DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ENHANCED ONLINE HOTEL RESERVATION SYSTEM

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Over the past years, Hotel search and booking is something which is done by everyone who wishes to travel to a place and lodge. This is normally carried out by travel agents. The process of finding the best hotel in central location is time consuming and in some cases poses a security risk to the client (Wayne Lawrence, 2012).

By tradition, hotels were largely hooked on cards and paperwork at the front office to keep in touch with old and current customers. They were largely at the mercy of the desires of vacationers to arrive (Lalit, M 2010).

In today world it has become vital for people to pay close attention to the internet as a means of transaction, every business needs to stay one step ahead of their counterpart or competitor and that also includes the hotel industry too, Hoteliers have also realized that the face of innovation in technology is continually changing and they need to take a proactive step in implementing technological advances while continually striving to build levels of service quality and guest Loyalty(Magnini et al,2003)

Any space not unsold cannot be stockpiled and thereafter sold at a later date, making selling each room critical to profitability. (Peter O'Connor, 2014) To achieve this, hotels have to make use of the internet.

In developing an online hotel reservation system Hydro hotel and suites, Minna was used as a case study. The hotel started operation in the late 1990s but was officially commissioned in 2009, located at No1 farm Centre Tunga Minna, Niger state. The hotel is ranked as one of the first hotel in Minna if not the first from research most hotels in Minna still operate a manual system of room reservation for both old and new customer. The individual fills a form which contains necessary information about the individual in question, the type of room and services needed, this information is kept in the hotel’s record. All this takes place at the front office after which he is given a receipt and access into the room of his choice.

1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT. The manual system of room reservation in Minna, Niger state Hydro hotels and suites in particular is faced with a number of problems such as;

i) Lack of data analysis: The management usually finds it difficult to analyse the data generated during transactions such room and facilities (halls, swimming pools, etc.) reservation for planning and proper decision making owing to some records or poorly generated records from human and computational errors.

ii) Lack of data security levels: files are prone to theft and authorized modification.

1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this project is to design and implement an effective and efficient reservation system for hotel accommodation.

The objectives of this project are to:

i) Analyze the existing manual system of reservation with a view of generating information to assist management in decision making.

ii) Design and implement a secure reservation system.

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This system will assist customers and hotel management in rooms and facilities. Most of the hotel in Minna if not all are operating manually. The proposed system will make it easier for customer to make online room reservation and equally book facilities for events such as wedding, birthday ceremonies, swimming pool at their own convenient time and places.

1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY

The scope of this project is limited to the reservation system of hydro hotels and suites, Minna as the case study.

1.5 LIMITATION OF STUDY

The limitation of the system is that it does not automatically monitor the customer time of arrival and departure.

1.6 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

TRAVEL AGENT: is an individual whose occupation is to assist those who want to travel, by purchasing plane ticket and making hotel reservation.

FRONT OFFICE: this is the entrance to the hotel here we have the receptionist that attends to the customer.

TOUR OPERATOR: An individual whose work duties include arranging tours, whether they are for breaks or site seeing.

ARRIVAL: Time that a guest registers into the hotels.

ACCOMMODATION: The term simply refers to rooms been reserved.

DATA ANALYSIS: the process of evaluating data using analytical and logical reasoning to form some sort of conclusion.