Activity module - An overview

HMS functionality is enhanced to support Activities. HMS can function as an Activity Consolidator. HMS supports the HTNG SGI (Single Guest Itinerary) interface. HTNG SGI allows activity providers to send Activities to HMS and allows HMS to show a consolidate list of activities available at the property. The Confirmation letter includes a list of activities. There is also a report to list all activities that are associated with the property.

Activity management is complicated and most activities are managed by an external system that communicates to HMS through the SGI interface. HMS does provide a simple activity module that allows activities to be booked and managed in HMS. This feature is only suitable for simple activity scheduling and is not capable of supporting complex scheduling or rates. External Activities are owned by the external system. HMS may not modify external activities. HMS does NOT notify external systems about the Internal Activities scheduled in HMS.

Activities can be associated to a Guest Stay or a Guest Profile. The Guest Profile, Guest Stay and Check-In screens display an icon, if there are associated activities. From the Guest Stay and Guest Profile screen, the user can invoke the Activity Booking List screen to see a list of all activities. From the Activity Booking List screen, you can invoke the Activity Booking screen to book or modify an activity. You can invoke a screen that shows the Activity Bookings in a Calendar view.

Activities are configured by Property. HMS manages three entities:

  • Activity Provider: This is the entity that manages the Activities. For example, the Bike Rental shop or the SPA are providers.
  • Activity Configuration: This identifies the generic activity, like renting a bike or getting a massage.
  • Activity Booking: This is the actual appointment or reservation, like the 1:00 O'clock deep massage appointment for Jane or the saturday afternoon bike rental for Jill.
Note: Regarding terminology, most of the documentation in the industry refers to Activities which is most often a reference to Activity Bookings. All activities in HMS must have an Activity Configuration and Activity Provider, weather internal or external.

Both Internal and External activity bookings can have the activity charges posted in HMS. The SGI interface supports sending both Charges and Payments to HMS. The requirement to allow Activity Bookings on a Guest Profile has led to HMS adding Profile Accounts. The user may manually create a profile account from the Guest Profile screen. These profile accounts are not restricted to activity postings and may be used for many purposes. Adding an Activity Booking to a Guest Profile will create an account, if one does not already exist. The requirement to have activities and non-room items associated together has led to HMS adding Enhanced Experience to the Guest Profile as well.

Activity Provider: The Activity provider is configured first. The Activity Provider contains contact information about how to contact the activity provider and is defaulted into the Activity Configuration screen, but can be overridden on the Activity Configuration screen. External Activity Configuration requires that you set up a Databridge partner for the SGI interface and associate the Activity Provider to that Databrige partner. The Databrige partner may support multiple properties. The screen allows you to show the “internal” to the property contact information and information on how to book the activity.

Activity Configuration: The Activity Configuration screen includes scheduling restrictions, Guest Type restrictions and Rates. Rates can be specified by Guest Type, Person or Activity. Activity, Person and Adult guest types must always be kept active. Additional guest types may be activated and re-named. Scheduling and Guest Type restrictions are information only for external activities and are not enforced. Rates on an External Activity Configuration may be used to estimate the rate on a pending external activity booking. The Activity Configuration screen allows the user to specify the details about how to book the activity. This is important for external activities. If the guest queries about an Activity, the concierge needs to provide to the guest, information on how to book the activity with the external provider, as it can not be booked in HMS. This can be a Website, Phone Number or an E-mail address. The booking information and some of the other activity configuration information is shown on the activity booking screen. Traces may be configured for Internal Activities.

Activity Bookings: Activity Bookings are related to the Activity Configuration. Activity Bookings have the Rate and Date/Time of the activity. For internal activity bookings, the user may specify counts by Guest Type. The SGI interface does not support Guest Type and only a total person count is provided. The user may also specify a list of Participants. The SGI interface may also send a list of Participants. HMS does not cross validate the participants against the Guest Type Counts. The External Activity Bookings may have a link to a web site that allows the guest to view and/or modify the activity booking. This link is provided in the SGI Activity Booking message.

Guest Stay/Profile: The Guest Stay, Check-In and Guest Profile screens have an icon to indicate if there are activities. These screens also has a link to the Activity Booking List screen. For a Guest Stay, the list screen includes all activities associated to the Guest Stay and activities associated to the primary or additional guest profiles. At check-in, the user is warned about any un-booked / pending activities. If the guest stay dates are modified, the user is warned if there are booked activities outside the new stay dates. For external activities, a message is sent to the provider about the stay date changes. If the user cancels a guest stay, the system prompts the user to automatically cancel internal activities. The user may NOT cancel internal activities automatically and continue with canceling the guest stay. The user will need to review the activity bookings one by one. For external activities, the external system is notified about the Guest Stay cancellation. Activities can be included in package rate or add-ons through a Non-Room Item. When the Package or Add-On is added, a pending activity is created (waiting to be booked). HMS has also added an Upsell feature. Non-Room Items and Activities may be marked as eligible for Upsell. Upon Check-In, the system displays the Upsell pop-up with the top 5 Activities and top 5 Non-Room Items the guest has booked before.