Guest Experience Is Driving Property Management Integration at Hotels and Resorts


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - January 11, 2011) - The top property management associated business pressure facing hospitality executives today is changing customer service expectations, according to the Aberdeen Group report Property Management Integration: Redefining the Role of PMS in Hospitality. Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), surveyed 51 hospitality organizations to determine the current state of property management in hospitality.

"Today's guest is expecting more out of the experience of staying at a hotel or resort, such as personalized service and improved amenities, and these organizations must therefore change the way they are doing business in order to meet these changing expectations. The best way to exceed these expectations is to arm hotel and resort employees with the tools to better service guests," says Chris Cunnane, author and senior research associate, Aberdeen.

In response to this pressure, hospitality organizations indicated plans to align business and customer requirements with IT. "Essentially, hotels and resorts are looking to optimize their IT infrastructure to reduce to the total cost of ownership of applications, increase revenue and margin, and maximize customer service due to the expansion in customer touch-points. This strategy is necessary to eliminate the gaps that generally exist between the IT infrastructure and the business and customer requirements, such as extended in-room and other value-added service offerings, which will enable the organization to run more efficiently and profitably," says Cunnane.

The top planned technology integration areas revolve around customer loyalty and CRM. "As hotels and resorts are able to integrate this application into the property management system, the employee is better armed to use loyalty data and incentives to meet the expectations of their guests. By focusing on current guests, rather than trying to lure in new loyalty members, these organizations can save time and money associated with customer acquisition strategies," says Cunnane.

To improve property management performance, Aberdeen data has shown that hotels and resorts must move towards an integrated IT infrastructure. Aberdeen recommends the following actions for performance improvement:

  • Align business and customer requirements of the property with IT. 

  • Develop a single, consolidated view of the customer.

  • Integrate CRM data into the property management system.

  • Implement operational and customer reporting tools.

  • Enforce standards-based integration to gain improved application performance and data synchronization.

All of the above requirements, amongst others, are part of the winning strategy for revenue management.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Galaxy Hotel Systems and Infor SoftBrands. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=6583&camp=2.

Visit Aberdeen.com for additional access to complimentary Retail and Banking Research.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.

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