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SCMP Reporter

SHANGRI-LA Hotels and Resorts has set up one of the most advanced reservations systems in the hospitality industry.

  Over the years, the hotels and resorts operator has been using what marketing group director Robert Hutchinson described as a 'tin cans and string' system. But that system is on the scrap heap now.

   Shangri-La spent about $23 million and sought the expertise of software company Fidelio to customise a global system linking the hotel group's central reservations office, individual hotels and regional sales offices.

  The system has been named 'Merlin'.

    Mr Hutchinson said: 'We believe it is a wizard system with it's own unique character.'    The system is up and running in the group's new Hong Kong central reservations office and most of its 29 hotels and resorts.

  'Compared with our old system, which was almost as bad as tin cans and string, Merlin is fantastic,' Mr Hutchinson said.

  'The difference is like night and day, it really is, and it makes life so much easier for both our customers and staff.'   And Merlin is sure to make other hotels green with envy.

  'Merlin is PC-based, and as competitors are stuck with cumbersome, expensive mainframe systems you can imagine how envious they are of our state-of-the-art PC-driven reservations system,' Shangri-La technology guru Anand Rao said.

  Set up costs also give Shangri-La an edge over the competition as investment in the new system, according to Mr Rao, 'was nothing compared with expense involved in running a main-frame system'.

  'At about $23 million our cutting edge system is cheap when you consider a mainframe system can cost up to $78 million in annual maintenance,' Mr Rao said.

  So what does Merlin offer the Shangri-La, and how does it benefit the group's increasing clientele?   'With Merlin we have software which is Shangri-La specific and by being fully integrated with the hotel group's Property Management System [PMS] it is customer friendly,' Mr Hutchinson said.

  'By being integrated with our PMS, the system offers the user hotel or resort specific information on front office operations, room availability and rate, food and beverage data, hotel services, tourism information and guest profile.

  'This means when a potential guest calls for reservations, they are able to get instant detailed information on what rooms are available and at what price while also benefitting from a personal touch that is provided by the reservation staff having immediate access to client history and individual preferences.

   'Our ability to provide instant room availability and rate confirmation in such an immediate and customer friendly manner give the Shangri-La group a key advantage over the competition in what is an increasingly competitive market.'   Shangri-La group public relations manager Joanne Watkins credited Mr Hutchinson with having 'the insight' to initiate the necessary work needed to develop such an advanced reservations system.

  'Mr Hutchinson saw the need to improve our reservations systems and his vision enabled the development of a system that today we are proud to call our own,' Ms Watkins said.

  However, Mr Hutchinson refused to take all the credit for the move.

  'It was obvious that we needed a new system, he said.

  'I mean, I was sick of getting my lips cut on the old tin can.

  'Seriously though, it is our intention to lead the industry in terms of technology and once it was established a new system was needed, it was the hard work of Anand Rao and reservations group director Agnes Battad that ensured we ended up with the best in the business.'   And now that Merlin is operating at Shangri-La's central reservations office and the majority of its hotels and regional offices (with a target of being fully group-wide), what has been the result?   'The feedback from clients has been excellent,' Mr Hutchinson said.

  'By offering a quicker response, far more detailed information as well as catering to personal tastes we are able to provide vastly superior customer service,' Mr Hutchinson said.

   Next year Shangri-La also hopes to gain a further competitive edge by enabling travel industry partners and agents access the Merlin reservation system by remote.

  All the partners need to be able to do so is a PC with a modem.

  Another innovation pioneered by Shangri-La is a yield management system called ADVANTAGE, which in tandem with Merlin provides a more effective management of inventories and rates.

  Customised by Integrated Decisions and Systems Inc (IDEAS), ADVANTAGE allows Shangri-La to forecast demand more accurately and respond with appropriate rates and packages.

  'ADVANTAGE enables us to give our guests a better deal as it analyses and forecasts soft periods and on the basis of that analysis recommends discount and cut-price rates,' Mr Hutchinson said.

  In other technology developments Shangri-La has recently launched its own homepage on the World-Wide Web.

  Three hundred pages of information on Shangri-La's hotels and resorts are now accessible via the Internet address http://www.Shan gri-La.com or directly through TravelWeb.

  'We are confident of benefitting from a place on the Internet and believe we have the most user friendly site on the Net,' Ms Watkins said.

  'And by being the only hotel group to offer details of meeting room facilities at selected hotels, including dimensions, capacities and theme parties, with suggested menus and pricing, we are once again one step ahead of the competition.' 



Merlin works magic on Shangri-La