Technology has become yet another important tool for the hotelier in his or her effort to continue to satisfy guests. It was once seen as a cost center, but has now evolved into a profit center.

The Ritz Carlton has proved its success in implementing the highest level of technology, exceeding guest expectations*. A guest's preference is noted as detailed; for instance, their hometown newspaper will be delivered promptly on their next visit, without the hotel having to inquire about this again. Many leading hotels provide high-speed and wireless Internet connections; other useful technology is also being implemented: in-room entertainment, self check-in and checkout kiosks, and door locks.

The type of technology mentioned above supports better service while the guest is staying, and post-purchase satisfaction as well. What cannot be forgotten, as part of the whole chain of the guest's staying experience, is pre-purchase satisfaction. A guest's experience does not start from the check-in date but actually from the moment he or she looks up hotel information. Thus, a hotel has to carefully address its customer pre-purchase need and wants.

Internet technology is helping hotels do their job. At the very first step of a guest's experience, which is looking for information, he or she can easily log onto the Internet, either from a hotel's own website or another, third-party website.

For a third party website, the hotel simply has to follow the existing system (with much less flexibility compared to its own website). In short, hotels can do whatever they choose to do on their own website.

Primary information should be in a hotel's website: room rates, room pictures, promotions, and a description of facilities, because such information can enhance potential guest decisions. One of the personalized services that a hotel can use to satisfy a potential guest with Pelican reservation system is guest room preference: room views, amenities and even pillow preferences. After studying all information, the hotel website has to provide a user-friendly online reservation, such as clear steps and guidance, error direction, currency converters, personal preferences option, and instant confirmation.

Instant confirmation is important to both a hotel and a guest because it indicates that a transaction is actually approved. Without instant confirmation, a guest has to wait for a hotel's reply to the request he/she had made, and perhaps several exchanges of correspondence will take place before the reservation is actually made. Nevertheless, the hotel has to provide its own reservation modification and cancellation module to add the value of instant confirmation.

The concept is not as easy as it sounds. A Webmaster service or developers of a hotel's own IT department will not come cheap for a given hotel, but nothing is impossible in business. Pelican Hotel Reservation Management System helps hotels in satisfying the guest pre-purchase experience. Not only can a guest view room rates, pictures, packages, and obtain instant confirmation, but also hotel management is also equipped with a "back-office" user-friendly feature.

The best news is… your hotel reservation page can be as rich as your hotel website. A guest doesn't have to hassle getting to the first page when they are on the reservation page. And for a hotel with a simple or primitive design, Pelican System indeed helps a lot! Below is the way Pelican Reservation Page looks.



Source: CIO Magazine, "Room for Two" by Scott Berinato

About Pelican System
Pelican is an Internet-based reservation system designed to manage all types of bookings, whether made directly by guests or through travel agents and corporate clients.

For Internet users (direct guests) Pelican will provide instant confirmation of reservations made through the hotel web site, and will notify the hotel' reservation department though automatically generated e-mail messages.

For travel agents and corporate clients Pelican offers a feature called "Online Contracting," which eliminates the need for paper-based, fixed-term contracts, allowing the hotel to set and adjust rates and allotments instantly according to seasonal period, special events, or unexpected demand.

Pelican system provides a secure link to agents and clients, allowing hotels to distribute confidential trade rates to pre-authorized recipients, and to share allotments among many agents and clients on a "first-come-first-served" basis. Each agent or client accesses the system directly from the hotel's own web site with a unique login/password combination, allowing the hotel to assign each user to a specific group, and to determine the information and privileges each group will receive.

With Pelican system, the hotel has complete control at all times, and can easily monitor activity through instantly generated summaries and full reports.

For more information please visit www.pelicansystem.com

Author:
Linda Husin
R&D Manager
linda@pelicansystem.com