CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

To develop a successful online system for hotel, current system and other hand
online system are studied. The current system uses guest files, log book and direct human
language communication by mouth to manage the hotel. Other method is by the website
www.booking.com. The staff, booking information and payment for accommodation
recorded in Microsoft Excel for sales performance during the months. The guest files and
log book can easily get lost or mix up with other guest file documents. A successful
online system need to manage all the kind of service by staff and customer to make
reservation through internet.

The business flow of hotel room reservation, payment, management, data and
information for hotel are gathered by visiting the website of other hands. The sample of
websites from Internet for online system are significant to develop a valid, reliable and
efficient online reservation system. Comparison between weak online reservation system

and efficient online reservation system are used to improve existing system. The literature
review was conducted to gather information and identify the problems that occur in
seeking opportunities in order to improve the productivity of the system that has been
studied.

2.2 Domain Background

The application of the Internet in the business world has become a major trend in
practice. The Internet is a collection of interconnected computer networks, provides free
exchanging of information. Over 400 million of computers or more than 400,000 network
worldwide today are communicating with each other (Napier, Judd, Rivers and Wagner,
2001). As such, the Internet has been becoming a powerful channel for business
marketing and communication (Palmer, 1999) and for new business opportunities, as it
is often called as e-business or e-commerce today (Schneider & Perry, 2001).

This new e-business or e-commerce is a virtual marketplace that allows small

companies competing with business giants by just having a better web presentation of
their services or products. Under the same wave, online customers can enjoy a wider
choice of products or services, more competitive prices and being able to buy their
favorite services. It provides communication between customers and companies and
through electronic data interchange (EDI), buyers and sellers can exchange standard
business transaction such as invoice or purchase orders with remarkable ease.

The hotel industry is certainly full aware of this trend and fully willing to
contribute its share in this effort. Hotels began to see the opportunities that electronic
distribution provided and started to develop their own systems based on the airlines

frameworks. Hotel reservations are becoming a very popular method for booking hotel
rooms. Travelers can book rooms from home by using online security to protect their
privacy and financial information and by using several online travel agents to compare
prices and facilities at different hotels. People can book directly on an individual hotels
website. An increasing number of hotels are building their own websites to allow them to
market their hotels directly to consumers. Non-franchise chain hotels require a booking
engine application to be attached to their website to permit people to book rooms in real
time.

2.3 Study of Existing System

The current manual system uses log book and direct human language
communication by mouth to manage the hotel. This delays information transmission in
the hotel. Booking is done through phone calls or through visit to the hotel booking
office. Other medium is by the website [www.booking.com]. The website directly process
by email for the reservation only but not for payment either fund transfer or credit card.
The guests personal details such as name, age, nationality and duration of stay
are input during booking. The receptionist orders for preparation of the guests room
before his/her check in date. Then, the information is transferred manually to the log
book for compilation of the guests file. On the recording date, the file is transferred to
the reception. On checking in the quest is given the key to his allocated room, he also
specify if he needs room service.
The receptionist hands over the guests file to the next manual procedure. All the
booking and checking for the day are recorded in the log book and the availability of the
room. The guest pays the deposit for the accommodations with their category. The guests
file is updated on daily basis of his expenditure such as extra bed, laundry service, and

extra mineral water. The receptionist will generates the bills on daily basis and give the
bills to the guest during checking out.
During checking out of guest, their expenditure and bills outlines are generated a
day before check outdate. The guest receives their outlines at the reception part as they
check out, where they pay for bills balances if any. After settle the payment, the
receptionist gives the receipt to the guest before leaving the hotel.

Booking information and payment for accommodation recorded in Microsoft

Excel for sales performance during the months. Managers will see the total number of
visitors, room categories choose by guest and comments from visitors for the purpose of
improvement the hotel. The hotel is also using Microsoft Excel for salary staff per month.
Any facilities damage is recorded in a book before replace the new one.

An existing system gives an advantage for staff. They dont need special
computer skills to run the manual system. A computer is not a priority. There is no
reliance on computer devices which may fail since they are machine nature. Manual
system for daily use can relatively low running costs as the system no electricity and
internet service are not provided to record data in excel.

However, guest file and log book are being used. It can easily get lost or mix up
with other guest file documents. All the files occupy a large storage space. Staff faced the
risk for data entry procedure that will prone to errors. Due to easy access to guest data by
unauthorized users, guest data is extremely unconfident. Receptionist need to focus what
they have done and record the data and information to prevent wrong data recorded.

2.4 Study on Harmoni Inn Reservation System

With the growing trend towards Internet-based sales across the industry, online
hotel sales are increasing dramatically. Therefore, the Harmoni Inn Reservation System is
important for the hotel to stay ahead of their competitors in e-commerce. This document
provides an analysis and to further develops of our on-going website which is Harmoni
Inn Reservation System.

2.4.1

Customer

The Harmoni Inn Reservation System will provide a convenient way for onlie
guests to retrieve hotel or rooms information, as well as making room reservation. The
instants confirmation of room booking is feature in this system inoreder to save time and
cost of reservation process. Other features such as photo gallery and promotion or deal
will be loaded in this system to help guest make their decision for staying in Harmoni
Inn.

Customer who want to make reservation only need to login or register to make
reservation. Firstly, customer can view any available room in particular date by fill in the
form provided. Second, customer can choose any room that suitable for them. Third,
customer finally make their reservation by login their account or register an account. The
reservation is confirm by fill in the payment form as a guarantee for their reservation.
System will generate check in ticket.
2.4.2 Staff

Staff can manage room reservation by reading the reservation records made by
guest. Staff can manage reservation by adding reservation record if walk in customer
make reservation. Staff will have a complete control of the website contents through the
back office. They can instantly update the hotels room description, availability, rate,
news, special promotion and more at any time, at no cost.

2.4.2

Manager

Manager can manage staff by viewing staff record. Moreover, the manager can check
the room that has been chosen to the customer in high demand. The sales performance in
every month also can be check by manager.

REFERENCES

[1] Napier, H.A., Judd, P.J., Rivers, O.N., and Wagner, S. W. (2001), Create A Winning Ebusiness, Thomson Learning, Boston, MA.
[2] Palmer, J. (1999). "Digital newspapers explore marketing on the Internet", Communications
of the ACM, v42, p.33[3] The Royal Chulan. Retrieved on March 1, 2015 http://www.theroyalechulan.com/
[4] Shangrila Hotel Kuala Lumpur. Retrieved on March 1, 2015 http://www.shangrila.com/kualalumpur/shangrila/