Info-communication technologies (ICTs)
The introduction and rapid spread of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), such as the world wide web, e-mail, telephones, fibre optics and satellites is revolutionising the way in which societies interact, conduct their businesses, compete in international markets and set their economic and human development agendas. ICTs enable societies to produce, access, adapt and apply information in greater amounts, more rapidly and at reduced costs and offer enormous opportunities for enhancing business and economic viability.
To further evaluate how ICT change hotel room reservation, we need to compare past (say 20 years ago) and present hotel reservation.
Past
Hotel reservations were made through physical contacts, either direct oversea calls or making a trip down to travel agency to make enquiries and bookings. Bookings and billings are manually done. All these procedures are time-consuming and costly. Besides there is also information asymmetry as one party has more information than the other party. In this case, information provided by travel agencies and hotel staffs can be misleading at times in order to drum up more hotel reservations as they receive commissions base on hotel reservations made and other services provided. In addition, it is quite hard to compare prices of various hotels back then. Thus, it is very difficult for individuals to make informed decisions.
Present
But all the issues encountered during hotel reservations in the past are solved due to the introduction ICT, namely the internet. ICT has revolutionized distribution of tourism information and sales (hotel reservations). In this era, speed is essential. With just a simple click away, consumers can find out almost everything about their holiday destinations. Comparison can be made instantaneously. Everything is done in real time and hassle-free. This is especially important as competition is steep among hotels as consumers now have almost all information (prices and choices) at their fingertips.
A case study on AirAsiago.com
AirAsiaGo.com is a 3rd party website or transaction broker (also referred to as a facilitator, coordinator or contract broker) is not a representative or agent for either the buyer or the seller. The job of a transaction broker is to help both the buyer and the seller with the necessary paperwork and formalities.
In order to gain more exposure and reach out to majority of the world, hotels around the world have tie-up with airliners and online travel agents to help them advertise and provide information about their hotels. This is especially important in today’s business to business model (B2B).
AirAsiaGo.com similar to other online travel agents such as hotels.com, asiarooms.com, etc provide one-stop services. Booking of flights (in this case air asia only), hotel rooms specialized avtivities, attractive tour packages. AirAsiaGo.com provides 70000 hotel choices worldwide and have hotel reviews to help users find the best deal in the right location. Airasiago.com also makes comparison among hotels to guarantee the best deals for consumers. Consumers can confirm their bookings by making payment through credit cards which is very convenient. In addition, consumers can make last minute changes or even cancellation with no strings attached. ICT has made all information gathering easy and cost effective.
However, nothing is perfect. There are downsiders of ICT as well. Personal particulars of consumers are exposed to cyber theft. This can be quite cumbersome and irritating though everything will be sorted out eventaully. Besides, hotel information provided by online travel agents can be quite misleading at times in order to increase hotel bookings made. Thus, wise consumers would cross reference information with other online travel agents to sort out any discrepancies. Online travel agents would need to incur maintenance cost as to keep their ICT up-to-date and try to prevent any cyber attacks so as to safeguard their datebases of clientele.
Conclusion
ICT has brought great conveniences and increased effficiency for all parties. In order to remain in competition, organisations must always align themselves with ICTs so as to remain in competition. ICT has revolutioned the tourism industry. Making it from "spaces of places" to "space of flows".
AirAsiaGo.com similar to other online travel agents such as hotels.com, asiarooms.com, etc provide one-stop services. Booking of flights (in this case air asia only), hotel rooms specialized avtivities, attractive tour packages. AirAsiaGo.com provides 70000 hotel choices worldwide and have hotel reviews to help users find the best deal in the right location. Airasiago.com also makes comparison among hotels to guarantee the best deals for consumers. Consumers can confirm their bookings by making payment through credit cards which is very convenient. In addition, consumers can make last minute changes or even cancellation with no strings attached. ICT has made all information gathering easy and cost effective.
However, nothing is perfect. There are downsiders of ICT as well. Personal particulars of consumers are exposed to cyber theft. This can be quite cumbersome and irritating though everything will be sorted out eventaully. Besides, hotel information provided by online travel agents can be quite misleading at times in order to increase hotel bookings made. Thus, wise consumers would cross reference information with other online travel agents to sort out any discrepancies. Online travel agents would need to incur maintenance cost as to keep their ICT up-to-date and try to prevent any cyber attacks so as to safeguard their datebases of clientele.
Conclusion
ICT has brought great conveniences and increased effficiency for all parties. In order to remain in competition, organisations must always align themselves with ICTs so as to remain in competition. ICT has revolutioned the tourism industry. Making it from "spaces of places" to "space of flows".
