotel

when you have arrived in the particular location, walk in and find out whether there is a vacant

room. In the case that there is no vacant room, you have to move to next closest hotel to enquire

once more. So what happens if you move around sometimes very late in the night in search of a

room and all close by hotels are fully booked? Other times you may be lucky to have the contact

number of the hotel to reach them to book for a room. But do the hotel attendants really ensure to

keep a room for you? You would be lucky to go and get a room booked for you. They are quick

to serve those who walk in rather than those who may get access to them on phone to book a

room. On other times too, if you have friends or family members in the area you want a room

booked, they have to go and do the checking for you. There is no system in place that bonds the

hotel and the customer that the customer has actually booked a room and for that matter he is

guaranteed a room. This can make customers really stranded especially if it is getting late in the

night.

With the use of IT in their businesses, hotel managers expect that their profit margins and

financial returns will increase. Furthermore, Davis and Davidson (1991) claim that with IT

reshaping the basic structure of the industry and society, in addition to consumers’ need for more

accurate and timely information, the pace of technology diffusion in hotels will increase at an

unprecedented rate. Moreover, Cho and Olsen (1998) stressed that IT can transform the nature of

products, processes, companies, industries and competitions in the hospitality industry. Frew
(2000a, b) further emphasised that technology will bring about a major revolution in the

hospitality industry.

The intense competition in today's business environment means that Hotel industry businesses

have to work hard to maintain and develop their competitiveness. The success of a business, to

certain extent, depends on its ability to acquire and utilize updated information to assist its

management and marketing processes. Hence, Information Technology (IT) assists organization

to manage information dynamically and influences business competitiveness through assisting

decision makers to make appropriate investments and decisions. According to Connolly & Lee

2006, IT helps to meet the demands for timely and accurate information by customers and the IT

diffusion in the Hotel industries has recently increased at an unprecedented rate.

This is evident by the worldwide presence of IT systems that work cooperatively to assist

managers to deliver quality service to their customers and to enhance operational efficiency and

control costs.

In addition, according to Watkins (1995), IT starts and ends with customers in a hotel. The

investment in IT thus benefits the hotel if it enables customers to have a better experience and

the hotel staff to work more efficiently to better assist customers. Likewise, Olsen and Connolly

(2000) argued that the use of IT can place knowledge and information at the core of a hospitality

organisation’s competitive profile. In general, the hotel industry can be regarded as information

intensive.

Furthermore, the hospitality industry is facing cutthroat competition. The Hotel industry is

extremely competitive. Thus, Information technology in the Hotel industry is more important

than ever today. Each of the Hotel brands has to come up with a unique pitch and specialized

services which can cater and appeal to customers in a many of ways.

For most consumers, most services offered by hotels are almost the same so hotels must find a

competitive edge as a way of standing out from the crowd and advance technology is one of

them. The information technology structuring and the hospitality industry procedure seem to be

changed as result of the onset of internet and the IT world. As of now, the IT sector has secured a

very vital role in the hotel industry and it will be incorrect to associate it without data processing

in hospitality. We have seen that the hospitality industry has revolutionized their customer’s

journey from travel to hotel with the help of improved information technology solutions.
Both customers and business can benefit from advances in communication, reservations and

guest services systems. Technology’s greatest impact can be seen on front desk where property

management has quickened over the years, the speed of service, reduced labor cost and improved

accuracy. It is now possible for customers to view and choose various travel and tourism options

by surfing the internet through their cell phones.

Hotels can attract a new breed of customers (millennial travelers) by integrating technology in all

aspects. Advance Information Technology has affected the realm of Hospitality Industry by

Reservations Systems where in guest can easily book a hotel room for anyone via the booking

facility available online, Mobile Communication by keeping customers updated of changes

many hospitality businesses use mobile communication. In-Room Technology that traveler

carries numerous electronic devices and reliable, wireless Internet connectivity.

At the same time Information Technology have given an impact to different areas of

management such as the organizations of files and important documents, where in guest and

other data can be stored more quickly than in the past, just because of high-speed hardware and

better software. Some of the latest enterprise-level software allows travel agencies specialized

programs dedicated exclusively to manage their businesses and organize their data and process

them accordingly. This organization allows agencies to run more efficiently, preventing capacity

losses due to input time and other tedious tasks. Secondly, is having a coordination which uses

improved communications technology where in the data can be sent almost instantaneously from

the agency to an airline, hotel or other services, and then reverted to customers. This allows

bookings and coordination that might have taken hours or days to be processed almost instantly,

greatly reducing wait times and lost productivity in an organization.

And lastly, Self-Service Booking that became one of the largest impacts on the travel industry

(which comes under the hospitality industry) has been the rise of online or e-booking. Guests

looking to book a trip no longer need to visit an agency they can go online to companies. As

such, although the technology is there, the hotels themselves have their task cut out when it

comes to leveraging technology to beat the competition.

Travelers can book rooms from home by using an online security to protect their privacy and

financial information. The researchers believe that the knowledge gained in the development of

the system will be an effective tool in providing the needed IT skills of the students in the

industries.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Information technology (IT) applications in the hotel industry have largely been devoted to the

handling of the routine operational problems that crop up while running a hotel. Previously, the

hotel industry has been criticised as reluctant to make full use of IT. This research proposes of

having hotel booking application for BarCIE in Malolos, Bulacan.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This study aims to develop a Hotel Booking Application for BarCIE. Specifically, this study has

the following objectives:

1. to design hotel booking application for BarCIE;

2. to provide features that will familiarize the management of BarCIE about the Hotel booking

application; and

3. to evaluate the application and highlight the benefits the application can provide to the

management.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This research aims to examine the edge of using Hotel Booking Application in hotel industries.

The researchers aim to determine the acceptability of BarCIE Hotel Booking Application in the

vicinity of Malolos, Bulacan by using a hotel booking application. Secondly, to view how the

guest and the hotel staff will be interested in the application and the benefit of it to the guest and

the hotel staff. Lastly, how many of these findings be beneficial to come up with a business hotel

application proposal for the BarCIE Hotel.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Generally, this research will determine the acceptability of having a hotel booking application for

BarCIE in Malolos, Bulacan. Specifically,

Customers. This research will influence the community and the guest to use BarCIE

hotel booking applications for easy access and convenience.

Hotel Industries. This research will give the company benefits by having less manpower

and allotting fewer budgets.

technology rather than using the traditional or walk in reservation which takes a lot of

time.

Researchers. This research will serve as a basis or reference to individuals who are

planning to conduct a research or study that is similar in nature.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION

The study entitled “Booking System of BarCIE; Its Acceptability” will be conducted in

the City of Malolos, Bulacan.

The study covers the Management of BarCIE wherein the respondents are 1 Officer in

charge, 1 Consultant, 4 Front Office staff and 6 Housekeeper.

The acceptability and testing of BarCIE Hotel booking application will be the focus of

the study. This is to gather data that would suggest the benefits of having a hotel booking

application. The study will no longer tackle data and concepts other than aforementioned

statements.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. BarCIE Hotel - Barasoain Center for Innovative Education (BarCIE) is LCUP's Laboratory

Facility for BS Tourism Management at BS HRM Students.

2. Booking Application - is software you can use for reservation management. That allow tour and

activity operators to accept bookings online and better manage their phone and in person

bookings.

3. Hotel Reservation - The term 'reservation' used in the context of a hotel, means the booking or

reserving of a room (accommodation) by a guest. Reservations lead to reserving of a particular

type of room for a particular guest for a given period of time. It also gives the guest the first

impression of the hotel

technology, refers to all equipment and programs that are used to process and communicate

information.