By Hendarsyah Tarmizi

By Hendarsyah Tarmizi
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Booking rooms online, why not?

Are you planning to go somewhere but don't have enough time to
find a good hotel. Why not try online booking, it is easier and
more convenient.

With only a click of your computer mouse, you can find a wide
range of hotel choices that can suit your taste, and more
importantly your budget.

In Indonesia, the number of hotels which have their own online
reservation facilities are still few and far between. But most
star-rated hotels, even non-star ones, have been available from
local and foreign online reservation providers.

Indo.com, one of the first travel Internet portals in the
country, for example, offers online reservation services not only
for local hotels but also for accommodation facilities in other
Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Many other local travel portals also provide booking services
for hotels in particular areas. Balitouristguide.com, for
example, focus on hotels in the resort island of Bali, while
travelindo.com offers services for hotels in Yogyakarta.

Besides being available from the local travel portals, major
Indonesian hotels are also listed in foreign-based online booking
service providers.

Accommodation Line, which is based in Sydney, also offers
online reservation services for most star-rated hotels in
Indonesia, with discounted rates.

If you browse through the Google search engine, you will find
tens of other websites offering reservation services for
Indonesian hotels.

Besides prices, the websites also feature all the information
you will need about the hotels, such as location maps, types of
rooms, and availability of package tours.

The prices of the hotel rooms quoted in the websites are
generally different from those quoted by conventional travel
agencies. The room rates quoted in the websites are mostly lower.
This is possible because hotels can reduce commission fees when
receiving orders through the online reservation companies.

Some of the quoted room rates already include taxes and
service charges but some others do not. So be sure that you know
what kinds of rates are available before you go ahead with your
booking.

How to make your reservation? Easy, you just click the
reservation icon and fill in the necessary information about your
stay in the hotel such as the length of stay, check-in and check-
out time.

Generally there are two kinds of payment system adopted by
online reservation providers. One of them is called online
payment in which buyers are required to pay the bill by credit or
charge card online. The other form is called semi-online payment
in which customers are required to fax their credit card
authorizations and a copy of the front and back of their credits
cards before the reservation is confirmed.

Local online reservation providers mostly still use the semi-
online system, and sometimes a bank transfer for the hotel
reservation payment.

The semi-online payment, albeit less advanced and often taking
time, is relatively more secure for hotel guests and the
reservation providers as both can make crosschecks before
settling the transactions.

If you are required to pay the room reservation online, be
sure you check how the company is securing your financial and
personal information.

Many online travel companies explain the security procedures
in their websites. But if you don't find any security
description, it would be better for you to call or e-mail the
company.

Although the use of the online hotel reservation system in the
country is still at the early stage of its development, many
local hotels have enjoy the advantages of the online hotel
reservation system.

Grand Hyatt Jakarta, which offers online booking through the
hotel chain's Hyatt.com, sees a growing number of guests booking
through its online reservation facilities.

"Although the number of hotel reservations made through the
website is still around 0.5 percent of the total reservations,
the trend is on the upward direction," the hotel's public
relations manager, Elvira Lianita, told The Jakarta Post.

For the hotel guests, particularly those from overseas, the
online reservation service is quite helpful not only in saving
time but also in arranging their trips, she said.

"For the hotel, the online booking service makes the
reservation process much more efficient," Elvira said.

The online reservation service will undoubtedly become one of
important alternatives for the hotel guests to book a hotel room,
although at present most of the bookings are still made through a
letter, fax or e-mail.

The existence of the online hotel reservation service could in
the long run affect conventional travel agencies if the later are
not able to take advantage of the online technology.

The chairperson of the Association of Indonesian Travel
Agencies (ASITA), Meity Robot, however, downplays the potential
threat from the online hotel reservation providers.

"In some cases, they are our competitors. But they will not
threaten our existence. Hotel reservation is only one of many
services provided by the travel agencies," she told the Post.

Meity said that many travel agencies are considering
developing their own websites to enable them to benefit from the
change in hotel guests' behavior.

Although online booking promises greater convenience, you have
to be careful in selecting the provider of the online reservation
service.

Make sure a company is legitimate before doing business with
it. Identify the company's name, its physical address, including
the country where it is based, and an e-mail address or telephone
number so you can contact the company with questions or problems.