REVIEW OF THE USAGE OF ICT IN HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM

OPERATIONS

1.0 Introduction

The tourism and hospitality industry is one of the slightest productive areas in the economies

of the most developed countries (Gomezelj, 2016). The feast of ICTs has an extreme effect on

ensuring ecological worldwide and tourism advance, above all in less industrialized regions

(UNCTAD, 2014). ICTs seem to offer new chances for commercials mostly appropriate in four

different features: gaining a competitive advantage, improving productivity, emerging new

industries, and enabling new ways of management. In today's competitive business ambience,

it is necessary for practitioners in the hospitality for that matter hotels to work assiduously to

maintain and develop their competitiveness because of technological advancement.

Information technology is everywhere in this day and age and adding to communication

technology, the possibility of how it can be used is endless (Ansah, Blankson & Kontoh,

2012).

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) involves the use of computer hardware,

software and telecommunication devices to store, manipulate, convert, protect, send, and

receive data (Olifer & Olifer, 2006). Computer and technological devices have made it easier

for professionals to collect, store, manipulate and share data and information both individually

and within organizations, small and large, public and private. According to Connolly & Lee,

(2006), IT helps to meet the demands for timely and accurate information by customers and the

ICT diffusion in the tourism and hospitality industries has recently increased at an

unprecedented rate. ICT has become an integral part of human daily activities that sometimes

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we barely notice its effect, and has had a major impact on the way we live, work, and play. The

hotel industry sell to consumers is changing dramatically over the past few years (Chike &

Nkiruka, 2017).

The use of networking in the front office helps very much in sharing information across the

hotels especially those in the chain. The growth in the use of networked computers is one of

the most significant trends in modern computing. Though the interconnection of computers in

itself is not new, the application of networking is seeing a dramatic increase such that it is now

one share information from one hotel branch to another within the same chain across different

geographical areas. Computers can connect to these networks to use facilities from another

hotel or location. Through ICT, Centralised Reservation Systems (CRS) is used in the hotel

sector to give information on hotel products and services, market, and sell to customers

(Ansah, Blankson & Kontoh, 2012).

According to Quarshie & Amenumey (2018) supported by Ismail (2002), Ayeh (2005), Hinson

& Boateng (2007), and Issahaku (2012), there is limited knowledge on the use of ICT in the

hospitality sector, particularly the hotel subsector of Ghana. These studies indicated that ICT

usage in the hospitality and tourism industry were limited and most of them still lack some

basic ICT facilities such as internet or wifi services This makes it extremely difficult for

customers such as business travellers who may need ICT services during their stay in these

facilities choose other destination where they will have such services. To support the research

conducted by Quarshie & Amenumey (2018), it important to conduct a critical review of

literature on the usage of ICT in hospitality and tourism operations. Thus, this review fills the

gap in the literature on the benefits of ICT usage in hospitality and tourism operations, also

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outlining directions for future research and go on to contribute to the foregoing academic

discourse on the use of ICT in hospitality and tourism operations in Ghana.

2.0 ICT in Hospitality Sector and Change in Hospitality by Adopting ICT

ICT plays a major role in tourism, travel, hospitality, and the hotel industry. The integration of

ICT in the hotel industry is very essential for the success of hotels (Bethapudi, 2013). Some

scholars believe that ICT can lead to the economic development of nations (Aziz, Bakhtiar,

Syaquif, Kamaruddin, & Ahmad, 2012). Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

is a term used to describe various electronic tools that are capable of transmitting information

and data in a network. ICT is a broad genre of communications technologies that includes

telephone signals, computers, software, data storage, and audio-visual devices that allow

information to be accessed, transmitted, stored, and modified. ICT allows organizations to

carry out their operations and strategic goals by interacting with stakeholders as well as

managing their data and processes (Niazi, 2012). Examples of ICT devices used to

communicate information in a business context includes Internet (web), Information Points,

Digital TV, Social Media, 3G, GPRS, WIFI telecommunication signals, Computers software),

Email, Mobile Phones, Virtual reality, PDA's, Game consoles, Mobile applications, Digital

Radio. ICT has had a transformational impact on the modern business environment by creating

a new competitive marketplace.

E-commerce is the ability to execute transactions via ICT and e-business is the method of

conducting business activities using ICT solutions. The introduction of e-commerce and e-

business has increased possibilities and potentials for all industries, including Tourism and

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Hospitality (Zhou, 2004). E-Commerce can benefit modern industries by allowing local

businesses to access the global market, creating new opportunities to export products and

services, increasing the operational efficiency within an organization.

Tourism is currently one of the fastest-growing industries in the world (Altin & Uysal, 2011)

and as a service industry combining a range of products and services from other stakeholders,

e-commerce and the adoption of ICT offer great business potential. The combination of

different activities and information in offering a tourism and hospitality product means that

specific product distribution can be catered for and that value-adding chains can be established

((Hayle, 2011). The use of ICT in the tourism and hospitality industry, in particular Computer

networks, has been in existence for over 30 years with the first major use of ICT included the

creation of central reservation and booking systems for Airlines in particular. Sabre, Galileo,

Amadeus, and Worldspan are all examples of global distribution systems (GDS) used for such

purposes (Gomis & González-Reverté, 2012). The next major transitional technology

incorporated by the tourism and hospitality industries is the adoption of the Internet during the

1990s and beyond.

2.3 ICT in Front Office Operations

Technology is used to push slower moving businesses by providing better service, improved

decision making, and increasing revenue. Hotel operators are now realizing that a brand in

itself is not enough (Hayle, 2011). Networks are used to link together computers, storage

devices, printers, telephony, and other electronic devices (Hayle, 2011). The hotel's systems

could be networked to share resources via either Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area

Network (WAN). The LAN helps to share information within a hotel, such as from restaurant

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to front office and the WAN helps to share information from one hotel branch to another

within the same chain across different geographical areas. Computers can connect to these

networks to use facilities from another hotel or location (Dutta, Bilbao-Osorio, & Geiger,

2012).

Through ICT, Centralised Reservation Systems (CRS) could be used to exploit data and

information resources. The link to a centralized reservation system is considered one of the

most important benefits of joining any hotel franchise (Li, 2012). Networking the centralized

reservation system enhances cost-effectiveness, faster communications, and effective exchange

of information and efficient management of data (Lucey, 2005). With a sophisticated central

reservation system, a hotel chain provides individual hotels and managers in the chain with a

tool to increase reservations, maximize sales, implement yield management, enhance market

capabilities and improve quest services. The systems are also linked to airline CRSs to form a

Global Reservation System to allow travel agents to make direct reservations for their clients.

CRS in no doubt faces unprecedented operational and guest services challenges such as system

downtime, but may still be essential to survival (Li, 2012).

2.4 ICT Applications in the Food and Beverage Department

As information technologies grow, firms used computer information systems to assist them in

attaining their business, strategic and competitive goals. According to the International Quality

and Productivity Center (2001), as firms develop improvement in the new Digital Economy,

organizations are relying on their IT departments to plan, build up, and install on-line

solutions. Firms nowadays especially hotels are using IT to unite with their stakeholders such

as consumers, suppliers, workers, and management.

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2.4.1 Restaurant Management Information System (RMIS)

As stated by Kearns (1997 cited in Aziz, Bakhtiar, Syaquif, Kamaruddin, & Ahmad, 2012),

information technology (IT) and management information systems (MIS) are identical terms.

They are just a set of interconnected computerized mechanisms that work mutually to collect,

retrieve, process, store and distribute information for the reason of facilitating planning,

control, coordination, analysis, and decision-making infirm. IT is usually used for order

processing, accounting, and marketing in foodservice. In the hotel, the information system that

commonly used in the restaurant is the restaurant management information system (RMIS).

Restaurant Management Information Systems (RMIS), according to Choe (1998 cited in Aziz,

Bakhtiar, Syaquif, Kamaruddin, & Ahmad, 2012) as well as Huber (2003), is a system that

shore up the management in their decision-making processes as well as in traditional financial

reporting, variance reporting, and forecasting. RMIS has been used to develop store

performance in many ways. For example producing reports that help in managerial decision-

making, reducing food delivering times, improving service quality, producing forecasts that aid

managers in order, planning food production, and scheduling labour. Ansah, Blankson &

Kontoh, (2012) said that by well deploying RMIS at the operational level, companies may

develop and force their unique operational resources and capabilities.

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2.4.2 ICT Applications in Room Division Department

Nowadays, many organizations in the hotel industry have progressively invested in information

technology (IT) consecutively to boost the efficiency of their business process, support

management decision-making, and enhance their productivity. Ham, Kim & Jeong (2015) as

well as Lam, Cho & Qu (2017), alluded to the fact that, since IT has been appeared to have a

remarkable return in competition, the hotel industry has broadly relied on IT to improve their

employees' productivity and efficiency, as well as customer satisfaction. Many researchers

have instituted that there is a positive connection between IT investment and organization

productivity and performance (Byrd & Turner, 2011; Rai, Patnayakuni, & Patnayakuni, 2017).

However, other seminal studies, although there are positive effects and advantages, there will

be barriers to external factors that influenced the acceptance of IT and new IT would not be

fully accepted (Parsons, & Oja, 2013; Strielkowski, 2012).

2.5 The Role of ICT in Tourism

Effective and high-speed ICT infrastructure and software applications in the tourism and

hospitality industry are crucial for tourism development. ICTs allow customer – management

relations and supply chain management to be combined into a single a source that facilitates a

variety of operations - product selection, ordering, fulfillment, tracking, payment, and reporting

to be performed with one easy-to-use tool (Dutta, Bilbao-Osorio, & Geiger, 2012). ICTs

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ultimately cut costs by enabling the provider to be in direct contact with the consumer and also

impact employment through the need for the required maintenance of ICT equipment.

Management within tourism companies uses ICTs to undertake a range of tasks that enhance

the efficiency of employees in the workplace, notably online reservations (Edexel Limited,

2010). The development of ICTs has also led to changes in demand and supply (Crick, 2011).

Higher demand for flexible, individualized options and quality of information has personalized

leisure and tourism behaviour, a consequence of increased ICT use. Through new technology

and social and economic ratings (e.g., social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, blogs)

customers can share information and research ratings on the destination, quality of service in

hotels and restaurants, and environmental and social conditions. Several hotels (e.g., Marriot

Hotels and Resorts, Ritz Carlton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, and Resorts) have strengthened their

brand image and communicate directly with their customers by posting links to a press release

or promoting new package through Twitter (Crick, 2011).

2.6 Benefits of ICT Use in the Hospitality Industry

Issahaku, (2012) affirmed that the utilization of ICT in the hospitality industry has increased

the demand by consumers for quality service from hotel practitioners. And this has resulted in

some hotels having adopted ICT towards increasing operational efficiencies, reduction in

transactional cost, facilitation of quality management of hotels, enhancement of productivity,

and easy access to hospitality information. ICT empowers consumers to identify, customize,

and purchase tourism and hospitality products (Bethapudi, 2013). It further supports the

globalization of the tourism and hospitality industry by providing tools for developing,

managing, and distributing offerings worldwide. Also, effective and high-speed ICT

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infrastructure and software applications in the tourism and hospitality industry are crucial for

tourism development. This development in ICT allows customer management relations and

supply chain management to be combined into a single source that facilitates a variety of

operations such as product selection, ordering, tracking, payment, and reporting to be

performed within the shortest possible time (Bethapudi, 2013). A survey conducted by Sigala

(2003 cited in Quarshie, & Amenumey, 2018) on ICT productivity in 3-star hotels in the UK

found that ICT assimilation greatly increased operational efficiencies. ICT allowed the hotels

to replace manual re-entry of data with computerised automatic systems, ensured the easy

recovery of information, sharing, and searching of consolidated databases, which are vital for

informational dynamic products/services. Besides, she noted that integration among ICT was

also limited and concentrated within three clusters. These clusters were identified as

distribution and reservation ICT, Food and Beverage ICT, and Front Office ICT in the hotel

services (Ansah, 2012). Many researchers consider advantages associated with new

information and communication technology to include reduction of operational costs for

business, convenience for consumers, and rapid speed of transactions (Parsons, & Oja, 2013;

Abrhám, & Jenčková, 2015). It enables spreading the marketing message rapidly at a minimum

cost. The use of ICT results in a significant cut on transaction costs for hospitality sector

enterprises and eliminates the geographical barriers created by distance (through accumulating,

processing and distributing proper data), which were necessary to control business processes

and, in that sense, the healthy development of a company (Buhalis & Law, 2008 cited in

Jaremen, 2016).

Information and communication technologies offer a wide spectrum of solutions influencing

the increased efficiency level of economic processes in the area of marketing and sales. ICT

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usage supports the efficient functioning of enterprises since it speeds up management

procedures and upgrades both efficiency and quality of economic operations performed in an

enterprise. The introduction of modern information technologies allows for taking better

advantage of the resources at the disposal of a hotel enterprise, whereas their fast development

imposes the need for reorganizing enterprises and making investments (Jaremen, 2016).

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