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No single factor looms with more uncertainty or greater complexity for investors in the hospitality sector than how the industry can best make technology investments to gain competitive advantage. Technology is a big-ticket item in terms of costs, and the amounts investors are being called to finance are growing. And if the industry plans to keep on top of new advances, it will cost even more. Indeed, some hospitality companies have invested unprecedented sums in technology while others continue to face the challenge of persuading hesitant third-party owners of the merits of such investment. These and other factors pose important questions. If investors do not support spending on technology, hospitality companies will suffer not just in information management but in service to guests. But what price tag for technology is appropriate? Even more, what are the implications for the hospitality industry as technology ultimately creates seamless networks of information and opportunities worldwide? What will this mean for hotel operations, marketing and customer service? Open architectures in hospitality technology Today's hospitality industry technology represents a legacy reflecting the computer industry's capabilities during the last two decades and the willingness of hotel executives to embrace its products. We stand on the latest wave of a historical evolution beginning with the early hotel accounting systems in the 1960s and early 1970s. These were followed by a variety of front-office systems introduced in the 1980s and finally to today's property management systems and the latest efforts in integrated customer information systems, data warehouses and the like... To read the complete article, click here to download the printable pdf file (72 kb).
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