SMS to spur growth of Malaysian hospitality industry

The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) is confident its members will benefit from using technology such as mobile Customer Relationship Management (mCRM), wireless broadband services and Short Message Service (SMS).

Asides from having a Web presence and email, MAH is exploring new ways to leverage on the increasing popularity of texting or Short Message Service (SMS).

"Asides traditional means of using the telephone and responding to walk-ins, the majority of MAH members have Web presence and are already using email to communicate with customers," said MAH vice president Ivo Nekvapil.

The next step is to make use of SMS. It's a simple technology, robust and easy to use. "Anyone can send and receive SMS at any time of day, anywhere," he said. It's estimated there're 9.2 million mobile phone users in Malaysia, responsible for sending an average of 30 million Short Message Service (SMS) messages daily.

mobileHOTEL

"Many Malaysians already prefer SMS over phone calls or voice mails and its use has become an acceptable business practice. We have endorsed mobileHOTEL to capitalize on SMS's growing significance." The application is an efficient mobile hotel room rates enquiry and reservation system. MAH claims mobileHOTEL is the first of its kind in ASEAN and reflects local hotels' willingness in using technology to focus on customers and stay ahead.

"Our members understand mobileHOTEL can increase a hotel's efficiency, offer convenience and ease-of-use to potential customers," he said, adding it represents a new customer touchpoint for hotels.

"mobileHOTEL delivers a one-stop convenience and services the customer wherever they are. It replaces the traditional practice of hunting for a hotel, looking for its telephone number, making enquiries, negotiating for rates, and so forth," he said. "It's time consuming. I haven't seen or heard of a similar system like mobileHOTEL during my recent travels in the region. Even in a texting nation like Philippines or Hong Kong, such an application has yet to become mainstream."

Local hotels subscribe to mobileHOTEL for free and are identified by a unique ID such as HVS for Holiday Villa Subang. Subscribers are levied a fee on a variable per use basis when SMS is sent bearing that subscriber's ID. This method is cost effective, as capital expenditure isn't required. "mobileHOTEL's use is not exclusive to MAH members and open even to non-MAH members. This benefits the entire industry," he said. To date, 100 subscribers: 95 of MAH's 350 members and five non-members, have signed on. This is at a faster rate than earlier expected by three months.

"mobileHOTEL will help hotels respond quicker by automating the customer enquiry process. It frees resources as hotels don't need a full-time clerk or receptionist to send a SMS reply." This function is automatically done on mobileHOTEL, resulting in enquiries answered within the minute. Even more impressive is that such cost savings are transferred to customers. Hotels are offering promotional rates as low as 50 per cent from normal rates, to encourage customers make reservations using mobileHOTEL.

"This will be ideal for last-minute holiday plans or weekend vacationers. You can be traveling to Cameron Highlands and make the booking while on the way. Or if you are in Alor Setar and don't know any hotels, use the system to find out and get a good deal."