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CASE
STUDY

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Name:MOHINI RAJARAM CHORAT

Roll no – 217504

Class- TY BSc CS

Subject –SOFTWARE TESTING

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 INTRODUCTION

 A Central Reservation System, or CRS, is a technology that lies at

the heart of a hotel’s functions. It’s a computerized system that
contains the hotel’s availability, rates, and inventory (ARI) data and
helps manage online and offline bookings. With the help of the
channel manager that we discuss below, it distributes the hotel
information to various sales channels — such as GDSs, OTAs,
independent travel agents, and its own website, — synchronizes
reservations, and processes transactions.
 Implementing a CRS increases overall efficiency due to the
automation of numerous processes, i.e. immediately updating the
hotel’s ARI across all distribution channels or sending confirmation
emails. Obviously, that speeds up performance, minimizes errors
caused by manual operation, and reduces the cost of human labor.
Also, the CRS booking capabilities provide an easy way for
customers to manage their own reservations which increases their
satisfaction and loyalty.
 Another benefit involves providing better visibility into the booking
activity and other related data, allowing for more comprehensive
planning, forecasting, and marketing.

1. Searching for the options. Nowadays there is a multitude of search

engines and platforms to find accommodations. Companies and

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travel agencies often use a GDS, and individuals mostly browse

through metasearch websites and big OTAs. To have all these
sources present your hotel’s information to potential customers, you
have to integrate with them first and then distribute your ARI through
a channel manager. We will discuss the integration options in more
detail further on. So, when somebody is looking for accommodations,
they have to fill in the dates and room type on the website or terminal
to check availability and send the inquiry.
2. Receiving an availability inquiry. The channel manager delivers
these inquiries to your CRS to get the availability information.
3. Checking availability and sending response. At this stage, it’s
necessary to verify in the system if the requested room type is
available on indicated dates and get back with the result. The two-
way integration through a channel manager allows this to be done in
a flash, pulling the data from the CRS and shooting it back to the
booker.
4. Receiving a reservation request. If the booker is satisfied with the
rate and decides to stay at your hotel, the reservation request is
created with the help of the booking engine (either the booking
engine on your side or the OTA’s, depending on the channel) and
sent to the CRS. It contains all the essential information about the
number of guests, arrival and departure dates, room type, contact
details, special requests, etc.
5. Confirming and blocking. In case the requested room is still
available, it has to be blocked to prevent double-booking. At the
same time, a reservation record is created in the CRS that contains
all the information related to this booking. An email notification is then
generated and sent to the booker to confirm the reservation. Also, it
usually contains payment details and cancellation policy.
6. Receiving payment. This step is optional as many guests still prefer
to pay on arrival. Many OTAs do not require paying in advance, but
having a secure payment tool included in your booking engine is a
big advantage, as it gives travelers the opportunity to pay in a
convenient way and save time during check-in.
7. Transferring information to other departments. The reservation
record shares all the reservation details with other PMS modules. For
example, the housekeeping staff has to be informed about all the
expected arrivals in order to appropriately prepare all the reserved
rooms; the front desk should have all the information to ensure a
smooth guest check-in; the reporting module uses this data to create
reports, and so on.
8. Optional reservation modifications. Prior to arrival, the booking
details might be adjusted. A guest might want to change arrival or
departure dates, type of room or desired amenities, number of

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visitors, etc. If that happens, changes have to be confirmed by the

hotel, registered in the reservation record, and shared with other
modules.
9. Cancellations. Sometimes reservations are cancelled. In this case,
the room has to be unblocked to allow for further booking, and, if
prepayment took place, a refund has to be issued (if envisaged by
the hotel’s policy). As soon as availability changes in the CRS, the
channel manager shares this information across different channels.

 FEATURES

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Reservations management and synchronization — Keeping track of

your reservations can be challenging, especially if you have multiple
properties and work with various distribution channels. CRS provides you
with an effective mechanism to immediately synchronize all the bookings in
one system, not allowing double-booking or overbooking rooms.

Email notifications — besides sending regular booking confirmation and a

payment receipt, email automation can be used for promotional purposes,
personalized offers, and encouraging feedback.

Group bookings — sometimes there is a need to reserve multiple rooms

with a variety of room types and rates, i.e., for a wedding or a big group
reunion. A multi-room booking feature facilitates this procedure and allows
for making all the necessary arrangements effortlessly.

Cancellations and refund management — this feature allows for

handling cancellations, updating room availability in all channels, and
automating the refund process.

Integration options — your CRS software has to allow for smooth

integration with other solutions and technologies you are already using or
planning to implement.

Online payments — today, a lot of customers still prefer to pay at the front
desk on arrival to the hotel, even if they booked the accommodation online
(i.e., through an OTA). Since the share of online payments keeps
increasing, providing your guests with a secure payment option is essential.
Normally, it comes as one of the booking engine’s features, but it’s still
necessary to research deeper and decide on the payment gateway type
and provider to work with.

Supporting multi-language and multi-currency — to attract visitors from

abroad, it’s important to offer translated versions of the interface and
automatically convert rates to different currencies. NB: 53 percent of people
said that they get frustrated when they see a price in a currency other than
their own when looking for a hotel.

Mobile app — today, over 50 percent of the total online traffic comes from
mobile devices. Studies show that two-thirds of millennials plan their trip on
mobile devices, 64 percent booked a hotel from a smartphone, and 23
percent have checked in using a mobile device.
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Channel manager — if it comes together with the CRS, it’s nothing but
convenient. As we already mentioned, this tool allows you to manage your
distribution across various online platforms. More about different channels
is in the next section.
Rate management — it allows for creating dynamic pricing rules, rate
plans and restrictions, set up season or weekend prices, assigning different
rates for different channels, generating geo-targeted promotions, and more.
You can have your rates changed automatically depending on market
demand or your hotel occupancy, or it can set up special discounts for such
categories as senior citizens, military personnel, war widows, etc. to
encourage additional bookings.

Profiles management (CRM) — collecting customer data is crucial for

providing a personalized experience and increasing customer satisfaction
and loyalty. So, all the information such as contact details, payment
preferences, past stay experiences, membership status, special rates, etc.,
has to be stored for future reference and providing customized offers.
There can be different categories of guest profiles, i.e., individual, group,
corporate, and more. If you already have a CRM, check whether it can be
integrated with the reservation system in question or consider migrating to
a new one that includes a CRS.

Data collection and reporting — you can maintain control of all the
reservation-related processes with the help of the reporting feature. Keep
track of expected arrivals, total booking activity, occupancy, revenue, and
more. All the statistics data can then be turned into the basis for further
analysis and forecasting. Check out our dedicated article about hotel data
management for more details.

Customer support — research shows that almost 70 percent of people

are inclined to spend more money with a company that provides great
customer service and about 97 percent will share with others if they had an
excellent customer service experience. Obviously, providing your guests
with an opportunity to contact you 24/7 with any issue or inquiry and
receive professional assistance is vital.

 ADVANTAGE
 1. Save time on admin tasks
 The right hotel management software will vastly cut down the time you spend
on manual administrative tasks. The software does the majority of the work

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and lets you divert your time to more important tasks, such as serving your
guests.
 More than any other software you use, a hotel management system will touch
every department at your property. Front of house, revenue management,
housekeeping… If you pick the right solution, you can make significant time
savings across almost every area of your business, also boosting your staff’s
productivity and satisfaction.

 2. Develop strong relationships with your guests

 A more streamlined check-in and check-out experience will boost your guest
happiness. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg – anything from improved
communication and additional services will also heighten guest loyalty.
Choosing the best property management software will likely mean
an increased level of retention in both guests and staff.

 3. Increase your online visibility

 The right software is an important factor in developing your online

presence. You can integrate guest-facing software like hotel booking
engines, chat bots and a guest portal with your website design, enabling you
to instantly accept online reservations and make guests feel confident in their
choice to book directly with you.
 Google values and assesses the user experience on websites, and those that
offer a better user journey and interface will rank higher on Google searches –
and other search engines.

 4. Implement an effective revenue management system

 Most hotel management systems include pricing tools and other features
to optimize revenue.
 Gone are the days of having just a peak season price and a low season price
– if you’re not setting prices in a more sophisticated manner, you’re losing out
on bookings and not making the most of the guests that do book. You should
be able to create and customize product rates, rate dependencies, and
special offers and rules such as package rates.

 5. Manage distribution functions

 A modern hospitality cloud should be able to easily connect to a channel
manager so you can advertise across many channels and easily promote
your business across the industry’s OTAs and third party booking services.
 It provides real-time information that will help you grow your number of
reservations and spread awareness of your property.

 6. Increase bookings
 Every feature in your hotel management system should work to improve your
overall number of bookings. Whether you intend to explore new markets or
boost bookings in low season, the right software system is all about optimizing
and maximizing what you can achieve.

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 Revenue management and a direct booking engine are two obvious features
that will help you in this regard, but everything from integrations to smart
reporting and automation will ultimately contribute.

 7. Accurate daily reports

 Hotel management, finance and revenue teams will have access to accurate
daily earnings reports thanks to data-savvy hotel management software.
 Meanwhile, operations and marketing reports will help you and your team to
make reliable, data-driven decisions across your business.
 If everything is in the cloud, these invaluable metrics are at your fingertips
whenever you need them, without the need for time-consuming manual
exporting and compiling.

 8. Prevent double bookings and manual errors

 Hospitality management software systems are programmed to avoid double
bookings and overbookings. Thanks to task automation, they also help
prevent errors when front desk staff are inputting important customer data like
name, passport details, and card numbers.
 This means a better guest experience (no awkward follow up conversations
asking for their correct details), more time for staff to focus on their important
work, and more reliable business data and reporting.

 9. Analyze your customer base

 Market and guest segmentation is another important benefit of the right
guest management software system. The GM and Marketing Managers can
keep track of the different types of visitors, with key demographic breakdowns
such as age, gender and nationality.
 This data allows you to make informed decisions on your marketing strategy.
and increase the long-term revenue trends of your business.

 10. Transform your property

The many benefits of a hotel management system could help you grow your
business in a short amount of time. If you’re not currently using the right
solution, migrating to a more modern software could help you see big
improvement almost immediately.

 CONCLUSION

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The Online Hotel Reservation System was developed

to replace the manual process of booking for a hotel
room or any other facility of the hotel. The old system
does not serve the customer in a better way; rather it
makes customer data vulnerable.

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