📝 Module 7: Hospitality Information System o Restaurant/Banquet: Menu

Reviewer (Single Column) management, recipe management,

sales analysis, cost control.
💡 Introduction to the Hospitality Sector
 Guest Expectations: Business travelers
 Components:
prioritize efficiency; leisure guests prefer
o Lodging Operations: Hotels, motels, technology that doesn't intrude.
guest houses, B&Bs, self-catering
🏨 Property Management Systems (PMS)
apartments, etc.
 The PMS is the core hub for all information
o Food and Beverage Operations: Fine
processing and connectivity in a hotel.
dining, fast food, pop-up vendors,
event food service.  Core Functions: Reservations, front-office
operations, selected back-office operations,
 Goal of Hospitality: To maximize guest
and management reporting.
satisfaction through excellent experiences and
personal service. 🗓️Reservations Management

 IT Adoption:  PMS handles reservations received manually

or through electronic interfaces/APIs from:
o Initially slow due to fear that
technology would detract from o Hotel website/Central Reservations
personal service. System (CRS).

o Now driven by the need to reduce o Global Distribution System (GDS).

operational costs and increase
o Online Travel Agents (OTAs).
customer satisfaction.
 Data is used for forecasting room occupancy
💻 IT Systems in the Accommodations Sector
and revenue.
 History: The first hotel computer (IBM
 Revenue Management System (RMS):
minicomputer) was installed in the New York
Software that maximizes occupancy and
Hilton in 1963 but failed due to batch
revenue by varying room rates based on
processing (punch cards) causing long lines.
market demand and channel participation.
Successful systems were installed almost a
decade later.  Distribution History:
 IT Applications Examples: Property o THISCO (1989): Created Ultra Switch
Management Systems (PMS), to connect hotel CRS inventory to
financial/accounting systems, yield major GDSs.
management, websites with booking, e-CRM,
and e-procurement. o Pegasus Solutions (1996): Developed
TravelWeb, the first online website for
 Categories of IT Applications: real-time hotel reservations.
o Front-office: Reservation, o DHISCO (2014): Rebranded
check-in/out, room status, guest distribution division of Pegasus.
accounting.
💳 Guest Folio and Billing / Check-in/out
o Back-office: Personnel, purchasing,
accounting (A/R, A/P, payroll),  Check-in: Moves a reservation file to the
inventory. active in-house file and opens the guest folio.

o Guest-related interfaces: Call-  Self-service Kiosks: Allow guests to assign

accounting, electronic locking system rooms, generate keys, and bypass check-in
(ELS), energy management systems lines.
(EMS), in-room entertainment.
  Guest Folio: All charges are posted here, making it important for hotels to monitor and
ideally electronically via interfaces to prevent display awards/feeds from review services.
delays and bad debts.
 Permission-based marketing: Requires guest
 Night Audit: An automated PMS function that consent (e.g., under GDPR) to send
consolidates and verifies financial personalized promotions.
transactions.
🤝 Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
 Automated Express Checkout: Bills the
 CRM occurs before, during, and after the
guest's credit card automatically after folio
guest stay.
presentation.
 Focuses on personalization and customer
 Cultural Differences: High-power distance
retention, transforming service workers into
cultures (where service staff are viewed as
knowledge workers.
lower class) are less likely to accept unfamiliar
self-service technology.  Data Privacy: Hotels must comply with
regulations like the EU's GDPR (2018),
🛌 Room Management
requiring explicit guest consent for data
 The room management module tracks room collection and storage (e.g., guest history
status and assists housekeeping. databases).

 Room Statuses include: “occupied”, “vacant”,  True CRM involves a broader knowledge-
“dirty”, “clean”, “inspected”, “uninspected”, based approach, turning every interaction into
or “out of service”. a learning/knowledge-building opportunity.

 Status updates occur after each check-in/out  CRM enables data-driven decisions (e.g.,
so rooms can be quickly re-sold. redesigning rooms, creating incentives for
high-value customers).
✨ Specialized PMS Functions
🔑 Guest Room Amenities, Safety, and Security
 Travel Intermediaries: Tracks commissions
payable to agents/OTAs.  Amenities enhance comfort and security,
affecting guest satisfaction.
 Amenity Management: Tracks bookings for
spas/sports facilities and transmits fees to the  Electronic Locking Systems (ELS): Increase
guest folio. safety, are required by many corporations,
and can significantly reduce insurance
 Function Room Scheduling: Manages
premiums.
reservations for events, including rooms,
furniture, equipment, and F&B needs. o Use punched cards, magnetic strips,
RFID chips, or smartcards.
 Condominium/Time-share Management:
Modified PMS to track owner details, o Monitor all entries/exits to track
entitlements, and rental payments. security.

🌐 Electronic Hotel Reservations o New methods include using a guest's

credit card or smartphone.
 Bookings are predominantly made online
(websites, apps, OTAs, metasearch engines). o Micro-fitted Systems: Have a
microprocessor in the lock to store
 OTAs: Reduce hotel profit due to high
codes.
commissions.
o Hard-wired Systems: Require cabling
 Channel Managers: Update room availability
to transmit codes from a central
instantly across multiple platforms to prevent
computer.
overbooking.
 Biometric Methods: Being tested for keyless
 Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM)/UGC:
access (fingerprinting, retina scan, etc.).
Online reviews heavily influence reservations,
📺 Guest Information and Entertainment Devices  Energy Management Systems (EMSs):
Monitor, control, and optimize energy
 Business travelers require strong Wi-Fi and
consumption to reduce costs (by up to 65%).
conveniently located charging ports.
 An EMS can interface with the ELS to
 Hotels may provide a complimentary in-room
determine room occupancy and automatically
smartphone for in-hotel and local
adjust A/C and heat.
connectivity.
 Intelligent Hotel Room: A ubiquitous
 Entertainment: Satellite, on-demand movies,
attentive environment that monitors activity
video games, monitored by a central
and controls technology (lights, blinds, AC, TV)
computer for automatic billing.
in anticipation of guest needs.
 In-room tablets/iPads: Replace traditional
🔗 PMS Interfaces and In-house vs. Cloud-based PMS
binders, used to order dining, request
housekeeping, book services, and sometimes  PMS Interfaces: Connection of specialized
control room features. systems (POS, ELS, telephone, EMS) with the
PMS.
🍽️Guest Service Technology
o Benefits: Rapid information transfer,
 Benefits include increased efficiency and
reduced labor costs, increased data
reduced labor costs.
accuracy, minimized unpaid bills.
 Electronic Refrigerators: Use sensors to
 PMS Deployment:
monitor consumption and automatically post
charges to the guest folio. o In-house PMS: Hardware and
software installed at the property;
 Room Service: Can be ordered via mobile
capital expenditure (CapEx); requires
devices or in-room TV.
on-site IT expertise.
 Smart Room Service Carts: Contain
o Cloud-based PMS (SaaS): Hosted
microchips that alert housekeepers when a
remotely on vendor servers; users
used tray is placed outside the room.
access via web browser; operating
📞 Hotel Communications expenditure (OpEx/subscription); no
on-site IT expertise required; free
 Private Branch Exchanges (PBXs): Control
software upgrades and vendor-
external telephone connections for guests and
responsible back-up.
employees. Replaced old mechanical
switchboards. 🍔 IT Applications in the Food Service Sector

o Electronic (Digital) PBXs offer  Point-of-Sale (POS) Systems: Improve

features like voicemail, automatic efficiency of food delivery and analyze menu
wake-up calls, and data item sales.
communication.
o Hardware: Order-entry terminals
o VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is (touchscreens, handhelds/tablets),
a modern, less expensive option. cashier stations, remote
printers/video displays (for kitchen
 Call Accounting Systems (CASs): Track guest orders).
calls and bill them to the folio, increasing
hotel revenues. o Software: Analyzes sales, forecasts
demand, performs pre-costing
o Station Message Detail Recording
(determining menu cost), and uses
(SMDR): Records call details menu engineering for data-driven
(duration, number, cost) using either decisions.
the "time-out" or "answer detection"
method.  Restaurant Management Systems (RMS):
Automate back-office functions.
⚡ Energy Management and Intelligent Rooms
 o Purchasing/Inventory Control: Tracks
on-order items, supplier details,
inventory on hand, and automated
reordering via par levels.

o Menu/Recipe Management: Creates

files for cost analysis and tracking
food cost percentages.

o e-Procurement: Assists in procuring

supplies electronically via online
connections to suppliers.

📈 Strategic Management of IT in Hospitality

 Managers often focus on tactical/operational

issues; Knowledge Management Systems
(EISs/DSSs) help them become more strategic.

 IT is a path to innovation (service, service-

scape, or technological).

 Robotics can replace tedious, repetitive tasks,

freeing employees for guest service.

 Artificial Intelligence (AI): Creating unique

guest experiences and impacting five key
areas:

1. Guest Knowledge: Transforms

personalized requests into discrete
instructions.

2. Guest and Associate Experience:

Richer, personalized experience via
handheld devices (e.g., biometric ID,
natural language voice assistance).

3. Data Privacy/Legislation: Can mine

guest profile data for compliance.

4. Loyalty Programs: Leverages

information to engage guests more
personally (interpreting
business/leisure profile).

5. Foodservice: Chef Watson (IBM)

brings intelligence to food creation,
matching ingredient availability,
preferences, and dietary constraints.

AI is expected to become embedded and ubiquitous

across hotels, foodservice, and the pockets of every
associate and guest.