ICTs in Hospitality: Hotel Reservation, Billings, and Accounting - Essay Sample

Introduction

The first objective of the study was to investigate the main spheres of application of ICTs in the hospitality industry. Therefore, on the application of ICT in hotel functions, the vast majority of the respondents indicated that their hotel reservation system was incorporated with a cloud bed or hotelogix. These are majorly used for the purpose of hotel billings, accountings, and, reservations. ICT applications have facilitated numerous and enhanced transactions in inventory suitably and booking systems. Furthermore, usage of the ICTs has allowed hotels to flexibly and quickly react to the market and clients' desires and needs. ICT facilities such as the internet and emails were broadly used as portrayed in the research findings.

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Application of ICT in the Hotel Industry

ICTs have broadly transformed the role of each player in the value creation process on the tourism and hospitality market. Proof from this study designates that an effective application of ICTs has turned out critical for the desirability and prosperity of tourism and hotel businesses, since it has influenced their capability to differentiate their offerings, as well as their transport and manufacturing costs. The model of ICT and its usage has become significant for the Tourism and Hospitality industries. Hotel businesses being encouraged to adopt the present technologies and get benefits present from such advancements.

Trend of ICTs Usage in Hospitality Industry

According to the findings ICTs in hospitality industry is majorly used for

Security

Security in the hotel industry refers to protect and loss prevention. Nonetheless, according to Gill et al., (2002) extra security responsibilities of the current hotel industry have been prolonged to IT security, safety and health, fire safety, disciplinary action, and insurance. Since ICTs plays a key role in industries, a previous study of 234 guest houses concerning their networks and prevention methods suggested that the size of the hotel is positively associated to the number of attacks and several hotels utilize the most fundamental approaches whereas neglecting some significant network security tools such as biometric devices (Cobanoglu and DeMicco, 2007).

Reservation

According to the findings, this is one of the most effective applications of ICTs to hospitality; an online computerized reservation system (CRS) allows clients to complete online reservations and bookings on the internet from anywhere, anytime.

Marketing

The growing popularity of the internet has changed the center of marketing in hospitality. According to Dev and Olsen (2000), a group of dealers, analysts, consultants, development specialists, academics, governmental officials, researchers, and, industry-association managers and leaders indicated that training marketers to utilize ICTS and having ICT reports for marketing are the most essential and significant for the future of marketing in the hospitality industry. To enhance the performance of hospitality companies, hospitality firms are hence encouraged strongly to utilize web-based marketing. Further, Stewart and Barr (2005) claimed that the internet and word of- mouth are the most influential; promotional techniques employed by hospitality-associated companies. Nonetheless, ICT plays a basic role in the hospitality industry for product differentiation, service delivery, and organizational economics. Connolly (2000) claim that some luxury hotel is unwilling to take advantage of automation as they depend greatly on human resources to deliver more client-oriented and personal services to their customers.

ICTs Adoption challenges

The most important challenges recognized by the study with regards to adoption and utilization of AICTs were, firstly, followed by inability of the managers themselves to adopt multifaceted system because of their ignorance of information technology and lack of skills among their employees to run and maintain the systems. Besides, imported software packages are frequently found to be unfitted to local needs.

Lack of knowledge of how to use modern ICTs was pinpointed to be one of the key reasons for the hotel industry lagging behind. This challenge appeared, nonetheless, sometimes originates from ignorance of the exact adoption benefits and/or lack of passion for the industry.

The implications of the study findings are thus that there is a serious need for multilayered approaches to improve the ability of hotels to adopt and fully utilize ICTs.

Conclusion

It is fundamental that the current and technologies advancements ought to be overhauled and consistent mix both inside and remotely ought to be done to improve the travel industry business activities. The combination of ICT in the travel industry would profit both, specialist services suppliers and clients uniting different partners too, on a typical stage. The determination of the right information communication instrument is urgent to coordinate the client prerequisites with services dimensions. The expansion of innovation all through the travel industry circulation channels, and experts utilize the new instruments to retrieve information data, distinguish appropriate items and perform reservations. ICTs coordination gives an amazing asset that brings advantage in advancing and fortifying the travel industry.

Recommendations

Based on the results and above conclusion, the research proposals ought to implement ICT in service delivery, worker strengthening, and marketing to improve quality, upgrade client maintenance and make mindfulness. The following are explicit proposals:

1. As indicated by the Literature review, the utilization of ICT essentially does not improve competitive advantages. Nonetheless, the outcomes of the research demonstrate that the use of ICT in service delivery and competitive advantage was emphatically and fundamentally associated. Thus, it suggested that organizations, hotels included ought to find ways of improving and advancing execution and effectiveness through the application of ICT integrated with PMS capacities, specifically, the utilization of ICT in advertising, service delivery and enabling workers.
2. The hypothetical information in this research was found in the test of speculations, where the study concluded that the objectives were essentially associated. This was chiefly found in the advancement of knowledge from a hypothetical point of view. Porter"s hypothetical knowledge, which was received in the investigation, set an incredible accentuation on cost administration, separation, and core interest methodologies. He proposed that for any firm to succeed, just one referenced research could be utilized at some random time. Nevertheless, the study prescribed that at least two approaches can be used for a firm's achievement.
3. Most firms tend to invest vigorously in innovation, rather than putting resources into the human resource. The research found that the utilization of ICT in representative strengthening and competitive advantage has decidedly and fundamentally corresponded. The study suggests that hoteliers ought to enable their representatives to deal with innovative ICT advancements. Given the aggressive nature of the Hospitality business and the interest for clients to utilize this innovation, this required the hoteliers to prepare their representatives to encourage them to upgrade client the board. This angle advanced the hypothetical knowledge in the territory where ICT was applied.
4. As indicated by Banas, firms require an increasingly adaptable and prepared staff to facilitate hotel business transactions. Given that the study, it is proposed that education and preparing of workers training in the utilization of ICT would be incredible, beneficial, and quality improving the instrument.
5. The study suggests that hotels should utilize ICT in very inventive and keyways, which can situate them to pick up a bit of leeway over their rivals.
6. Because of the extreme change in the market and client behavior, the basic choice for most hotel organizations is to build up their ICT business character so it can match with the new data innovation period, which promotes cost-benefit analysis due to the differentiation elements of goods and services.
7. The research proposes the utilization of e-advertising to empower hospitality to improve their deceivability, intelligence, effectiveness, and, aggressiveness. The future of the hotel business is electronic and Information Technology will assume the main job in the change of the entire part.

Reflections and Evaluation of Methodology

The study applied the qualitative method. This method is suitable because the method provides an approach for gathering in-depth information through interviewing focus groups. This research method provides a chance to study problems in their natural background by discerning people and their relations (Rahman, 2017, 107). Furthermore, this methodology is also suggested for generating and afterward legalized a theory or model.

To attain the aims of the research, the study underwent through the following stages:

• The first stage composed of data collection from reliable sources to review them for the purpose of identification of the literature gap,
• The second phase entailed the collection of primary data, which was done through the survey process. The collection of data was important since it drove the study into the implications of the findings/ results that were used not only to get recommendations but also to give directions to the future study of the usage of ICTs in the hospitality industry.

Test of Validity

The study used a sampling validity technique subjective evaluation of the detail of each research element (Endsley, 2017, 130). The researcher utilizes two categories of experts who comprise lectures who were to assess the concepts that the instruments were intended to measure, and, the second group entailed trained specialists in the departments working in the ICT units, who would countercheck and approve the accuracy of the thoughts being measured.

Test of Reliability

Neuendorf (2016, 121) asserts that reliability is the magnitude to which a study instrument produces consistent results or dated after repeated trials. If a test is managed to a subject twice and gets a similar score in each circumstance, then there is the feasibility of the instruments. Errors may develop at the time of data gathering and may be due to incorrectness of either the researcher or the instrument. The research employed the split-half method, where the gathering of data was conducted only once, coded and processed by the utilization of suitable data analysis software. This process was employed to divide the groups into odd and even numbers.

Logical and Ethical Consideration

In research, an ethical matter is considered as an indispensable concern and often is the key basis of piloting not only robust but also a reliable study. Besides, Bell, Bryman, and, Harley (2018, 353) claim that ethical consideration is one of the essential requirements for any study to qualify and viewed as competitive. This study was attentive to the crucial responsibility of maintaining is thoughtfulness concerning the matters. Hence, the study found it vital to consider ethical matters to produce a quality information that can be reliable to academicians under the field of hospitality industry, according to Levitt, Bamberg, Creswell, Frost, Josselson, and Suarez-Orozco (2018, 30), every issue relating to an ethical practices effects data analysis method.

The required ethical considerations were followed. For instance, the required school clearance was requested including a permit by the relevant authorities in the field of study (Burton, Goldsmith, Koenig, Kuipers, Mattei, & Walsh, 2017, 25). Second, appointm...