 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
AbstractA Spanish Research Group from University is preparing a proposal for the call of Capacities (FP7). The aim of the project is the development and combination of different technological solutions to improve the image and management of small/medium hotels. They are seeking Tourism Associations to join the proposal for coordination.DetailsA very important Spanish Research Group from University, very active in the field of Semantics, is looking for partners to join a proposal to be submitted for the FP7-SME-2012.The main element to improve the hotel image is to increase their presence in the Web. Apart from the registering in generic platforms (such as Trivago, Booking, etc.), the development of a Web portal is a key issue to enhance the hotel image from the clients’ point of view. However, the development of a Web portal is not enough. This portal must appear in the top ten of the searches of accommodation in the hotel city. In this sense, the main objective of the project is the development of positioning techniques to obtain as many visits as possible of the Web portal of the hotel. Once the hotel is properly positioned in the Web, clients have to get a good impression of the hotel. This vision of the hotel from the client's point of view depends not only on the hotel image (photographs, location maps, contact information, etc.), but also on its touristic environment. Therefore, the Web portal must contain information about touristic activities (visits, restaurants, bars, shopping centres, beaches, etc.). However, new technologies can be applied to provide an improved view of this information. The proposal to be submitted will develop a tourist information system that allows users to look for some points of interest near the hotel. This system will provide content recommendation and allow users to define customized profiles and offers an advanced intuitive graphical user interface, including geopositioning. Additionally, this system could be developed not only for being used from client computers, but also in mobile devices (enabling clients to navigate to the touristic places using a navigation system) and digital terrestrial television (providing clients with necessary information in their rooms). In both cases, tourists are able to obtain recommended places according to their preferences and to collaborate giving their opinion about already visited places and other client opinions. On the other hand, this system can be used to obtain some additional profit by providing sponsored information about touristic places (restaurants, bars, shops, etc.). Finally, revenue management, is the process of understanding, anticipating and influencing consumer behaviour in order to maximize revenue or profits from a fixed, perishable resource (such as airline seats or hotel room reservations). Hotels use this system in largely the same way, to calculate the rates, rooms and restrictions on sales in order to best maximize the return too. These systems measure constrained and unconstrained demand along with pace to gauge which restrictions e.g. length of stay, non refundable rate, or close to arrival. Revenue managers in the hotel industry have evolved tremendously over the last 10 years and in this global economy targeting the right distribution channels, controlling costs and having the right market mix plays an important role in yield management. Revenue management in hotels is selling rooms and services at the right price, at the right time, to the right people. Revenue Yield Management strategies were reserved for bigger hotel chains because of the cost of introducing it in a small/medium hotel. In this context, the proposal is intended to extend management tools to provide valuable information to enable the use of revenue management in the enterprise. These tools will collect information about possible competitors, the image provided by these competitors, the pricing strategy followed by them, etc. Thus, the use of these valuable information will reduce the cost of using revenue management in setting their own hotel image, pricing strategy, etc. Technical Specifications / Specific technical requirements: Call Identifier: FP7-SME-2012 Activity Area: Research for the benefits of the SMEs Funding Schemes: Research for the benefit of specific groups (SME) Evaluation Scheme: Complete Proposal. Closure Date: 06/12/2010 Deadline to response this request: 10th November 2011 Sub Area 1: Information and Communication Technologies. Proposal Development stage: under preparation. The average duration of project is 24 months. The estimated budget will be no more than 2 M €. Already existing consortium: 3 RTD Performers, 1 Association and 1 SME. Partners sought: SME Association to coordinate the project, exploit and disseminate the technology. This association or federation of associations will take advantage of the results of the project and will act as coordinator to focus these results to the hotel needs.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
