Chapter I
Information Technology in the
Hospitality Industry
Learning Objectives
At the end of this chapter, the students should be able to:
1. Identify the advantages of information technology in the
hospitality industry;
2. Understand the issues and concerns of information technology
in the hospitality industry;
3. Differentiate internet from worldwide web;
4. Determine the benefits and the potential disadvantages of using
internet
Introduction
Information Technology (IT) is vital in the hospitality
industry, helping hotels manage data, improve service,
and boost revenue. IT enhances customer experiences,
brand loyalty, and operational efficiency, while staying
competitive requires adopting new technologies.
Advantages of Information Technology in
the Hospitality Industry
Listed below are the advantages of utilizing information technology in the hospitality industry:
•Reduce Operational Cost: IT helps lower labor costs by automating repetitive
tasks that would typically require human involvement.
•Automated check-in/check-out systems reduce the need for front desk staff.
•Reduce Workload of Staff: IT tools ease the workload of employees by
automating monitoring and task management processes.
•CCTV systems allow security staff to monitor hotel premises from a central
control room, reducing the need for patrolling.
•Housekeeping management software assigns cleaning tasks and tracks room
status, reducing manual coordination.
•Increase Efficiency: IT improves efficiency by streamlining time-consuming
tasks and providing faster service.
•Digital check-in systems speed up guest check-in, reducing wait times.
•Mobile apps for room service allow guests to place orders instantly, speeding
up service delivery.
Increase Revenue:
IT helps generate additional income by offering new services to customers.
•In-room entertainment systems offer movies and games, providing extra
revenue opportunities.
•Hotels can charge guests for premium services like pay-per-view movies.
Access and Share Information:
IT facilitates sharing information across departments to improve workflow and
service delivery.
•Room attendants update room status via phone, which automatically
reflects in the front desk system.
•Front desk staff can quickly determine when a room is ready for sale.
Achieve Better Planning and Management:
IT assists in managing customer data to improve planning and marketing
strategies.
•Customer preferences and consumption records are stored in a database for
targeted service planning.
•Marketing efforts are enhanced using customer information like email
addresses or postal data.
Issues and Concerns of Information
Technology in the Hospitality Industry:
Lack of Knowledge of Top Management:
Top management often has limited IT knowledge, especially regarding the latest technology in
the accommodation sector.
•Their conservative approach and reluctance to adopt new technologies slow down IT
development.
•They prefer sticking to old business methods, hindering progress.
Huge Investment Cost:
Implementing IT can improve service efficiency, but the initial investment and long-term
maintenance costs are high.
•New technologies, like upgraded TV models, can be costly to install across all hotel rooms.
•Frequent innovation means technologies quickly become outdated, making it hard for
financially limited hotels to keep up.
Resistance to Change of Personnel:
Staff may resist adopting new technologies, especially if they’re comfortable with existing
practices.
•The fear that IT will replace their roles can create job insecurity, leading to low motivation
and higher turnover.
•Staff may feel pressured to learn unfamiliar systems, contributing to resistance and
dissatisfaction.
The Internet and the World-Wide Web
While thriving to be competitive in the global hikes, exactly the
hospitality industry is exposed and overburdened by exclusively high
costs for:
• Promotion in the global market,
• Immediate communication / interactivity with the clients / tourists,
• Booking by guests from distant tourist generating destinations,
• Market research
The costs mentioned above can be reduced by using WWW in tourism business.
The Internet and its application (WWW) have created information infrastructure
which now rivals the Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) and other traditional
ways of performing business in size, coverage and popularity. 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 global network of computers,
conceptualized in 1969 by ARPA, allowing communication
between any connected devices using various protocols.
Commonly referred to as the Net, Web, or Information
Superhighway, the internet supports activities like
messaging, file transfer, and email.
The World Wide Web is a collection of linked web pages
that share information via hyperlinks. Built on top of the
internet, it uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to
transmit data. Browsers like Internet Explorer or Firefox
allow users to access web documents, which include text,
graphics, sounds, and videos.
Internet World Wide Web
Estimated year of Origin 1969, though opening of the 1998
network to commercial
interest began only in 1988
Name of the first version ARPANET NSFnet
Comprises Network of Computers, Files, folders and documents
copper wires, fiber-optic stored in various computer
cables and wireless
networks
Governed by Internet Protocol Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
Dependency This is the base, It depends on Internet to
independent of the World work
Wide Web
Nature Hardware Software
Figure 1. Internet vs World Wide Web
Benefits of Internet and the World-
Wide Web
The hospitality and tourism industry is quick to embrace
new technology, particularly the internet and World Wide
Web, which help distribute products, market services,
and improve customer convenience. The internet offers
an affordable way for small operators to gain
international exposure and restructure their marketing
strategies. It enables the industry to share in-depth
information and receive direct consumer feedback.
However, despite its many advantages, the internet also
poses potential disadvantages that should not be
overlooked.
Competitive Advantages of Using the
Internet in the Hospitality Industry are:
1. Service improvements concerning:
1. Large choice of access to a website
2. Faster payment processing
3. Reduced delivery time for many products
4. Faster and greater availability of support literature
5. More detailed and particularized
2. Low costs of:
1. marketing
2. processing of booking and payments
3. automation of tasks
4. 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:
1. addressability
2. interactivity
3. flexibility
4. accessibility
6. Efficiency in operational management and communication
7. Obtain know-how through discussion with news groups on the Internet
Potential disadvantages or threats of Internet
usage in the hospitality industry are:
1) Standardization of legal procedures of doing business over the
Internet
2) The problem of inefficient accessibility to the website /
unfavorable indexing by search engines
3) Spam
4)Bad quality of individual websites which might damage whole
destination image
5) Nonprofessional determination of purpose the website is
supposed to fulfil.