New technology in services—Information Technology in Hotel Industry

曾真

1.Introduction

With the increasing demand for intensive information from customers and hotel practitioners，hotels have adopted computer-based Information Technology facilities to improve operational efficiency，reduce costs，and enhance service quality.Therefore，the focus in this paper is investigating the positive factors of Information Technology in hospitality industry.First，it will discuss what the information technology is.Followed by the application of IT in hotel industry which is divided into two departments-Food & Beverage and Marketing Departments.Finally a logical conclusion will be given.

2.Definition of Information Technology

Information technology refers to wide variety of items and abilities used in the creation，storage，and spreading of data and information as well as in the creation of knowledge（Senn，1998）.“Information technology is the belief that the principles，practice and terminology of information handling can be treated on a unified，systematic basis”（Zorkczy，1990，p.5）.

3. Application of Information Technology in Hotel Industry

Today the hospitality industry has effectively utilised IT to benefit customers，employees，and firms.“A study conducted by Hotels（1998）magazine on hoteliers from USA，Asia，and Europe found that，on average，hotels had spent between US$50，000 and US$249，000 on technology over the preceding five years”（Lee et al.，2003，p.425）.Therefore IT will continue to play an important role in the hospitality industry.

3.1 Food and Beverage Department

In restaurants，the concept of time is crucial.Guests enter into a restaurant in uncontrollable numbers and only at partly predictable times，and they have a reasonable expectation of being served within certain and not too long time interval（Hjalager，1999）.According to this，restaurants implement electronic communication systems between waiters and the kitchen to replace personal communication or mechanical devices.The waiter carries a hand terminal with a touch screen.Few seconds after the order is taken at the table，it is displayed on a screen in the kitchen，organised in a way so that the cooks can both know what orders are given at what sequence，and，in addition，tasks to be performed.Compared to the situation where the waiter goes to the kitchen to deliver the docket after the completion of the order，the kitchen and the waiter are gaining time（Hjalager，1999）.

3.2 Marketing Department

Marketing on the internet can help companies build brands，sell products or services and even develop relationships.Gilbert，Powell-Perry and Widijoso（1999）stated that the major benefit from using Web in marketing is the much greater degree of interactivity.From surveying hotel groups on the Yahoo Web site in May 1997，most of hotels considered that the Web is acting as a strategic extension of hotel databases and they can utilise the Web to enhance customer service（Gilbert et al.，1999）.Hotels can put general information of products and services，online enrolment，frequently asked questions area，customer profile and special Web offers on the web，which can assist customers to view，choose and interact with the suppliers directly.Therefore the Web can serve as a marketing tool to establish，maintain and enhance long-term relationships with customers and hotels.

4.Conclusion

The hospitality industry has been and will be facing a technology-based revolution.In order to satisfy demanding hotel consumers，high technological services have become a requirement.This kind of service not only helps consumers to enjoy excellent products and high efficient service，but also helps organisations to reduce operating costs.This assignment focuses on illustrating the positive factors of using IT in hotel industry and giving a clear view about how do hotels use IT to benefit themselves and consumers.The positive factors have been approved by many hotel practitioners and researchers.They all consider that IT gives a greater contribution to the hotel industry.Therefore，the trend of making use of IT in the hotel industry will be continued in the future.

References：

[1]Gilbert.D.C.Powell-Perry.J.& Widijoso.S.（1999）.Approaches by hotels to the use of the Internet as a relationship marketing tool.Journal of Marketing Practice：Applied Marketing Science.5（1），21-38.

[2]Hjalager.A.-M.（1999）.Technology domains and manpower choice in the restaurant sector.New Technology.Work and Employment.14（1），62-74.

[3]Lee.S.-C.Barket.S.& Kandampully.J.（2003）.Technology，service quality，and customer loyalty in hotels：Australian managerial perspectives.Managing Service Quality.13（5），423-432.

[4]Senn，J.A.（1998）.Information technology in business： principles，practises and opportunities（2nd ed.）.New Jersey：Prentice Hall.

[5]Zorkczy.P.（1990）.Information technology：an introduction（3rd ed.）.London：Pitman Publishing.