| | 8 HOSPITALITY BUSINESS REVIEWDECEMBER - JANUARYIN MY OPINIONThe Hospitality industry is constantly affected by various factors and challenges, including changes in economic, social and political conditions. Further than that, the continual changes in guest preferences, increasing guest expectations, rapid change in technology, and the shortage of talent in the hospitality industry lead the organization to always have the ability to adapt to the changing business requirements. Enhancing guest experience is very important for a hospitality business, which not only improves guest satisfaction but also fosters brand loyalty and increases competitive advantage. This has to be set as a goal to leverage and adopt technology in the organization. To be in line with the changes, the Property Management System (PMS), which is the core solution in the hotel, is required not only to support or improve operation excellence but should also benchmark in the context of agility and scalability as well. The key components and considerations for the next generation of Property Management Systems (PMS) are as follows: · Flexibility and Scalability The Property Management System (PMS) must be flexible and scalable to optimize configurations and resources needed with controllable costs upon the business needs, especially in the unpredictable event of the COVID-19 outbreak. In some scenarios, the hotel needs to temporarily close selling rooms in some areas or decrease the number of room inventory in the hotel for a certain period. This flexibility and scalability are especially crucial in an industry where flexibility is paramount. Cloud-based Property Management System (PMS) is the option to support this consideration point. · Integrity, Reliability (Data-driven) and Artificial intelligence (AI) Hospitality must be transformed into a Data-Driven Organization mainly to enhance guest experience and guest satisfaction based on personalization, enhance operational efficiency and optimize commercial strategies. The data collection in the Property Management System (PMS) must be accurate and reliable. Moreover, it has to be quickly and easily accessible under proper control of the access permission. The technology for storing data is a crucial and valuable set of data that will further THE NEXT GENERATION OF PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (PMS)By Phiphat Khanonwet, Vice President Information Technology, ONYX Hospitality GroupPhiphat Khanonwet
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