DEVELOPING A PROPER COMPUTER RESERVATION SYSTEM FOR A SMALL COMPANY

MS. SUNANTA KHAOKHAM

ABSTRACT

Due to the business expansion, the hotel owner at Beach Republic Ocean Club, Samui, Thailand wants to set the standard for everything including the front office operation. Comanche, Opera and Amadeus are popular systems and used by many hotels/resorts throughout Thailand. Through the process of Kepner-Tregoe decision analysis methodology by evaluating of alternatives against MUST Objectives and weighting scores of selected alternatives, Amadeus Front Office System gets the highest score. Also after considering Pros and Cons, there are support reasons more than against reasons. It takes around two years to pay back the cost of implementing the program which it is not too long. Thus we recommend Amadeus Front Office System to the hotel because of the above reason and its key features which cover all hotels requirements. Also, it has full options of share profiles such as CRS, GDS, Sales and Marketing and Catering Management System. Those profiles are important for hotel chains.

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1. INTRODUCTION OF BEACH REPUBLIC

Map of Koh Samui Koh Samui is the third largest island of Thailand after Phuket and Koh Chang and one of the most popular destinations for travelers. In recent years it developed to a tropical beach resort but still maintained its charm and has everything to offer - from coconut tree fringed beaches to tropical jungles to a vibrant nightlife. Popular beaches are Chaweng, Lamai, Bophut & Maenam. Accommodations range from bungalows and villas to 5 star boutique resorts and are suitable for all budgets. Restaurants of all flavors invite for delicious wining and dining and spas and massage facilities for rejuvenation. Activities include elephant 3

trekking, canoeing, sailing, diving, golfing, fishing, biking and all you can think of. There is also a lot to see, like waterfalls, temples and jungles as well as a butterfly garden, an aquarium and tiger zoo, monkey theatre, snake and crocodile farm and a tropical zoo to name some. Day tours to the neighbor islands of Koh Phangan, Koh Tao and the Angthong Marine National Park are well worth to attend. Direct flights to Samui airport from Bangkok, Singapore and Hongkong as well as ferry services from Suratthani makes Koh Samui easy accessible.
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Lamai Beach is the second popular beach after Chaweng and stretches over 4km along the East coast. The beach is not as wide as Chaweng and the sea gets quickly deeper making it perfect for swimming and water sports. At the southern end of the beach the famous Grandfather & Grandmother rock formations called Hin Ta - Hin Yai, stretch their bizarre shapes in the sky. Restaurants, spas, bars and shopping opportunities are plentiful and the nightlife is just second to Chaweng.
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Beach Republic has been launched in December 2008. It stands apart from the crowd with a unique feel and culture of its very own, styled as in independent state. Marrying a contemporary and hip Mediterranean beach lifestyle with a twist of irreverent fun, Beach Republic is instantly sexy, sophisticated, fabulous and cosmopolitan. Then when it is time to dine, time to drink or just time to relax, Beach Republic is always the place to be. While the soul of Beach Republic personifies

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http://www.samuiislandguide.com http://samui.sawadee.com 4

smart, funky and hip Mediterranean, it is influenced by its tropical island location, with striking and authentic Thai and Asian characteristics.

2. RESERVATION SYSTEM

There are 5 villas at Beach Republic now but at the end of 2009, the new 4 private pool villas, 1 Penthouse, 4 suites and serviced apartment will be launched. Moreover, the owner plans to expand his business by creating a chain next year. That is why he wants to set up the standard for everything including front office operations.

Then the present manual booking system will not be appropriate and convenient anymore. Finding the right reservation system can improve front office operations and also the hotel overall operations.

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PROBLEM ANALYSIS Identity: The manual booking system has high limitations so it is not

convenient for the bigger size of business Location: Beach Republic Front Office and chains Timing: It occurs when 2nd phase and new chain will be launched Magnitude: The problem will definitely affect the room reservation and overall hotel performance such as guests satisfaction, guest database, billing, etc. Mapping the problem (Ishikawa Cause & Effect Diagram) We use Ishikawa diagram because it helps thinking through causes of the problem thoroughly rather than just the ones that are most obvious.

People
Not enough staffs English skills: misspelling Making errors easier than computer such as calculating rate

System
Many complicated steps: High errors Hand writing, not professional Low secure: missing document

Consuming long time to produce bills, guest registration form Depending on printer and facsimile Using lots of paper: messy and waste money

Manual booking system is not proper for the future business expanding

Process

Problem Statement The problem is that a manual booking system is not proper for the future business expanding. So the questions are: What is the most appropriate Reservation System for Beach Republic? What systems are popular? What are the Beach Republics requirements?

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DATA COLLECTION Reservation system is an in-house reservation system that can keep close

track of reservations. System can tightly control room availability data and automatically generate many reservation-related reports. The biggest advantage of reservation system is the improved accuracy of room availability and rate information. As reservations agents input reservations and reservation modifications or cancellations into the system, the inventory of the available rooms is immediately updated. In addition, front desk transactions involving no-shows, early departures, or walk-ins will immediately update the computers room availability.

According to Michael L. Kasavana & Richard M. Brooks (2001), the important things to consider in choosing a hotel booking system are as follows.

Security: Hotel booking system software must always be equipped with a security system to ensure safety and privacy. This is to safeguard information given by the guests, so that it wont be leaked or corrupted. Aside from that, online hotel reservations systems need to use security applications like 7

VeriSign. It ensures protection of customers financial information, which may be disclosed when making reservations online.

Ease of use: In choosing a hotel booking system, you need to consider the softwares ease of use. The graphical representation/interface of the application must be easy to comprehend. Complicated interfaces may lead to mistakes in reservation, such as getting the dates wrong or placing a guest in a smoking room when he asked for a non-smoking one.

Convenience: Hotel booking systems need to be incorporated with online reservations. This convenient reservation option must be available to potential guests. This can help them save time by logging in to a hotels website and choosing the amenities and services they need. Payment through the website is also easier with credit or debit cards. The payment includes the room rates and other additional charges like booking fares and taxes.

Effective management: With the use of computerized systems, hotel management can become an easier task. Hotel booking software is equipped with an option that shows the available rooms at any given time. This makes dealing with room accommodations and reservations effective. It can also prevent issues like double booking.

Price: It is also best to consider the cost of getting a hotel booking system. Most of these applications may be a bit pricey depending on their features. There are software manufacturers that offer customization of booking resources to adapt to any hotel management needs. 8

A hotel booking system is vital, especially due to the increasing number of competing hotels available. It is important to take note of all these factors in selecting hotel reservation software. Choosing to utilize a hotel booking system will raise the efficiency of the hotel. This will result in higher guest satisfaction and more revenue for the hotel.

Amadeus Hotel Front Office System (Hogatex) It is suite of solutions to give customers a single view of guest data for every room across multiple hotel properties covering front office, point of sale, inventory management, accounting, sales and banqueting . Key Features: Guest Index and guest history A central guest, company and travel agent index for Front Office, Sales & Marketing, Conference Management as well as Finance Management The guest index layout is user definable (you select the information you require, field descriptions, position and size etc.) Additional freely-definable index types (apart from the standard types, individual guest, company and travel agent)
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http://www.amadeus.com/hotels/x127676.html 9

 Guest search according to surname, first name, contact person, place of residence, telephone number or a whole range of other search criteria Administration of contact persons (companies, travel agents) and associates (individuals) Comprehensive search procedures with several search criteria (and/or function) The Windows version lets you send e-mails directly from the guest index using Microsoft Outlook (the e-mail address is automatically transferred to Microsoft Outlook Records of your guests requests analysis of guest behaviour to allow targeted sales and marketing campaigns Reservations Individual and group reservations including allotment administration Flexible group administration system with editing modes for lines/columns and global alterations as well as automatic room allocation Convenient room sharer administration Powerful reservation search functions according to reservation number, guest or company name, room number, date of arrival/departure, period of time, room category, nationality, package, group name 10

 Comprehensive rate management with package administration Room prices as well as rate management displayed in any currency including Euro. Automatic recall of favorites/preferred rooms Deposit administration with one or more payment amounts and deadlines Correspondence system based on Microsoft Word and fully integrated using OLE technology. Directly from the reservation

menu you can automatically create a link to MS Word. You select your standard form for confirmations of reservation. Word automatically extracts the relevant guest data from Amadeus Front Office. Irrespective of whether you issue the confirmation of reservation for individual, company or group reservations. The integration with Word makes sure that your correspondence always looks professional, acting as a further recommendation for your hotel! Reservation alteration history Direct reservation option in a graphic room plan by simply highlighting the required period of time with the mouse Move around the room plan with the easy drag & drop function. Extend/shorten visits simply by dragging with the mouse

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 You can store room photos and location maps in a bitmap format so that you can quickly answer customers' questions on the phone Availability Availability enquiries according to room type, room category, reservation status, allotments, free room numbers Graphic representation of availability in 35 different types of diagram Graphic room plan with availability indicator according to room numbers in almost any zoom function (scale up/scale down) Integrated mailing marketing module Generates labels or Microsoft Word Merge files Selects guests according to numerous criteria such as number of stays, turnover achieved, country, postal code area, segment code, birthday, age etc. Extended selection criteria enable intelligent links to the reservation and guest history files; you can carry out differentiated marketing campaigns. For instance, you compare a certain period with the same period in the previous year. On the basis of this comparison you select all of the guests who made reservations in the previous year, but who are not yet registered with a reservation for the same period this year (conventions, holidays, sporting events). Based on this, you send out a mailing reminding previous guest of the atmosphere and service range of your hotel - or pointing out your seasonal specials... 12

Euro support Folios printed in Euro and the national currency Room prices in Euro or any other currency Automatic balance display in national currency and Euro Billing Manages all forms of invoices/folios: individual folios, master folios, unit folios, and city ledger invoicing Efficient guest folio functions (split according to item, amount, department etc.); also allows access to special banqueting or specialty charges from the other Amadeus modules Definition of billing instructions, service transfers etc. Customizable guest folios, can be printed in up to 5 additional languages to the "home" language Automatic group checkout, can also be linked with printout of unit folios Takes into account the fiscal legislation in more than 40 countries and support multiple foreign currencies within each version. Complete Microsoft Office integration Correspondence such as proposals, confirmations of reservations, billing reminders are automatically compiled in Word and printed, faxed* or sent by e-mail.

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Correspondence history The system automatically archives the entire guest correspondence for each guest or company file so that it can be accessed chronologically in Microsoft Word format at the touch of a key. This means that when a guest asks questions about the correspondence over the phone, these can be answered directly from the computer monitor. Night audit, lists and statistics Freely definable night audit Easy-to-learn list generation for the guest index and reservations areas More than 100 pre-compiled reports for the night audit, billing, reservations etc. areas are included Optional "Actuate Report Writer/Generator for compiling complex reports and statistics A wide variety of statistics such as management and financial reports, sales, account statistics, nationalities, source and segment statistics, package statistics, Food and Beverage reporting, cancellation statistics, commission payments etc. Interfaces to external systems Amadeus supplies several hundred interfaces to telephone systems, pay TV systems, key card systems, cash register/pos systems, drink 14

dispenser, SMART card systems, energy management systems, yield management systems, as well as central reservation and GDS systems. The technology behind it all Modern client-server architecture Open system designed for use with operating systems from various manufacturers. Possible server operating systems are e.g. UNIX (SCO UNIX, UnixWare, IBM AIX, SUN SOLARIS) or Windows NT Server 4.0 and the workstations can use Windows 95/98, Windows NT Workstation 4.0, Windows XP Relational, transaction-oriented database system PROGRESS with SQL interface Progress ProVision object-oriented 4GL development system (32 Bit) plus C++ OLE interfaces to Microsoft Word All interfaces to telephone, PAY-TV, key card systems, etc. run as background processes on the server, so Amadeus means you don't need interface gateway PCs. Operation Fully graphic user interface, clear and easy to use Operated by mouse, function keys or keyboard Permanent user guidance with help buttons and input help for each field 15

 Multi-language version: the user selects the language when starting Security: extensive administration of access authorization at user, program and function levels Non-stop operation No time-consuming reorganization processes following a system stoppage. The Amadeus database reorganizes itself fully

automatically while you carry on working. Progress online backup feature: During backup you can carry on working with the Amadeus applications. Non-stop night audit: During the night audit you carry on working with all Amadeus applications, apart from a few minimal restrictions.

OPERA Reservation System (ORS) Opera is the MICROS property management system used in many large hotel chains, such as Travelodge Hotels UK, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Rydges Hotels and Resorts, Marriott Hotels and the InterContinental Hotels Group.
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Key Features: Global Perspective: ORS supports multi-currency and multi-language features to meet the hotel reservation system requirements of global operations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MICROS_Systems 16

Rates and revenues can be dynamically converted from the local currency to any other currency. The appropriate language for guest correspondence can be automatically determined by the guests profile language; during the reservation process, key information such as the property, room, and rate descriptions can be displayed in multiple languages. Country-specific address formats are supported. Automatic Rate and Inventory Controls: The ORS central reservation system lets you set up rate structures for individual properties, groups of properties, or for chains. Multi-level rate and inventory controls make inventory management easier and increase profitability. Rates and room types can be automatically restricted based on percentage occupancy, minimum stay through, arrival date, and more. Agents can use the hotel reservation system to easily determine best available rates for any length of stay. To maximize property revenues, these hotel reservation computer systems also support interfacing to major yield management systems. Full Reservation Functionality: Agents making reservations with the ORS central reservation system can easily handle complex operations such as routing instructions and split charges, shared reservations, frequent flyer and loyalty program memberships, negotiated rates, and rate discounts (percentage or fixed amount). Multiple advance deposit requirements and cancellation penalties may be applied to reservations with ORS; deposit transactions automatically transfer to the property. Group and Block Features: Creating and managing group and block reservations is as easy in the ORS central reservation system environment as it is 17

using a stand-alone hotel PMS. Room blocking, rooming lists, room sharing, deposits, tour series, and other group booking features are handled by ORS. Sales Flow Control: This hotel reservation system lets you customize the flow of the sales process by the chain or property. ORS operations can be optimized for any operational environment. Dynamic global messaging, selling scripts, and closing scripts guide the agent through the selling process. Agents can easily change or cancel existing bookings and move bookings to different properties or dates any time prior to check-in. Multi-Property Rate Display: The ORS central reservation system availability display can show rates, room types, and packages for one property or for multiple properties. Agents can easily re-query for alternate dates when the requested dates are not available. Color-coding throughout the sales screen lets the agent see at a glance why a property, room, or rate might be unavailable. Efficient Searching: Use the ORS hotel reservation system to conveniently search for room availability across properties and chains. By entering just a few criteria, agents can narrow a property search. Searching can be controlled by one or more criteria, including property name, city, region, property features, property type (e.g., 3-star, 4-star) package elements, attractions, rate range, and so on. The ORS central reservation systems property information displays are comprehensive, with details on transportation services, restaurants, and amenities, etc. Area maps and images of the property can also be provided. ORS automatically logs the original search criteria and whether the call resulted in a booked reservation or a turnaway. 18

Reports and Logs: The ORS hotel reservations computer systems offer dozens of standard reports that provide extensive data for analysis and management of CRO and property performance. Activity logs maintain an audit trail of reservation and profile related activity for each agent. Channel Management: Hotels and chains can also use the central reservation system to review business volume by channel and open or close channels based on channel, property, rate, or room type. Much of the channel management setup information is pre-configured to make it easy to get started.

Comanche Front Office System Comanche is an Information Technology (IT) Solution Company specializing in providing total solution for hotels, serviced apartment. We have been established since 1996, with more than 200 current customers throughout 9 Asian Countries including Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Guam, Australia, Indonesia, Laos, Hong Kong, and China. Starting from 60 room hotel up till 400 rooms hotel. Comanche Front Office System was exclusively designed for hotels and serviced apartments by Experienced hoteliers who have been working in five-star hotels and developed by using the high level object-oriented visual programming. With such knowledge and deep understanding on the identifying of this kind of business, Comanche Front Office System, as a result, completely covers all necessary functions required by Asian Hotel users.

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Key Features: Profile: Company Profile Agency Profile Guest Profile Rate Code Setup Sales Manager Setup Market Segment Setup

Guest History: Guest history detail: guest name, email address, guest type, room number, arrival / departure date, guest statistic Automatic history History enquiry by guest name, company name, birth date, nationality, country, VIP Level, number of visit, guest name, number of visit Reservation: New Booking / Inquiry, Edit / Change Booking, Share Booking, Cancel Booking, Billing Setup, Additional charge, Advance Deposit, User Log Group Reservation: Group Booking, Group Room Assigned, Group

Booking Detail, Group Master Template, Billing Setup Template, Additional Setup Template, Group Master setup, Room availability with allotment availability, Meal plan schedule, Guest / Group note, Guest detail, Message to Guest / Group, Guest / Group flag, Name list for Group reservation, Deposit on booking, Make a 20

reservation from guest history, Room assignment, Automatic look up for contract rate, Unlimited number of guest origin / source of business, Unlimited number of contract rate, Unlimited number of rack rate, Tentative booking / Waiting list/ Confirm, Cancel / Re-booking, Guest update log Billing: Create and Post Cash sales folio, Post to guest folio, Currency exchange, Correction transaction, Transfer transaction, Over credit limit alert, Folio display & printing on demand, Folio History, Transaction Inquiry, Multiple Payment, Guest / Group check out, Changing folio, Closing folio, View & printing closed folio, Tax invoice issuing, Express Posting, Shift closing by shift / user ID. Night Auditor: Room Rate Check, Automatic charge Room and other expenses, Automatic printing daily report, Close Day (Approx. 5-10 minutes), Precheck for non-extended guest, Pre-check for un-posting room charge, Pre-check for un-posting other charge, Pre-check for duplicated end of day process, Automatic printing trial balance report, Automatic printing room recapitulation report, Changing guest status, Generate guest statistic, Generate income transaction, Generate account receivable transaction, Automatic back up, Clearing data, Increment system date Housekeeping: Room status, Expected arrival guest, Expected departure guest, Floor plan, Room statistic count, Room remark, House keeper report

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Report: Reservation report: Agent productivity, Allotment control,

Comparison of agent productivity, Market & rate analysis, Occupancy forecast, Revenue forecast, Reservation list, Room availability Registration report: Guest / Group checked in today, Guest / Group checked out today, Guest / Group in house, Complimentary guest, Nationality summary, Early check out, Extend stay, Expected arrival, Expected departure, Extra bed, Guest history, Guest requirement, Meal plan schedule, Immigration, Market & rate, Name list, No Show, Occupancy history, Room changed, Rate change, Rate discrepancy, Rechecked in, Room recapitulation, Room situation Front accounting report: Cashier summary, Shift closing by shift / user, Department posting journal, Transaction transferred, Voided transaction VAT summary, Guest ledger, Over credit limit, Checked out summary, City ledger transfer, Trial balance Graph report: Comparison of agent productivity, Market & rate analysis, Nationality summary, Occupancy history, Revenue forecast, Trial balance Configuration (Setup Menu): General Configuration, Room information, Travel agent, Folio, Room Rate, Transaction List, Market segment, Miscellaneous

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5.

DECISION ANALYSIS

System Features Comparison Comanche Opera V.3 Amadeus Hogatex

Multi Property Multi Language Multi Comment Multi Currency Room Availability check by Room Type Room Category Reservation type Allotment Reservation Allotment Group Import name from Clipboard Split Reservation Compress Reservation Profiles Profiles type (Total) Contact 23

In-House Individual Check in Group Check in Cashier Individual Check out Group Check out Housekeeping Change room status Out of order Attendant Worksheets Add on module (Share profiles) GDS CRS Reservation Catering Conference Management Sales & Marketing Other Statistic Report Budget Account Receivable Group Messages, Wake ups Mail Merge, Label 24

Correspondences Outgoing Mail, Incoming Mail attached WinWord Template Administration

Integrate to MS Outlook, Excel, and Word Allow or Block Telephone, Video Night Audit, Close Day 5-10min. 5-10min. YES SQL NO

5-10min. YES SQL NO

Able to use other computer while Close Day YES Database -

Re-index, File Maintenance, Reorganization YES

Kepner-Tregoe Decision Analysis This decision making tool is developed by Kepner and Tregoe. Kepner Tregoe decision making is a structured methodology for gathering information and prioritizing and evaluating it. It was developed by Charles H. Kepner and Benjamin B. Tregoe in the 1960s. Kepner-Tregoe's trademark technique, Rational Process, which is commonly referred to as the 'KT Process', is the creation of structured, systematic processes which are used to maximize the critical thinking skills of key stakeholders in a particular situation, problem (potential or real), decision or opportunity. Kepner-Tregoe Decision Analysis is one of the Kepner-Tregoe Business Excellence tools. It is constructed to make the decision-making process as well defined and free from emotion as possible. The

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great strengths of this process are to make the decision more consistent, include all relevant parties in the decision, and to minimize the possibility of "hidden agendas". (Sources: Wikipedia) Step 1: Need to define MUST requirements and rank the WANT objectives and assign relative weights. Strategic requirements - 'must haves' objectives 1. User friendly 2. Central reservation system Operational objectives - 'want to haves' objectives Objectives
1. Microsoft Office Integration 2. Security 3. Interface with external system: TV, Key card 4. Price 5. Central Reservation System

Weight (10 Points) 8 10 5 7 8

WANT objectives and relative weights

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Step 2: Eliminate any alternative that does not fit the 'must haves'.
Must Objectives Manual Go/ NoGo Comanche Go/ NoGo Fully graphic user interface, clear and easy to use Go Opera ORS Version 3 Fully graphic user interface, clear and easy to use Go/ NoGo Go Amadeus Hogatex Fully graphic user interface, clear and easy to use Go/ NoGo Go

User-Friendly

Many complicated steps and papers

NoGo

Central Reservation System for chains

Can

Go

Cannot

NoGo

Can

Go

Evaluation of Alternatives against MUST Objectives Step 3: After that, go through each alternative one by one; rate it against each Want objectives on a scale of 1 to 10. Next, multiply the weight of the objective by the satisfaction score to come up with the weighted score. Alternative 1: Comanche Want Objectives
Microsoft Office Integration Security Interface with external system: TV, Key card Price Central Reservation System Total

Weight

Comanche Info
Can integrate and also can produce PDF file Low secure: Easy to correct data Clear interface with multi languages moderate YES with limited options

Satisfaction score
8

Weighted score
64

8 10 5 7 8

8 5

80 25

7 5

49 40 258

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Alternative 2: Amadeus Want Objectives

Microsoft Office Integration

Weight 8

Amadeus Info
automatically compiled in Word and printed, faxed* or sent by e-mail. High secure:

Satisfaction score
8

Weighted score
64

Security Interface with external system: TV, Key card Price Central Reservation System Total

10 5 7 8

10 5

100 25

access authorization
several hundred interfaces Higher price YES with fully options

5 8

35 64 288

Step 4: Then, consider each alternative against all of the negative effects. One at a time again, rate alternatives against adverse effects, scoring for probability and significance. Alternative 1: Comanche Adverse Effect Probability(10pt) Significance(10pt) 10 Weighted Score 50

After sales service 5* is not sufficient System error Total 3**

24 74

* There is a Comanche branch at Samui so when the problem occurs; the technician can come to the hotel quickly.

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** from survey Alternative 2: Amadeus Adverse Effect Probability(10pt) Significance(10pt) 10 Weighted Score 70

After sales service 7* is not sufficient System error Total 3**

24 94

*It takes time to fix the problem because there is no branch at Samui. But they have 24 hours-call remote assistant. ** from survey Step 5: Finally, analyze the weighted score versus the adversity rating for each and choose the high-scoring one. Weighted score Comanche Amadeus 258 288 Adversity score 74 94 Total 184 194

Weighted Score Versus Adversity Rating As a result, Amadeus gets the highest score so the most suitable system should be Amadeus. However, it is better to consider pros and cons about changing the manual system to Amadeus system.

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Pros and Cons Analysis: Implementing the Amadeus Front Office System Pros Improve front office operations Quick and easy reservation Correct room rate calculation Cons Invest a lot of money Need to have experienced staff Might replace the present computer and machine to support the new technology Use paper less: save money Decrease mistakes and lost document Have a standard system for future chain

Cost/Benefit Analysis Cost Setting the Amadeus system Amadeus staff accommodation per 1 night and transportation Equipment maintenance per year Total 3,000 baht 236,500 baht 230,000 baht 3,500 baht

Cost/Benefit Analysis is a relatively simple and widely used technique for deciding whether to make a change. As its name suggests, to use the technique 30

simply add up the value of the benefits of a course of action, and subtract the costs associated with it. (Source: The Mind Tools EBook) Benefit Save paper and stationary cost Improve accuracy of customer information Improve customer service More ability to manage online reservation Total 101,900 baht per year Estimate 20,000 baht Estimate 50,000 baht Estimate 16,900 baht Estimate 15,000 baht

Payback time: 236,500/101,900 baht = 2.32 year

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Due to the future expansion, the present manual booking is not easy to use

because of its complicated steps and also can cause many problems and leads to poor front office operations such as high errors, incorrect room rate calculating and missing documents. Through the process of Kepner-Tregoe decision analysis methodology by evaluating of alternatives against MUST Objectives and weighting scores of selected alternatives, Amadeus Front Office System gets the highest score. Also after considering Pros and Cons, there are support reasons more than against reasons. It takes around two years to pay back the cost of implementing the program 31

which it is not too long. Thus we recommend Amadeus Front Office System to the hotel because of the above reason and its key features which cover all hotels requirements. Also, it has full options of share profiles such as CRS, GDS, Sales and Marketing and Catering Management System. Those profiles are important for hotel chains.

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REFERENCES

Michael L. Kasavana & Richard M. Brooks (2001). Managing Front Office Operations Sixth Edition. Michigan: The Educational Institute Of The American Hotel And Lodging Association.

James Manktelow (2004). Mind Tools Essential Skills for an Excellent Career. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Mind Tools Ltd.

http://www.siamspaguide.com http://www.samuiislandguide.com http://www.beachrepublic.com http://www.siamdiningguide.com http://samui.sawadee.com http://www.samuirestaurantguide.com/nikki-beach http://www.hol.co.uk/case-studies/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MICROS_Systems http://www.amadeus.com/hotels/x127676.html http://www.howtodothings.com http://www.decision-making-confidence.com/kepner-tregoe-decisionmaking.html

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