ICT - Information and Communications Technologies
ICT consists of all technical means used to handle information and aid communication, including both computer and network hardware as well as necessary software. In other words, ICT consists of IT as well as telephony, broadcast media, and all types of audio and video processing and transmission.
As the scale and scope of the Internet has grown to permeate all aspects of the economy and society, so too has the role of Internet intermediaries who provide the Internet's basic infrastructure and platforms by enabling communications and transactions between third parties as well as applications and services. ‘Internet intermediaries’ give access to, host, transmit and index content originated by third parties or provide Internet-based services to third parties. They offer access to a host of activities through both wired and wireless technologies. Most Internet intermediaries‘ are from the business sector and they span a wide range of online economic activities including: Internet access and service providers (ISPs), data processing and web hosting providers, Internet search engines and portals, e-commerce intermediaries, Internet payment systems, and participative networked platforms.
Hotel room reservation in the past
Before ICTs were introduced, consumers had a hard time booking a room of their choice. Hotel room reservation services were not as accessible to all. Hotels were inefficient when it comes to processing of bookings and getting back to consumers. It was due to the backdated way of how hotels handled and store information. Hotels did not have proper processes nor advanced technology to guide and enable them to perform like how they are capable of today. Bookings were also being held up due to different time zones at different parts of the world. It was not until the early 90's that hotels used simple communication means to handle their reservations, for example: telephone, fax and mailing of letters. These modes of communication means, however, were not flexible enough in terms of making last minute changes or providing consumers with additional information about and around the hotel. Consumers were deprived of much information which they need for comparison and planning their itinerary for a trip. On top of that, additional charges were incurred as hotels engage travel agents to do the bookings on behalf of the consumers.
Hotel room reservation at the present
With ICTs, we are now able to make a hotel room reservation anytime and anywhere at our own comfort zone. We can reserve a hotel room through the hotel’s website or through an agent’s website. With the help of ICT, customers can view photos of various hotels and the facilities and amenities of different hotels through just one website. Not only that, customers can also view reviews of the various hotels by guests who has stayed in the hotel before from all over the world. Customers are able to compare the prices that different hotels offer. Most importantly, customers are able to view the map of the hotel and therefore able to see where is the hotel located. Only with the help of ICT, we can now compare different hotels and book our ideal hotel room with just a few clicks away. With ICT, such online-booking service has no longer become a value-added service to the hotel. In fact, it had become an industry standard whereby hotels are expected to provide an online booking service. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that hotels have their website built with online-booking service for guests and to make sure that the system is up to date and user-friendly to guests.
e-Transaction Broker
A transaction broker comes between an organisation and customers (B2B and and B2C business model ) and acts as a facilitator and coordinator that assist to complete a transaction. They act as a linkage between the two parties. They obtain information from organisation and provide information to the customers.
(1) http://www.hotels.com/
Hotels.com is a leading provider of hotel accommodation worldwide, offering reservation services through its own network of localised websites and telephone call centres. Hotels.com gives consumers one of the widest selections of accommodation on the net, including both independent and major chain hotels as well as self-catering in over 120,000 properties worldwide. The company offers a one-stop shopping source for hotel pricing, amenities and availability and also specialises in providing consumers with accommodation during sold-out periods. Consumers can book online or call them anytime, anywhere in the world.
(2) http://www.asiarooms.com/
Asiarooms.com have thousands of hotels listed on their website located all over Asia and beyond. Key destinations include Thailand, India, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, New Zealand, China, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Cambodia and Hong Kong. They also have great deals and availability across the UK and Europe offering consumers the best possible rates and guaranteed secure reservations. They operate in approximately 180 countries, serving more than 30 million consumers in over 20 source markets, and employ approximately 48,000 people worldwide.
Useful Information
http://www.complaintsboard.com/
This website allows consumers to read reviews of other consumers on their past experiences at different hotels as well as their means of hotel room reservation. This allows consumers to roughly gauge if the hotel is suitable for them and what are some important pointers to look out for. Consumers can do a quick search on the hotel they are interested to book and check out the reviews on it. This allows consumers to obtain useful information not available on the hotel's website.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/
TripAdvisor is the world's largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features (including Flights search, TripAdvisor Mobile and TripAdvisor Trip Friends) with seamless links to booking tools. It is provided solely to assist customers in gathering travel information, posting opinions of travel related issues and engaging in interactive travel forums.
http://www.thawte.com/
Privacy is of great concern to most users of the Internet, and is a critical part of an enjoyable and satisfactory user experience. Thawte is acutely aware of, and sensitive to the privacy concerns of their subscribers and other visitors to their Website. Whether you are a customer of their various products and services, or a visitor to their site, they assure you that they do not collect personal information from you unless you provide it to them. They prevent personal information from landing onto third party's hands as well as abuse of credit card information.
Conclusion
To conclude, ICT not only changed the way of how hotels operate, it has also changed the booking process of the customers. ICT has definitely brings more convenience to the hotels' guests, whereby their hotel room booking process is now so much faster, simpler and flexible than before. From the hotels perspective, ICT has definitely helps to improve the efficiency of their work process and the employees' workload which leads to employees having more time to serve the guests in the hotel. This could then leads to better service to be provided to the guests as well.
