Solutions For All Sizes

Around the world, hotels big and small are discovering efficient point-of-sale and sales and catering solutions.

By Joan Marsan, Technology Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 10/1/2000

When the 129-room Chateau Cartier, Aylmer,

Quebec, was sold two years ago, the new buyers wanted reports on

the revenues generated per function room. The sales and marketing

staff had been lumbering along with a book-based system—book,

as in bound paper. The only way to generate the figures the buyers

required was to go through the books and manually add up numbers.

The process took days.

Now that the property has a computer-based

sales and catering (S&C)

system in place, such tallying takes seconds. “Questions are

answered much more easily,” says Patricia Pearson, director

of S&C. “Customer conversations are easy.” In addition

to accurately summarizing revenues generated, the Northwind S&C

software installed at the Chateau Cartier forecasts,

budgets, eliminates duplicate bookings and increases staff efficiency.

Because the hotel’s sales staff of seven shared the same single

set of books, each member spent time retrieving books from the last

user before completing calls or closing deals. “Now all the

information is on the screen,” Pearson says, accessible from

every computer terminal, whether in the sales office or at the front

desk. “We spend less time running around. Productivity has

gone up.”

Similarly, Kirk Brady, director of the sales

team at the Estates of Sunnybrook, Toronto, Ontario, saw an increase

in productivity after installing the Northwind system, proving

that S&C systems

can boost productivity regardless of the size of the hotel. The Estates

offers three meeting or banquet rooms divided between two properties,

one with eight guestrooms, the other with 12 guestrooms. At this

small operation, Brady decreased his five-person sales and accounting

staff by two members. “People are afraid of change,” Brady

says, and when employees decided to leave rather than adjust to the

new, computerized system, he found he didn’t need to make new

hires. The remaining salespeople’s productivity had increased

dramatically, eliminating the need for replacements. The savings

quickly recouped Brady’s costs, which, at CAN$100,000 (US$67,500),

were generated largely by his need to purchase UNIX and

dummy terminals, and install fiberoptic cables linking the terminals

and the two properties.

Local Or Long-Distance

The Northwind system appealed to Pearson and

Brady because the locally known, smaller company seemed accessible

and more willing than larger companies to modify the

application to serve their needs. And the applications

were less costly than those provided by larger companies. While

many hotels with systems designed by bigger developers already

in place find it more cost-effective to simply add in the point-of-sale

(POS) or S&C module, these

smaller properties and those transitioning from a manual

to a computer-based system do well to search the local market before

settling on a particular system.

When General Manager Pétur Snæbjörnsson of the

41-room Hótel Reynihlíð, Lake Myvatn, Iceland,

elected to transition from a manual to a computer-based POS system,

he selected an Icelandic developer, Hospitality Solution Center (HSC).

Unlike other locally designed software, the HSC offering connected

directly with the hotel’s book-keeping program, vital to Snæbjörnsson,

as he strives to keep accurate details on the sales per guest at

the hotel’s 180-seat restaurant and 70-seat café. The

US$10,000 system promises a three-year return on investment, Snæbjörnsson

says. The only drawbacks in the switch from manual to

computerized systems, he says, are the need for increased technological

support and upgrades.

Similarly in Russia, many hoteliers are drawn

to solutions developed locally. “In restaurants in Russian hotels, international chains

are using international POS systems,” says Nikolai Balba, managing

director, Libra International, a firm that distributes and installs

hotel technology in Russia. “Independent hotels are increasingly

looking at local POS solutions. This is due to their relatively low

cost; matured functionality; and, most importantly, compliance with

local requirements: tax, fiscal, reporting, integration with accounting

and F&B control systems.”

While local POS solutions have an undeniable

appeal to many Russian hoteliers, S&C systems are another matter entirely. Few Russian

hotels have S&C systems installed, and those that do possess

the systems rely on international models, which allow them to standardize

their relationships with foreign travel agents. Because these properties

must rely on international S&C systems, they often must also

incorporate international POS and other systems, even if there is

no corporate structure requiring them to do so. When the 1,972-room

Russian-owned and -managed Izmailovo Hotel, Moscow, decided to streamline

operations to bring its policies and practices in line with international

standards, they selected the LodgingTouch property management system

(PMS) because it integrates with the Hodges and Irvine ESP2000 S&C

product.

The ASP Answer

While the Hótel Reynihlíð’s Snæbjörnsson

noted the disadvantages of the technological support and upgrades

that computerized systems require, new application service provider

models (ASPs) promise to ease the hiring and cost impositions modern

technology has placed on many hoteliers. The five-property Prima

Hotel group, Israel, relies on the services of a single IT manager

to keep their PMS, accounting and POS systems up and running. Enabling

this scaled-down staffing situation is the group’s reliance

on an ASP solution from Silverbyte, a program that provides

PMS, accounting and POS modules. The chain has no computers of its

own, as it basically rents all software and equipment from Silverbyte

as part of a single service fee.

“The expenses are much less than buying your own equipment,” says

David Frankel, IT manager, Prima. “The monthly charges are

somewhat more, but there is no need for full-time support in any

hotel,” a great boon as more hotels face a tight labor market,

particularly with respect to technologically skilled employees. Additionally,

the remote, limited-access system provides additional data security. “If

someone accidentally turns a computer off, nothing goes wrong,” Frankel

says. All data still are safely stored off-site.

ASP offerings are rapidly appearing in the

marketplace. Most have been in beta versions, but they are becoming

widely available. “The

promise of ASP is a better support mechanism for POS users, a lower

total cost of ownership, and ultimately a greater dividend from technology,” says

Brent Christensen, manager, strategic programs, Infogenesis. “We

also are seeing hospitality operations interested in

creating more of an enterprise-view approach to their technology.

With the advent of lower-cost connectivity in the form of wide area

networks (WANs), hospitality operators are looking to harness the

power of an integrated data view where they can access, analyze,

and interrelate data from all front- and back-office systems.”

This goal of achieving greater integration

was behind the 963-room Boca Raton Resort and Club’s Daylight enterprise S&C installation.

The installation integrated the S&C system with central reservations

and yield management systems, with increased efficiencies enabling

a four-month return on investment. “There’s only so much

you can do to reduce costs,” says Charles Deyo, senior VP,

finance, Boca Raton Resort and Club. “The question is, do you

get revenue enhancements? That’s where you have the most profit

potential.”

The integration between the S&C system

and the yield management system allows Deyo to be more selective

about group bookings, choosing those that will contribute not only

a greater RevPAR, but also a greater RevPAC (revenue per available

customer). While the character of the groups staying at the hotel

remains the same, and account management strategies remain firmly

in place, integration and ASP models promise increased efficiencies

and enhanced earnings for hotels.

Tech Briefs

E-Procurement Alliances

In a permutation of the recent e-procurement alliances,

the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA)

announced an agreement with hsupply.com to build a

franchisee-oriented business-to-business (B2B) procurement portal

for its members, who own approximately 17,000 properties (25% of

the U.S. market), and spend more than US$5 billion annually on guest

amenities and supplies.

“The real buying power in the hotel industry lies with the

franchisees,” says Mohanbir Sawhney, professor of electronic

commerce & technology, Graduate School of Management, Northwestern

University, Chicago. The AAHOA and hsupply alliance aims

to provide a neutral, non-branded site appealing to owners managing

properties under more than one brand.

Meanwhile, five European companies, Accor, Bass, Hilton International,

Whitbread, and Granada: Compass, revealed they are in discussions

to create a B2B, Web-based exchange to launch in 2001.

Marriott and Hyatt have named their e-procurement venture, announced

in May, P-Co, and have welcomed Dallas-based ClubCorp USA, owner

and operator of country clubs, golf courses and sports clubs, to

their venture.

Online Analysis

Phoenix-based Pegasus Solutions launched NetBooker,

a tool to help hotels develop bookings-enabled Websites.

If linked to the Pegasus Business Intelligence Web-enabled

customer relationship management tools, NetBooker may

provide site-improving analysis, as IBM’s Surfaid delivered

to Dallas-based Omni Hotels.

Supplyline

• Hogatex, Munich, announced the rollout of

  its Starlight system to Accor’s German and Austrian properties...

• Accor’s U.S.

  Sofitel properties will install Lake Mary, Florida-based Scala Hospitality’s

  back-office accounting software...

• Boston-based Sonesta International

  Hotels selected Dover, New Hampshire-based Daylight

  Software’s

  enterprise sales and catering (S&C) system and Dallas-based Wayport’s

  high-speed wireless Internet access solution...

• Aladdin Resort & Casino

  selected the Infogenesis, Santa Barbara, California,

  point-of-sale (POS) system...

• London’s Savoy Group installed the

  Delphi Multi-Property Edition cross-property sales solution by

  Newmarket International, Portsmouth, New Hampshire...

• Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide,

  White Plains, New York, linked its central reservations system (CRS)

  with San Mateo, California-based WorldRes’ online booking

  engine, WorldRes.com...

• Multi-Systems Inc., Phoenix, will offer its property

  management system to all Cendant, Parsippany, New

  Jersey, properties...

• Travelodge Hotels & Resorts, Sydney,

  selected the enterprise hotel automation solution by MICROS-Fidelio,

  Columbia, Maryland...

• Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Adliswil,

  Switzerland, joined the Lanyon, Dallas, PropertyVault Web-enabled

  data acquisition beta test...

• ANA Hotels International, Tokyo, renewed

  its private label reservation services contract with Dallas-based

  Pegasus’ Utell

  service...

• Berkshire, England-based Corus and Regal

  Hotels will install U.K.-based Quadriga’s interactive in-room

  system.

Netline

Meeting the Needs of Niche Markets Recent additions

to Bass Hotels’ Web

site, in keeping with trends towards more specialized

online marketing, focus on distinct customer groups. While partnerships

with Web sites devoted to assisting meeting planners inarguably

benefit hotels aiming to increase meetings business, direct bookings

promise lower commission fees and, therefore, higher profits. So

a new segment of the Bass site devoted to meeting planners (www.meetings.basshotels.com)

aims to do all that Plansoft.com or StarCite.com might do, but

with a Bass-brands-only focus. In addition to providing all the

essential hotel meeting space specifications, the site offers virtual

tours and a special destination guide describing area attractions,

currency exchange rates and weather conditions.

Chinese tourism is growing rapidly, and Bass plans to capitalize

on the trend with the launch of its comprehensive Chinese language

Website (www.china.basshotels.com) complete with booking capabilities.

Outbound travel from China increased from 5.3 million travelers in

1997 to 8.4 million in 1998, a growth of 36.9%. The number of domestic

tourists grew 7.2% in 1998 to 694 million. Bass is the first international

hotel company to capitalize on the growth with a full-service Web

site.

Online Advertising Located in the midst of

California’s high-tech

heartland, Silicon Valley, the W Suites Newark caters

to tech-savvy business travelers. This group of travelers

was the perfect test case for a new approach to advertising

a hotel’s

opening. W launched an online-only advertising campaign

in August called the Superstitial through the DoubleClick

business and technology networks, and generated 35

reservations within the campaign's first week. Pass-along rates

were higher than anticipated, with recipients of the advertisement

forwarding it, on average, to two other people. While room nights

generated by the campaign keep pace with W’s

past direct-mail campaigns, the o-line medium is far

more efficient, ringing in at half the cost. “What we discovered

was people do react to this, and they do like it,” says W

spokeswoman Diane Briskin, who anticipates launching

future e-based campaigns for other W properties.