SOTA Launches Asia’s First Hotel Allotment System

Revolutionary Solution Gives Hotels Direct Control Over Room Allotments

Kuala Lumpur, 11 July 2012 – Creative Advances Technology Sdn Bhd (CAT), the developer of SOTA, an online travel platform today announced the official launch of ‘HAS’, the first ever, revolutionary hotel allotment system developed in Asia.

With HAS, hoteliers will be able to manage all their sales distribution channels more efficiently by having instant access to room inventory, rates, sales channels and online bookings as well as connect to all their travel agents and consumers through just one online system.
From left to right: Sheryln Chong, Partner Development Manager Southeast Asia & India for Paypal; Chan Kok Long, Executive Director for iPay88; Joanna Liao, CMO of Creative Advances Technology; Rohizam Md Yusoff, CEO of Creative Advances Technology with Christina Toh, VP of Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) launching the HAS System.

“Currently most hoteliers need to go through multiple systems or third parties to manage their room inventory and online bookings and this takes up a lot of manpower, time and cost. With HAS, we help place the control of room inventory management back into the hands of the hoteliers through just one single platform so they can experience smoother, more seamless work processes across every aspect of their hotel business,” said Rohizam Md Yusoff, CEO of CAT.

Datuk Mohd Illyas Zainol Abidin, President of ASEAN Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHRA) and President of Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), lauded the launch of HAS as ushering in a new era for room inventory management especially for the hotel industry in Malaysia and Asia.

“I see HAS as a technology "game changer" that redefines the way business is done in the hotel industry, bringing higher efficiency, lower cost, greater control in terms of rooms management and allotment. This is a very appropriate time to launch HAS given the importance of online and other emerging channels for hotels around the world,” said Illyas.

HAS allows hoteliers to streamline multiple sales channels including their Online Travel Agents (OTA) and wholesalers by centralising all their room allotments in a shared inventory pool. With HAS, hoteliers can have real-time information of online business performance through an online executive dashboard, so they can better manage their sales channels anytime and anywhere as well as keep up with the fluctuating market conditions and seasonal peaks and lows.

“Another uniqueness about HAS is that it helps hoteliers obtain higher yield margins through reducing their cost of sales on high commission fees that comes with multiple third-party systems. With HAS, they only need to pay a flat rate of US$2 for each booking through a pay-per-use charging model,” added Rohizam.

SOTA also helps HAS users connect to millions of travellers across the globe by giving them access to its network of 1,400 travel agents across 46 countries and helps further maximise their hotels’ online visibility through SOTA’s many publisher websites and partners.

Prior to the official launch, SOTA has held a series of road shows in multiple cities all over Malaysia to create awareness on HAS and recruit HAS users. To-date, more than 83 hotels in Malaysia have already signed up for HAS.

“We will continue to promote HAS aggressively to drive strong awareness and adoption among hoteliers here in Malaysia and in Asia. Apart from the regular road shows and campaigns, we have also planned a series of advertisements about HAS in regional industry publications. Added with the strong support from the industry bodies, I am confident we will continue to see keen adoption for HAS”, ended Rohizam.

Apart from senior representatives from Paypal and iPay88 who were present to officiate the launch, the launch ceremony also saw the attendance of distinguished representatives from various travel and tourism associations such as MATTA, Malaysia Chinese Tourism Association (MCTA), Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association (MITA), Malaysian Budget Hotel Associations (MBHA), Kuala Lumpur Travel Agent Association (KLTA), as well as representatives from 150 hotels and 50 travel agencies.