Architectural Framework for Mobile Online Hotel Reservation in Nigeria using GSM Technology

Abstract

Going by the continuous spread in the number and geographical coverage of mobile operators and facilities of the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) technology in Nigeria, there exists a compelling need for creating more value added services to the network. One example of a value added service is the mobile online Hotel Reservation Systems.  This paper focuses on Hotel rooms’ reservation being a vital part of the growing tourism industry in Nigeria, where quality of service could be critical; hence, it sets out to improve upon the existing Hotel reservation system.  This it achieved by designing and evaluating  an architectural framework for mobile hotel reservation system using the Global System for Mobile communication, which will create a platform for hotel reservation from any location. In order to achieve this, the existing hotel reservation systems in Nigeria were reviewed. We examined the development of hotel reservation system from manual method to computerized system to online reservation system. The problems and challenges inherent in these systems were highlighted. Arising from the challenges in the existing system, an improved GSM-based model was designed using the traditional Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern. This pattern consist of three parts: the Model which represent the data and business logic of the application; the View which is the actual screen that displays data and related commands to the users; and finally the Controller which receives user actions and dispatches them to the Model. The following performance parameters were used in the evaluation of the proposed architecture: response time, bandwidth consumption and cost per request.The results revealed that using the HTTP-based design approach, instead of the WAP based approach; a performance evaluation of the architecture used was carried out. The result revealed an improved response time; reduced bandwidth consumption leading to reduced bandwidth cost per request. Evaluation shows that the architectural framework is highly implemental and that it is of greater advantages over the existing hotel reservation systems in Nigeria because of its flexibility, availability, ease of use and reliable.