<B> Late Checkin Pays Off</B>
By Maria P. Vallejo
Constantly criticized for its slow acceptance of technology, the hospitality industry can credit its cautious attitude for saving time and money during the worldwide rush towards Year 2000 compliance.
Because the hotel industry did not readily adopt the use of technology in its early stages, it now is not bogged down with antiquated systems that need complete overhauls or replacements. Unlike other segments of the travel industry, hotels rely not on mainframe computers, but on personal computers with constantly upgraded modules.
"As industries go, the hotel industry has less bad news than many others do because so much of what's done at hotels is done on small systems," said Bjorn Hanson, hospitality industry chairman at New York-based Coopers & Lybrand. "The general nature of the computerization of the lodging industry makes it less vulnerable to big costs and Dec. 31st crisis."
While everyone is scrambling to fix, reconfigure or replace their computer systems to avoid possible technological nightmares associated with the millennium, many hotel companies expect to reach systemwide compliance by year's end. At least one chain already reports completing the daunting task.
In the midst of merging Sheraton and Westin under Starwood, the world's largest hotel company has completed its year 2000 upgrade, with the sole exception of a link between Westin hotels and the Sheraton's proprietary ResIV system, said Fred Kleisner, president and COO of Starwood's Americas hotel division.
Y2K compliance accompanies the hookup into the centralized reservation system that will link the 650 Starwood properties. Any hotels joining Starwood--like the newly launched "W" hotels--automatically will become compliant upon connection to the system.
This push for compliance was not merely a show of exemplary planning, but also a necessity. Since the Westin and Sheraton systems work in a two-year reservation inventory, their systems this year began taking reservations for 2000.
"Most hotel chains can book reservations up to a year in advance," said Y2K project manager Tim Robinson of Pegasus Systems Inc. in Dallas. "Because hotels can make reservations 12 to 13 months in advance, we are going to be able to see the problems early. By December 1998, they will be able to breach that year 2000 reservation date."
With most of its properties' reservation systems operating with a potential five-year inventory, Bass Hotels & Resorts also met an early deadline. Only five of its properties use reservation systems with a two-year advance inventory.
For Bass--which now includes all the Holiday Inn brands, Crowne Plaza and Inter-Continental--the Y2K remediation project began in 1995. About 60 percent of all its corporate systems already are compliant, with a full implementation target date of Sept. 30. "My focus right now is Year 2000," said Jane Weeks, Bass' senior director of global project services. "We're focusing on the property management system and guest services."
Starting earlier than most chains, Bass officials said they were considered guinea pigs for potential glitches affecting the industry--and indeed, Bass was among the first to encounter difficulties processing credit cards issued with expiration dates ending with "00" or "01." Now, hotel company officials realize that the hotels, their suppliers and all their partners need to be compliant to keep guests moving seamlessly through the system.
Like most of the hotel companies, Bass is working internally with its owned and managed properties, while it offers guides for its franchisees toward reaching compliance by their target dates. The company's intranet, "Online," includes hot links to Year 2000 sites of Bass vendors, such as IBM and Compaq. The process simplifies and facilitates receiving the much-needed information on franchise compliance.
"Rather than everyone having to send separate inquiries, everyone can go there to check the information from their suppliers and vendors," Weeks said. "Any of our hotels that are online can go into their brand and pull up the Year 2000 site."
Franchisees also are equipped with a list of less obvious areas and appliances that might be affected by the millennium change. The list includes coffee makers, video cassette recorders and cellular phones.
Some global technology providers are aiding hotel companies and GDSs to assure Y2K compliance and system compatibility. THISCO will complete certification tests with all major GDSs and its 100 hotel company customers by third quarter 1999. The free service, available to its partners and members, will go through a mock reservation process that will identify any problem areas. THISCO parent Pegasus Systems Inc. will finish certifying hotel partners by mid-June and GDSs before August.
Most hotel companies started their trek into technology compliance last year. Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, for example, began its project in April 1997, developing a six-step process to assure that all hotels reached compliance by the year's end. Each property identified a technical person to handle the Y2K program; took an inventory of all systems that could be affected; prioritized the inventory; researched testing procedures for all systems; corrected the problems and kept abreast of any other Y2K issues.
Major computer systems, such as hotels' internal property management systems, are focal points for concern, but infrastructure is also an important area. Malfunctioning smoke alarms and elevators could force a hotel to shut down for a night, said Carlson's hotel systems director David Sjolander. "The computer systems could be a nuisance for some hotels that don't pay attention. But the bigger problem is the building, the infrastructures," he said. "If your PMS system fails, you can still run your hotel. If your fire alarm fails, you cannot occupy your hotel."
Carlson franchised hotels are financially responsible for their own upgrades or replacements linked to the project, while Carlson will incur costs for the five Minnesota properties it owns. Most of those hotels are fairly new, so little additional cost is expected. The oldest hotel, which opened in Bloomington, Minn., in the spring of 1994, will cost about $15,000 to retool. All systems must go through a Y2K certification laboratory located on the Carlson campus.
Another company happy with its late start in technology adoption is Shangri-La. Given that most of its properties are run by personal computers, computer replacements have been Y2K compliant for some time, said director of marketing Steve Goodling. All the initial testing has been completed and target areas are currently under scrutiny.
"Because of the age of the company, we aren't stuck with a lot of mainframes where there are a lot of the problems," he said.
Indeed, Shangri-La's circumstance mirrors that of many of the Asian-based hotel companies, because the continent was slow to adopt technology into its everyday work regimen, Goodling said.
Still, hotel companies are taking precautionary measures to assure a successful welcome into the millennium. Most already have a contingency plan in case glitches occur.
Bass hotel properties, for example, will keep a backup list of reservations in case its system goes down. "We have contingency plans in place in the event that things beyond our control happen," Weeks said.
Carlson is preparing similar lists, and said most of its hotel operators in any event are knowledgeable on operating hotel services manually. As an extra precaution, though, Carlson has made executive bonuses across the enterprise partially contingent on Y2K compliance.
"Once you start affecting executive bonuses, people get moving on course," Sjolander said.