Fragmentation Key Challenge Facing Hotels in Asia Pacific

According to Amadeus, industry fragmentation is one of the key challenges facing hotels in the Asia Pacific region, both today and in the future.

Speaking at the PATA Travel Mart 2007 in Bali, Indonesia, Bruno des Fontaines, Vice President Hospitality, Amadeus Asia Pacific, pointed out that Asia Pacific's tourism and hospitality industry is booming, yet increasingly complicated ­ with only 20% of rooms booked in Asia Pacific belonging to a hotel chain, compared with 80% in North America.

"Hotel technologies today are extremely fragmented, with hotels having to utilize separate systems for different functions. With multiple hotel chains and independent properties in the market, this creates a hospitality management nightmare in which single properties may have to manually manipulate multiple inventory systems and databases at a time, often with little integration between the systems," said des Fontaines.

"Hotel chains fare a little better, with the majority operating through legacy systems, which offer rich functionality and stable operating environments. However, these legacy systems are generally unwieldy, with high overheads, and are difficult to migrate to new operating systems."

With more than 75,000 hotel properties on the Amadeus system, the company is working to develop next-generation technology that allows hotels to move from dated legacy systems to an integrated platform. Amadeus' new Hotel Distribution Platform will combine hotel distribution, IT systems and e-commerce into one comprehensive system. This will enable the entire industry to simplify operational processes considerably, leading to increased efficiency and the capacity for quick adaptation to customer needs.

"As increasingly savvy travellers in the region begin to demand more control and customisation, it is vital that the travel industry and its underlying technology also 'humanises' to deliver streamlined, personalized and unique experiences for each customer," said des Fontaines.

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