IDS Softwares Powers Mahindra Homestays With Hospitality Technology

IDS Softwares (IDS), a provider of integrated IT solutions for the hospitality industry, has helped Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India to boost the homestay sector in India with the launch of www.mahindrahomestays.com . The homestay sector is fueled primarily by online presence and promotions, thus the portal plays a pivotal role for the segment. With this innovation, Mahindra Holidays and Resorts can offer a homestay portal with one-stop information and online reservation facility across India to travelers worldwide.

The portal offers an online and multi-currency payment gateway in order to ease financial interactions for tourists around the globe and real-time reservation facility.

IDS has played a major role in the launch of the Mahindra Homestays portal and has offered solutions in two segments i.e. back-end support (Central Reservation System) and real-time Web booking engine. Microsoft ASP.net (the framework) and Back - end Central Reservation System on Visual Basic with an MS SQL Server as RDBMS are the technologies used for the construction of the portal.

Ramesh Ramanathan, CEO of Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India, said, “Mahindra Homestays is a business venture developed to operate entirely on an electronic platform. IDS, in a short space of time, have done an excellent job putting in place the vital front end Web interface and online reservation system”.

“Our association with Mahindra Holidays dates back over a decade. We were only happy to provide our expertise to this emerging concept in the Indian hospitality arena. This project required a fresh concept and innovative technology to be developed in a very short span of time. It gives us pleasure in assisting the Mahindras in this venture,” said Rajesh P Yadav, general manager, IDS.

A ‘homestay’ is accommodation provided in a private home, with no more than 8 rooms available for guests, run by the home owner. A homestay promotes travel and tourism among those who refrain from spending high costs on hotel rooms and also for those who believe in experiencing the pulse of the place they visit. Many home owners in India have been successfully offering their homes for visitors from India and across the world but have not been able to tap it vigorously. Currently, homestay owners have been conducting their business by merely word-of-mouth publicity. With Mahindra Homestays launching the portal powered by IDS, affiliated homes will now be able to provide services and amenities to meet the expectations of the discerning traveler.