The world of e-commerce is about to open up for the hospitality industry with the launch of a Web-based community that promises to deliver cheaper purchasing, online recruiting and an industry knowledge-base for 32,000 hotels, motels, restaurants, clubs and pubs.
Australian-based Internet company, hospitalityhome.com (hh.com) has been working on the portal site for nearly 12 months and is now in the beta stage, involving commercial pilots and the Federal International and Radisson International hotel groups in Australia.
-Traditionally slow to adopt new technology, the hospitality market has been largely ignored by other developers of vertical e-commerce solutions, despite impressive annual industry revenues of AU$21.7 billion, of which AU$1.3 billion is expended on operating supplies and services", said hospitalityhome.com Managing Director, Keith Paulin.
-Because we understand the issues driving hospitality businesses, we can anticipate their needs and offer practical and tailored technology solutions that deliver tangible benefits both now and into the future", Paulin said in a statement.
-Our early discussions with several leading hotel chains have generated high levels of interest due to the potential cost savings through aggregated purchasing and streamlined processes.
-In addition, we've already secured contracts for the supply of over 2,700 products from leading distributors of glassware, china, electrical goods, consumables and more, with further contracts still being negotiated," he said.
First Stage to Launch Q1 2001
Stage One of the site, to be launched next year, will offer four key areas of functionality:
- MatchCareers - industry specific recruitment marketplace
- The Hfiles - searchable hospitality information archive and directories
- StarMark e-Catalogue - online purchasing of hospitality supplies
- StarMark Corporate Solutions - tailored procurement and asset management for larger or multi-site hospitality business units
-hospitalityhome.com is not just another B2B marketplace play - the high volume, low margin or click-through revenue model has met with resistance at all levels, be it buyer, supplier or investor," said Paulin.
-Our vision is to build a membership-oriented community that relies on hh.com for a wide range of products and services, including the latest industry news, chat rooms and email, recruitment, procurement of supplies and even businesses for sale - rich content is the key."
Paulin said hh.com will be expanded over time to offer financial products and services, online auction services, ISP and Web design/hosting, communications services, liquor supplies and more.
-We're partnering with industry leaders like St George Bank, Dell Computer, Stuff Auctions, Deloittes, Cairncross Martin hospitality project management consultants and NexDay fulfilment and logistics services to expand our capabilities and enable us to offer best of breed services in each category.
-Another integral element of hh.com is the hospitalityhome.com Trust, which will earmark one per cent of every transaction to invest back into the industry through scholarships, excellence awards, industry research and charitable contributions," he said.
To date, hospitalityhome.com has been funded through private investment by the Directors and a small group of Foundation Shareholders. The company is currently negotiating to secure a further AU$3 million in venture capital to fund on-going Web site development, infrastructure and marketing for the Australian site.
Once the concept has been proven in Australia, the company will seek additional funding to enable hh.com's expansion into Asia, Europe and North America.
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