Introduction: A Muddle of Inhospitable Technology Solutions
Market share statistics such as these indicate that hotels have a vast choice of hardware and software from a wide range of providers. While choice is generally perceived as good, in technology it often results in myriad solutions that don�t necessarily interoperate to meet business needs � especially when few technology standards have emerged to guide development. Designing a technology infrastructure that meets the staggeringly complex needs of hotels and resorts is certainly daunting. While most hospitality systems today are designed around Microsoft Windows and use Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) in a client-server environment, different hotel applications often require different RDBMS and even different operating systems. The lack of interoperability among technology solutions simply compounds the problem. Changing Environments: Moving From Single-Channel to Many Channels And that�s not all that muddles the design of an infrastructure� The challenges posed by a dizzyingly diverse application environment are made even more complicated by the explosion in the number of reservation sales channels. Previously the hotel market depended on a single channel model to generate reservations. In this model, reservations are typically processed into a local application by reservation staff. Today�s hotelier may receive electronic reservations from numerous channels:
OTA Standards: The Move Toward Interoperability and Connectivity Recognizing that interoperability and open connectivity cannot occur efficiently withoutstandards, a group of enlightened hospitality industry leaders created the Open Travel Alliance (OTA). The group charged itself with the responsibility for defining standards to enable open electronic communication in the global Central Reservations arena. Selecting Extensible Markup Language, familiarly known as XML, OTA created a number of work groups to specialize in different areas of the industry � hotels, airlines, rental cars, rail, travel packages, golf and insurance. Each group, while working with the others to ensure common practices, produced a set of XML message/response pairs to define the transactions required to do business electronically. So, for example, a the primary GDS company companies may continue to use EDI (electronic data interchange) format for reservation messages and a TTY (teletypewriter) format for property description messages, can transmit both as standardized OTA messages, regardless of original format.most new vendors are transmitting information using this standard format. OTA is a publicly available, open standard, allowing hotels to easily tap into a multitude of sources for reservations. It�s still an emerging standard, but represents a message solution for a significant range of e-business transactions. It also makes a huge leap toward the possibility of interoperable solutions, because the XML protocol allows different solutions to communicate in a common language during the transaction process.the adoption of OTA 2002B within the tourism industry offers the most significant opportunity to rewrite the way the industry does business and create true multi-vendor interoperability. OTA is being broadly accepted by all facets of the industry and will become the preferred method for reservation delivery organizations to exchange information.While OTA focuses purely on reservation delivery, the more general Hotel Industry Technology Integration Standards, HITIS, has also adopted XML with a range of standards defining how transactions other than reservations may be communicated. Managing Information Between The Hotel and The GDS The information needed by a GDS to perform bookings can be broken down
into a number of areas.
Most GDS companies use a number of models. The most common one stores HOD and rates statically within the GDS channel. Then availability is requested in real time. Because properties don�t have access to update availability directly to the GDS channels, they use tools provided by the CRS to manage this information. GDS companies prevent individual hotels from coming directly to them direct by setting a price bar. They do this for two reasons: first, they don�t want to deal with the connectivity issues of every small hotel, and more importantly, hotels in the GDS are listed under two-letter Chain Codes, limiting them to only 338 possible combinations of two-letter codes. What�s The Answer: A Strategy for Interoperability and Connectivity While all these factors would seem to make connectivity and interoperability unattainable goals, there are solutions � some are still on the drawing board and others exist in varying forms. One such cost-effective platform exists today and was developed by SoftBrands Hospitality, a division of SoftBrands, Inc., a leading global provider of Property Management, Leisure Management and Central Reservations software solutions for hospitality companies of all sizes. Recognizing that hotels, resorts, spas and clubs cannot fully realize the cost-saving efficiencies and competitive advantages from technology unless their disparate systems interconnect and interoperate, SoftBrands developed its Connect strategy to promote applications interoperability and GDS / IDS connectivity. Based on global industry standards, including OTA and HITIS, the SoftBrands Connect platform offers both is a local application backbone and a powerful connectivity tool. The backbone provides a sophisticated message-based architecture that extends traditional interfaces to a new level of business functionality, enabling true application interoperability. The connectivity tool presents hospitality companies a series of easy-to-use software components that:
The heart of the SoftBrands Connect platform is a central integration server that takes messages, regardless of format, and converts them into OTA (XML) messages. In addition to message translation, the server creates and manages work flow, routing, security and audit controls. SoftBrands Connect offers direct connection to GDS
suppliers, eliminating middle-party fees. For Internet distribution, Connect
uses two connection modes that match the business models of IDS suppliers:
Reservations Delivery Only, and Real-Time Rates and Inventory. The reservations
from the Internet are seamlessly delivered to the hotel�s Property Management
System � and the need for manual entry disappears.
Described in technical terms, the Connect server has additional business logic embedded in its Web Services, with the web service API corresponding to OTA messages. The work flow engine is programmed using BPEL (Business Process Execution Language) to perform work that may include calling Web Services, passing a message through to the Property Management System, or performing combinations of the two functions. The BPEL programming is done graphically using the Work Flow Engine GUI. This approach makes the Connect platform very flexible and extensible. New business processes introduced by new or existing trading partners can easily be added without software changes. SoftBrands Connect Platform: Easing Management, Improving Image Making administration easy, the Connect server is managed through a single point, the Connect Control Panel. Hotels can use it to define Room Types for each GDS channel, and then map those Room Type codes to PMS Room Type codes. The same kind of interoperability can occur for Room Rates � including synchronization between the hotel�s PMS and the GDS channels to ensure up-to-the-minute Room Rate changes. Hence, the hotel can much more closely manage the availability information provided to the GDS channels � and the whole reservation process can be made smooth and efficient, similar to an uncongested, well-controlled traffic flow. Using the Connect platform, hotels can improve the image they present to the world. Connect provides a central electronic repository for electronic marketing material, which can then be published to distribution channels. Fully OTA-compliant, the Hotel Descriptive Content service stores all elements of the Open Travel Alliance Property XML data in a single, online database � a rich mixture of text and graphics. Direct Connections for Fast ROI In the case of GDS, a direct connection from the supplier to the hotel allows even small hotels to have direct access to, for example, the airline reservations system. Hosted by a third party, that direct connection replaces the traditional, fee-based middleware and switch companies, creating a license-based product that can offer a positive return-on-investment in a short period of time. Hotels can eliminate the high � and variable � transaction fees charged by the middle parties. Here are the dollar figures to demonstrate the savings: Usually the GDS fee is a fixed $US 5.15 per booking. But as the booking passes through a number of other players between the GDS and the hotel, the switch and CRS, that fee is increased. A hotel may pay $US10 or more for the booking � almost twice the GDS fee. On top of that, the standard Travel Agency fee may also apply. Take out all but the direct connection, and the cost drops to a fixed GDS fee per booking. As well as saving significant sums, hotels receive reservations from the GDS supplier in real-time, and can respond to availability requests in real-time, sending status information directly to the GDS channel. Such direct connectivity gives hotels a single point of access from which to control how their properties are listed. IDS connectivity can be managed in similar fashion, allowing reservations from IDS channels to flow directly into the hotel�s Property Management System. Hotel staff no longer has to manually enter each reservation (most are currently delivered by fax or e-mail from the IDS supplier), saving time and money, and ensuring reservation accuracy. With such capabilities, major hotel chains report that the cost of making a reservation falls between $US3 and $US5. Therefore properties receiving significant numbers of reservations from IDS suppliers realize considerable savings in reservation entry costs. IDS suppliers also benefit. By eliminating the need for e-mail or fax delivery of reservation notification messages to their hotel partners, they save time and are protected from the negative brand effect that occurs when a reservation doesn�t arrive or has been incorrectly entered. Boosting A Hotel�s Web Bookings Hotels can also use SoftBrands Connect to boost web bookings and, in doing so, increase brand loyalty among customers. In 2002, only 52% of all online reservations were received directly; that is, via the hotel�s own website. The rest came through Internet merchant sites such as Expedia. By using the rich, profile-centric functionality of Connect�s Web Booking Engine (WBE), hotels can exceed the value offered by third-party web companies � and brand their establishments with a positive image by personalizing the web booking experience for each guest. Connect WBE is a series of web pages and software components that can be incorporated into the website of a hotel or hotel chain to provide guests with a rate- and inventory-aware online booking system. Available in both a single- and multi-site configuration, WBE allows a hotel to map rates and room types from its PMS straight to the WBE, and control room type and rates through the hotel�s reservation management system. At the heart of the Connect WBE is a rich profile structure based on OTA specifications. The first time a guest uses the hotel�s WBE, an information-rich profile is created automatically, and the guest can define his preferences and update information as desired. When making bookings, the sophisticated search feature offers properties to the guest based on the guest�s individual profile and preferences, and rates are offered tailored to the guest. Once a reservation is booked, the information can be passed to any OTA-compliant PMS. Then a confirmation is sent automatically, and changes and cancellations can be entered by the guest as needed. After a guest checks out, folios are available to the guest for printing or forwarding by email. The folio format style can be customized by the hotel to match the company�s existing folios. Summary Although connectivity and interoperability solutions for the hospitality industry have been largely piecemeal and often expensive and complex, the development of industry standards and software tools has greatly increased the functionality and benefits of such solutions. Focused on helping hotels take advantage of technology to strengthen their relationships with customers, SoftBrands Hospitality has taken a leadership role in providing comprehensive, affordable connectivity solutions. The SoftBrands Connect platform goes a long way toward resolving the obstacles to seamless interoperability and direct connectivity. Ongoing development will continue to broaden those offerings and the benefits derived from implementation of those offerings. © 2003 SoftBrands Hospitality is a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBrands, Inc. SoftBrands is a trademark of SoftBrands, Inc. All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. |
The
use of technology in hotels has increased significantly in recent years,
and hotels now have a variety of hardware and software systems in place.
In fact, estimates show that hotels spend $US25 billion annually on technology.
It�s interesting to note that no single technology provider emerges with
a majority of market share. Rather, the largest suppliers do not exceed
1% of the total, and most are less than 0.1%, while more than 75% of the
total market is held by companies that are globally invisible. This market
share fragmentation does not exist in most other vertical markets, where
usually two or three companies account for the majority of revenues spent.
