Hospitality & Travel: Room Service Behind The ScenesHospitality & Travel: Room Service Behind The Scenes

Cutting costs and improving service aren't always mutually exclusive.

Paul McDougall, Editor At Large, information

September 18, 2003

3 Min Read
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At Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., CIO Thomas Murphy has been trying to "keep it all afloat" while maintaining a cap on head count. The cruise line's new Niku passenger-management system provides a real-time operating environment for a number of business processes. It proved handy when the cruise line took delivery of Brilliance of The Seas, a 962-foot ocean liner capable of carrying 2,100 passengers. Adding the ship's cabin inventory into Royal Caribbean's reservation systems was relatively easy given Niku's Web-based front end.

A new partner portal embedded in Niku lets travel agents receive commissions online, view all transaction histories in a single pass, and perform account reconciliation in real time. Guests also can log on to part of the system and fill out embarkation forms online, an important time saver that helps get ships out to sea faster. Royal Caribbean also has centralized a number of administrative functions, such as finance and accounting, contract review, and administration, a move expected to save the company $5 million over the next three years.

With the market improving, the travel and hospitality industry is proving that reducing costs, generating new revenue streams, and serving customers aren't mutually exclusive.

INDUSTRY LEADERS Rank Company Revenue in millions Income (loss)
in millions IT
employees 5 Hilton Hotels Corp. $3,847 $198 566 6 Carlson Companies Inc. $19,800 -- 1,010 21 Cendant Corp. $18,110 $1,205 3,600 44 Marriott International Inc. $8,441 $277 1,719 75 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $3,434 $351 284 88 Wyndham International Inc. $1,677 ($522) 86 109 MGM Mirage $4,031 $293 230 124 Sabre Holdings $2,057 $214 1,850 279 Darden Restaurants Inc. $4,654 $232 174 310 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc. $4,659 $355 -- 363 Flying J Inc. $4,600 -- 120 414 Aramark Corp. $8,770 $270 445 449 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. $2,067 $92 110 Financial data is from public sources and company supplied.
Revenue is for latest fiscal year.
Employee data is from information 500 qualifying survey.

SNAPSHOT INSIDE COMPANIES Average portion of revenue spent on IT 4% Average percentage of industry applications and business processes that have Web-based front ends 51% Companies with real-time business processes in place 86% HOW COMPANIES DIVIDE THEIR IT BUDGETS Hardware purchases 15% Services or outsourcing 10% Research and development 5% Salaries and benefits 38% Applications 19% Everything else 13% INDUSTRY FINANCIALS Average year-over-year revenue change 0% Average year-over-year net-income change 74% DATA: information RESEARCH
See year-over-year shifts in business-technology practices for this industry. Compare and contrast this year's data with last year's.

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About the Author

Paul McDougall

Editor At Large, information

Paul McDougall is a former editor for information.

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