Definition of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

ICT can be simply defined as the technology which includes both the information systems and the technology supporting them.

The shift from Industrial Revolution to Information Age sparks the founding of linking technology, information and communication to computer network systems, which resulted in office automation, workflow, groupware, process redesign, knowledge management and information systems and et cetera.

ICT could be seen, heard and felt in our everyday lives, regardless of one’s location and time through the use of the current technology such as the Internet, email, video-conferencing, mobile phone, wireless broadband, 3G cellular network and et cetera. With just a click on the mouse, or a touch of our finger(s) on one’s smart phone, we could be connected to anyone nearly anywhere in the world at anytime, thus in Today’s world, the physical geographical distance is no longer a problem.

Room Reservations in the PAST

In the past, hotel room reservation transactions were made solely between the hotels and the travel agencies, therefore it falls under the Business-to-business (B2B) category.

For instance, a consumer wants to make a room reservation at Hilton Hotel in Hong Kong (HK), he or she will have to contact a local travel agency in Singapore which is tied up with the Hilton Hotel located in HK. The local travel agency will have to check with HK's Hilton Hotel for the room's availability before getting back to the consumer. The whole process will take about a day or two for all the information and requests before they are communicated and processed accurately.

A typical backpacker, who usually makes spontaneous (impromptu) decisions may have to travel from hotel to hotel to seek for a room.

First, the availability of rooms is not guaranteed.

Second, the whole process could be rather tedious, especially after a long day of traveling. 

In the past, hotel room reservation transactions were made solely between the hotels and the travel agencies, therefore it falls under the Business-to-business (B2B) category.

For instance, a consumer wants to make a room reservation at Hilton Hotel in Hong Kong (HK), he or she will have to contact a local travel agency in Singapore which is tied up with the Hilton Hotel located in HK. The local travel agency will have to check with HK's Hilton Hotel for the room's availability before getting back to the consumer. The whole process will take about a day or two for all the information and requests before they are communicated and processed accurately.

A typical backpacker, who usually makes spontaneous (impromptu) decisions may have to travel from hotel to hotel to seek for a room.

First, the availability of rooms is not guaranteed.

Second, the whole process could be rather tedious, especially after a long day of traveling. 

As shown in the diagram above, there are at least four flows of communications, which is exclusive of other instances whereby confirmations or clarifications with any parties are required in order to process the hotel room reservation successfully.

All information about the types of rooms, pricing, hotel amenities and et cetera are being transferred from the hotel to the travel agency and lastly, to the consumers. 

Information may be lost or passed on inaccurately to the consumer who is at the end of the communication chain, affecting the consumer’s holiday experience.

As it is a B2B transaction, consumers have to go through the travel agency (third party) to make the room reservations, resulting in higher price payable as it involves higher transaction costs due to the various transaction and communication levels involved.

As years went by, with the introduction of ICT, consumers started contacting the hotel directly by looking up their contact details from past experiences and catalogs. However, the costs back then was still higher as consumers need to make overseas calls for arrangements such as airport transfers and et cetera. 

Lastly, they will have to send their room reservation confirmation and personal documents such as a copy of the consumer's passport, privilege cards and et cetera through facsimile to the hotels of their choices. 

As shown in the diagram above, there are at least four flows of communications, which is exclusive of other instances whereby confirmations or clarifications with any parties are required in order to process the hotel room reservation successfully.

All information about the types of rooms, pricing, hotel amenities and et cetera are being transferred from the hotel to the travel agency and lastly, to the consumers. 

Information may be lost or passed on inaccurately to the consumer who is at the end of the communication chain, affecting the consumer’s holiday experience.

As it is a B2B transaction, consumers have to go through the travel agency (third party) to make the room reservations, resulting in higher price payable as it involves higher transaction costs due to the various transaction and communication levels involved.

As years went by, with the introduction of ICT, consumers started contacting the hotel directly by looking up their contact details from past experiences and catalogs. However, the costs back then was still higher as consumers need to make overseas calls for arrangements such as airport transfers and et cetera. 

Lastly, they will have to send their room reservation confirmation and personal documents such as a copy of the consumer's passport, privilege cards and et cetera through facsimile to the hotels of their choices. 

How has ICT impacted hotel booking Today?

Today, there are many online agents that make the reservation of hotel rooms much easier, cheaper and more time and cost efficient. 

Transaction cost is minimal for consumers as hotels are willing to pay for the fee to advertise their room rates and other details on these online agents. Hotel will pay for these charges so as not to lose out potential customers. Online agents like, zuji.com and ctrip.com allow consumers to compare hotels' room rates of their choice of destination with just a click of their mouse. In this way, hotels are not able to have over-priced rooms as there is complete information, unlike in the past, where information on hotel room rates are asymmetrical, thus consumers will benefit from this evolution.

The Internet allows large amount of information to be processed and loaded within seconds. For instance, Asiarooms.com allows travelers to make reservations over the Internet, at almost anytime, anywhere with reference to thousands of hotels, resorts and other forms of accommodation in two hundred different locations in Asia, Europe, Oceania and Middle East . Their partners include, Hilton Hotel, Crown Plaza, Holiday Inn, Mercure and et cetera. 

The online travel agents also have pictures of hotels and rooms, information on prices and special packages uploaded on their websites. Some of which brought the online business to greater heights by partnering with Google which includes Google Map functions on their websites to provide finer details on the exact location and the surroundings of the hotels. 

Travelers may also write reviews and comments of their stay at the hotels on the websites of the online travel agents. Consumers can, therefore, have a better and clearer picture of what they will be expecting for the price that they are paying for their choice of accommodation. This will reduce the number of complaints and the dissatisfaction level as the customers would have adjusted their expectations accordingly before they arrive at their choice of hotels. 

Online hotel reservations is also a good choice for making impromptu travel arrangements, as information is readily available at almost anytime, anywhere in the world. 

The process of booking hotel rooms is much simpler quicker and more efficient as compared to the traditional room reservations through the telephone and facsimile. One can also make hotel room reservations even after office hours which could not be done previously without the ICT evolution.

Several large online travel sites are, in effect, websites of travel agencies. These websites send the hotels' information and rates downstream to literally thousands of online travel sites, most of which act as travel agents. They will then receive commission payments from the hotels for any successful transactions made on their websites.

Lastly, people can book directly on the individual hotel's website. An increasing number of hotels are building up their own websites which allow them to market their hotels directly to consumers, without a third party, which will remove the third party cost from the consumer totally. Non-franchise chain hotels require a "booking engine" application to be attached to their website to permit people to book rooms in real time. One advantage of booking with the hotel directly is the use of the hotel's full cancellation policy as well as not needing a deposit in most situations.

To improve the likelihood of filling rooms, hotels tend to use several of the above systems. The content on many hotel reservation systems is becoming increasingly similar as more hotels sign up to all the sites. Companies thus have to either rely on specially negotiated rates with the hotels and hotel chains or trust in the influence of search engine rankings to entice customers.

Limitations

As compared to the evolution of hotel room reservations using ICT, the traditional method provides a ‘personal touch’ to the whole transaction as compared to the online room reservations.

Some people may not trust online agencies as they have to provide their personal particulars and credit cards information over the Internet. This is because there are past cases where there were people who stole these information for criminal events. Thus, some customers still prefer to doing their bookings through the telephone. 


However, this lost in trust is greatly improved with The Electronic Trust foundation (eTrust) which is an organization dedicated to the promotion of online privacy through the establishment of best practice and policy. The programme is currently available to online businesses and web sites operating internationally or nationally. 


With reference to Zuji.com which practices online dynamic marketing, prices of hotel rooms and packages could change within seconds. Consumers may find themselves caught in a situation whereby the room rates may differ greatly in a matter of seconds and they may have to reserve rooms at different prices if they are in desperate need to reserve the rooms, thus causing inconvenience when spliting costs among the involved parties.