Information communication technology is described as the role of communications (telephone lines and wireless signals) in modern information technology. It is to aid communication and handle information in a more efficient manner. In other words, it is most often used to describe digital technologies including methods for communication, as well as techniques for storing and processing information. Some examples include telephony, broadcast media and all types of audio and video processing and transmission. Information communication technologies can be used in many types of industries, such as financial, manufacturing and even tourism industry. In our scope of discussion, we shall look at how info-communication technologies change in tourism industry, particularly in hotel reservation services.
Past hotel room reservation services
Before the introduction of the Internet, whenever we want to go for a holiday, we need to buy newspapers and select the tour agencies and hotels. At that time, the only sources of information for vacations are newspapers, brochures from the tour agencies and perhaps in some books. If we want to compare prices between tour packages of different tour agencies, we have to keep in touch with newspapers everyday and it will be a hassle for many of us, especially working adults.
After selecting the hotel and travel agency, travellers had to make room reservations by phone, mail or through a travel agent. However, such methods were costly and time-consuming. Making room reservations by phone not only incur expensive overseas call charges, but also create much hassle. For example, the call has to be put on hold for some time before an operator finally picks up the phone during operating hours. Making reservations through a travel agent also requires travellers to physically make their way down to the agency and that may pose an inconvenience to them.
Present hotel room reservation services
As a result of ICT, one can now make hotel room reservations through many online travel agencies such as Agoda.com and AsiaRooms.com. These online hotel room reservation websites are virtual stores ‘selling’ hotel rooms on behalf of hotels; they can be said to be transaction brokers since they link up sellers (hotels) with buyers (travellers) and the process is known as business-to-consumer (B2C).
The existence of such online travel agencies can be said to have improved hotel room reservation services. Now, travellers can make reservations online from the comfort of their own home, thus saving them time and money from having to travel down to travel agencies and making expensive overseas phone calls. Also, last-minute reservations that were impossible in the past are now a common sight.
In addition to time and cost savings, features such as maps and reviews as well as collective information available on hotel room reservation websites allow travellers to compare and make better choices.
Google Maps
An example of ICT that changed hotel room reservation services is Google Maps, which is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google. According to Lars Rasmussen, one of its creators, Google Maps is "a way of organizing the world's information geographically."
As can be seen, the maps embedded on Agoda.com (and many other online hotel reservation websites) are powered by Google Maps. These maps enable travellers to look at the bigger picture, literally; travellers are now able to view the locations of all the hotels available in an area. This helps them decide which hotel would best suit their needs, location-wise. In the past, travellers could only rely on physical maps, which would often quickly become outdated. In addition, the maps provided by most hotels would exclude the other hotels nearby so that travellers are not able to compare then possibly change their minds.
A feature of Google Maps is Google Street View, which is a technology that provides panoramic views from various positions along many streets in the world. The images provided give travellers a good picture of how the hotel and its surroundings look like. This is especially beneficial to first-time travellers in a foreign country; they are less likely to get lost when they arrive and also, from the images they can roughly gauge how safe the area where the hotel is located at is. For example, female travellers or a family with young children can reconsider their hotel choice if the images provided by Google Street View show that the hotel is located in places that appear unsafe such as on quiet streets or in dark alleys.
However, Google Maps isn’t without its limitations. The information provided might be wrong or out of date. As Google Earth representative Brian McLendon said, ‘the biggest challenge is the currency of data, the authenticity of data.’ Because Google Maps satellite images are not in real time and they are taken several years ago, travellers may be misled when making their hotel reservations.
Customer reviews
Another benefit of ICT is that it allows customers who have personally experienced the services of transaction brokers to write their own comments. This is extremely helpful as previously, there are no reviews or comments as to which hotel to go to except through word of mouth from friends and relatives. Moreover, transaction brokers such as Agoda have specified that their reviews are 100% legitimate and certified. This creates assurance to potential travellers that the reviews which they are reading are not made up by Agoda itself.
Customer support
With the existence of ICT, customers will find online hotel room reservation increasingly less of a hassle and maybe in the next decade or so, travelers may ditch the accustomed way of booking their accommodation at the travel agencies altogether. This is probably due to the convenience and simplicity that ICT brings about and these features are displayed in the websites of many online travel agencies.
At Agoda for example, a 24/7 helpdesk is set up to help customers who have problems trying to book their accommodation online. Customers facing problems can choose to email, call and chat online with the live agents.
Having partnerships with 130,000 hotels throughout Asia and worldwide allows Agoda to have an edge over other online travel agencies. Hotels featured in Agoda range from 2-star to 5-star and this actually gives customers a wider variety of hotel accommodation to choose from and to find a hotel which is best suited to their budget and preference.
Due to the partnerships, Agoda is able to secure special discounts ranging from 10% to 50% which are then passed on to the customers. Therefore, the rates shown on Agoda are lower. In addition, the Agoda Rewards Points can be used for future bookings of any of the hotels available through the website.
Agoda also tries to make it easy for their customers by including the hotel search function in its website. In the case whereby customers cannot find the hotel that they are looking for, Agoda will recommend alternative hotels to them. This function acts almost like a human, probably even better, as the response takes only few mere seconds. Besides that, photographs of important features such as the exterior, rooms, dining and recreational facilities of the hotel will also be provided.
Self service at Agoda also makes booking of hotels easy and convenient. Customers can now cancel their bookings or change the dates of their check-in just within a few clicks. Agoda also operates on a 100% instant confirmation policy which means that any room available on the site can be reserved and confirmed immediately. This cannot be done back at the travel agencies, whereby confirmation of the hotel rooms will usually take up to to 2 days in order for the hotel and the agency to correspond to one another.
Limitations of ICT
Although ICT has made our lives easier in terms of travelling plans compared to the past, it has also brought significant impacts on us. For example, when we send emails to the tour agencies or hotels, we often get replies after a few days or in the worst scenario, our enquiries are left unanswered. Another issue is as transaction brokers like Agoda has their support centre based in Bangkok, there may be language barriers and this will lead to miscommunication and results in more follow –ups being done.
Conclusion
In conclusion, ICT have played a part in customers’ decision of hotel room reservation. Hotel room reservations can never be more convenient and easy than before. Customers can now make hotel reservations without being physically present at the travel agencies or hotels. Also, with the invention of e-commerce transactions, such as internet banking and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology in the case of Agoda, more people are willing to make their payments online. We are now living in a generation whereby ICT has been embedded into our lives, helping us to do things more efficiently and quickly. However, we must note that ICT can only ensure that procedures are done smoothly and that it cannot be used to oversee the entire operation.
Contributors:
Kow Yu Xia, Claudia
Chung Jie Ming
Lee Hsin Yi
Contributors:
Kow Yu Xia, Claudia
Chung Jie Ming
Lee Hsin Yi
