Sunday, 29 November 2015

Hotel Management Software for Bangladesh Hotel Industry

Bangladesh is home to famous Royal Bengal tigers, Sundarbans, white sandy beach of Kuakata and Kantajew temple, one of the finest masterpieces of medieval architecture. The list does not end here. This South Asian nation has many more natural wonders that attract tourists from around the globe. Therefore, Bangladesh also offers ample opportunity for hotel industry to grow year on year. However, to do smart business while staying profitable in the long run, hotels in Bangladesh should adopt new age hotel management software. 

At present there are 28 five-star, four-star and three-star hotels and resorts in the country. However, recent trends suggest that the demand for 5-star hotel accommodation in Dhaka is increasing at the rate of 15% every year. It also noted that, the demand is set to get further push in coming years. Read More

By: Subhadip Mukherji 
Published in: IDS Next 

In Limelight




This story of Senthil Kumar R has got all the ingredients and elements to inspire all of us. That’s true. Look at his commendable journey. His journey from a telephone booth attendant to become the one and only dynamic graphic designer at IDS Next is full of ups and downs and surprising events. He has been an important member of IDS Next marketing team since last 2 years.



Let’s hear it from him.



Tell us something about you?



Due to financial constraints, my dad told me that he would not be able to fund my studies post 10th. And that blow was severe enough to destroy my ambition of becoming a software engineer. In 2000, I had passed 10th standard with first class, yet I was helpless and clueless. That’s how I decided to take up a job to fund my further studies. In 2001, I started working in a telephone booth near my home as an attendant. I was on that job till 2002 and finished my PU.



I wanted to continue with graduation, but it was not possible due to financial problems back home. From 2002 to 2004, I worked as an industrial laborer in a lathe unit. Sometimes, I even had to work more as a construction worker to earn some extra money. I also had worked as a cafeteria helper and security guard in one of the IT parks in Bangalore. However, I managed to finish graduation in 2012.



How did you get to learn computer, graphic designing and all?



In 2005, one of my friends got me a job in a printing press as an office boy. I spent three years in that press and gradually started liking the graphic designing work. I showed my interest and the designer there was kind enough to teach me the basics. I was prompt to pick up nuances of digital designing. Those three years were crucial to me. Armed with around 50 % of skill set, I joined one small advertisement agency as a graphic designer in 2008. That’s how I developed an interest towards computers and graphic designing.



When did IDS Next happen?



I joined IDS Next in 2013. And during 2008 to 2013, I was able to learn some of the most important intricacies of graphic designing. I think that helped me to bag the job here. The day I got confirmation, I could not believe it. I was nothing few years ago, and now I take pride in saying that I work for one of the most prestigious global hospitality technology company. Most importantly, I can say that I am inextricably linked to IDS Next’s global marketing and branding effort.



What have you learnt here?



I always believe in learning new things as my work is all about creativity. Everyday, I think of what new elements I can bring in to my designs and what new thing I can learn. And at IDS Next, I get enough opportunity to learn and grow. Here, I have learnt how to perform better while sticking to the deadline. I have gained significant knowledge on video making, editing and photography. My two year stint here has taught me how to work on new technologies like flash, illustrator and many latest digital designing tools. Moreover, my confidence level has gone up and I now know how to work in a team.



What you like here?



This place is full of activity. The charm of working for a leader in hospitality technology space is no doubt amazing. I feel good when I get a word of appreciation from senior management for my work. It boosts up my morale. The best part of working for IDS Next is that your work gets recognized.


Friday, 27 November 2015

Hotel Online Reputation Management Solution in Middle East

For hotels across Middle East, it is very important to maintain a positive online brand value/reputation in order to attract both repeat and new guests. For hotels, preserving a strong online reputation has become an operational necessity as today’s tech-savvy traveler reads others' opinion before selecting a hotel. Online reviews written by guests (both positive and negative) have the potential to influence a buyer’s booking decisions as a majority of travelers are using the Internet to plan and book their travel. In this scenario, a smart and intuitive hotel online reputation management solution in Middle East can help hoteliers to the maximum extent. 

Today, hundreds of websites and apps help a guest to read and write reviews for hotels. With the increase in the number of mobile devices, a guest can even write and share his/her review at anytime from anywhere in the world. While good reviews definitely help a hotel attracting more guests, bad reviews can have very adverse impact on a hotel’s brand and business. Read More

By: Dinkey Elayadath
Published in: IDS Next Middle East

Tuesday, 24 November 2015

Integrated 360 Degree Hospitality Solution Vendor in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is famous for its pristine beaches, romantic landscapes, lush green forests and many natural splendors. This tiny island nation’s warm hospitality has its own charm that attracts tourists from around the globe. As the country is a globally renowned tourism destination, it also has become a choicest spot for hotel development. In order to make smart business while beating the competition, hotels should adopt smart hospitality technology solutions. And for this, they need to look for a 360 degree hospitality solution vendor in Sri Lanka. 

In today’s highly competitive and complex hotel business environment, a hotel’s technological needs do not end with adoption of hotel software or hotel property management software. Implementation of a smart Hotel PMS System is a must in order to automate operations across various hotel departments. But, today’s smart hotelier expects more from the software. Apart from streamlining daily operations, a new age integrated hotel software should help hoteliers in many other things including attracting guests to boost occupancy and revenues. This has led IDS Next to offer a smart 360 degree hospitality solution to hotels across Sri Lanka. Read More

By: Nandika Udupihilla
Published in: IDS Next Sri Lanka

Monday, 23 November 2015

Smart Hospitality Software in Rajasthan to Improve Guest Experience

Rajasthan is a leading tourism destination in the country. Its magnificent tradition, colorful and vibrant ethnicity are special attractions for both, domestic and foreign tourists.The state’s exotic tourism products including old era forts and foods offer enormous potential of growth to the hotel industry. Rajasthan is famous as a prominent leisure destination and that’s why hotels across the state need to offer top class experience to their patrons. In order to offer truly Rajasthani hospitality to their guests, hoteliers need to adopt smart hospitality software in Rajasthan.

The state of tourism and hotel industry

Large numbers of domestic and international tourists visit Rajasthan every year. The state expects a huge growth in tourist arrival in coming years. The state estimates that the foreign tourists’ number will go up to 2.5 million by 2018 from the current 1.5 million. Similarly, domestic tourists number is anticipated to grow from 33 million to 50 million by 2018.Read More

By: Subhadip Mukherji
Published in: IDS Next 
 

Thursday, 19 November 2015

Looking for Globally Reliable Hotel Property Management Software Vendor in Goa

Goa has everything in abundance to attract tourists from all over the world. Tourism is thriving and it also has a very positive impact on the hotel industry. Due to Goa’s reputation as a globally acknowledged tourist destination, the state has become a favorite spot for many global hotel brands. They look at Goa as a hot-spot to come up with luxury and upscale properties to serve today’s growing number travelers. At the same time, they also need to make sure that they have the right technology platform to do smart business in the long run. Hoteliers should look for a reliable hotel property management software vendor in Goa in order to meet all their technological needs.
According to Goa’s tourism department, the state had a total of 63 star category hotels with 5362 rooms by September, 2014. A recent HVS Research says that, the state will have around 2291 more star category hotel rooms by 2018/2019. Read More
By: Myra Allen
Published in: IDS Next 

Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Does Your Technology Partner Help You Leverage the Hotel Software to the Maximum Level?

For hotels across size, segment, location and offerings, finding a hotel software is a not a difficult task. The market today is inundated with several hospitality technology providers and each one of them claims to offer the best in the class software. But, as an hotelier, how will you make sure that your technology partner or hotel software vendor is going to help you leverage the software to the most advantageous level? After all, you would want the hotel management software to deliver most business critical flexibility at all levels of your hotel operations.
Review IDS Next’s Unmatched Customer Engagement
At IDS Next, excellent customer engagement matters a lot to us. We understand that fruitful engagement creates happy customer who are most likely to stay with the company. They even become your top brand ambassadors. That’s why; we have been serving our 4000 plus hotel management software users through our Customer Engagement Group (CEG). Read More
By: Varadharajan Athmanathan 
Published in: IDS Next 

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Looking for a Reputed Hotel Software Provider in Thailand?

Thailand’s contribution towards Southeast Asia’s thriving tourism is certainly quite encouraging. The country is a famed tourism destination for leisure travelers from across the globe. The heavy tourist influx has provided the much needed platform for the hotel industry to grow over last couple of years and the future looks promising, too. However, for hoteliers across Thailand, it could be a quite a task to sustain in the long run without adopting a proper hotel management software. Hence, it is advisable for them to look for a reputed hotel software provider in Thailand.
The growth of hotel industry in Thailand
Thailand’s prosperous hotel industry is centered on key tourism destinations including Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. According to Jones Lang LaSalle, around 1,103 hotel rooms where added in Bangkok in 2014. The city is expected to add 4,000 more hotel rooms to its existing inventory in 2015. Additionally, Bangkok will have around 3,700 more rooms between 2016 to 2018. Read More
By: Sandeep Menon
Published in: IDS Next ASEAN

Friday, 13 November 2015

In Limelight


Duryodhan Jena is one of the oldest members of IDS Next’s Technical Support Centre. This MSc – IT grad from Odisha has been a part of IDS Next’s growing employee base since 2007. “Over these years at IDS Next, I now know how to make clients happy,” Duryodhan says

What do you do at IDS Next?

Customer service through timely tech support is one of the critical tasks for our line of business. As an Associate Team Manager at IDS Next’s 24/7 TSC, it is my foremost responsibility to ensure that my team delivers 100% when it comes to offer technical assistance to our valued clients. I take a look at the list of team-wise backlogs the moment I walk into the office. This gives me a clear idea about how to plan my day. Then, I review the individual closure report of my team members. 

My team members escalate some critical issues to me and it becomes my sole obligation to close the same at the earliest. At times, when I face issues related to a bug in programming, I have to forward the same to the development team. But, there is one thing I am quite sure that my team is known for escalating minimum number cases to the development team. This is a great achievement. 

How did IDS Next happened and how is your journey here so far? 

I have a total work experience of almost 14 years and out of that I have spent 8 years at IDS Next. I came to this company in 2007 as a support associate. Initially, I used to visit clients’ sites along with implementation team as we did not have 24/7 TSC at that point of time. I used to provide on-site tech assistance to our clients. 

Between 2007 to 2011/2012, my work took me to places including all over Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra. Even, I had traveled to Africa and Dubai for on-site project implementation. Working here has helped me to understand clients’ requirements and how to make them happy by fixing things when they go wrong.

What have you learned here? 

Bill Gates once said, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”. And to me, this line holds enormous sense. Every time I talk to unhappy clients about their business critical issues, I get new chance to understand our products with a fresh perspective. My stint here has helped me to know our vast range of products. I can say that I am now an expert on all our FortuneNEXT 6i Suite of Hotel Management Software. Constant interaction with clients has also helped me polish my communications skill. 

Duryodhan’s work has earned him recognition, too. He has seen promotions on couple of occasions. Plus, he has been awarded twice by the senior management for his contribution towards client support. Most recently, he was conferred with ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’ during IDS Next’s 28 Anniversary Celebration.




Thursday, 12 November 2015

Hotel software companies in Saudi Arabia

The future of Saudi Arabian tourism and hotel industry looks good. Reason – the kingdom is doing well in both religious and business tourism. Mecca and Medina, two holy cities attract religious travelers. At the same time Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar are known as prominent commercial destinations and attract a major portion of business travelers. 

As the number of tourists visiting the country grows year on year, Saudi Arabia has also become a favorite destination for hotel construction. All prominent cities in the country are witnessing a large number of hotel constructions. Read More

By: Dinker Elayadath
Published in: IDS Next Middle East 

Monday, 9 November 2015

World-Class Integrated Hotel Software Provider in Egypt

Egypt has a high contribution to Africa’s tourism industry. This North-East African nation is world famous for its ancient civilization and several eminent monuments. Egypt draws a significant amount of tourists from around the globe. This has also led to an increase in the number of hotels in the country. As the hotel industry is set to grow, hoteliers should connect with hotel software providers in Egypt to ensure successful hotel operations that are designed to serve guests and ensure high occupancy.

Tourism and Hotel industry in Egypt

Destinations like Egyptian Museum, archaeological sites in Abu Simbel, Valley of Kings near Luxor, Pyramids of Giza and Red Sea Reef are some of the best known tourist attractions in Egypt. In 2014, around 9.9 million tourists visited the country and moderate growth is expected in 2015 and coming year. Read More

By: Rajesh P Yadav
Published in: IDS Next Africa

Thursday, 5 November 2015

Central Reservation System for Chain and Group Hotels in India




The Indian hotel industry is in its prime time. Foreign tourist arrival is likely to touch 15 million by 2020, and the country requires to a3dd over 180,000 hotel rooms. According to Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI), India currently has around 103,000 hotel rooms across categories. 

Growth of chain hotels and group hotels in India

Looking at the positive outlook, many international hotel brands are betting big on India’s hotel market. Cities including Delhi, NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Gurgaon, Noida and Ahmedabad are attracting a major portion of the upcoming hotel investment. Read More

By: Ronnie Sarkar
Published in: IDS Next