eyefortravel - Travel Distribution India '06

Key distribution trends in India's hospitality market

ETW Staff

Today the use of technology has facilitated easy accessibility to customers worldwide via any mode of communication - mobiles, kiosks, web, interactive TV, hand-held devices, SMS, call centers with toll-free worldwide access, travel shops that are one point-of-sale for all travel services. This session will examine what the future holds for the Indian hospitality marketplace.

Growth of the travel industry has been spurred by a continuing need for fast, accurate and cheaper travel options. Technological breakthroughs with a trend towards automated platforms are driving the growth of this industry. But when it comes to hospitality, which is an integral part of the tourism industry, the situation is different. Amit Taneja, CEO and co-founder of Desiya, says, "The distribution dynamics are changing across all industries but the hospitality industry has been little slow to catch up since it is a very fragmented industry." The West is enough proof that technology is historically changing the way we function. The customer is becoming more and more technology-savvy even as we speak. "The industry needs to overcome its general reluctance to invest in new ideas and technologies and look for applications that will drive the bottom line. This includes using distribution channels, agents and intermediaries to develop customer information sources, and using technology to bring customers what they want - in real time anywhere in the world. But in future the industry has to think on greater investment in technology, e-commerce and commoditisation.

The constant pressure of business targets, sales figures with rising competitiveness in the Indian market has made it vital that focus on customers' needs is viewed as providing opportunities to business. Ongoing expansion of the distribution system continues to facilitate bookings and increased consumer skills in navigating the Web are generating a huge upswing in online reservations of hotel bookings. India's major hotel chains develop more robust online marketing and distribution strategies and online intermediaries race to become one-stop shops for hotel deals. However, Taneja says, "Currently, business generated through the Internet by the hospitality segment is almost negligible. But within the next two to three years the numbers is expected to go up. The industry has realised that it helps shift the controls from the intermediary to the consumer. So hotels that will be technology-savvy and have the rate parity will be able to generate a large chunk of business through the Internet." As hotels grow into large multi-location outfits with increasing size and business volumes, to sustain in a dynamics environment, they need to keep abreast with well-established IT infrastructure that simplifies its daily workings. The future of the hotel technology lies on Inter Protcol (IP), say IT experts. Therefore, hotels need to upgrade their IT-enabled services and simultaneously integrate various operational platforms.

The increasing use of IT applications has given a new meaning to service; effective service is measured vis-à-vis guest convenience using technology know-how. In future, one would see Web-based check-ins for groups as well as identity-based check-in procedures like kiosks.