Introduction to Online Hotel Reservation System

A hotel is an establishment that accommodates people. The hotel can also be a place where tourist can stay for a limited time. We cannot deny that we are now in much more technologically improvement and especially for business, shifting from manual process to automation and computerize (Fhatima A., 2012).

The cost and quality of hotels are usually indicative of the range and type of services available. Due to the enormous increase in tourism worldwide during the last decades of the 20th century, standards, especially those of smaller establishments, have improved considerably. Hotels are independently assessed in traditional systems and these rely heavily on the facilities provided (Parma D., 2009). It is no wonder that booking hotel rooms can now be done in a more convenient way today. If a certain traveler is planning to visit a foreign place, it would be hard for them if he/she does not have a hotel or residence to reside in that country. Before, booking a certain hotel room required long processes such as talking to an hotelier either in person or through the phone. Just imagine the disposition of the hotelier if multiple clients came to ask questions about reservations at the same time. Through an online hotel reservation system, hoteliers and travelers will both be benefited. Hotels have minimal need of travel agents to look for clients because information about their business establishment is readily available online (Larman C.,2004).

The online hotel reservation is the only growing section between the different methods of reservation. The 40% of rooms in cities were reserved online in 2009 and this rate is increasing because there is more and more online reservation system. From 2008 to 2009 the world’s 30 largest hotel chains increased their online reservations with 6%, and this number is growing each year (Herbert D., 2010). Before, people entered directly on the hotels websites to book a room, but today, influenced by the crisis, travelers are more sensitive to prices and they prefer to compare prices and book cheaper. Also business travelers, who usually spend more than other travelers, tend to search for special offers and better prices, but with the same quality than before (Lordhelios H., 2011). The online reservation systems also make life easier for the hotels, because sale is not any more their task or at least they sell fewer rooms directly. They only have to give the data and the rest is the work of the reservation websites.

Hotels have an easy to manage, own page where they can change the availability and can check the reservations (Rerych M., 2012). One of the concerns of hotels nowadays is how to lessen the number of paper works in having a transaction with the customers that could fasten the process of room reservations in which Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Hotel is facing. Efficiency and improved quality of services are the most prominent benefits of the online hotel reservation system. Efficiency gains include improved productivity for coping with increased demand, avoided labor costs, and reductions in operating costs. The hotel’s customers benefit mainly from the improved timeliness and quality of care, including reduced risk of errors. The YMCA Hotel is manned by hardworking, dependable and committed staff, the Hotel can be home away from home and an ideal and appropriate venue for small social gatherings, meetings and seminars/conferences including food and catering services to guests and participants. The Young Men’s Christian Association is classify as Hotellium Real State Lessor/Building located at Tapuac, Dagupan City, Pangasinan.

It offers 16 rooms, 14 rooms for standard and can accommodate 3 persons and it costs Php.600.00 per room, 2 rooms for De Luxe and can accommodate 4 persons with extra bed and it costs Php.900.00 per room. The time for check-in is 1:00 P.M. and check out 12:00 noon. YMCA hotel has 4 staff, 1 Front desk officer in the information area and 3 for housekeeping. They are 1 desktop in the information area where the front desk officer assigned. The three-storey hotel which is a reconstruction from a two-storey hostel is a tribute to the vision and indomitable spirit of the youth. Conceptualized during the administration of a young lawyer, President Clarence G. Decano (1996), and started in the same year thru a noble-sponsorship scheme from an aggressive, innovative and young businessman-engineer, Joseph G. Lo, chairman, Ad-Hoc Committee for property development, by which the much needed funds were generated and who, with the assistance of a young civil engineer, Amelito G. Abarabar, Project manager, undertook its reconstruction until its completion and inauguration on December 13, 1997, during the administration of President Edlario E.Campos (1997). The YMCA Hotel is now on its 15th year of operation and its occupancy rate has improved through the years.

Statement of the Problem
The study endeavors to design and develop a Hotel Reservation System for Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Hotel. Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What are the existing procedures involved in the reservation of rooms in YMCA Hotel?
2. What are the problems encountered in the reservation of rooms in YMCA by the following:

a. Front Desk Officer; and
b. Customer?
3. What features that will be integrated in the proposed Online Hotel Reservation System for YMCA Hotel? 4. What security control measure would be appropriate in the proposed automated reservation system? Objectives of the Study

The study aims to design and develop an Online Hotel Reservation System for YMCA.
Specifically, the study intended to:
1. Identify the manual procedures involved in the reservation of rooms in YMCA Hotel. 2. Determine the problems encountered in the
reservation of rooms in YMCA by the following:
a. Front Desk; and
b. Customer.
3. Devise features that will be integrated in the proposed Online Hotel Reservation System for YMCA Hotel.

4. Devise security and control measurements would be appropriate in the future automated reservation system. Importance of the Study
The study aim to provide Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Hotel an Online Hotel Reservation System that will help the hotel keeps pace with today’s modern and advanced computer technology.

The YMCA Online Hotel Reservation System reduces the amount of routine work that must be done, potentially providing more opportunities for individuals to think and use their full cognitive capacities.

To the Administration – the YMCA Online Hotel Reservation System help to provide better management for room reservation system. The System can be used to manage daily transactions of a hotel, which includes check-in, check –out. To the Staff- the YMCA Online Hotel Reservation System helps staffs of the hotel in its daily transactions especially in booking system and recording of information of its guests / clients. It will be easy to use system. All information will also be secured and freed from illegal and unauthorized users. To the Customer- the system will be a big help to the customer because it is no time consuming because of the presence of the computers and it’s more convenient to use.

To the Researchers- the system will help future researchers by getting broad knowledge on how hotels do the reservation process.
To the Future Proponents – the system will be a big help to the future researchers because they easily understand how hotels operate and what the difference between automated system and manual system is.

Scope and Delimitation
The Online Hotel Reservation System is mainly focus on providing customers a satisfying and accurate reservation of rooms in YMCA Hotel. The system includes the registration mechanism of the customers before reserving a room/s in the hotel. The system enables the YMCA Hotel to track services and aims to provide accurate and reliable process on every transaction especially in a hotel reservation. This study will look into a better impact of using technology today on how it affects our daily lives especially for customers. With the study, it can help beneficiaries to know the differences of using manual hotel reservation system into a computerized generation today, prioritize is to prove and give them the right information. Hotel Reservation system is a transaction processing system that solves the problem encountered during the existing Hotel Reservation. The computerized Hotel Reservation System aims to simplify the existing procedures Hotel Reservation fastest and accurate. Database is shared thru Local Area Network (LAN. The proponents used PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) and JavaScript for the programming language and MySql for the Database. This will allow the Front Desk Officer to personally in-charge in managing the record of the customers. The time frame of the proposed study started December 2012 and expected to be finished by July 2013.

Definition of Terms
In order to establish clear understanding of the study, the following terms where contextually defined. Bookings. Customer’s concluded arrangement with a goods or services supplier (carrier, hotel, restaurant, publisher, etc.) representing a completed sale. Front Desk Officer. A front desk officer typically works in the lobby or reception area of a lodging facility, including hotels, motels and resorts. Other front desk areas include bell/door staff, switchboard and concierge. The front desk officer is responsible for leading and assisting with hotel front office functions, primarily interacting with guests and facilitating hotel check-in and check-out procedures. Hotel Reservation System. Is a computerized system that stores and distributes information of a hotel, resort, or other lodging facilities. JavaScript. Prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed, and has first-class functions.

Local Area Network (LAN). Group of computers and associated devices that share a common communications line or wireless link. MySQL. Is used in a wide range of applications, including data warehousing, e-commerce, Web databases, logging applications and distributed applications. It is also increasingly embedded in third-party software and other technologies. Online Hotel Reservation System. An online web-based system that stores and distributes information of a hotel, resort, or other lodging facilities. PHP Hypertext Preprocessor. Server scripting language, and is a powerful tool for making dynamic and interactive Web pages. PHP is a server-side scripting language designed for web development but also used as a general-purpose programming language. PHP originally stood for Personal Home Page, it now stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. Reservation. An arrangement to have something (as a hotel room) held for one’s use; also: a promise, guarantee, or record of such engagement. System. It refers to a framework, a software or hardware, designed to allow software programs to run. Web-Based. Information and/or application made available by the World Wide Web.