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Hotel Front Office Theory Study
Hotel Front Office Theory Study
The word ‘Hospitality’ means a friendly treatment, which is offered to a stranger. The
concept of Hospitality has diversified to a huge extent after the process of
globalization, which has taken place in most of the countries of Earth.
Hospitality Industry can be classified into main two segments:
1. LODGING INDUSTRY: that includes hotels, casinos, resorts, parks,
hostels and other types of accommodation.
2. FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY: that includes restaurants, fast food
counters, bars, coffee shops and so on.
LODGING INDUSTRY
INTERNATIONAL
The lodging industry is perhaps the oldest commercial industry of the World and is a
fast growing industry with a lot of career opportunities.
The establishment of money during the sixth century B.C. gave the opportunity to the
people of trade and travel. Thus the origin of hotel can be traced back to the sixth
century B.C. which was in the forms of inns which were the first type of hotels to
cater to the lodging requirements of the travelers. These inns were managed by the
husband and wife team who provided the travelers with overnight accommodation.
They also provided food and wines and some other types of facilities.
The beginning of Industrial revolution in Europe introduced the new ideas in the
business of inn-keeping as traveling become more frequent after the development of
other means of transportation such as railways and ships. The industrial revolution
also led the opportunities for people to involve themselves into the business in which
they have to travel from one place to another, thus increasing the demand of place
where they can get shelter or we can say home away from home.
In England, in earlier days the lodging industry was divided mainly into two parts.
Firstly was “Inns” which were constructed for the noble and elite guests and second
were called “Taverns” which were constructed to suffice the needs of common
people.
In French, similarly “Hoteliers” were constructed to cater to the needs of rich and
wealthy people and “Cabarets” were for the common people.
Similarly, other native form of hostelry also become popular in other parts of the
World such as “Riokan” in Japan, “Pardons” in Spain and “Posada” in Portugal.
England was the first country to use the term “Hotel” to these commercial lodging
establishments in the year 1760 A.D. In U.S.A., the lodging establishments were
called “Inns” or “Coffee Houses”.
U.S.A. was the first country where the real growth of hotels took place, when the first
building for hotel purpose was built in the year 1794 called the “CITY HOTEL” in New
York. This was followed by an era of competition in the field of the hotel industry as
many beautiful hotels were constructed at this time.
The concept of the operation of the chain hotel was introduced in the field of the
hotel industry with the beginning of the first commercial hotel by Ellsworth Statler in
1908 A.D. called “The Buffalo Statler”.
In the year 1930, there was a great Economic Depression in United States and Europe
which sank the business of the hotel industry into all time low. After that there was a
speedy recovery to that during and after the Second World War
1794 A.D.: The first commercial building for the hotel purpose called the
“CITY HOTEL” was constructed in New York, U.S.A.
1829 A.D.: The “Tremont House”, “1st First Class Hotel” was constructed in
Boston, U.S.A.
1875 A.D.: The most expensive hotel of its day called “The Palace” was
built in San Francisco
1908 A.D.: Mr. Ellsworth Statler started the first commercial chain of hotels
called “The Buffalo chain of Hotels”
1915 A.D.: The international chains of hotels were started.
1930: The economic depression led to the decline of the hotel
industry.
1939 – 1945:There was an increase in the number of hotels during World War
II
HISTORY & DEVELOPMENT OF LODGING INDUSTRY IN INDIA
In India, the concept of shelter for travelers is not new. In fact it is as old as its
recorded history. The historical records and books mention the words like
“Dharamshalas”, “Viharas”, Sarais” & “Musafirkhanas”. These establishments
provided a home to all the tourists whether they are pilgrims, scholars, adventurers
or merchants.
The shelter under various names has always been a part of Indian culture as a
valuable institution, providing a vital service.
The ancient Buddhist Monks were probably the first to institutionalize the concept of
a shelter in India. The cave temples scattered all over the South Western region of
India have both a “Chaitya” (Sanctuary) for worship and prayers and “Viharas”
(Monastery). These monks, although living in their quit retreats away from towns and
villages, were nevertheless mindful of the needs of travelers and pilgrims who found
shelter and food at these monasteries. It is interesting to note that these monasteries
were located on the ancient trade routes between important centers of pilgrimage of
the region. It is gathered from some inscriptions that merchants gave liberal
donations for the construction and maintenance of these establishments. Mere
charity was obviously not the motivation in these displays of generosity. The traders
traveled with their merchandise and money on these routes and the “Viharas” were
their “Hotels”.
In the medieval period this ancient institution gradually assumed a more secular
character. Although religious centers invariably had “Dharamshalas” and
“Musafirkhanas” attached to them, the caravan “Sarais” appeared as an exclusive
travelers lodge with a nanhai (Cook) attached with it. Sher Shah Suri, the great
Afghan emperor, the builder of the Grand trunk Road, is credited with having built
“Caravas” “Sarais” at regular intervals all along this highway creating favorable
conditions for commerce and travel. However, he was not alone in this venture. The
Mughals built such facilities all over their empire. Later on Kings, Rajas, Nawabs and
other rich businessmen built Sarais making traveling less difficult.
At apx the same point of time, the Inns were the western Counterpart of India’s
Sarais. With the expansion of the commerce, traveling became profitable and with it
enverged the business of providing comfortable shelter and good food to the growing
number of travelers. The Sarais in India, like Inns in Europe or the stage coach
stations in the U.S.A. of the 18 th & 19th centuries, stood all along the well traveled
routes. They provided food and shelter to the travelers and fodder to their horses.
The amenities these early hotels offered would seem to us to be primitive but they
confirmed to the life style at that age. However, with the passage of time, the age
old institution of the Sarais adapted itself to the changing and modern World. Very
soon in early 20th century hotels were also built in India like Oberoi Maidens of New
Delhi & Taj Mahal Hotel of Bombay etc.
In a Layman’s language hotel can also be referred as “Home away from Home”
Hotel or Inn is defined by a British law as a “place where a bonafide traveler” can
receive food and shelter, provided he is in a position to pay for it and is in a fit
condition to be received.
The hotel industry is perhaps the oldest endeavors in the World. The first inns go
back to the 6th century B.C. and were the products of the urge to travel, spurred by
the invention of wheels. The earlier inns were ventures by husband and wives who
provided large halls for travelers to make their own beds and sleep on the floor.
UNIT 3
CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS
Hotels can mainly be divided into various categories on the several important
features.
1. LOCATION: Any hotel can be named in the category depending upon its
location.
The main sub-categories of the hotels which falls under the category of
locations are:
(a) DOWNTOWN HOTEL: Its features are:
(i) Located in the centre of city at the hub of the business centre and also
at the same time near to the shopping areas and public buildings.
(ii) Provides services like business centre, board room, conference halls
etc which would serve to the best of the needs of the business traveler.
(iii) Rates of these hotels are on a higher side.
(iv) Business clientele.
(i) Situated at the suburbs therefore is quieter and not very over-
congested.
(ii) Basic needs are provided to the guests like only one restaurant and not
the other facilities like swimming pool, health club etc.
(iii) Rates are lower.
(iv) Budget clientele, ideal for conferences and seminars because its
quieter nature.
2. SIZE: The capacity of a hotel in terms of number of rooms is the main criteria
of this category.
Sub-categories are:
(a) Small Hotels: 25 rooms and less
(b) Medium: 25 – 100 rooms
(c) Large: 101 – 300 rooms
(d) Very large: more than 300 rooms
(b) CHAIN HOTELS OR GROUP HOTELS: These hotels are the parts of any
particular group or chain. This chain of hotels can be in one country or it can
also be distributed among various countries. Whatever may be the case, any
hotel which is a part of chain or group of hotels have to follow the strict
guidelines and parameters which is decided by the parent company hotels.
Example of such chain of hotels in India are: Park group of Hotels (or Aay Pee
Jay group), Jay Pee Group, Park Plaza group, ITC group, Fortune group of
hotels, Country Inns & suites etc. Examples of chain of hotels internationally
are: Taj group of hotels, Oberoi group of hotels, Hilton group of hotels,
Sheratons etc.
MANAGEMENT CONTRACT
Management contract is an agreement or mutual contract between a property (hotel)
owner with the management company in which the owner hires or invites the
management company to operate his hotel on a long term basis on the basis of profit
sharing. Under this agreement, the rights and responsibilities of each party are
clearly discussed and legally formulated.
2. MINIMUM RISK AND HIGH PROFIT: Since all the major expenses are
beared by the owner therefore the management company has the least risk of
capital loss and the chances of profit therefore are quite high.
2. MEMBERSHIP FEE: The owner or the franchise has to pay the negotiated
amount mutually discussed earlier with the hotel company.
1. BEAR THE COST OF SERVICES: Franchiser has to bear the cost of services
it is offering such as reservation, advertising and sales etc.
In the above agreement, the chain of hotels gives its name to the hotel of the owner
at NO PROFIT NO LOSS BASIS. In return the chain hotel makes the regular
inspections and audits to the owners’ hotel, failing to which the contract between the
chain hotel and the individual hotel gets breached and the chain hotel takes away its
name which was attached to the owner hotel.
Great such example of the referral hotel is the leading hotel of ITC group “Maurya
Sheraton Hotel”. In this hotel, the Maurya belongs to ITC group (or the individual
owner) and it is attached to the Sheraton Group Worldwide on the basis of referral
agreement and on NO PROFIT NO LOSS BASIS. Sheraton group keeps on making
audit and inspection to the Maurya hotel and see to it that the standards and quality
of the hotel is not desecrating.
(a) EUROTEL: These are the kind of apartmental houses built by more
than one owner. This type of accommodation establishment is very famous in
USA and Europe. The basic feature of Eurotel is that the co-owners of these
apartments can exchange or in other words use another apartment by the
mutual agreement. These establishments are designed in such a way that the
occupants are provided with all the facilities of a leading hotel nature.
(b) APART HOTEL: These Apart hotels have been derived from the
word “Apartment”. In such case of accommodation, the owner owns a
particular apartment or the group of apartments and sells or on hire gives that
to the hotel management company. An owner himself as a guest is liable to
get all the facilities by the hotel management company. During his absence,
the hotel management company is allowed to rent the units to other guests.
The origin of Apart Hotel is from Spain in the year 1970.
(c) VILLAS, CHALET, and BUNGALOWS: “Villa” is an Italian concept,
which is a large country residence with an estate around it or near to it.
“Chalet” is a Swiss concept, which means the farmers’ residences, which are
generally wooden cottages with over hanging roofs. The Chalets are generally
smaller in size as compared to Villas.
These types of accommodation have now become holiday homes where the
guests hire accommodation and other facilities required during their stay.
Some of them are even open to the people for sale.
(a) Research & Analysis: This includes an independent study of what the
competition is doing.
(b) Establish unique selling propositions (USP) Consumer oriented propositions to
fulfill needs of the customers.
(c) Determine objectives and strategies.
(d) Advertise promise, which is genuine and credible and in which a consumer can
easily discuss his own benefit.
(e) Keep the promises simple.
(f) Continuous market research and monitoring of the progress.
The above plan of action is applicable to all hotels, big or small. Although potential
markets of the hotel are world wide, yet a hotel manager cannot afford to ignore his
own backyard. If he concentrates his efforts on close-at-hand markets half the efforts
in terms of investment and follow-ups may double the business.
A hotel manager should look at the following potential prospects for prime sources of
business in his own country:
(a) Secretaries and Women’s executive clubs could eat in the hotel at discounted
rates.
(b) Secretaries to senior executives could come and eat in the hotel with their
families.
(c) Offering attractive honeymoon packages in an interesting idea.
(d) Organization of seminars or workshops for continuing education with the help
of local or foreign universities is a good way to develop new traffic.
There are some ways of making attractive marketing and thus a long lasting contract.
It is essential for the marketing manager to be acquainted with the local press crops
for effective public relations. An occasional press briefing on VIP visits or on special
functions in the hotel brings windfall publicity.
Consumer needs are the corner stone of the marketing analysis. A hotel manager
must learn to view his activities from consumers’ prospective. He can thus respond
with action, which is consumer oriented rather than management oriented.
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Junior Bell
Receptionist Boys
(a) RESERVATION: This section is responsible for reserving the rooms for
the prospective guest. This section is also responsible for cancellation and
amendment of room bookings.
(b) RECEPTION / REGISTRATION: This section is responsible for welcoming
guests on arrival; the section is also responsible for registering the guests on
arrival. Registering of guest is a statutory obligation for any organization
engaged in accommodation business.
(c) INFORMATION: Front office has a very important segment called
Information desk. This section is the nerve center of the hotel and should be
easily approachable by all the hotel guests for their queries and information.
(d) CASH & BILLS: This section is responsible for maintaining the statement
of expenditure (guest bill or guest folio) for a resident guest. This section is
also responsible for settlement of guest bills on departure.
(e) BELL DESK: This section is responsible for handling guest baggage at the
time of arrival, at the time of departure.
(f) TELEPHONES: This is responsible for all incoming and outgoing calls
both for the guests and management.
TYPE OF ROOMS
ROOMS
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(a) Single Room: Room with a single bed and meant for the
accommodation of one person
Abbreviation: “SGL” Symbol: “-”
(b) Twin Room: It is a room meant for two persons having two single beds
separated from each other.
Abbreviation: “TBR” Symbol: “=”
(c) Double Room: It is a room meant for two persons having one double
bed.
Abbreviation: “DBL” Symbol: “+”
(d) Suite: It is an apartment having a bedroom with a double bed and a living
room. Besides the room numbers every suite has got a name depending upon
the décor, theme etc, like ITC Maurya Sheraton has suits by the name of
Mauryan dynasty like: Ashoka, Emperor, Chandragupta etc. The furniture and
fittings are generally quite costly. Symbol: “S”
(a) Junior Suite: When a big room is converted into a suite with the help of a
partition; it is known as a Junior Suite.
(b) Pent House: It is a suite, which is situated at the terrace level, and a part of
it is open to the sky.
(c) Cabana Room: It is a room situated away from the main building, is near
to the swimming pool. Room is mainly used for changing purposes. A cabana
may not have a bed. A temporary bar is optional. A cabana is rented as
hourly basis.
(d) Duplex: It is a room having two levels. The upper level is used as a
bedroom and the lower level is used as a parlour or living room. The two
levels are connected through a staircase.
(e) Hospitality Room: It is a room where a resident guest can entertain their
own guest. The hospitality room has no bed. They are rented on hourly basis
and are mainly available with commercial hotels.
(f) Efficiency Room: It is a room with kitchen facilities. They are usually
available in resort hotel because most of the guest requires these rooms as
they are on a special diet.
(g) Hollywood Twin Bedded Room: It is a twin room with two single beds
separated from each other, but having a common head board.
(h) Studio Room: It is a single room with one or more sofa, which can be
converted into a bed.
(i) Murphy Bedded Room: It is a room having a Murphy bed. (It is a bed,
which can be folded against the wall).
A large number of factors play a very important role in the choice of equipments to
keep in the Front Office of a hotel to carry out day-to-day administration and
management of the department.
The equipments used in Front Office are mainly classified into 3 segments:
3. MANUAL EQUIPMENTS:
(i) ROOM RACK: Room rack is a large wooden framework located just
behind the front desk. It contains a metallic array of pockets, which contains
large number of room rack slips for showing the reservation and house
keeping status of each guest room of a hotel. It is a joint effort of the front
desk and housekeeping to timely update the room rack in order to have an
accurate room status position.
(ii) INFORMATION RACK: This is again an important device present at the
front desk, which contains all the required information of in-house guests in an
alphabetical order. The information rack is a revolving device, which enables
front office assistant to know the details of guests, which are staying in the
hotel, like name, room no., arrival date, date of departure etc.
(iii) MAIL & MESSAGE RACK: Mail or message rack is a wooden framework
present at the front desk, which has pigeonholes mentioning each room
number of the hotel. Any message for in-house guest is noted on the
message slip and then put in the pigeonhole of the room no. in which that
particular guest is staying.
(iv) KEY RACK OR KEY DRAWER: Key rack or key drawer is a wooden or
metallic framework present underneath the front desk. It contains an array of
slots used for keeping the keys of the guest rooms in sequential order for the
guest rooms present in the hotel. Nowadays most good hotels are using the
electronic keys for their guest rooms, but for hotels, which are still persisting
with the metallic keys, the key rack is an important device to maintain the
control of keys.
(v) FOLIOWELL OR FOLIO BUCKET: This is important equipment used in the
front desk cash section. This equipment contains a large number of slots
where the folios are arranged. Sequentially according to the room number.
The folio well is used by the front office cashier to store and track the folios of
the various registered guests of the hotel and is used to maintain the folios
safely for future use and reference.
TARIFF PLANS
Food plan or meal plan is a composite package offered by Front office department,
which includes accommodation and meals.
MAJOR TARIFF / FOOD PLANS ARE:
(i) EUROPEAN PLAN: Under this plan, guest is offered only accommodation.
E.M.T. (Early Morning Tea) is optional depending upon the policy of the hotel.
(ii) CONTINENTAL PLAN (C.P.): Under this plan, the guest is offered a
continental breakfast along with the accommodation. E.M.T. is again optional.
Continental breakfast is the lightest breakfast, which includes: Fruit juices,
break basket with preserves & Tea/Coffee.
(iii) BERMUDA PLAN (B.P.): Under this plan, the guest is offered an American
breakfast with accommodation. E.M.T. is again optional. American breakfast
includes: Fruit juice, Cereals, Bread Basket with preserves, Eggs to order &
Tea/Coffee.
(iv) AMERICAN PLAN (A.P.): This plan is also known as “Full boarding plan”.
Under this plan, guest is offered with 02 minor meals (i.e. breakfast & evening
snacks) & 02 major meals (Lunch & Dinner) along with accommodation.
E.M.T. is again optional.
(v) MODIFIED AMERICAN PLAN: Under this plan, the guest is offered with
one minor meal and one major meal along with accommodation. E.M.T. is
optional.
It is compulsory for all kinds of hotel to display the tariff structure. In small hotels it
is done through Tariff Board where the room rates are displayed in Reception. In 5
star hotels tariff plans are used, it is a small sized card where tariff according to the
food plan is presented. It is available with reception and also available in each guest
room.
1. RACK RATE: It is the rate printed on a tariff card. It is the highest equipped
rate generally offered to Free Individual Travelers (F.I.T.).
2. PACKAGE RATE: This is a special rate which covers all expenses right
from airport pick up and drops, meals, room rent, sight seeing etc. These
package rates are normally set for a fix period of time eg. Weekend package,
summer package, charismas package etc.
3. OFF SEASON RATE: This rate is normally offered in Resorts, where special
discounted rates are offered to the tourists during off seasons eg. Off-season
for Simla would be the winter months and off-season for Goa will be summer
months.
4. EMPLOYEE DISCOUNTED RATES: In chain hotels, employee may be
given discount on rack rates for the hotels belonging to that chain. Employee
discounted rates would depend on the availability of space and are generally
offered during slack season.
5. PUBLICITY & PROMOTIONAL RATES: For publicity purposes, influential
persons like Company Directors, Top Executives, Celebrities etc may be given
discounts for the sake of publicity. These kinds of persons are known as C.I.P.
(Commercially Important Person) from whom the hotel can expect business.
6. CORPORATE RATES: It is also known as C.G.V.R. (Company Guaranteed
Volume Rates). Companies, which give regular business to the hotel, are
given special discounted rates, which are known as Corporate Rates.
7. GROUP RATES: Special discounted rates are offered to groups of guest.
Discount percentage would depend upon number of group members.
8. CREW MEMBER DISCOUNTED RATES: For airline crewmembers,
discounted rats are offered by hotel based on the contract between Airline
Company and the hotel.
9. FHRAI MEMBERS DISCOUNTED RATES: Federation of Hotels and
Restaurant Association of India members are offered a discount up to 30% by
hotels.
10. EXTRA BED RATE: A fix charge generally one fourth of the room is allowed
to permit the extra bed in the same room.
NOTE: All Rack rates are (highest) room rates but all room rates are not rack
rates.
This analysis helps us to deal with the people (guests) irrespective of age and sex
they belong to.
Y
Where ‘X’ is the ego of guest and ‘Y’ is the ego the second person.
(ii) ADULT EGO: When a person talks logically and the level of thinking is same
as that of a person with whom he is communicates. He is said to be in Adult
ego.
X Y
(iii) CHILD EGO: When a person behaves emotionally. He is said to be in Child
ego.
Y
X
Only one type of ego stays as active at a particular time. Age also plays an
important role to determine which ego state is likely to be active.
In hotels we have to keep the adult ego active. Most of guest (99.9% approx.) has
their adult ego active and hence we don’t have any problems in dealing with them as
they understand logic and talk sense.
Unfortunately 0.1% guest has their adult ego inactive.
If guest is in parent ego, we cannot shift our adult ego to parent ego but we have to
bring down the guests’ parent ego to adult ego, so that the communication becomes
in straight line.
GUESTS
(a) ANGRY GUESTS: There anger can be compared with the steam in a
pressure cooker. If one tries to block the steam of cooker, it will burst, so do
the angry guest.
Rules could be:
(i) Do not interrupt
(ii) Listen to them
(iii) Let the steam cool
(iv) Apologize
(v) Take prompt action in front of the guest.
(vi) Follow up
(b) SNOB GUESTS: These guests are in parent ego and are suffering from
superiority complex. These guests tell about their high contacts and try to
demoralize and influence the hoteliers.
Rules to tackle them are:
(i) Ignore their comments but don’t ignore the guest.
(ii) Suggest alternatives, which would be better, and matches with guest status.
(iii) Be firm if the problem persists.
(c) CHATTER BOX GUESTS: They are generally old people or sometimes
middle-aged females, which demands and expects respect from the senior
persons of the hotel. The rule for them is to take the help of your colleagues
in a right way eg. Phone call from the managers to the guest room.
(d) SOCIALIZER GUESTS: These guests try to be friendly with the hotel staff
of opposite sex. The rule for them is to solve the humorous notes if still the
problem persists, call the manager.
Qualities of Front Office Personnel
Since the front office is the most important department of the hotel as it generates
the maximum revenue of the hotel. It is very essential for a front office personnel to
have qualities his qualities are:
1. Punctuality- he/she should be punctual in duty and should always report on
time.
2. Has a positive attitude towards the job and the moral.
3. Recognizes both the positive and negative aspects of job.
4. Possess maturity in judgment
5. Should never be overfriendly with guests
6. Maintain control and composure ever in difficult situation.
7. Should be ever smiling.
8. Should exhibit cordial and pleasant nature.
9. Should have helpful attitude.
10. Should possess a good sense of humor.
11. Should practice good listening skills
12. Should be flexible in nature.
13. Should be well groomed in appearance
14. Good salesmanship.
1. The hair should be clean, free from dandruff, odorless and glossy in
appearance. It is necessary that all gentleman working in Front office
should have short and neatly combed hair at all times i.e. not touching the
ears and collars.
2. A clean daily shave is also compulsory. Always keep your mustaches well
trimmed.
3. Hands carry germs, therefore, wash hands and nails frequently and always
before leaving washroom.
4. Pay attention to your personal hygiene, use a deodorant to prevent body
odor.
5. For those with bad smell can use mouthwash.
6. Wear clean, fresh and well-pressed uniforms at al times. Shirts and blazers
should always be buttoned up.
7. Shoes should be nicely polished; heels should be of comfortable height
and should always be black in color.
8. Wash face frequently if it l\tends to show up oil.
9. Do not wear a fancy jewellery, maximum being a ring and a watch.
10. Do not apply strong smelling perfumes / colognes / aftershave lotions. A
mild fragrance is advisable.
11. It is compulsory to wear clear vests.
12. Always maintain an erect posture, slouching should be avoided.
1. Pay special attention to your hairstyle. Simple styles are desirable without
the use of fancy hair clips.
2. For ladies with long hair, tying it up is mandatory.
3. Please be conservative in your use of cosmetics.
4. Use mouthwash to avoid mouth odor.
5. Keep hands clean and finger nails well manicured. Avoid the use of henna
on hand.
6. Select a comfortable pair of footwear to match your uniform.
7. Pay special attention to your personal hygiene; apply deodorant rather
than a heavy smelled perfume.
8. Wear fresh, clean and well-ironed uniform.
9. Drape (wear) your saree in conventional Indian style and not any other
styles like gujrati etc.
10. Adopt a graceful posture and stand erect.
1. An employee clearly gets to know what exactly he has to do and what are the
ways to perform.
2. Job description clearly show or describe the superiors or seniors for the
employee, thus the new employee gets protected from a unreasonable
superior who may like to over burden him.
3. Job description clearly makes the results to be achieved and the duties to be
performed by an employee. Thus it clearly informs the employee that what
exactly is expected from him.
CO-ORDINATES WITH:
1. He co-ordinate with house keeping on room status, knowing the exact status
of vacant, dirties occupied, under maintenance rooms etc.
2. Co-ordinates with bell desk to shift the guest luggage from lobby to the guest
room.
3. Co-ordinates with security department in case of theft in guest room or any
nuisance created by guests in the lobby.
4. Co-ordinates with Engineering department for any maintenance work like
painting, up holstering etc. to be done.
KEY CONTROL
In hotel, the room keys of the lettable guest room are of great importance because
the earning of revenue and guest security in respect of occupied rooms depends on
the proper key control system.
Unless a proper control system is laid down in respect of room keys the available
rooms may remain unsold or unsold rooms may be occupied by unauthorized persons
causing unwanted incidents to occur in hotel, which will adversely affect on the
goodwill of the hotel.
KEY CONTROL PROCEDURE:
1. The first check on the room keys is desired by the hotel is by the use of
“Resident Card or Key Card or Welcome Card”.
On arrival, the guest is given the Resident Card by which he can collect the
keys from the reception by showing the same. All doubtful cases / guests
should be asked to show the Resident Cards while collecting the keys.
2. The second check on the room keys is by the night receptionist with the use of
“Key Control Sheet”. This sheet is made around 1:00 a.m. which shows the
vacant / occupied / check out rooms in the hotel at that given time. After the
preparation that sheet, the night receptionist follows the status of room keys
by:
(a) The vacant rooms should have keys in the key rack at reception
desk.
(b) The occupied rooms should not have keys in the key rack at
reception desk.
If any key is missing that needs the action to search the reason. Normally Grand
Master Key is made which can open all the rooms of the hotel and is normally
handled by Lobby Manager / Executive House Keeper.
Floor Master Key is the key, which can open all the rooms present on that
particular floor. This key is handled by Floor supervisor of house keeping department.
Card Keys / Electronic Key System: To overcome the problems faced by manual
keys, now most of the hotels are following the process of “Electronic Card Keys” by
which the problems of missing of keys / loss of keys or other security problems are
solved.
The guest upon arrival is issued with a plastic card with a magnetic strip reader. A
computerized console in the reception provides coded information on the card key.
The same information is present on a door of a particular room and that lock of the
door can only be opened only with the help of that key card only.
If guest looses a card key, simply the code is changed on a new plastic card. The old
card is automatically becomes invalid on the issue of new card key of the same code.
HOTEL ORGANIZATION
Defining “Hotel Management”
The people authorized by a hotel’s owner to represent his / her interests are called
Hotel Management.
In small properties / hotel, Hotel Management may be represented by one person
whereas in big hotels, the hotel management may be represented by many person.
The hotel management guides the daily operations and regularly gives news about
the overall financial status of the hotel to the owner of the hotel. Hotel Management
makes various policies of the organization and sets “standards operating procedures
(S.O.Ps) for the various departments.
The major responsibility of a hotel management includes planning, organizing, co-
coordinating, staffing, directing, controlling and evaluating the overall activities of the
hotel.
The top official of the hotel is called as “General Manager”. GM supervises the
overall functioning of the hotel and reports to the Director or owner. The Resident
Manager (R.M.) and other departmental heads assist him in his job.
Thus with the help of efficient and well qualified staff, the hotel functions effectively
and gives valuable guest services and earns revenue and profit.
A large hotel or a 5 star hotel can be divided into various segments and divisions
depending upon its nature of job and functional areas.
The room division consists of departments and personnel essential for providing the
services guests during their stay. In most of the hotels, this is the only division, which
collects the most revenue by selling the guest rooms.
The following are the main departments under the Room Division:
This division generally ranked second after the Room Division in terms of the total
revenue. This division is responsible for the production of Food & Beverage and their
service to the guests for catering to their needs. It includes various food and
beverage outlets such as the restaurants. Coffee shops, bars, banquets etc.
4. ACCOUNTING DIVISION
The hotels accounting divisions’ controls the financial activities of the hotel. Its job
typically includes paying pending bills, payment of the salary to the employees and
preparing various financial reports. In addition, the account department is also
responsible for making bank deposits, securing the various cash loans and keeping a
proper control on the various financial activities of a hotel.
The human resource department is perhaps the most important division in any hotel
because this is the only division, which deals with the manpower planning,
recruitment and selection of staffs for the various departments of a hotel. Besides
this, HR department is also responsible for the training and developing of the staffs
and also keeps a track on their performance during their job and thus awards and
punishes them suitably.
This division is responsible for maintaining the hotel’s structure and grounds, as well
as its electrical and mechanical equipments. This division also has the responsibility
of the maintenance of the swimming pools, sanitation, parking area cleanliness and
the fountain operation. Apart from all these it is also responsible for the work like
painting, plumber etc.
7. SECURITY DIVISION:
This division plays a very important role as they provide total security to the guests.
It includes in house staff or contractual security officers or retired police or defense
officers. The main job is the patrolling of the hotel, monitoring with special
equipments and in general ensuring that the guests, visitors as well as employees
felt secure in the hotel.
The lobby is an important area of any hotel as it is the first and last area of the guest
in contact with the hotel. Thus, hotel spends considerable funds and efforts to make
the lobby esthetically attractive and rationally convenient.
Besides having the Front office where all registrations of guests is done in to the hotel
and final clearance is made at their departure, the lobby desk situated in the lobby is
the heart of all co-ordination between guests and hotel services. The lobby desk is
manned by a lobby manager who represents the management all 24 hours. He is a
problem solver and has the authority to handle all guest grievances. The lobby
manager thus has to be a mature and experience person, well conversant with hotel
rules and should be effective in dealing with guest problems. He would have to be
mentally alert and diplomatic in all his dealings as he is essentially a troubleshooter.
The lobby manager controls a team of lobby supervisors, Front office supervisors (Bell
captains) and lobby attendants (Front Office Assistant and Bell Boys).
Lobby Managers main duty is to train the Bell desk staff on performing various guest
errands like handling their baggage on arrival and departure of their stay, placing
Front office amenities in the room, scanty baggage check etc.
Large hotels may also have a guest relation executive (who is normally a lady located in the
lobby to handle in-house public relations with guest. She is responsible for receiving VIPs and
attending to any coordinational aspects regarding them. She also does “Aarti & garland” of
VIPs checking in the hotel.
LOBBY MANAGER
BELL BOYS
(b) To inform F.O. supervisors or lobby managers about the shoppers or the guest
carrying scanty baggage.
(e) To re-check the status of rooms if there is a discrepancy between the house
keeping lust and front office racks.
WITH SECURITY: To handle undesirable guests who are creating indiscipline and
non-sense in the lobby and are disturbing the other guests.
HANDLING OF VIPs
The VIP or very important guests generally include the dignitaries, commercially
important guest and well-known personalities in the field of entertainment, sports
and academics etc. and thus are huge source of revenue for the hotels besides
publicity.
In case of any VIP guest coming to the hotel, the hotel management pays a special
attention on their comfort and convenience and best kind of services is offered to a
VIP from registration to his check out.
It is the duty of the Front office manager of the hotel to inform in advance all the
Head of Departments of the hotel about the date and arrival time of the VIPs
checking in the hotel. All HODs should therefore brief their staff members about the
VIPs name, nationality, his likings and disliking and hence a VIP can be assured of the
best services of the hotel.
In case of handling a VIP, each department plays a vital role to give comfort and best
of stay to VIP in the hotel. The duties and responsibilities of each department in case
of handling VIPs are:
F.O. is the most important department of the hotel and therefore its has the
maximum responsibility of the satisfaction and comfort of the VIP arriving in the
hotel. A F.O.M. deputes the valet in uniform to pick up the VIP from the airport /
railway station. The valet should be well groomed and should be wearing clean and
ironed uniform. He should have a paging board with him in which VIPs name with
correct spelling should be mentioned. At the time of arrival, the doorman salutes and
greets to the VIP with his name to offer him the feeling of personalization and
recognition to VIP. A “Red Carpet Welcome” is given to VIP from the main porch to his
room.
The Guest relation executive welcomes the VIP in the lobby by “Aarti, tikka and
garland”. The G.M. of the hotel personally meet VIPs and assure him the best of
services and a comfortable stay to the guest.
It is the main responsibility of the Front Office department to pre assigns the room,
which is supposed to be given to the VIP. All the formalities of registering is done at
the room and not at the reception desk. F.O. in advance gives the amenities voucher
to the respective department to be placed in the VIP room.
Bell boy carries the luggage of VIP guest and F.O.M. or G.M. personally escort the
guest to his room. F.O.M. acquaints the VIPs about all the facilities present in the
room and wishes him the pleasant stay. At the time of check out also, the same
procedure is followed, where up most care and importance is given to the VIP guest
while carrying his baggage. A cab is arranged in advance to drop the guest to the
airport.
House keeping department also plays the vital role in case of any VIP guest checking
in the hotel. House Keeping makes sure that the room is absolutely clean before the
guest checked in that particular room. All the toiletries and other room accessories
like blanket, pillow covers, laundry bags etc are properly placed in the rooms. The
amenities voucher received from F.O. department has to be duly paid attention and
all the amenities like bouquet of flowers etc should be placed in advance in the room.
F&B also plays a role in case of VIP guest in the sense that; Room service department
places the complimentary bottle of wine or champagne as per the amenities voucher
given to them in advance by Front office department. All the room service orders are
carefully checked by the Room service captain and then sent to the room.
Restaurant managers of department outlets are briefed by F&B Manager about the
VIP staying in the hotel and accordingly manager of the restaurant brief their staff to
give special care to VIPs; in case VIP guest takes meals in the restaurant.
4. KITCHEN DEPARTMENT:
An executive chef also receives the details of a VIP guest and chef reads the guest
history card of VIP guest and pays attention in case any thing is mentioned regarding
the likings of guest about some special type of cuisine or dish. Executive Chef makes
sure that the cuisine or that dish is included in the “buffet of the day” in the coffee
shop of the hotel.
Other back of the house departments like security, engineering and maintenance
department also gives importance to the VIP guest rooms. A guard is placed outside
the room of VIP guest to give him special security. Engineering and maintenance
department makes sure that all the equipments and electronic points of the room are
in good working condition.
UNIFORMED SERVICES
The uniformed service department consists of staffs that provide special uniformed
services to the guest such as parking of the vehicles of the guest (valet), opening the
door of the hotel for guests (doorman), handling guest luggage (Bell Boys) etc.
1. BELL BOYS: Guest always arrives in the hotel with baggage. They receive
help handling their luggage from probably the best-known employee applied
among the uniform service staff.
Depending on the size of the hotel, bellboys are responsible for:
(a) Familiarize guest about the room features, safely features of the hotel
and room & as well as amenities provided in the room.
(b) Provide information of hotel services and facilities.
(c) Deliver packages to the guest rooms.
(d) Carrying the guest luggage at arrival and departure.
5. CONCIERGE: Even though this department in existing from quite some time,
then also concierge is perhaps the least understood department in the
uniformed service area. Duties of concierge include making reservation of a
hotel in a restaurant, securing tickets of the movies, arranging for
transportation and provide information on cultural events or local attraction.
It is important that a highly successful concierge person should be able to
speak several languages.
3. IN CASE OF “LOST & FOUND”: This is a term used in the hotel to refer to
any item temporarily misplaced or lost by the guest but traced later by hotel
staff. Such articles are handed over to the housekeeping department who
maintain a special room for the same, which is known as “Lost & Found
Room”. If an item belongs to the guest who has already checked out of the
hotel, an invitation is sent to the guest about the same on the address
mentioned by the guests at reception. In case the item is found in the public
areas and one can’t determine the belongings of the same. It is kept in a
different room with the House Keeping. After the stipulated amount of time,
which is generally three months in most of the hotels, if nobody comes to
claim item, it is generally given to the staff member who found that particular
item or it is auctioned to the staff. In case of items found from the public
areas, any guest claiming that item has to give the detail of the items and
after the satisfaction of the hotel management, that item is handed over to
that guest.
4. THEFT: If a guest has stolen any item from the room, then the value of
the same is charged to the guest. The amount is added on the guest room
but at the time of departure, but this should only be one if Front office
manager is 100% sure that the guest has stolen that item from the room. If
the theft has taken place in public area and culprit is not known, the hotel
security is informed about the same giving all the details.
2. TURN AWAY: It refers to those guests who have been refused accommodation
on arrival usually the walk in guest are turn away guests. Following might be
the reason to refuse accommodation:
3. STAY OVER: Stay over rooms are the rooms occupied by the guests who
arrived to occupy a room before the date of arrival given by them. This is up
to the Front office manager’s discretion to give the room to these guests
depending on the reservation status of the hotel.
4. OVER STAY: Over stay guests / over stay rooms are the rooms occupied by
the guest who stays beyond their originally scheduled departure date. This is
also on the discretion of Front Office Manager to give the rooms or not.
5. UNDER STAY: Under stay rooms are the rooms which are occupied by
the guests who checks out before their scheduled departure date. This is on
the discretion of Front Office Manager to charge these guests of their under
stay or not.
6. BLOCK ROOMS: The total number of rooms blocked for a particular group
arriving in the hotel. These number of rooms are pre decided between the
group leader and reservation manager. This tally of room is not the final tally
of the total no. of rooms which would be finally reserved by the group. A
special date is set which is known as C.O.D. (Cut off date) among the hotel
authority and the group leader, before which group leader has to give the
exact details of the rooms to be reserved or booked along with the type of
room required by that group. Extra rooms after that date are released from
the category of block rooms and are included in the normal lettable / saleable
rooms category.
7. COMPLIMENTARY ROOM: This term indicates that the room is occupied, but
the guest won’t be charged for the same. There can be several reason for
giving a complimentary room to the guest like sales promotion, VIP guest,
HOD of the hotel, Resident Manager, Night Manager etc.
9. DUE OUT: The room status that indicates that the room is expected to
become vacant after the following days check out.
12. AMENITIES: This is an extra product or service, which is offered to the guest
by the hotel authority. e.g. personalized stationary in the guest rooms.
13. ARRIVAL TIME: This is the time specified by the guest where the
guarantee to arrive at the hotel property and claim his/her reservation.
14. ATRIUM CONCEPT/ HOTEL: This is a type of hotel design in which the
guestrooms overlook the lobby from the first floor to the terrace of the hotel
property.
17. AVERAGE RATE PER GUEST: Total room revenue of a day divided by
house count.
19. AVAILABLE SELLABLE ROOM: These are the number of guest rooms that
are ready for sale out.
20. AVAILABILITY: This is the total number of rooms that are expected to be
ready for sale on a particular date.
21. BACK TO BACK: A situation in which there is continuous group departures
and arrivals arranged by tour operator so that a guestrooms of a hotel are
never vacant and thus provide continuous and stable business to the hotel.
22. BED & BOARD (AMERICAN PLAN): This is a plan, which includes room
charges, emt, breakfast, lunch, evening tea & dinner.
23. BLACK LISTED GUEST: These include persons whom the hotel would not
allow as guests in their hotel due to their bad reputation.
24. BRUNCH: This is a meal which is heavier than breakfast and lighter than
lunch and is normally served as a replacement to both.
27. CHECK – IN: This is a process, which combines the entire process of
receiving the guest and registering him by assigning him room.
28. CHECK-OUT: This includes all the procedures associated with the departure
of the guest and his account settlement.
30. CORKAGE: This refers to the charges of providing various equipments and
soda charged by the hotel authorities to the guests who bring their own
alcoholic beverages and consume in the hotel or any licensed establishment.
31. CREDIT CARD GUARANTEED: This is a type of guaranteed reservation
where a credit card company accepts the financial responsibilities in case the
guest is a no-show and thus guarantees payment to the hotel for unoccupied
reserved rooms.
32. DAILY ROOMS REPORT: This is a report which is prepared daily night for
recording the room status of the guest rooms of the hotel. This report is used
for reconciliation of any room status discrepancy and is used as a means of
verifying the room statistics.
33. DAY RATE: This is a reduced type of room rate that is charged from the
guests who do not stay overnight at the hotel; i.e. guests who arrive and
depart the same day from the hotel.
35. DIRECT BILLING: This a type of credit arrangement in which the hotel bills
the company for the charges incurred by a corporate guest during his stay at
the property provided there is pre-established correspondence between the
hotel and the company for the same.
36. DOUBLE UP: This is situation when a room is occupied by two guests who are
not related to each other and separate room rack slip has been maintained for
each of these guests.
40. FORECAST SCHEDULING: This is the process of scheduling the various jobs
and tasks of an organization on the base of the forecast made.
41. FRONT OF THE HOUSE: These are the departments and outlets of the
hotel which are in extensive guest contact such as front office and food and
beverage outlets.
42. FRONT OFFICE: This is a term given to entire front desk and personnel
working the desks who are involved with the duties and responsibilities in the
sale of the guestrooms and providing efficient services to the guests during
their entire stay.
43. FULL DAY: This is the term given to the entire hotel day for which a guest
is charged and is thus extremely useful for front office accounting.
46. GUEST CYCLE: This is a concept which identifies the various stages of
the guest contact with the hotel staff and also identifies the financial
transactions between the guest and the hotel during these stages.
47. GUEST HISTORY RECORD:This is the term given to the record of the
financial and personal information about the various guests of the hotel and is
used by the front office department and the sales and marketing division for
anticipating the various needs of the guests in order to serve them in a better
way.
51. HOUSE LIMIT: This is a credit limit established by the hotel for the
guests and thus is the maximum limit up to which the hotel can accept charge
purchase privileges for the guests.
52. HOUSE PHONE: This is a telephone which is located in the lobby of the
hotel from where a visitor can call and contact a guest in his room.
55. INFORMATION RACK: This a front office equipment with aluminum slots
which holds information slips of various guests registered in the hotel in an
alphabetical manner and thus is used by the front desk to place telephone
messages and visitor enquiries of the in-house guests.
59. JOB DESCRIPTION: This is a broad statement of the purpose, duties and
responsibilities of a job or a position and is thus is a listing of the job title, pay,
tasks, reporting relationships and working conditions required to perform a
particular job.
60. LIGHT BAGGAGE: This is a guest who arrives at the hotel property with a
very few baggage and is thus requested to pay in advance of his stay. This
guest is also called Scanty Baggage.
61. LOG BOOK: This is a register, which is maintained by all the operating
departments of a hotel and thus acts as an important means of
communication between the shifts.
62. MORNING CALL: This is also called a wake-up call and is made by the
telephone operator for the guests at their requests.
63. MURPHY BED: This is a standard double bed which folds into the wall in
the closet made in the wall.
65. NIGHT AUDITOR: The person who performs the important function of night
audit at the front desk is called the night auditor.
68. NO-SHOW: This is a term given to guests who fail to register in a hotel in
spite of having a confirmed reservation.
71. OVERAGE: This is a type of discrepancy which occurs at the front office
cash section when after removing the initial cash bank, the total amount of
the cash, cheques and other negotiable items in the cashier’s drawer is more
than the net cash receipts.
73. REFERRAL GROUP: This is a term given to the independent hotel handed
together for business profitability and market recognition as these hotels refer
business to each other in terms of reservation.
76. RESERVATION: This is a mutual agreement between the guest and the
hotel in which the guest hires accommodation from the hotel at a given for a
given time.
77. ROLLAWAY (BED): This is a movable or portable bed which measures about
30 inches in breadth and 72 inches in length and is generally supplied by the
hotels on request the guests in the guestrooms.
78. SKIPPER: This is a term used to describe a guest who leaves the hotel
without making arrangements to settle his bill account.
80. STAYOVER: This is a room occupancy status which states that the guest is
not departing the present day and will continue to stay for at least one more
night and thus continues to occupy a particular guestroom from his date of
arrival to his date of departure.
81. TRANSIENT GUEST:This is a guest who stays in a hotel for a short duration
or period.
83. TRAVELER’S CHECKS: These are prepaid checks that are issued by
banks and other financial institutions to the visitors and guests and thus are
an important means of account settlement.
84. UNDERSTAY: This is a guest who leaves the hotel before his scheduled date
of departure.
Tourism
Meaning & Definition of Tourism: -
Tourism is the act of travel for the purpose of recreation and business and the
provisions of services for this act.
Tourists are people who are “traveling to and staying in places outside their usual
environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other
purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from with in the place
visited”. The distance between these two places is of no significance.
A more comprehensive definition would be that tourism is a service industry,
comprising a number of material and non-material elements.
(a) Transport system like air , rail , road , water & now space .
(b) Hospitality services like accommodation, food & beverages,
tours etc.
(c) Other related services like banking, insurance and safety &
security.
Rest & relaxation, culture, escape, adventure, new and different experiences.
One of the earliest definitions of tourism was given by the Australian Economist,
Hermann Von Schullard in 1910. He defined it as, “ Sum total of operators, mainly of
an economic nature, which directly relate to the entry, stay & movement of
foreigners inside and outside a certain country or a region”.
Hunziker & Krapf, in 1942 defined Tourism as, “it is the totality of the relationship &
phenomenon arising from the travel and stay of strangers, provided that the stay
doesn’t imply the establishment of a permanent residence and is not connected with
a remunerative activities”.
In 1976 Tourism Society of England defined it as, “ Tourism is the temporary, short
term movement of people to destination outside the places where they normally live
and work and their activities during the stay at each destination. It includes
movements for all purposes.”
TYPES OF TOURISM
Tourism today plays an important role in the economy of most countries of the world
and India is no exception. India was a late starter in this field and the Indian
Government did not realize its economic significance till the seventies, when the late
PM of India, Indra Gandhi set up a separate Ministry of tourism and Civil aviation.
Tourism has now been given the status of an Export Industry by the ministry of
tourism and the planning commission. This means that tourism related activities can
claim incentives and concessions given to other export industries, but the message
does not seem to have percolated to all the wings of State and Central Governments.
For instance, manufacturing industries pay a concessional rate of electricity, but
hotels is charged a very high rate for the power consumed by them. There is other
example of lobule standards applied by the Government to the tourism industry-
presumably because tourism has connotations of a ‘luxury’, which is frowned upon in
the current political environment. Indians have to pay ten per cent ‘expenditure tax’
to the Central Government, if they stay and eat in hotels charging Rs 2000 or more
for a room per night. It was Rs 400 per night till the Finance Minister raised it to Rs
1200 in 1992-93 and later to Rs 2000.
In India, tourism has created direct or indirect employment for some seventeen
million people; it generates earnings for hoteliers, travel agents, taxi drivers,
craftsmen, souvenir-sellers, transporters, airlines, tourist guides and shoemakers.
Some Rs 1000 crore worth of handicrafts are sold every year to tourists, taking the
benefit of tourism to the village where our craftsmen live and work.
In certain parts of India, tourism is the only industry-Kashmir, for instance and now
Himachal Pradesh and Goa. Or, consider Khajuraho. Tourism has transformed this
once impoverished, obscure and backward village into a thriving tourist centre.
By the year 2010, India can earn Rs 30000 crore from tourism. According to the
Government of India’s estimates-in the year 2000, it earned Rs. 14415 crore.
Tourism can yield enough revenue to purchase one Boeing 747 Jet for Air India every
ten days. Or, one Airbus for Indian Airlines every five days. Or, one Jaguar deep
penetration aircraft for the Indian Air Force every two days. From another point of
view, tourism’s earnings could pay for ninety medium-sized schools every day. Or,
four hospitals of two hundred bed each for the country, everyday.
Tourism could pay for almost the entire Tenth Plan bill for the power projects. Most
important, tourism can help pay for our imports.