Classification of information systems in tourism. Global computer networks in the hospitality industry Classification of information systems in tourism

Over the past decades, nothing has contributed more to the successful development of the economies of countries around the world than various technological innovations. Technical progress makes it possible to create new and improve the work of existing enterprises in various areas.
Now it is difficult to imagine how hotels, sanatoriums, motels, travel agencies and other companies could function without computer support systems. These systems are now widespread and well coordinated. The high economic efficiency of using computer systems has prompted their owners to fight for influence in the market.

The purpose of this article is to consider the latest developments in this area, to clarify the features of the use of computer technologies in hospitality industry enterprises in Russia and abroad, as well as to identify problems in the operation of computer systems and the Internet, and to determine the prospects for the development of computer systems in the hotel business.

The process of computerization of the hospitality industry began later than in other areas of the economy. Many industries were computerized already in the 60s of the 20th century; the hotel industry did not use the possibilities of automation on a large scale until the early 70s of the 20th century. This relatively late start to computerization allowed hotels to obtain more advanced and convenient computer technology at lower costs1. Currently, in the hospitality industry, computer systems based on personal computers of the fourth and fifth generations are widely used, connected in networks and allowing, with a minimum of occupied space, to create powerful software support, which increases the efficiency of the management system, ensures the safety of guests, allows expanding the hotel’s customer base and solve a number of marketing problems.

One of the most important discoveries was the Internet. The Internet is a large and complex connection of computer networks that provides access to the world's information. There are also a number of Internet software applications. First of all, this is electronic mail (e-mail) and various search engines. Email is by far the most popular application around the world. Its advantage is not only in the speed of communication, but also in the fact that in addition to text, it is possible to send any graphic photo, animation application, which will reach the recipient instantly.
Computer systems for centralized management of a hotel complex allow you to coordinate the work of even a large hotel without much time and effort. Despite the large number of complex hotel automation systems, the basic principles of constructing such systems are quite similar: all systems are integrated software packages that automate the activities of the main hotel services: room management, administrative, commercial, engineering, catering services 2.
Today, there are several professional developments that deserve attention when choosing an automated control system.
Let's consider the main hotel computer systems used in the largest hotels in the world and Russia.
The most common universal product is the complex of the world's largest company, Micros - Fidelio, which has been specializing in the creation of management systems for hotels and restaurants for 20 years. This system has been installed at the enterprises of more than 100 of the largest hotel chains (Sheraton, Hilton, Marriott, Kempinsky, Hyatt, etc.)3.

The Fidelio Front Office (FFO) system helps automate the main stages of hotel operations: from computerized room reservations, registration, accommodation and check-out of guests to room management, accounting and finance. The advantages of FFO include: ease of operation due to the fairly simple logic of system construction and user-friendly interface, high level of security ensured by strict restrictions on user access, and configuration flexibility. FFO can be successfully used both in hotels belonging to hotel chains and in independent hotels and boarding houses with completely different operating technologies4.
Among computer technologies, computer reservation systems for hotel services have become widespread throughout the world.

For the first time, the concept of “Computer Reservation System” (CRS) appeared in Europe and the USA in the 60s of the twentieth century. In those years, civil aviation was at the stage of active development. The “telephone” technology for booking seats by travel agents and the “paper” technology for managing the occupancy of airline flights have ceased to cope with the growing passenger flow, which has led to the need to automate this type of activity5. The first CSBs were created by individual airlines and were intended solely to serve the needs of their own travel agents. After some time, this approach led to the fact that, on the one hand, several KSB terminals belonging to various airlines were installed in actively operating travel agencies and hotels, and, on the other hand, airlines had to spend more and more money on the technological development of KSB. The logical solution in this situation was to combine the efforts of airlines in the development and promotion of CSB on the market. The result of this integration was the emergence of four so-called global reservation systems (Global Distribution System - GDS). Currently, four main reservation systems are considered global: Amadeus, Galileo, Saber and Worldspan. Together, these systems number approximately 500 thousand terminals installed in hotels around the world, representing more than 90% of the market; it is no coincidence that they are called the “golden four”. The remaining few percent are made up of regional reservation systems and systems that are in the process of merging with one of the above. Each GDS, although global, has its own distribution area. For Amadeus and Galileo, this is, first of all, Europe, for Saber and Worldspan, it is America. Interestingly, the Galileo system is used in 116 countries around the world, by more than 45 thousand agencies, through which access to information about resources is possible. Based on the results of 2001, Galileo has the strongest positions in the UK, Italy, Greece, Benelux countries, Switzerland, and Portugal. In general, the share of this system in the European market is 29.8% (second place). Galileo achieved such results in three years of work on the world market.

For hotels included in hotel chains such as Inter-Continental, Radisson and others, work with GDS is carried out centrally and is an integral part of the marketing strategy of the hotel chain as a whole.
An independent hotel has several options for working with global reservation systems: install terminals of one or more reservation systems and start working independently; enter into an agreement with an intermediary company specializing in providing this type of service; enter into an agreement with a large tour operator that already has access to global booking systems.
The presentation of a hotel in any GDS must necessarily include the following items: general description, description of rooms, description of tariffs, prices, information on availability.

Any reservation system has several modes called access types, two of which are fundamentally different: type “A” and type “B”. With type “A” access, the booking confirmation is returned automatically within 7 seconds, which allows the travel agent to fully service the client in one visit to the office. With type “B” access, the confirmation is returned to the agent manually by the provider or hotel staff within 24 hours, which leads to a repeat visit by the client to the travel agency.

It is important to take into account the rate plan and rate when booking a hotel. A tariff plan is a set of rules for purchasing hotel services, refusing them, and the requirements and restrictions arising in connection with this, and the tariff is the price per room per day. Advance booking is possible with a credit card number as a guarantee. If a previously made reservation is canceled less than 24 hours before arrival, or if the client does not show up, a fine equal to the cost of accommodation for the first day will be charged. By analogy with air travel in hotels, there is a full rate, called the Rack Rate, or otherwise the “standard rate,” and a system of special rates (weekend rate, group rate, etc.). Rack Rate has the least restrictions on use. It is at this rate that individual clients who contact the hotel directly will be served. Accommodation prices at the standard rate are the highest7. Special rates are more attractive to customers due to the lower prices they set for accommodation, however, there are restrictions on their use. For example, to apply a weekend rate, you must check in on Friday or Saturday and check out no later than Monday. The number of special rates applied by the hotel is unlimited. The most commonly used tariffs in KSB (in addition to the standard one) are: corporate tariff, weekend tariff, tariff for the elderly, tariff for military personnel, tariff for travel agents.

There are several options for specifying availability information. For each specific date, when selling rooms of a certain type at a certain rate, the following may be announced: free sale (Free Sale), limited free sale (Allocation), sale on request (On Request) or stop sale (Stop Sale).

The undoubted leader in the field of computer backup is the Internet. That is why hotels create their own Internet servers, through which they access information and reservations in GDS.

The possibilities of the Internet for hotels are not limited to working with GDS. The main advantages for the hotel are wide audience coverage (more than 100 million people in the world) and low overhead costs compared to GDS. Consequently, the Internet is a real competitor to the KSB, since work via the Internet can be done on any servers, any number of times, by any individual seeking to save on a hotel, while only professionals work with GDS. And the advantage of GDS is that any hotel, having uploaded information about itself, can be sure that every travel agent will see this information, and to place data about a hotel on the Internet requires painstaking work to enter it into various search engines, directories and catalogs.
There is another equally successful program - Horse-21. The exotic name of the system is explained simply - it is an abbreviation for the name Hotel Reservation Service. Horse-21 is owned by the Dutch company Hors BV and has been operating in Europe since 2000. Its database contains information on more than 240 thousand hotels. Among reservation systems, this system has five main advantages: real online (reservation confirmation within a few seconds); centralized system for receiving commissions; unique hotel database; it is possible to work without a subscription fee, segment norms, or deposits; ease of use: no training, special software or equipment required.

The procedure for working in the Horse-21 system is extremely simple: step 1 – setting the criteria according to the scheme: country – city – preferred price – travel date; step 2 – select a hotel from the proposed list, sorted by ascending price; for each hotel you can see a text description and several photographs; Step 3 – booking, specify tourists’ details and debit card numbers. The system also allows you to maintain booking statistics and control payments.
In addition to computer booking systems for services, programs for managing various hotel services are widely used in the hotel business.
The Lodging Touch system was created by the American company MAI Hospitality, which is one of the leaders in developing programs for the hospitality industry. It is an integrated software package that automates various hotel departments: receptionist, restaurant service, sales department, banquet organization. Lodging Touch can be connected to such peripheral systems as accounting programs, hotel profit optimization systems, pay television, telephone systems, room access control, etc.

The Lodging Touch - Receptionist program performs the functions of booking rooms, checking in and checking out guests, charging payments and the night audit procedure. Here you can view a report on the condition of the hotel and obtain various background information (guest cards, passport details).
Some other software modules of the system include a tariff control unit, a room management unit (for creating a schedule for cleaning rooms and the work of maids). It is worth noting that the Lodging Touch system contains a software block for working with travel agencies, which allows you to process applications from agencies, calculate commissions, determine discounts and special offers, and view statistics.

Nimeta system. This is a relatively new product designed for small and medium-sized hotels. The operation of the Nimeta system provides the opportunity to rent and use the control system via Internet technologies. This technology lies in the fact that data about the hotel and, in fact, the hotel management system program itself are located outside the hotel on a specially designated server. Such a server is located in the equipped service center of the Internet provider. Thus, to connect and use the Nimeta system, you just need to have a computer and Internet access.

In our country, the introduction of computer hotel management systems (Property Management System/PMS) based on Western technologies began with the advent of high-class hotels, many of which operate in accordance with corporate rules dictating “devotion” to a particular system.
Today, hospitality enterprises in Russia use several programs for hotel enterprises: Fidelio, the “golden four” systems GDS, SAHARA, Lodging Touch, Horse 21, which are also typical for global hotels, as well as Hotel – 2000, Sinimex – Hotel, Ei – hotel, Ining - Hotel, Edelweiss, characteristic only for Russia. Let's look at these programs in more detail.

The most common service system in our country is the Fidelio system; it is completely Russified and adapted for the Russian market. As a rule, it is installed by hotels together with the popular Micros cash settlement system. Additionally, a program for automating financial and economic activities, a program for organizing the sales and marketing department, and a program for the chief engineer can be installed. All programs operate as a single integrated system in the DOS operating environment.

The exclusive distributor of Micros - Fidelio on the Russian market for 12 years is the company HRS (Hotel & Restaurant System). HRS performs turnkey installation of software and hardware, conducts personnel training, and provides user support.
In Russia, the FFO management system is being successfully implemented in hotels included in Western chains: Marriot (Moscow), Radisson SAS Lazurnaya Hotel and Radisson SAS Lazurnaya Peak Hotel (Sochi), Sheraton Palace (Moscow), Ararat Park Hyatt (Moscow), and in independent hotels: Aerostar (Moscow), Atrium Palace Hotel (Ekaterinburg), Ararat Nord (St. Petersburg), Chukotka (Anadyr), Versailles (Vladivostok) ), "Park Hotel" (Anapa) and many others.
As for GDS, they are quite widely used in the Russian market. This class includes the hotel reservation system "Alean" (Alean.ru) and the SAHARA system.

The Alean company was created in 1999 on the basis of the tour operator RVB (Russian Military Brotherhood) specifically to introduce a global system of booking and sales of tours to the domestic market. The company's own programmers were involved in the design of the system complex. However, the product acquired its optimal marketing appearance only with the involvement of specialists familiar not only with information technology, but also with the specifics of the tourism market. Buyers here can be both travel agencies and individual clients. The system received this opportunity due to its complete orientation towards Internet technologies. For individual clients, placing and paying for an order currently takes place off-line (at the company’s office or at the place of arrival on vacation).

In relation to Russia, the SAHARA reservation system should also be mentioned. For Russian hotels receiving Western tourists, representation in all systems included in the “golden four” is now a necessity, and not just a tribute to fashion. For hotels focusing on domestic tourism, representation in the SAHARA system is more preferable. Russian hotels should enter systems that are alternative to global ones, systems that exist on the Internet. The main disadvantage of the SAHARA system is that it is not suitable for integration with the Internet and the creation of its own Internet servers through which access to information is provided.
The Galileo system from the GDS family ranks 2nd in the Russian market of computer technologies in the hotel business. But this result was achieved in just 4 years of work. “We understand that we are second, but this is an honorable place,” says the head of the representative office in Russia, Sarah Crow8. The development of this system is happening very rapidly, making the work of domestic hotels faster and more productive.
Libra International has been operating on the Russian market since 1998. Thanks to her activities, the following systems appeared in Russia: Lodging Touch, Open Spa, and a complex of epitome Enterprise software products.

Unlike other similar systems, Lodging Touch operates in the Windows NT operating environment, which significantly expands its activities and also makes it easy for even an inexperienced user to master working with it. It is noteworthy that the Lodging Touch system is compatible with Russian accounting programs, for example, with the Parus system. Today, this system is the most modern software tool for complex automation of the hotel business. Among the company's 4,500 clients are such Russian hotels as Renaissance, Aerostar, Metropol, Mezhdunarodnaya, Eridan, and Soyuz.
The Open Spa spa management system is installed in many spa complexes in Central Europe. In Russia, the first organization to choose Open Spa was the Blue Wave sanatorium in Gelendzhik

The epitome Enterprise software package was developed by HIS Corporation (USA), one of the world leaders in the field of information technology for the hospitality industry. HIS information solutions support the operation of many world-famous hotels and hotel chains. The company's clients include over 4,000 hotels of various levels in 83 countries. In Russia, systems of the epitome Enterprise family are installed in approximately 50 hotels. Among the users of the system are both small hotels (Savvoy and Katerina in Moscow, Vlad Inn in Vladivostok) and large complexes (Moscow Cosmos and Izmailovo, Radisson SAS Lazurnaya Park Hotel in Sochi). They optimize the hotel management system, business communications system, and business analytics.
According to company experts, this is facilitated by 5 fundamental principles: stability, functionality, ease of use, minimal requirements for maintenance and information processing.

Among the Russian developments, the software of the Interotel company stands out (its products appeared on the market in the mid-90s of the twentieth century and to this day operate in several dozen Russian hotels, including the Rossiya Hotel) and the Hotel-2000 system complex ", developed by Intursoft and used in approximately 10 Russian hotels, including: "Akademicheskaya", "Uzkoe" (Moscow), "Brest Palace Hotel" (Veliky Novgorod), "Sakhalin-Sapporo" (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), boarding house "Ural" (Anapa).

The Hotel-2000 system automates basic hotel services. It implements a flexible system of payments to guests, provides control over the work of cashiers, manages the number of rooms, ensuring control over the work of maids. The system has a built-in powerful analytical apparatus that allows, through a query system, to generate more than 100 different statistical, operational, audit and financial reports for hotel managers. “Hotel-2000” also makes it possible to manage the process of enabling and disabling telephone numbers and transfers information about telephone conversations to the general guest balance. The system can be connected to any access rights restriction system installed in the hotel. The electronic lock system is controlled using magnetic cards. But lately the Intursoft company has been practically invisible on the market.

The only Russian developer that entered the world market with its software product for hotels was the Rek-Soft company from St. Petersburg.
The first installation of the Edelweiss system abroad was made in 1996 in a small Swiss hotel. Currently, the Edelweiss system is installed in more than 400 hotels in different countries. In Russia, these are Scandinavia, Helvetia and Grand Hotel Emerand 5* in St. Petersburg, Victoria Palace Hotel in Astrakhan, Versailles in Khabarovsk, and the Chernomorye sanatorium in Sochi. The main task of the Edelweiss system is the automation of reservation and accommodation services (“Receptionist”), the commercial department, accounting, accommodation, maid service, service bureau, business center, and hotel telephone service.

Such software systems as “Cinimex: Hotel”, “Ei-Hotel”, “Ining-Hotel” are quite noticeable on the market.
The SinimexInformatics company offers the Sinimex: Hotel configuration, created for enterprises providing hotel services, hotels themselves, holiday homes, and boarding houses. Using this program, you can register clients, make room reservations and plan hotel occupancy, extend your stay or carry out relocation, keep records of room rentals, and make payments to clients.

In addition, “Cinimex: Hotel” allows you to manage the accommodation of clients, including on the basis of agreements with legal entities, to control the condition of the room stock (rent, repairs, cleaning, etc.); generate summaries and operational reports on loading, maintain a “black list” in which so-called problem clients are included.
The configuration contains a number of specialized directories (room stock (rooms), their categories, types of guest accommodation, services, tariffs) and several general purpose directories. It allows you to generate 18 types of documents and printed forms, 40 summaries and reports, as well as carry out 22 types of document processing.
In the 1C: Enterprise program system, on the basis of which the configuration was developed, daily data is entered using documents. The program allows you to register requests for accommodation, book rooms or places in them. Applications can be accepted not only by telephone and fax, but also by e-mail. When booking a new guest, the program checks whether he has previously lived in the hotel or whether he is on the “black list”.

The product of the company "Effect Inform" is called "E&Otel", its task is to keep records of accommodation and reservations in hotels. Reservations are made based on the client’s request; they can be individual or group, as well as guaranteed and non-guaranteed. In the latter case, if the client does not appear on the due day or no notification is received from him, the number is transferred to the free state. If guaranteed, the reservation is retained for the entire period, and the client’s bill includes the fee for the number left to him.
The selection of rooms is made based on the client’s wishes (room category, availability of a balcony, telephone and other amenities): from those currently available, the one that satisfies the request is selected. If there are no such reservations, the reservation will be transferred to the “waiting” list. All data about the departing guest is transferred to the archive. If necessary, a card is printed containing complete information about his stay at the hotel. The available data can be used if the client stays at the hotel again.
The system allows you to generate a report on available rooms for a specific date with the ability to select by category, group of rooms and with a breakdown of totals by category. There is a division of access rights to information for different users, identification of the latter is carried out by entering a name and password. You can track exactly what changes a particular user has made.
The Ining-Hotel program, developed by the Ining Business Soft company, is intended for hotels and holiday homes and is a system for registering guest accommodation, as well as conducting settlements with partners (travel firms) and residents. In addition, using additional modules, you can automate the booking of rooms and the sale of travel packages, including via the Internet. The program has several categories of directories that characterize the housing stock (types of buildings, room categories, room stock); general purpose (information about countries, tour companies); for personnel (managers and access rights). The program contains such useful reports as: a register of sold vouchers for travel companies; list of arrivals/departures for the day; list of residents (guests); information about the citizenship of guests; daily information on the number of occupied rooms; number usage report. The computer systems described above are the main ones today, but the situation in this market is changing daily.

In addition to the obvious advantages that the use of information technology in the hotel business provides, many problems arise due to the requirements for operating conditions and proper use, as well as the underdevelopment of the Russian information technology market.
The main problem when installing software, in addition to technical issues, is computer illiteracy and insufficient qualifications of personnel. The overwhelming number of hotel workers have a humanities education, which causes certain difficulties when working with a computer and the Internet. Retraining employees or hiring professionals requires additional financial resources. Not all hotel companies can afford to employ IT specialists.

In Russia there are only a few universities that provide education in the field of hotel business, and even more so, giving students the opportunity to visually become familiar with the computer systems that are used in hotels.
It often happens that software from foreign manufacturers is not adapted for the Russian market.
An obstacle to the development of online sales systems is the small number of Runet users, the low standard of living of the population, the low degree of development of payment systems, payment mechanisms for bank checks and credit cards. And, despite the fact that non-cash payment tools for individuals are actively developing, Internet travel companies are in no hurry to introduce payment technologies, because there is still a certain risk of incurring unreasonably high expenses: in particular, a small percentage of Russian travelers still have credit cards . In addition, Russian tourists prefer to pay a “live” manager rather than a virtual machine, and at the same time make sure that no one is deceiving them.

Sometimes hotels that have their own websites make serious mistakes. Forgetting that a website is a business card of a company on the Internet and it must function 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, many do not pay due attention to the design of the site and forget to maintain it in working order. The largest number of dead sites are found in the online tourism and hospitality industry. Summarizing the above, we note that “promotion” and content of your Web representations is a special job that cannot be ignored.

The problem is that there is no proper regulation and licensing of this activity by the state. Conventionally, it can be divided into groups: information security with the widespread use of computer technologies; lack of uniform standards in the use of the Internet and other information technologies; problems of interaction with allied partners. In fact, information is transmitted through the hotel chain, which, in accordance with the Law of the Russian Federation “On Information, Informatization and Information Protection” dated January 25, 1995, must be protected. This, for example, is the personal data of citizens. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 334 of April 3, 1995 obliges legal entities and individuals to use only certified encryption tools and have a license to operate them, which almost no one has. As a result, today almost all participants in the hotel business who store and transmit customer data are violators of the law. None of them is able to independently find an acceptable way out of the current situation, since there are neither means of protection that satisfy all the requirements, nor a legal basis for their use. The problem must be resolved in close cooperation with the relevant government agencies. Of great importance, in particular, is the speedy release of by-laws and normative documents to the law on electronic digital signatures.

Without delving into the specifics and individual problems with ensuring information security, we draw attention to the following - despite the use of special software and hardware protection tools, restrictions on information transmitted via public communication channels, and the use of various methods of administrative control - the problem of information security remains and must be solved on the scale of the entire industry as a whole, and perhaps on the scale of the entire country. Laws, control bodies, and perhaps even direct government support for domestic manufacturers of security equipment are needed. It is necessary that the products of these manufacturers be advanced and competitive, including in price.
The prospects for the development of computer systems in the hospitality industry today are as follows.
The first hotel computer systems appeared 30 years ago, and over the years, computer systems have come a long way in development. Nowadays, computer systems cover all processes of the hotel’s functioning and its relationships with guests.

The development of information technologies and their significant functionality have led to the emergence of fully integrated computer management systems for hotel enterprises. Currently, systems based on the use of networks of personal computers and minicomputers with a developed interface are widely used. Such an information bridge allows the exchange of management and financial information. The systems allow you to automate the daily tasks of hotel staff and management. At the same time, interconnection is achieved between various hotel services, which significantly increases efficiency and eliminates errors. At the same time, management receives a powerful tool for monitoring the condition of the hotel and financial flows, and the possibility of abuse by hotel staff is reduced to a minimum.

One of the most dynamically developing areas of computer systems for the hospitality industry is booking using computer technology, the creation of which has made it possible to connect the entire hospitality industry into a single whole. Computer networks link the various departments operating in a hotel, improve communications and enhance the hotel's capabilities. Modern equipment provides clear and fast access to information. The number of computer systems services provided is constantly growing, and the emergence of “Global Hotel Management Systems” can be expected in the near future.

Many hotels today provide the opportunity to advertise their services via the Internet. This allows potential clients from around the world: business tourists, vacationers, foreign guests - anyone who has access to the Internet, to use their personal computers to imagine in advance where they are going, what they will be able to have in a given hotel. As this becomes more and more popular, hotels are making their Web sites more and more user-friendly, with an intuitive user interface. When reserving hotel rooms, a site visitor - a potential client - is provided with general information about the hotel, photographs of rooms of various categories, a description of additional services (food, conference room, sauna, sports complex), as well as a list of cultural places located in the immediate vicinity of the hotel and rest. To book a room, you need to enter the necessary data (last name, date of arrival and departure, number and type of rooms, contact address and telephone number) and send a request, which will then be processed, entered into the hotel computer, and the client will be sent confirmation of his reservation. This is usually done by email, but if the client wishes, many hotels can send confirmation by fax or mail.

Additional Internet operations include: the ability to view the room plan and hotel plan; possibility of ordering additional services; the opportunity to get acquainted with the city plan and the work of transport (metro, bus, taxi).
The Internet and its services are developing rapidly throughout the world. Already today, hotels can operate on the Internet at confidential rates and use bank transfers for payments, in addition to credit cards. In any case, today TravelWeb and similar sections are excellent information directories of addresses of agencies, tour operators, flight schedules, hotels, attractions and many information that are so necessary in modern conditions.
It is safe to assume that it is precisely those hotels that have already begun to move in this direction that will determine the development strategy of the hotel business in the field of information technology for the next few years.

When assessing the state of the Russian market in terms of the development and use of computer technologies, it is important to note that much depends on the hotel management. In leading Russian hotels that are part of global hotel chains, work is fully automated, technologically advanced, and has its own computer and Internet services. Such hotels are the first to receive computer news and carry out upgrades. By the way, the geography of technology companies in Russia is vast. They are in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Novosibirsk and other large cities. The share of such “advanced” hotels on the market is small in number. But the well-known “20-80” rule applies here: 20% of active hotels provide 80% of customer needs. This is the specificity of the Russian market

The tourism industry is so diverse and multifaceted that it requires the use of a wide variety of information technologies, ranging from widespread technologies for working with text, spreadsheets and databases to the use of specialized software products that automate the work of an individual travel company or hotel, and global computer networks and satellite navigation systems. The variety of information technologies and systems used in tourism is shown in Figure 1.2.

Automated management systems in tourism - control systems for the production and service process in tourism enterprises and organizations. They serve to create an effective tourism structure that allows for comfortable working conditions for staff through their professional development and management of their business careers. The functionality of these systems should provide input, editing and storage of information about tours, hotels, clients, and the status of applications; provide for the output of information in the form of various documents; calculation of the cost of tours taking into account exchange rates, discounts, control of payment for tours, generation of financial statements;

translation of export-import data into other software products (Word, Excel, accounting programs) and other functions. Such systems are presented on the market in two versions: for small offices - installed locally on each computer and used by individual employees; for medium and large companies - installed as a distributed system on a group of computers: all data is stored in a single database, each manager individually manages only information about his applications, the director or senior manager exercises control and has access to all data in the database. Examples of such systems are: SAMO-Tour (SAMO), Leader-Tour (FREND), TourManager (Tourism Technologies Center LLC), Master-Tour (Megatech), TurWin, Charter, Ovir (Arim-Soft), Tourist Office ( “Tourist Technologies”), Intour-Soft (“Intour-Soft”), ANT-Group (ANT-Group), Edelweiss, Barsum, Rekonline (Rek-Soft), etc.

Rice. 1.2. Information systems in the tourism industry

Computer booking systems – international booking systems. The most famous of them are global distribution systems (Global Distribution System, GDS), whose representatives are: Amadeus, Galileo, Saber, Worldspan. Initially, such systems were developed for booking airline tickets, but later they also began to include the ability to book hotel rooms, sea cruises, car rentals, etc. These systems are discussed in more detail in the second chapter of this manual.

Information Systems

Global General Purpose Systems

Global computer network Internet

Electronic payment systems

Satellite navigation system

Telephone network

Assistance systems

Information and legal systems

Multimedia systems

General purpose control systems

Electronic document management systems

Customer relationship management systems

Electronic business systems

Tourist destination systems

Office systems

Automated management systems in tourism

Computer booking systems

Geographic information systems

The global computer network Internet is a worldwide system for storing and transmitting information that unites computer networks at various levels (regions, states, scientific organizations, etc.) based on the TCP/IP network protocol stack.

Satellite navigation system is a complex electronic and technical system, consisting of a set of ground and space equipment, designed to determine location (geographical coordinates and altitude), as well as movement parameters (speed, direction of movement, etc.) for ground, water and air objects.

Currently, there are two satellite navigation systems operating in the world - GPS and GLONASS.

GPS (Global Positioning System) - a global positioning system - allows you to determine the location and speed of objects anywhere on Earth, in almost any weather. It has gained great popularity among travelers, people leading an active lifestyle, fishing enthusiasts and motorists.

GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is the sum of unique technologies, the fruit of many years of work by Russian designers and scientists. GLONASS consists of 24 satellites. They are located at specified points in high orbits. Satellites continuously emit special navigation signals towards the Earth. Any person or vehicle equipped with a special device for receiving and processing these signals can determine with high accuracy anywhere on the Earth and near-Earth space its own coordinates and speed of movement, as well as bind to the exact time.

Telephone network is a system of switching nodes, telephone exchanges, lines and channels of the telephone network, terminal subscriber devices designed to provide telephone communications to subscribers.

Electronic payment systems are settlement systems between financial organizations, business organizations and Internet users when buying and selling goods and for various services via the Internet, for example: EasyPay electronic money, the “Raschet” payment system, the iPay mobile payment system, interbank non-cash systems payment systems BELKART, international payment system in the WebMoneyTransfer network, international payment system Mastercard.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems – for automating enterprise business processes related to customer service, such as the work of sales, marketing, call centers and departments specializing in service support. You can define CRM as a system whose work is aimed at achieving the main goal: creating a conveyor for attracting new and developing existing customers. At the same time, minimization of the human factor when working with them and absolute transparency of activities in the areas of sales, marketing and customer service are achieved. For travel business enterprises, a CRM system ensures the preservation of a complete history of relationships with clients and partners, the creation of a mechanism for effectively managing work with partners and agents, improving the quality of work of managers, increasing customer loyalty, creating a price calculation tool, etc. The most famous examples of such systems are amoCRM , ASoft CRM, Bitrix24, CRM Monitor, Marketing Analytic, Triumph Analytics, Data Analyzer, EasyABC Plus, OROS Enterprise.

Electronic document management systems (EDMS) are organizational and technical systems that ensure the process of creating, access control and distribution of electronic documents in computer networks, as well as providing control over the flow of documents in the organization. In fact, an electronic document management system is any information system that provides work with electronic documents. Today, systems of this class can be considered not only as a tool for automating classical office work tasks, but also as a means of working with various internal documents (contracts, regulatory, reference and design documentation, documents on personnel activities, etc.). EDMS are also used to solve applied problems in which an important component is working with electronic documents: managing interactions with clients, processing citizens' requests, automating the work of a service department, organizing project document flow, etc. Examples of electronic document flow systems include: Directum (Directum ), DocsVision (DocsVision), GlobusProfessional (Prominfosystems), PayDox (Paybot), 1C: Document Flow (1C), Boss-Referent (BOSS-Referent), BUSINESS (Electronic Office Systems), EUFRAT (Cognitive Technologies), MOTIV ( Motive).

Electronic business systems (e-business) are systems for implementing basic business processes based on modern Internet technologies, integrated with enterprise information systems.

Examples of this group of systems are tools for developing corporate portals and e-business systems: Liferay Portal (Liferay), InfoExchange Portal (BroadVision), CleverPath Portal (Computer Associates, CA), Enterprise Information Portal (Hummingbird), WebSphere Portal Server (IBM), SharePoint Portal Server (Microsoft), Oracle 9iAS Portal (Oracle Corporation), Borland Enterprise Studio for Windows, DeskWork (Softline).

Office systems are software products for performing general user tasks that do not have a subject orientation, but allow partial automation of the routine daily work of a travel agency. These programs include publicly available office applications: for working with text (for example, Word word processor), for processing spreadsheets (Excel spreadsheet processor), for working with local databases (Access database management system).

Legal information systems (LIS) are systems for storing reliable legal information with effective search and analytical capabilities for a wide range of specialists. They provide quick access to legal information and provide the ability to quickly work with it. The most well-known examples of such systems in Belarus are “Etalon”, “Business-Info”, “ConsultantPlus”, “Expert”, “Usias”.

Multimedia systems are interactive computer developments, which may include music, video clips, animation, galleries of pictures and slides, various databases, etc. Among the main areas of application of multimedia technologies in tourism is the creation of electronic reference books, catalogues, museum and tourist guidebooks, advertising videos, etc. Electronic guidebooks allow you to virtually travel along proposed routes, view these routes in active mode, receive information about the country, objects along the route, information about hotels, campsites, motels and other accommodation facilities, get acquainted with the system of benefits and discounts, as well as legislation in the field of tourism. In addition, these catalogs may contain information about the rules for processing travel documents, tourism formalities, tourist behavior patterns in extreme situations, etc. The client can plan a tour program, select it according to specified optimal parameters (price, system of benefits, transport system, season, etc.). Multimedia technology creates a new level of interactive “human-computer” communication, when in the process of dialogue the user receives more extensive and varied information, which helps to increase the efficiency of professional activities, training and leisure. Creating a multimedia product is possible using programming languages ​​or specialized software tools, such as Adobe Director and AuthorWare (Adobe), Formula Graphics (Formula), Multimedia Creator, etc.

Geographic information systems (GIS) are systems for presenting consistent spatial and attribute information related to objects. The use of GIS is a promising area in tourism and recreational design and development of territories. GIS examples: ArcInfo, ArcView, ArcCAD, MapInfo, AutoCADMAP, Bentley. More information about these systems can be found in section 1.4 of this manual.

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information tourism resource

Network information technologies represent a current and promising direction in the development of information resources.

Their goal is not only to ensure the exchange of information between individual users of information and computing systems, but also to create for them the possibility of cooperative use of distributed information resources of society, obtaining reference, documentary and other information from various kinds of specialized information funds.

The rapid growth in the number of network users began after the emergence of a new service - the World Wide Web (WWW, W3, World Wide Web) - a distributed hypertext system for accessing various information located around the world.

In the summer of 2001, the opening of America's largest travel portal www.orbitz.com even became the subject of a special meeting of the Antimonopoly Committee in the US Congress.

Another feature of the online tourism market was the fact that $681 million was spent offline by online tourists. These sales were initiated by online activity, but were completed over the phone or during a personal visit by the buyer.

The Worldwide Computer Network is developing so rapidly that every year the number of its subscribers and the volume of information resources practically doubles. Obviously, the tourism business is not left out of this boom. Only in 1996, thousands of independent sections of travel agencies, hotels, airlines, and dozens of travel booking systems appeared on the Internet. According to experts, by 2003, tours and related services worth about $200 billion will be sold via the Internet. Therefore, agencies should hardly ignore the Internet in their work. At the time we are considering, the Internet cannot be considered as a competitor in business, since the World Wide Web provides invaluable information assistance and adds to the traditional one a new channel for the sale of tourism services - electronic.

Already, half of all revenue generated via the Internet comes from the travel and tourism industry. 62% of Internet users search for hotel and airline rates and availability. What are the benefits of a global network? Firstly, the widest audience coverage. It allows 35,000 customers to visit the most popular travel server TravelWeb, which features more than 17,000 hotels. Secondly, relatively low overhead costs and effort for sellers and buyers. The cost of booking via the Internet is on average $1.7, while through GDS it is $3.5. The traditional fax method drains the buyer's wallet by $10. The third convenience is round-the-clock access to the network for private users. These advantages of the Internet, as well as the ability to update information in a matter of time, are also used by travel companies, for whom the network opens up significant opportunities for selling tourism products online and advertising them, as well as stimulating sales.

The connecting center that holds various producers within the tourism industry is information. It is information flows, and not goods, that provide connections between producers of tourism services. They come not only in the form of data streams, but also in the form of services and payments. Services, for example (hotel overnight stays, car rentals, package tours and airline seats) are not sent to travel agents, who in turn do not store them until they are sold to consumers. Information about the availability, cost and quality of these services is transmitted and used. Likewise, actual payments are not transferred from travel agents to travel suppliers, and commissions are not transferred from travel suppliers to travel agents. In fact, information about payments and receipts is translated.

The information technology system used in tourism consists of a computer reservation system, a teleconferencing system, video systems, computers, management information systems, electronic information systems for electronic money transfer airlines, telephone networks, mobile communications, etc. It should be noted that this system of technologies is not deployed by travel agencies, hotels or airlines individually, but by all of them. Moreover, each tourism segment's use of information technology systems has implications for all other parts. For example, hotel internal management systems can be linked to computer wide area networks, which in turn provide the basis for communication with hotel reservation systems, which, in the opposite direction, can be accessed by travel agencies through their computers.

Therefore, here we are dealing with an integrated information technology system that is spreading in tourism. From the above, it becomes clear that in the tourism industry it is not computers, telephones, or video terminals themselves that are distributed - a system of interconnected computer and communication technologies operates here. In addition, the individual components of the tourism industry are closely interconnected with each other - after all, many tourism producers are vertically or horizontally involved in each other’s activities. All this allows us to consider tourism as a highly integrated service, which makes it even more susceptible to the use of information technology in organization and management.

Some forward-thinking executives began to consider the Internet as a means of attracting customers long ago. If in 1997 - 1998 there were only a few of these enthusiasts, in the 1999 season 3 - 4 dozen companies advertised online, then in 2000 the number of advertisers on the main travel portals exceeded two hundred. According to experts, in the summer season of 2000, Russian travel agencies spent a total of approximately $15-20 thousand monthly on advertising on the Internet (this does not take into account the costs of creating and maintaining their own websites). At the end of 2001, the amount doubled, and this year, before the start of the 2002 summer season, this figure increased by 50 percent. Compared to the total volume of tourism advertising in conventional media, this figure is small, but the trend can be seen quite clearly.

Corporate reservation systems via the Internet are actively developing. Leading Russian tour operators, market leaders, such as Neva, Natali-tour, Tez-tour and others, have been using the so-called Busines-to-busines (B2B) systems of interaction between tour operator and travel agent for several years now.

Among the travel agencies, the most successful was the Internet project of the company "Last Minute Travel Store" - http://www.tournews.ru, which gained momentum in 1998 - 1999. The successful name of the company, stylish design, and skillful promotion on the Internet allowed this site and company to become leaders among the Russian travel industry. This was the first example where a travel agency relied on the Internet for its business and achieved success.

Global systems for booking travel services are also actively moving onto the Internet. Almost all major GDS - Amadeus, Galileo, Wordspan and others provide an Internet interface to their databases.

Thus, without the Internet it is impossible to imagine the activities of a modern travel company; the Internet is used in almost all major business processes within a travel company, from searching and attracting clients as a communication and marketing tool to the formation of a tourism product.

E-mail is an additional means of information resources. With its help, you can show the clarity of work with clients and the clarity of the company’s organization. In addition, in a properly formatted letter, the company name (or your name) is always visible and the person, willy-nilly, remembers this information. Thanks to mailing lists, you can clearly target your audience even in Russia. If you are able to regularly produce information on a topic, it makes sense to create your own mailing list. Discussion sheets are created to exchange information and discuss issues on a specific topic. Unlike mailing lists, not only its creators can write to a list, but also all participants. An additional positive aspect of your active participation in the list is the fact that often popular and authoritative discussion sheets are viewed by representatives of the specialized press and there is a possibility that you will be quoted on the pages of publications or you will be invited to write an article. By analyzing published messages, you can identify your potential customers and contact them directly. Finally, it should not be forgotten that, in addition to your own promotion, specialized discussion sheets are extremely useful because... will provide you with valuable information and news.

The information posted on the Web site can be divided into two parts: this is general advertising information about recreation areas, allowing potential clients to obtain information about cities in general, their location, types of cities, transport, reliable weather conditions, recreational safety, and special background information about the proposed hotel complexes.

When used by a travel agency, the information resource is the Internet, i.e. creating your website, general information should be approximately the following:

General information about the recreation area should include:

daily weather report in (air temperature, water temperature in the existing body of water);

greeting message from the Administration of the recreation area to the guests of the resort (with guarantees of recreational safety);

map of the recreation area with the main objects marked on it (stations, hotels, sanatoriums, markets);

types of cities;

museums, exhibition and concert halls;

excursion routes;

cultural program for the holiday period;

held conferences, symposiums, fairs;

transport (schedule of trains, planes, buses from railway and air terminals).

Special reference information about hotels:

location of the hotel, sanatorium, holiday home;

appearance of the recreation facility, its territory and beaches;

a list of services provided by a particular recreation facility;

internal view of the room (interior);

cost of accommodation and treatment;

Availability of free places.

In addition to the information component, the Web site should allow any visitor to become a client of the company by placing their request for the tour they like or any component of the tour. At the same time, travel agencies should be given the opportunity to create tour packages at their request. Those. all work that was previously carried out only in the personal presence of the client at the company’s office should be carried out through a Web site, including electronic payments via credit cards.

The main information resource of a travel agency is its website posted on the Internet.

III. Application of information resources for the development of travel agencies

Let's consider the use of information resources in tourism using the example of drawing up a marketing plan for the development of a travel agency website.

Although most people in the business world now understand the importance of the Internet, many still have not learned its rules. That's why many companies that raced headlong along the information superhighway now find themselves sidelined, alone and forgotten in the depths of cyberspace.

Initially, commercial use of the Internet was not intended. Instead, it was designed as a communication tool to help spread information. Those companies that succeed on the Internet today did so because they understood the original purpose of the Internet. To achieve the goal of selling as many products or services as possible, they understand that they must provide valuable information and enter into relationships with their audience that are beneficial to both parties.

Thus, the key to success in business when working online is to have prospects for the development of a corporate Web site, and for this it is advisable to develop a marketing plan for the development of the site.

The example plan given below will be used to analyze the effectiveness of the use of information technology in the activities of a travel agency.

A website marketing plan is a structured and ordered algorithm of strategic directions and goals of the company's official website.

Components of a Web site marketing plan:

• · Summary of Benchmarks
• · Presentation of the current marketing situation online
• · List of dangers and opportunities
• · List of tasks and problems
• · Marketing Strategies - Internet Strategies
• · Website audit
• · Basic support
• Action programs
• · Budgets
• · Control procedure
• · These components are discussed in detail below.

Summary of Benchmarks. At the very beginning of the plan there should be a brief summary of the main goals and recommendations that will be discussed in the plan. A summary of benchmarks helps senior management quickly understand the overall focus of the plan. Before you start a campaign, you should think about what you want to achieve and how. This, in turn, will help determine the steps to take to make decisions regarding your goals and strategy.

So, you need to decide what you want to achieve with the site. Presentation of the current marketing situation online. The main section of the plan describes the nature of the target market of Internet users and the firm's position in that market. The planner describes the market in terms of size, major segments, and specific environmental factors, provides an overview of major products, lists competitors, and identifies the distribution channel.

List of dangers and opportunities. This section forces managers to look ahead and imagine the threats and opportunities that may arise for the Web site. The purpose of all this is to force management to anticipate important events that can greatly affect the firm. Managers should list as many hazards and opportunities as they can imagine. The manager must assess the likelihood of each hazard and each opportunity occurring and their consequences for the firm.

So, using the Internet you can achieve:

• - expand your business;
• - sell more of your products or services online;
• - sell more of your products or services offline;
• - get support;
• - launch the sale of goods or services;
• - incline public opinion in your direction;
• - significantly increase profits.

Internet strategy is a solution that allows you to fulfill not only the theoretical tasks of marketing policy, but also set long-term guidelines for the company's development and effectively use all the possibilities of the Internet to obtain maximum results for business. This is a specific set of activities, a mechanism that allows you to achieve the intended strategic goals. The Internet strategy complex includes:

• 1. Target market on the Internet
• 2. Strategic planning
• 3. Determining ways for the site to develop
• 4. Project promotion strategy. It is developed separately for all the most important target audiences and takes into account all the requirements for the company’s positioning on the Internet.
• 5. Working with the audience.

Budgets. The action plan allows the manager to develop an appropriate budget, which is, in essence, a forecast of profits and losses. Top management reviews the proposed budget and approves or changes it. Once approved, the budget serves as the basis for purchasing materials, developing production schedules, and conducting marketing activities.

Control procedure. The last section of the plan sets out the procedure for monitoring the progress of everything planned. Typically, goals and budget allocations are outlined by month or quarter. This means that senior management can evaluate the results achieved within each individual period of time and identify operations that have failed to achieve their targets. The managers of these productions will need to provide explanations and indicate what measures they are going to take to correct the situation.

An approximate marketing plan for the development of a Web site.