I.

Chapter 1: Problem Rationale and Background

Introduction

Hospitality Information Systems provides personal, cost-effective, efficient

and reliable IT solutions not only to small, but also to medium sized businesses
and corporate customers. It enables business entities to have a unique system
specifically designed to benefit their company. Hospitality Information System
gives business owners and managers the tools they need to effectively use
technology in order to make the business a success. It mainly focuses
on advanced and updated information technology basics and continues to
explain the importance of hardware, software, and technology initiatives which is
dominant in all aspects of the hospitality industry.

Quezon Premier Hotel is an example of a business entity that caters

hospitality services. It is owned by Elizabeth Sio and has two branches having
the first one located in Candelaria, Quezon which was established since March
27, 2009 and the other one is located in Domoit, Lucena City. QPH is equipped
with fine and elegant hotel rooms also containing KTV rooms, jacuzzi and a
swimming pool, a basketball court and volleyball court. It also has a multi-
purpose dining hall that can serve as function rooms for special occasions and
can accommodate up to 500 persons.

After a year of its existence, the automated system of QPH was not maintained
by the IT personnel resulting to change the system from automated to manual.
The existing information used in QPH no longer meet the needs of the inevitable
growth of the business.

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Background of the Study
Narrative Description of Current System

1. The customer can inquire through phone call, via email or visit QPH. If the
inquiry is through email or call, it will be handled by the front desk officer
assigned at the Information System whereas if the customer walks in to
the hotel, the receptionist will handle the business transaction.
2. For walk in business inquiries, the receptionist will ask the customer what
type of service he/she wants to avail, number of persons and what type of
event and the date. The receptionist will then check the log book of all
reservations including their time and date. If the customer has no idea of
the services category such as room category, the receptionist will provide
all the information needed regarding the hotel services including its
availability. The receptionist will ask if the customer wants to continue
with the transaction. If no, the transaction will discontinue, if yes the
receptionist will now hand over the Guest Profile for customer’s
information gathering.
3. The receptionist then will ask if the customer is a member or not. If not,
the receptionist will ask for a valid ID or a company ID for identification
and discount purposes. The identification card presented will be validated
by calling the company and verifying the card holder’s identity (candidate
for discount). If the customer is a member, or a supplier of SIOLAND
Starshop Express, he/she will be given a discount of 20% of all services
available. The receptionist will now file the Guest Profile to the Guest
Folio.
4. The receptionist will now provide the terms and mode of payment. The
customer is obliged to pay in full or at least make a 30% down payment of
the overall expenses. For walk-in inquiry customers, the receptionist will
ask for the amount and write it to the log book and create a sales invoice.

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 This invoice must be presented to the cashier for payment and return to
the receptionist with the official or partial receipt. If the process is done,
the receptionist must issue the key depending on the date of
accommodation and change the status to “confirmed”. If the customer
discontinues, the receptionist shall change the status to “cancelled”.
5. If via email or phone reservation, the front desk officer, will do steps 2, 3
and 4 but mark the status of unit as “pending”, in the process of payment
information to the front desk officer 3 hours from the time of confirmation.
The front officer will forward the customer’s information to the cashier and
inform the front desk officer if the payment is confirmed. If the process is
confirmed with the front desk officer, the status will be changed to
“confirmed”.
6. Guests with reservation shall present the reservation information before
checking in. For reserved customers if they did not appear five hours from
the time of check in without informing the receptionist or front desk officer,
the reservation will be considered as “Cancelled”.
7. For walk in customers with the intention of availing the accommodation on
the same date, the transaction shall be mark as “Walk in”. Early check-in
will have extra charge of 200 per hour. Early check -in will also be
considered as exceeding time.
8. The receptionist, at the end of her duty, will collate all the guest folio and
make a sales report.

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Problems and Limitations of the Current System

Problems

 The current system logs only the transaction through manual input and
has no other features that may be useful to the company.
 The current system has a database for the system user, but do not have
security level restrictions.
 The current system has no capability of tracking the history of the system
users.
 The current system is no longer in use due to its outdated features and no
longer effective since it does not meet the service standards of the
company.

Limitations

 The current system does not process reservation request.

 The current system does not perform billing transaction.
 The current system has no user level access.

Scope and Constraints

Scope
 Handles the daily transactions such as tracking the reserved rooms,
occupied and under billing customers through manual input.
 Handles the system user’s information.
Constraints
 Limited processing ability.
 The system is not design according to the needs of QPH.

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Statement of the Problem

The current POS used to handle the operational transaction of the QPH is no
longer effective; due to its outdated features and modules that cannot support the
business operation, thus resulting to inefficient and ineffective reports. These
failures result to conversion of work from automated to manual system.

Hypothesis
It is hypothesized that the automation of QPH’s Hospitality Information System
will reduce clerical errors, lessen the time and manual labor consumed during
business transactions, and meet the needs of the inevitable growth of the
company.

Objectives of the Study

The purposes of this project are to analyze and determine the requirements
necessary in developing the system. The proposed system should be able to
integrate the current business operation, provide a design for QPH and more
importantly, to implement and maintain the HRBS.
Objectives
 To complete the project in its due date
 To complete the project within its budget
 Fulfill all the requirements requested by the QPH
1. Transaction processing interface for daily operation
2. Monitoring of Transactions
3. Generating of Reports
4. File Maintenance
5. Billing

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Scope and Limitation
Scope Limitation
Security
 Log-In/ Log out  Use of biometric
 User level hardware.
File Maintenance
 Guest Membership  Master list of
 Guest Information Company employees
 Room Category
 Services
Reservation
 Walk in  Online Reservation
 Via call
 Via email

Inquiry and Monitoring

 Rooms Availability
 Guest with Balances
 Checking in List of
Guest
 Checking out List of
Guest
 Reserved Guest
 Cancelled Reservation
 Confirmed Reservation
Scheduling Mapping

Payment

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  Terms of Payment  Bank to Bank Process
 Mode of Payment
Billing
 Statement of Account
 Service charge type

Reports
 Occupied Rooms  Salary Report of
 For Billing Guest Employees
 Summary of Sales
 Cancelled / Confirmed
Reservation
 Available Schedules of
Rooms
Settings
 Audit Trail  Time in and Time out of
 Back up and Recovery Employees
 Archiving and Restoration
 Help

Significance of the Study

After a keen investigation and observation, the researchers
concluded that the HBRS is significant to the following:
 Business entity – the automated HBRS of QPH will benefit the owner and
employees of the hotel because it will lessen the time and manual labor
consumed during the reservation and billing process within the hotel.

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  Future Researchers – it is significant to the future researchers who will
conduct a thorough investigation of Hospitality systems within a business
entity.
 System Developers – this research would be able to provide them a
comparison between the manual and automated system used in QPH
hotel thus, providing them with information in order to enhance the
implemented system.

Requirement Specification of the New System

Functional Requirements:
o Supports day-to-day transaction
o Reservation – check in/check out
o Supports inquiry and monitoring
o Supports file maintenance
o Supports payment
o Supports billing
o Provides report
Non - functional requirements:
o Interface - designed to the preference of the QPH users.
o Performance – process transactions with reliability in a short manner of
time
o Reliability – System down time 1 hour for every three months
o Operational – Maintenance will depend on the level of understanding of IT
personnel after acquiring the training.

Definition of key terms

1) IT – Information Technology
2) QPH – Quezon Premier Hotel
3) HS – Hospitality System

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4) IS - Information System
5) Portfolio – collection of personal information of a person
6) POS – Point of Sale
7) HRBS – Hotel Reservation and Billing System
8) Intuitive – easy to understand and explain
9) Cluster – group of similar things that occur together
10) Hypothesis – a tentative assumption made in order to test it through research
11) Pre-test – a preliminary test to identify the needs
12) OS – Operating Systems
13) SDS – System Design Specifications

CHAPTER 2: Related Literature

Foreign Literature

Larkspur Hotel Chain Expands Relationship with SoftBrands (2011) : "We have completed
the training and implementation of the SoftBrands HMS application, and we are
extremely pleased with the Infor SoftBrands team and the product's functionality.
It is innovative, versatile and adaptable," said Amy Healy, general manager,
Larkspur Landing Hillsboro. "With any new product we expected surprises, and
the only surprises have been 'good' surprises. Surprised at what the system is
capable of and how it has effectively helped to streamline our business."
Some functionality of SoftBrands HMS includes:
 One single database deployment of traditional multiple property PMS and
CRS functionality.
 Guest recognition with the ability to determine the guests' lifetime value
each time a reservation or check-in screen is displayed to a user.
 Screen designer that allows the hotel to design its own screen layouts to
fit business requirements.
 Multiple deployment options including traditional on-property or hosted in a
private cloud or the Infor cloud.

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  Better usability with the system's single screen design that allows users to
access the information they need from one single screen.
 Interfaces which are available via the existing SoftBrands Liaison product,
providing the opportunity to use existing interfaces that have already been
developed for other SoftBrands products.

Hilton's Innovation Acceleration (2010) : “We're working very closely with IBM
on infrastructure globally, and they're currently the only partner we've announced
as a part of the collaborative. They're running our data center network, and are
also running a very critical central reservations system for us. We're also working
very closely with Accenture on some of our more complex business integration
needs across our back-office systems. Given Accenture's global capabilities in
integrating technology platforms, they've already proven to be an important
partner for us in helping us with some of those challenges. We also have very
close relationships with Tata Consulting Services and Infosys in selected projects
where we need to move rapidly with economies of skill and scale. In addition,
Microsoft and AT&T are important, and they're all true technology partners rather
than service providers.” said Robert Webb, Chief Information Officer of Hilton
WorldWide.

Specifically, IBM will host and manage the technology platforms that support
Hilton Worldwide’s ten brands, including data center management and
monitoring, global email services, web hosting and the central guest reservation
system.

Marriott to install MICROS OPERA at its international properties (2005) :

During a multi-year effort, Marriott brands outside the U.S. will implement
components of the MICROS OPERA Suite, primarily the OPERA Property
Management System (PMS) and Sales & Catering modules. This includes the
following hotel brands: Marriott Hotels & Resorts, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts,

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Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Bulgari,
Marriott Vacation Club International and Marriott Executive Apartments.
“Moving to OPERA allows Marriott to implement a solution that meets the needs
of our international properties by providing robust functionality geared toward
global markets,” said Ed Fuller, President & Managing Director for International
Lodging at Marriott. --Multi-lingual capabilities, in-country support and our shared
global perspective were important factors leading to our selecting MICROS
OPERA.”

In addition, MICROS provides property management systems, central

reservation and customer information solutions for more than 30,000 hotels
worldwide, as well as point-of-sale, loss prevention, and cross-channel
functionality for more than 150,000 retail stores worldwide and 17,000 Fuel and
Convenience stores. MICROS stock is traded through NASDAQ under the
symbol MCRS.

Local Literature

BLOOMBERRY RESORTS AND HOTELS SELECTS MICROS

TECHNOLOGY FOR ITS SOLAIRE MANILA RESORT & CASINO (2013) : “We
are proud to be the first integrated resort in Manila with the largest rooms in the
country and some of the finest food and beverage offerings in Asia,” stated Mr.
Adrian Ort, General Manager of Solaire Manila Resort and Casino. “Delivering
the finest experience to our guests requires a world-class infrastructure and
team. With MICROS OPERA and MICROS Point of Sale, including the latest
mobile technology, in addition to MICROS OPERA Materials Control, we are
confident our management team and employees have the best tools available to
provide an outstanding guest experience.”

“Bloomberry’s vote of confidence in MICROS and its products and services is

extremely important given its prominent status within the Philippines hospitality
industry,” stated Stefan M Piringer, President, MICROS-Fidelio, Asia/Pacific. “We

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are very proud to be the technology partner of choice for Bloomberry Resorts and
Hotels, and look forward to a long and successful partnership.”

21 Leading Independent Hotels & Resorts Find Solution to Drive Greater

Efficiency, Personal Service, Web Reservations and Profitability (2011) –
Maestro Multi-Property Management provides over 20 fully integrated modules
designed to give corporate managers 360-degree visibility into each hotel’s
operation and each guest’s preferences across their entire enterprise. Multi-
property hotel companies installed with Maestro include:

 Lonhro Hotels with six resorts in Africa;

 Universal Resorts with nine luxury properties in The Maldives;
 Banff Lodging with 10 resorts in Banff, Alberta;
 Crystal Springs Resorts with three properties in New Jersey;
 Legends Hotels International based in The Philippines.

About Maestro PMS

 Enterprise-wide platform independent system on a single image database

 ResWave Real-Time Booking Engine - lower cost direct website bookings
of rooms, add-ons, guest & group self-serve online, dynamic packages
 True centralized Multi-Property & real-time management controls
 360 degree guest view at all touch points for personal service, business
intelligence, data-mining & targeted marketing
 Complete Marketing includes automated unlimited e-confirmations, social
media, emarketing & integrated e-guest surveys
 Proactive Yield Management to maximize rates from all channels with
automated controls.

Waterfront Hotels launches central reservations center (2009):

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 MANILA, Philippines - Waterfront Hotels and Casinos makes a connection
by being the first Filipino-owned hotel chain to launch the country’s first ever
integrated hotel reservations and booking system featuring a full-service, round-
the-clock, seven days a week Central Reservations Office. Waterfront brings five
hotels in one number.

With the rules of customer engagement changing now more than ever,
Waterfront rises up to the challenge by introducing a cutting edge system that
uses only the latest in call center technology and database management
software. A true breakthrough in hotel booking services, clients now have the
convenience of making on-the-spot reservations with one number.

SYNTHESIS

Hospitality Technology is indeed an unstoppable movement. Every now and

then, the need of a customer differs from one to another. Providing good quality
services will contribute to the growth of a business and will soon partake in
leading the latter to popularity. So what are the factors we need to consider when
selecting the suitable platform and features for our business? Analyzing and
identifying the different facets of the business is important, then plan a
deployment program. With this, we can decide what type of hospitality system
will suit to the business.

It is essential to incorporate business systems on either small, medium or large

scale business. This will help the top level management to make decisions out of
the system report. Thus, they can infer whether there is a possible growth or loss
in the company. This is one factor that we should seek when considering a
business system. Hospitality services defines that employees should be focus
more on assisting the customer needs rather than performing other transaction

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such as taking reservations in a time constrained manner. For example, a
centralized reservation system should process the reservation request in a short
time manner and deliver a report after accomplishing all the requirements. With
that, all transactions under queue will be processed.

As a conclusion, a business whether what type of entity it is, should not disregard
the use of technology in order to grow. Technology helps in making life
convenient, thus it will not stop until there is a room for improvement. Information
Systems, whether an Expert System or Transaction Processing System should
always be parallel to the needs of the company, otherwise it will be no longer
effective.

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