SUN INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TOURISM AND MANAGEMENT

FRONT OFFICE-OPERATIONS 2
 UNIT - 1

ORGANISATION STRUTURE OF FRONT OFFICE:

LARGE HOTEL
MEDIUM HOTEL

SMALL HOTEL
  QUALITIES OF FRONT OFFICE STAFF
As front office is a critical department in a hotel in view of its revenue generating capacity and influence in image-building,
the staffs working in this department assume a special importance. Great care is taken in the section of front office staffs
as they play certain key roles as –

 Ensure salesmanship:
They motivate the guest to spend more on various hotel facilities.

 As a problem solver:
Guest invariably approaches the front office for the help. In case they have a problem or complaint, the staffs have to
be diplomatic and resourceful to solve the problem at the shortest possible time.

 A reference point:
Guest, who wants information or wants to pass information, uses front office staff for these purposes. The front office
staff should have the excellent intra-communication skills to provide best possible reference point for the guests.

 As a coordinator:
Since they are reference point, the front office staffs are required to coordinate with other departments, airlines,
travel agencies and city tour officers to give the guests personalized services.

 As an image builder:
As an extension to their salesman’s role, front office staff can certainly generate a good image for the establishment in their
manner of dress, communication, personal conduct and efficiency. In view of the important role they play the front office
staff must have the following essential attributes –

 A high sense of personal grooming:

Uniforms must be clean and neatly pressed. Hair should be groomed well. It is preferable for ladies to tie their hair up in
a bun. Nails should be manicured. Soft cologne is preferable to heavy perfumes. Jewelry should be restricted to one ring
and a necklace for ladies. In short, the front office staff must be seen at their best at all times.

 Personal hygiene:
This is imperative to front office personnel. As they are constantly exposed to hotel guests, a clean appearance helps to
project a good image not only of them but of the establishment as well .

 Self confidence:
This is necessary as front office personnel meet guests of different countries, statuses and cultures. These guests should be
comfortable and feel at ease in dealing with these people.

 Correct and clear communicator:

It is preferable that front office staff know more than 1 language. It helps in communicating with guests who cannot speak
English or the local language.

 Diplomacy:
Diplomacy is the greatest attribute required. Very often there are situations, where a guest is irate over something;
a diplomatic dealing helps in diffusing the explosive moments. It is quite common for a busy hotel to have no rooms
offer a guest who has come with a confirmed booking. A diplomatic approach is the only way by which the guest can
be pacified.

 Calmness:
Front office staff should have high degree of the nature of calmness to take the busy demands of a front office’s operations.
Being the never center of the hotel, the front office is constantly in touch with guests and therefore invariably comes under
tremendous pressure. The guests always expect personalized, priority treatment and pressure of demand never ceases.
Coupled with this are difficult guests who can unnerve a person. The front office staff should thus have a high degree
of tolerance for pressure of work and be calm and composed at all times.

 Strong memory:
Front office staff should have ability to remember names and faces. This single attribute distinguishes the good from the
average amongst the front office staff. Every individual has an ego and his/her name is most precious and personal to
him/her. If the front office staff can call most guests by their names, this immediately flatters them and personalizes
the guest experience. The guest begins to feel he/she is welcome to people recognize him/her by name.


 Best mannerism:
As hotel is a meeting place of social elites all the grace and etiquette associated with good society comes into play.
Guests of all statuses come to stay in the hotel and they are used to good manners and politeness. Wishing a guest
the time of the day and saying “thank you” are basic etiquettes shown.

 Smiley face:
This is very becoming to front office operations. Guests like to be handled by a cheerful staff at the desk. Their smile
exudes cheer to the guests and put them at ease.

 Physical ability:
Front office operations required the staff to stand for long hours at a stretch.  The staff must be sturdy, agile and active.

 Quick decision making ability:

Guests often approach the front desk with problems and requests. Front office staff must be able to decide quickly a course

of action that satisfies the guest, at the same time keeping the interests of the organization alive.
  JOB DESCRIPTION AND SPECIFICATION OF FRONT OFFICE STAFF
FRONT OFFICE ORGANIZATION

It is the process of understanding the job, dividing the job into small components, grouping responsibilities & authorities
among staff, establishing relationships in the activities and staff for the achievement of common goal.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES OF FRONT OFFICE STAFF

FRONT OFFICE MANAGER : Is the in charge of the Front Office Department who allocates the available resource
(men, machine, materials & money) of the department to achieve theory organizational goals. The basic function of

FOM is to supervise all the Front Office personnel &to ensure the proper and smooth operation of the department.

FOM reports to the General Manager of the hotel.

Scope of job (Duties & Responsibilities):

1. Directs & coordinates the activities of the FO department.

2.Perform the function of a link between the management & front office employees.

3.Perform budgeting function.

4.Plan the present & future need of resources.

5.Schedules the tasks of the front office employees.

6.Evaluate the job performance of front office staff & fills their appraisals.

7.Conduct training programs.

8.Resolve guest problems quickly, efficiently & courteously.

9.Reviews all reports generated by all the sections, included night auditors report.

10.Ensure all SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) are followed.

 11.Maintain coordination & good communication with other departments of the hotel.

12.Conduct regular staff meetings & staff briefing.

13.Resolve employee grievances.

14.Motivate the staff to work in a team to achieve the organization objectives.

15.Coordinate with the sales & marketing team to ensure maximum sales of hotel rooms.

 2.RESERVATION ASSISTANT:

He processes the reservation requests that reach the hotel by any mode. He should possess great salesmanship skills by

suggesting higher room categories, &also selling other hotel services like spas, restaurants etc. to the guest. As we know

the reservation section generates the maximum revenue for the hotel, so reservation assistant should understand, anticipate,

& influence consumer behavior in order to maximize the profits.

Scope of job (Duties & Responsibilities):

1.To receive & process the reservation requests of future guests.

2.To maintain reservation records by completing reservation forms, sending reservation confirmation letters etc.

3.To process reservations from sales offices, other departments of the hotel, travel agents, tour operators etc.

4.To communicate the reservation information to the reception.

5.To prepare expected arrival & expected departure list every day.

6.To pre fill the GRC of expected arrivals for the next day (using information collected at the time of reservation

from the reservation form), & send to the reception.

7.To promote good will by being courteous, friendly, & helpful to guests, managers &colleagues.

 3 RECEPTIONIST:
 Is the first person to come in contact with the guest at the time of their arrival. The basic function of a receptionist is to

receive guests and answer their queries.

Scope of job (Duties & Responsibilities):

1.Greet the guest on their arrival.

2.Politely confirm the details of guests with confirmed reservation.

3.Complete the registration formalities of the guest with confirmed reservations.

4.Check the availability of rooms in case of walk ins.

5.Assign rooms & call the bell boy to escort guests to their rooms.

6.Use up selling techniques to sell expensive rooms & also to promote hotel services.

7.Coordinate room status updates with the house keeping department.

8.Notifying housekeeping of all check outs, late check outs, early check ins & special requests.

9.Process guest check out requests.

10.Post all the credit charges to the guest folios (bills).

5.INFORMATION ASSISTANT:
Provides information to the guest about the hotel’s products & services, nearby food & beverage outlets,

places of tourist interest in the city & around, etc. he also handles guest mail, messages & keys.

Scope of job (Duties & Responsibilities):

1.Provide desired information to the guests.

2.Maintain information rack.

3.Handle guest mail.

4.Handle guest messages

5.Guest room keys handling.

6.Coordinate guest room maintenance work with the engineering & maintenance departments.

7.Assist in guest paging.

 4 CASHIER:
During the stay in a hotel, guests may perform various credit & debit transactions with the hotel. At the time of departure,

guest settle his bill at cashier. It is essential for the front office cashier is to keep the guest folio updated by posting all

credit & debit transactions.

Scope of job (Duties & Responsibilities):

1.Prepare guest bills and present the same for settlement at the time of guest’s departure.

2.Update guests’ credit transactions regularly.

3.Maintain & review guest weekly bills & check not to exceed credit limit.

4.Obtain the house bank/ float (a fixed amount which comprises currency & coins of different denomination to carry

out the day’s work) &keep it balanced.

5.Transfer guest balances to other accounts, as required.

6.Handle V.P.O. (Visitor paid out).

7.Settle guest accounts by accepting cash, credit card, travelers cheque, etc.

8.Check the authenticity of currency received.

9.Control safety lockers.

10.Exchange foreign currency according to the daily exchange rate, in strict accordance with the rules & regulation of

RBI (Reserve Bank of India).

11.Balance the cash, & close the shift.

5 TELEPHONE OPERATOR:
 Telephone operator hardly comes in direct contact with the guest, but they play important role in creating the image of

the hotel in the minds of the guests. The basics kills of the good telephone operator include clarity & courteous in their

voice, attentiveness &object listening.

Scope of job (Duties & Responsibilities):

The major duties & responsibilities of the telephone operator are as under:

1.Answer all incoming calls

2.Forward incoming calls to the desired extension, which are routed through PBX.

3.Keep track of the guest telephone calls & prepare their bills and post the same to their folios.

4.Provide paging service for the guests & employees.

5.Log all the wake up calls on the system.

6.Answer the queries about the hotel’s services & products.

 7.Work as a communication hub during the emergencies.

6 BELL BOY / PAGE BOY / LUGGAGE BOY :

Bell boy transport the guest luggage at the time of check-in & check-out. They also escort guest to their rooms

and familiarize them with the in-room facilities and services.

 Scope of job (Duties & Responsibilities):

1.Handle the guest luggage, i.e.; transport the guest luggage from lobby to the room at

 The time of check-in, and from the room to the vehicle at the time of departure.

2.Put the luggage tag at the time of guest arrival.

3.Escort guest to their rooms and familiarize them with the use of in-house telephone directory & functions of all the
 equipment & lighting installed in the room.

4.When collecting the luggage at the time of check-out, take a thorough look of the room to check any loss or damage

to the hotel property.

5.Keep the record of the lift luggage rooms.

6.Inform the front desk about the scanty baggage guest at the time of check-in.

7.Perform errands/ sundry guest services like posting of guest mails, making purchases from outside the hotel premises

like flowers etc.

8.Assist paging, process of locating the guest within the hotel premises.

9.Distribution of newspapers to the guest rooms & all departments of the hotel.

10.Deliver messages, mail & packages to the guest in their rooms.

JOB DESCRIPTION: NIGHT AUDITOR

REPORTS TO: Front Office Manager or Accounting department

POSITION SUMMARY:
o Checks front office accounting records for accuracy and, on a daily basis, summarizes and compiles information for the hotel's
financial records.
o Tracks room revenue, occupancy percentages, and other front office operating statistics.
o Prepares a summary of cash, check, and credit card activities, reflecting the hotel's financial performance for the day.
o Posts room charges and room taxes to guest accounts including guest transactions not posted during the day by the front
office cashier.

NIGHT AUDITOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

 Posts room charges and taxes to guest accounts.
 Processes guest charges voucher and credit card vouchers.
 Post charges to the guest accounts that have not been posted or were incurred on the night audit shift.
 Transfer charges and deposits to master accounts.
 Checks to see that all charges are assigned to the appropriate departments.
 To verify that all transactions performed at the front desk are supported by documentary evidence and signatures as necessary
and that they have been correctly posted and allocated in to PMS system.
To Verify that all charges posted from the POS Software, SPA software had reached the correct guest folios and also not missing.
 Prints up and files reservations for the next business day.
 Verifies all account postings and balances.
 Verifies that room rates are correct and posts those rates to guest accounts.
 Monitors the current status of coupon, discount, and other promotional programs.
 Is able to function as a front desk agent especially in terms of check-in and check-out procedures.
 Tracks room revenues, occupancy percentages, and other front office statistics.
 Prepares a summary of cash, check, and credit card activities.
 Summarizes results of operations for management.
 Check figures, postings, and documents for accuracy. Record, store, access, and/or analyze computerized financial information.
 Prepare of End of day procedure.
 Follow the End of Day / Night Audit Checklist
 Must have complete knowledge of emergency procedures.
 Balance the day’s charges, making corrections as necessary.
 Performs wake-up calls.

 Run end of day process in property management software (PMS).

 Understand principles of auditing, balancing, and closing out accounts.
 Knows how to operate PMS, typewriters, and other front office equipment's.
 Respond to guest needs, special requests and complaints and alert the appropriate manager as needed
 Perform nightly balancing of in-room video and long-distance telephone services
 Understand and knows how to perform check-in and check-out procedure.

Job Description for Duty Manager / Lobby Manager in hotels

 POSITION TITLE: DUTY MANAGER / LOBBY MANAGER
REPORTS TO : Front office manager
POSITION SUMMARY:
Primarily responsible to ensure that Front Office shifts are run efficiently, providing outstanding guest service, assisting all Front Office
staff and maintaining a calm, professional environment at all times.
Supervises and assign duty roster for F/O attendant, Concierge, Bell Counter, Guest Relations and Business Centre.
Responsible for VIP movement in the Hotel.
DUTY MANAGER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
 the VIP guests of the hotel. As directed by the Front office Manager, Performs special services for VIP Guest’s.
 Greets Assists in VIP’s arrival departure in absence of guest relation officers.
 Checks cleanliness of lobby and public areas, lights and as well as front office staff in proper and orderly appearance and behaviour.
 Checks on registration cards of arriving guests and ensures all information should be filled on each cards either by Guest Relation
Officers or the guests.
 Assists in sending guest messages or faxes.
 Gives the instructions to the Night Reception, during the high occupancy periods, regarding: walk-in guests and release room
blocked because of no- shows
 Assists in handling room lock problems.
 Prepares and checks for VIP’s arrival and escorts guests to rooms.
 Co-ordinates with all departments concerned in order to maintain Front Office functions properly.

 Operates the front office computer system in order to assist front office attendants.
 Checks group department, fit and ensure switchboard makes appropriate wake up calls.
 Handles guest complaints and other related problems and reports on the Assistant Manager’s log book.
 Assists reception, business centre, cashier, concierge and bell captain during they are busy.
 Answers guests inquires, handles complaints and attend to the needs of the guests.
 Approves and sign for allowances, rebates etc., as required by Front Office Cashier.
 Authorizes charges to be made for late departures and/or compliments on them.
 Promotes and maintains good public relations.
 Motivates and maintains good staff relations.
 Maintains and be guided of hotel policy on credit/lost and found hotel guests properties.
 Follows up in credit check report, liaise with credit manager.
 To responsible for front office operation during the absence of Front Office Manager (HO).
  To discuss all matters that needed to follow up with the next shift Reception Manager.
 Approves the working schedule for the front office attendants and submits them to front office manager (HO).
 Conducts and ensures the neat of appearance of front office attendant as well as correct attitude and behaviour, discusses problems
that encountered on this point with front office manager, assistant front office manager and their shift leaders.
 Assigns and Approves Duty roster for all Front desk staffs.

Concierge :

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILTIES:

 Develops a strong knowledge of the hotels facilities and services and of the surrounding community.
 Provides guest with direction to attraction or facilities in or outside the attraction or facilities in or outside
the property .
 Makes guest reservation for air other forms of transportation when requested.

 Provides guest with information about attraction facilities, services and activities in or outside the property.

 Makes guest reservation for the theatre and other forms of entertainments when requested.
 Organize special function as directed by management.
 Arrange secretarial and other office services.
 Handles guest complains and solve problem to the degree possible.

Guest Relation Executive:

 Blocking rooms and suites: After checking the reservation and reference of room ones she has checked the availability.

 Placing amenities: After GRE has checked the VIP status; she selects the type of amenity and then sends the amenity voucher to
the concerned departments.

 Checking the room: Ones the room has been cleared by housekeeping and room service has placed the amenities the
GRE checks the room to ensure that it is perfect in all aspects.
 Welcoming the guest by addressing the name.
 Escorting the guest to the reception and assist them in taking as much information from the guest as possible on arrival.
 Escorts the guest to the room and explain the features of the room.
Reservation Manager:
 Supervise and answer inquiries of reservation agents
 Arrange schedules of reservation agents
 Maintain close liaison with secretaries of major companies that do business with the hotel
 Is responsible for accurate and effective handling of reservation tally sheet.
 Advice and informs front office manager of significant increases or decrease of reservation tally which could affect hotel’s
open or close status.
 Keep a record of all reservation and makes a monthly room nights reports, in addition prepares half year report of all their
respective production

UNIT 2

EQUIPMENTS USED AT FRONT OFFICE

NON AUTOMATED EQUIPMENTS :

1.Room Rack: It is an array of metal file pockets designed to hold room rack slips (registration records) that display
guest and room status information. One glance at the room rack will immediately inform front desk agent of the occupancy
and housekeeping status of all rooms. Front desk agent normally use this information to match available rooms with guest
needs during the registration process.
2. Key Rack:
It is an array of numbered compartments used to store guest room keys. These are sets of racks were generally kept at the
front desk in earlier day. A key rack is array of numbered compartments used to store guestroom keys.

Key racks are often placed in front desk drawers to ensure the safety and security of guests. A combination of mail, message
and key rack can be either a free-standing wall unit or an under the counter row of apartments. When the mail and message
compartments of the rack are open from both sides, telephone operators and front desk agents. Operators who record telephone
messages for guests can retrieve the messages from the front side.

3.Reservation Rack:
A series of pigeonholes where cards are put to show which room have been booked. A special board or series of pigeonholes
where cards are put to show which room have been booked. Front office uses both two types of reservation racks. In an advance
reservation rack slops or registration cards are arranged by the guest scheduled dates of arrival and with each days grouping.
A current reservation rack is portable subset of the advance reservation rack. The current reservation rack is used by the front
desk agents to assist in processing guests during registration.

4. Information Rack:
It normally consist of aluminum slots designed to hold guest information slips which consist of guest name and room number. It is

use to assist front office employees with proper routing of telephones calls and mails. An information rack is an index of in-house

guests, by both last name and room number. The information rack normally consists of aluminum slots designed to hold guest

information slips.

5. Folio Tray: It is a bucket where the guest folio are stored and arranged by guest room number. Ones these accounts are
settled, the folio are moved to permanent storage location. Folio tray or folio bucket is where the guest folios are stored and
arranged by guestroom numbers. This tray contains the folios of departed guests who paid by credit card .

6. Voucher Rack: It is a container storing vouchers for future reference and verifications during the night audit.

7.Account posting machine : An electromechanical or electronic device use in semi-automated hotels. An account
posting machine is used to post, monitor, and balance charges and credits to guest account.
SEMI AUTOMATED EQUIPMENTS :
1.Telephone Equipments: It consist of call accounting system, automatic call dispensing, fax machine ,call
detection and wake up calls.

2. Credit Card Imprinters: Imprinters presses a credit card voucher against a guest credit card.

3. Magnetic Strip Reader: It reads data magnetically encoded and stored on the magnetic tape strip on credit card.

4.Cash Register: is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions. It is usually attached to
a drawer for storing cash and other valuables. The cash register is also usually attached to a printer, that can print out receipts

for record keeping purposes.

AUTOMATED EQUIPMENTS

1.Security Monitor: CCTV camera for security personnel to monitor certain areas of hotel.

2. Multi-zone Clocks: Indicators of the time at different time zones across world.

3. Computers: Computers are the greatest innovation of the mankind. It is the front office personnel most useful equipments.
It helps in typing of mails, printing receipts ,letters, surfing net. It also helps in storing information regarding guest.

4. EDC: Electronic Data Cash Register helps in validating or scrutinize the authenticity of the credit card given by the
guest in time of check in and check out.

KNOWLEDGE OF ROOMS AND PLANS:

EUROPEAN PLAN: The tariff consists of room rate only .all other expenses would be paid by the guest as per the

actual use or consumption.

CONTINENTAL PLAN:
The room tariff includes continental breakfast, along with the room rent .A continental breakfast includes a choice of 

fresh or canned juices; breads like toast, croissant, etc. with butter or preserves like jam, jellies and marmalade;

beverages like tea or coffee, with or without milk.

AMERICAN PLAN:

It is also known as en-pension or full board. the tariff includes all meals(b/f, lunch and dinner)along

with room rent. the menu for the food and beverage is fixed.

MODIFIED AMERICAN PLAN:

It is also known as demi-pension or half board. the tariff consists of breakfast and major meal(lunch or dinner)

along with the room rent.

BED AND BREAKFAST PLAN(B&B) OR BERMUDA PLAN:

The room tariff includes American breakfast along with the room rent. American breakfast generally includes most

or all of the following :two eggs (fried or poached),sliced bacon or sausages, sliced bread or toast with jam /jelly

/butter, pancakes with syrup, cornflakes or other cereal, coffee/tea, and or orange/grapefruit juice.

BASIS OF ROOM CHARGING

Hotel Tariff and basis of charging rooms

Hotel Tariff:
Tariff is the rate or charges offered to the guest by the hotel for the use of different facilities an services, during their stay.
Commonly, tariff is a charge of room rates and other facilities. Tariff is a charge of room rates and other facilities. Tariff or room
charges may include meal or breakfast depending upon the plan as per the guest choices. Prices of hotel services are incorporated
in a card known as the 'tariff card'.
 Tariff card is the card containing the rates or price charged by a hotel for accommodation. Tariff card may include meals
depending upon the types of plan the hotel offers to the guests. Prices of meals and other hotel services are also printed in the

hotel tariff card.

Basis of charging room rates:

The sale of rooms contributes more than 50% of total revenue generated in the hotel. rooms are charged on the following basis:

1. The 24 hours basis:

In twenty-four hours basis the room is charged for the stay of 24 hours. If a guest arrives at 9 am today, the room

charges will cover until 9 am tomorrow. No concession will be given if the guest leaves few hours earlier. His/her hotel day begins

at 9 am every subsequent day. There is not any fixed time for check-in and check-out.

2. The 12:00 noon:

A particular time of a day is fixed, mostly 12:00 noon as a check-in and check-out time for all the guests, hotel day begins at this time.

This method is advantageous that a room can be sold twice in a same day. For example, Mr. A arrives at 12:00 noon and checks out

early. After few hours, Mr. Y arrives and is provided the same room, he is also charged for whole day.

3. The Nightly basis:

Here, the charge is fixed, according to the nights spent in the hotel. If a guest stays from 10 am until 6 am the next day,

the guest in charged for one night or a day.

TARIFF FIXATION
Price is one of the major elements involved in the marketing and positioning of a product or service. The price of goods and services
of a hotel should cover the cost of production and overheads, and include a fair amount of profit, so that the hotel business remains
sustainable and profitable. The room of a hotel generates the maximum revenue, so an accurate and competitive room rent is one
of the prerequisites for running a successful hospitality business. The rate of a hotel room is based on the competition, cost, standard
 of services and amenities offered by the hotel, the guest profile, location of the hotel, location of the room etc.

Three common approaches to deciding room tariff are given as below:

M ARKET BASED P RICING :

Market based pricing is setting a price based on the value of the product in the perception of the customer. The concept is based on an

idea of what the ultimate consumer of goods and services, i.e the guest is willing to pay and then use this as a starting point. In this

case, the hotel works backwards as it first makes an accommodation product available at a price that a guest is willing to pay rather

than first readying the product and then deciding its tariff on the basis of costs involved.

This approach is common sense approach. Management looks at comparable hotels in the geographical market and sees what they are
charging for the same product. The thought behind this is that the hotel can charge only what the market will accept, and this is usually
dictated by the competition.

There are many problems with this approach, although it is used very often. First, if the property is new, construction costs will most

likely be higher than those of the competition. Therefore the hotel cannot be as profitable as the competition initially. Second, with

the property being new and having newer amenities, the value of property to guests can be greater. The market condition approach

is really a marketing approach that allows the local market to determine the rate. It may not tale fully into account what a strong

sales effort may accomplish.

Close observation of market trend approach further divides it into four types:

Competitive Pricing : Charge what the competition charges

Follow the leader Pricing : Charge what the dominant hotel in the area charges

Prestige Pricing : Charge the highest rate in the area and justify it with better product, better service levels, etc

Discount pricing : Reduce rates below that of the likely competitors without considering operating costs
T HE R ULE OF T HUMB :
The rule of thumb approach sets the rate of a room at Rs. 1 for each Rs. 1000 spent on the project cost per room, assuming

70 % occupancy. In case the occupancy percentage is expected to be more than 70% then the rate of a room can be less than

Rs. 1 and on the contrary if the occupancy is expected to be less than 70 % then the rate can be more than Rs. 1. For example,

assume that the average construction and furnishing cost of a hotel room is Rs. 30,00,000/- the average rack rate of hotel room

in this hotel using thumb rule will be Rs. 3000, as illustrated below.

1000:               1

30, 00,000:      3000

The inflation cost is kept in mind while fixing the rack rate. For example if a hotel was built 50 years ago at the cost of

Rs. 50,000/- per room than as per the rule of thumb the rack rate per room will be Rs. 50/- only which is not a financially viable

rate option. To find out the current rack rate either the present asset value is evaluated or the net present value of Rs. Invested

50 years ago is calculated, keeping in view the inflation and the resultant devaluation of currency.

The rule of thumb approach to pricing rooms also fails to consider the contribution of other facilities and services provided

by the hotel in generating revenue. As hotel generates revenue from sources like food and beverage, conference, laundry,

telephone etc so it must be a part of calculation while deciding room tariff for the hotel.

T HE H UBBART F ORMULA  :  

The Hubbart formula, which is a scientific way of determining the room rent , was developed by Roy Hubbart in America in

the 1940s. It resolves all the problems of the rule of thumb approach.

                                              ROI + Operating expenses- Non room revenue

                                                         Projected rooms sold per day X 365

The following steps are involved in calculating the room rent according to Hubbart formula :

Calculate the desired Return on Investment by multiplying the desired rate of return by the capital investment.

Calculate the desired profit after deducting the income tax.

Calculate fixed expenses and undistributed operating expenses including depreciation, interest, insurance, Human resources,

marketing, maintenance, electricity, general expenses etc

Estimate non room revenue. Non room revenue department includes Food and beverage, conferences, health club, laundry etc

Give average projected room occupancy for a day and multiply it by 365 to find the projected number of rooms sold per year.

Calculate the average room rate by solving the equation of the formula.

Illustration:

Hotel ‘XYZ’ having 40 rooms is constructed at a project cost of Rs 10 crores. The owner’s capital is Rs. 6 crores on which

he is expecting 20 % ROI while the remaining capital is arranged through a bank loan at an interest rate of 15% per annum.

The income tax rate is 30 % and the hotel is expected to make 60% occupancy. The operating expenses are estimated to be

Rs. 2 crores while the hotel is expecting Rs. 1 crore as non room revenue in the first year of its operation. Calculate Average

rack rate with the use of Hubbart formula

Solution: Desired ROI- Rs. 60000000 x 20 % = 12000000

Total room nights = 24 x 365 = 8760

Total expenses = Rs. 20000000 + 6000000 ( bank interest) = 26000000

Non room revenue = Rs. 10000000

Pre- tax income -     30 x 12000000      = 5143857

                                           70

5142857 + 12000000 = 17142857

   17142857 + 26000000 -10000000

8670

=    Rs. 3783 /-   is estimated as average rack rate for the hotel as per Hubbart formula.

UNIT 3
FRONT DESK OPERATIONS & FUNCTIONS DURING DIFFERENT STAGES OF GUEST CYCLE

G UEST C YCLE
I-Guest Cycle:

 The guest cycle describes the activities that each guest passes by from the moment he/she calls to communicate a reservation

inquiry till he/she departs from the hotel. In fact, the guest cycle encompasses 4 different stages, which are depicted in the

underneath diagram:

Pre-Arrival  Arrival  Occupancy  Departure

  Each stage of the guest cycle is associated guest service, and guest accounting activity (ies).

1. Guest services:

Reservation  Registration  Occupancy services  Check-out and history

2. Guest Accounting:
Establishment of credits  Posting charges  Night auditing  settlement of accounts

 Below is a description of the activities undertaken at each stage of the guest cycle:

1. Pre-arrival:
 At the pre-arrival stage, the hotel must create for every potential guest a reservation Record. Doing this initiates the hotel

guest cycle. Moreover, reservation records help personalize guest services and appropriately schedule needed staff and facilities

 The reservation department should, then, complete all the pre-registration activities and prepare guest folios (applicable only for
automated systems). Doing so will eventually maximize room sales by accurately monitoring room availability and forecasting room
revenues

2. Arrival:
 At the arrival stage, registration and rooming functions takes place and the hotel establishes a business relation-ship with the guest.

 The check-in clerk should determine the guest’s reservation status (i.e. pre-registered guests versus walk-ins). Later, he/she shall

prepare a registration record or make the guest sign the already-printed pre-registration record (under some of the semi-automated

and all fully automated systems).

 The registration records shall include the following personal and financial items:

a) Personal information:

 Name and Surname of the guest along with billing address, telephone number, and any other coordinates
 Passport number, birth certificate, and/or driving license number (whatever applicable)
 Any special needs or requests
 Guest Signature

b) Financial information:
 Date of arrival
 Expected date of departure or length of stay depending on how the system in the hotel is designed
 Assigned room number
 Assigned room rate
 Guest's intended method of payment

 Registration records can be used for various purposes:

 Satisfy guest needs

 Forecast room occupancies

 Settle properly guest accounts

 Establish guest history records at check-out [personal & financial information]
 Assign a room type and a room rate for each guest
 Determine long-run availability [i.e. reservation information] versus short-run availability [i.e. room status]
 Satisfy special categories of guests such as disabled people through barrier-free designs

3. Occupancy:
 At the occupancy stage, the front office department shall coordinate guest services in a timely and accurate manner. Moreover,

front office clerks should encourage repeat guests by paying a great attention to guest complaints. This is ensured by placing

complaint and/or suggestion cards in every public place and revenue centers in the hotel. Moreover, the hotel shall, at least on

a daily basis, collect comment cards, proceed with their analysis, and provide positive feedback to guest as soon as possible.

 In addition, shall design effective procedures in order to protect the funds and valuables of guests. This might be ensured

through guest key control, property surveillance, safe deposit boxes, and well designed emergency panels and exits…
  Another activity at occupancy is to process posting of guest charges [i.e. post room rates, F&B charges, additional expenses, and

taxes…] to various guest folios, master Folios… While doing so, front office clerks shall continuously check for deviations from the

house limit, and take corrective measures as to change the status of the guest to Paid-in-advance. Finally, front office clerks shall

periodically review Account Balances in coordination with the night auditor.

4. Departure:
 At the departure stage, the guest shall be walked out of the hotel. Moreover, front office clerks shall create guest history

record. Finally, cashiers shall settle guest account outstanding balances [i.e.: balance the Guest account to 0]

 In general, a proper checkout occurs when the guest:

 Vacates the room

 Receives an accurate settlement of the guest account.

 Returns room keys

 Leaves the hotel

 At departure, checkout personnel should encourage guests to consider returning to the hotel on any future date. That's why

cashiers should act like a true sales person, and might eventually accept guest future reservations. That way, the stages of the

guest cycle become really a cycle (i.e. start from where it ends).

 If at departure, the guest account is not fully settled, then late charges accumulate. In such an undesired case, the responsibility

of collection lies within the accounting department, however the front office department shall provide all necessary types of

information to make this collection easier, quicker, and feasible.

II- Front Office Systems:

 Until the 1960's, nearly all hotels were operating under the manual system. At late 70's, with the introduction of computers,

hotels shifted to semi-automated systems. Nowadays, most of the five-star hotels operate under the fully automated system.

Below is a brief description of the three different systems under which hotels might operate.
Non-automated [manual] systems:
This very system is the one characterized by the sole usage of hands. In fact, all formats, procedures, and different kinds of
calculations are done manually.

Semi-automated [Electro-mechanical] systems:

This system gets use of some Electro-mechanical equipment. In fact, under The semi-automated system, each department

might have its own computer system under which it handles all its operations.

Fully automated [computer based] systems: That's the best system ever used in the hotel industry. In fact, it is characterized
by the excessive use of departmental software package programs integrated and connected to a main frame or terminal situated at

the front office department.

III-Guest Cycle under Three Different Systems:

 At this stage, it is essential to notice that the following stages of the guest cycle under the three different systems do not conflict

with each other. In fact, the only differences are due to the nature of the system use. Therefore, what will be discussed above is

not the repetition of the sequence; rather only differences will be highlighted.

1. Non-automated systems:
A- Pre-arrival activities:

At the pre-arrival stage, reservation requests should be introduced in a loose-leaf notebook or index card. Moreover, only

reservations up to 6 months horizons shall be honored. Lastly, it is not practical, under this very system, to issue reservation

confirmation numbers, initiate pre-registration activities (at the exception of VIP and groups) and prepare occupancy forecasts.

The reason is time and money loss along with insufficient labor force to manually conduct all the above mentioned activities.
B- Arrival activities:

 At the arrival stage, guests shall either sign a page in the registration book or fill manually a registration record. Under this very

system, the most widely used front office equipment is the room rack, in which registration records are inserted to serve as room

rack slips. Moreover, registration books and records shall be time stamped as an internal control proving when the guest exactly

came, who registered him/her…Lastly; guest folios shall be opened for each registered guest.

C- Occupancy activities:

 Under the occupancy activities, registration records shall be prepared with multi-copies. In fact, one copy shall be distributed to

room rack, another stamped to the guest folio, another given to switchboard operators, and a final copy handed to the uniformed

service personnel. Lastly, guests with charge privileges charges and payments shall be posted to respective guest folios.

D- Departure activities:

At departure stage, cashiers should settle each guest account's outstanding balance and get room keys back from guests. ]

Moreover, cashiers shall notify the housekeeping department that the room is no more occupied (i.e. room status change) to let

this very department clean the room and prepare it for new arrivals. In addition, cashiers shall remove room rack slips from room

racks to indicate departure. Lastly, these very rack slips of departed guests shall be filed in a cardboard box to serve as a guest

history record.

2. Semi-automated systems:

 This very system is less common in small and middle size hotels. For, these very hotels, financially wise, might not afford the huge
investments associated with the installation of different hardware and software.

 The main advantage of this very system over manual system is that various reports can automatically be generated. However, the

major disadvantages associated with this system are various complexities of operating and controlling devices due to the fact that
 this equipment are not integrated with other systems and are subject to frequent maintenance problems.

A- Pre-arrival activities:

 At this very stage, guests can either call a national reservation network or directly contact the hotel. Moreover, reservation clerks

can prepare pre-registration records, guest folios, and information rack slips.

B- Arrival activities:

 At this very stage, already reserved guests shall verify their pre-registration forms and have only to sign it. On the other hand,

walk-ins shall complete a multiple copy registration record from the beginning.

C- Occupancy activities:
 At the occupancy stage, in order to track the different guest charge expenditures and all other possible guest transactions, hotels

get an intensive use of various kinds of vouchers. Moreover, the most widely used equipment, under this very stage, is the

mechanical cash registers and front office posting machines. Lastly, under this very stage, night auditor shall continuously resolve

any discrepancy in guest accounts and efficiently reconcile guest folios.

D- Departure activities:
 At this very stage, cashiers shall relay room status information to the housekeeping department. Moreover, they should place

registration records of departed guests in property’s guest history files.

4. Fully automated systems:

A- Pre-arrival activities:
  Under this stage, the reservation department is equipped with a software package, which is interfaced and connected with one

or more central reservation office(s). Moreover, the reservation department can automatically generate letters of confirmation,

produce requests for guest deposits and handle pre-registration activities for all types of guests and generate daily expected arrival

lists, occupancy and revenue forecast lists…

B- Arrival activities:

 At this stage, various reservation records can be transferred to front office department. Moreover, hotels might be equipped with

an on-line credit authorization terminals for timely Credit Card Approval, self check-in / check-out terminals. Lastly, all guest charges

and payments are saved in electronic guest folios.

 As far as walk-ins are concerned, all registration activities should be initiated from the very beginning.

C- Occupancy activities:

 Under this very stage, guest purchases at different revenue outlets are electronically transferred and posted to appropriate guest
accounts. Moreover, the front office department can run and process continuous trial balances and, therefore, eliminate the tedious

work for the Night Auditor.

D- Departure activities:

At this very stage, cashiers can automatically produce bills to be sent to various guests with direct billing privileges and create electronic
guest history records.

IV- Front Office Forms:

 At different stages of the guest cycle different forms are used depending on which operating system a hotel chooses. Below are

some of the common forms used:

1. Pre-arrival activities:
Reservation record or a reservation file

Letter of confirmation

c) Reservation rack and reservation rack slips

2. Arrival activities:

Registration card (or record) or registration file

Room rack and room rack slips

3. Occupancy activities:
Guest folio: shall be of duplicate forms and pre-numbered for cross-indexing control purposes.

Vouchers: support documents detailing facts of a transaction, but does not replace the source document (i.e. the invoice).

Examples of vouchers might include charge vouchers, allowance vouchers, paid-out voucher, and correction vouchers…

Information rack slips

4. Departure activities:
Credit card vouchers

Cash vouchers

Personal check vouchers

Transfer vouchers

Guest history records.

V- Front Office Functional Organization:

 Whatsoever system and setting the hotel might use, it should reflect easy access to the equipment, forms, and supplies necessary.
Moreover, the setting shall reflect position flexibility. Moreover, nowadays trend shows that traditional mail, message, and key racks

are unnecessary at the Front Desk. Rather, they shall be stored in drawers or slots located under or away from the Front Desk. For,

this would ensure security and safety of guests.

1. Front Desk designed alternatives:

Circular or semi-circular structure: this very structure provides an effective service to more guests and appears more modern and

innovative but since guests will approach the Front Desk from all angles, more staff is needed.

Traditional straight desk: Under this very design, fewer staff is needed, but fewer guests can be served at the same time.

Desk less environment: Under this design, there is no Front Desk at all. This is usually replaced by a hostess, or steward welcoming the
guest, seating him or her on a chair/sofa, and conduct registration activities there while, for example, having a cocktail or a drink.

VI- Front Office Equipment:

Room rack

Mail, message, and key racks

Reservation racks

Information racks

Folio trays or folio buckets

Account posting machine

Voucher racks

Cash registers

Telephone equipment.
ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF LOBBY MANAGER

DUTY MANAGER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Greets the VIP guests of the hotel. As directed by the Front office Manager, Performs special services for VIP Guest’s.

2. Assists in VIP’s arrival departure in absence of guest relation officers.

3. Checks cleanliness of lobby and public areas, lights and as well as front office staff in proper and orderly appearance

and behavior.

4. Checks on registration cards of arriving guests and ensures all information should be filled on each cards either by Guest

Relation Officers or the guests.

5. Assists in sending guest messages or faxes.

6.Gives the instructions to the Night Reception, during the high occupancy periods, regarding: walk-in guests and release

room blocked because of no- shows

7.Assists in handling room lock problems.

8. Prepares and checks for VIP’s arrival and escorts guests to rooms.

9. Co-ordinates with all departments concerned in order to maintain Front Office functions properly.

10. Operates the front office computer system in order to assist front office attendants.

11.Checks group department, fit and ensure switchboard makes appropriate wake up calls.

12.Handles guest complaints and other related problems and reports on the Assistant Manager’s log book.

13.Assists reception, business centre, cashier, concierge and bell captain during they are busy.

14.Answers guests inquires, handles complaints and attend to the needs of the guests.

15.Approves and sign for allowances, rebates etc., as required by Front Office Cashier.
16.Authorizes charges to be made for late departures and/or compliments on them.

17. Promotes and maintains good public relations.

18. Motivates and maintains good staff relations.

19. Maintains and be guided of hotel policy on credit/lost and found hotel guests properties.

20. Follows up in credit check report, liaise with credit manager.

21. To responsible for front office operation during the absence of Front Office Manager (HO).

22. To discuss all matters that needed to follow up with the next shift Reception Manager.

23.Approves the working schedule for the front office attendants and submits them to front office manager (HO).

24. Conducts and ensures the neat of appearance of front office attendant as well as correct attitude and behavior,

discusses problems that encountered on this point with front office manager, assistant front office manager and their

shift leaders.

 Types of Guest Complaints

Mechanical

 M ECHANICAL COMPLAINTS
deal with equipment problems
within the hotel. Example: the air
conditioner, the vending machine, or
the lights are not working.

"The TV isn't working!"

"There's no hot water!"
"There is no heat
in our room."
Service-related
Service-related problems
are usually associated with
the hotel service.
"The food is cold!"
"The service is slow!"
"I've been waiting for 10 minutes
to speak to someone."

 A TTITUDINAL
Attitudinal problems are
often associated with the
attitudes of the hotel staff.
Guests often feel insulted by rude or
tactless hotel staff members.
"No one smiles around here."
"What a rude waitress."
"The front desk clerk was not very friendly."

 U NUSUAL
Unusual problems are those that the hotel
has no control over such as the weather, traffic, or transportation.
"The traffic around here is crazy!"
"It's so hot and humid in this area."

Test your thinking

"I never received a wake-up call!"
"The vending machine is out of order."
"The traffic in this town is ridiculous."
"The bell person kept staring at me."
"I've asked for extra towels three times and still haven't gotten them."
"My door key isn't working right."
 UNIT 4

RESERVATION :
Reservation in the hotel industry is defined as blocking a particular type of guest room(e.g. single room, double room, deluxe
room, executive room, suite, etc.) for a definite duration of time (number of days of stay ) for particular guest .

Due to globalization, advancement in the means of travel, and increase in the disposable income of people, more and more people
are traveling to different cities. This increase in the traveler traffic has led to an increased demand for tourist accommodation at
various destinations. To ensure a safe and secure place for stay during their visit to another town, people make advance
reservations in hotels and other types of accommodation.

All hotels accept advance bookings of their rooms in order to achieve high occupancy and to maximize their revenue. When a
person makes an advance reservation at a hotel, it is expected that the hotel will honour its commitment by providing the specified
type of room when the guest arrives. A reservation is a bilateral contract between the hotel and the guest , according to which the
 hotel must provide the specified type of room to the guest and the guest should bear all relevant charges. However, the reservation
assistant must inform the guest all relevant details about the booking, type of room, stay dates, room charges government taxes, and
VAT and service charges (if applicable ) involved. If either the hotel or the guest wishes to alter or cancel the reservation, they can do
so only by mutual agreement. If a guest, does not notify the hotel of a cancellation, the hotel is entitled to charge the guest for the
loss of accommodation revenue or may retain any deposit paid. Alternatively, if a hotel cancels the accommodation without prior
notice to the guest, the hotel has to provide alternative accommodation of similar standard in another hotel and pay for any
differences in room rates and additional expenses the guest may have to incur (e.g., taxi, telephones, etc.)

Hotels use a variety of methods to deal with reservation requests. The reservation department handles all the reservation
requests for accommodation, interacts with guests and other external customers, and constantly monitors the status of
rooms and reservations.

IMPORTANCE OF RESERVATION
The role of the reservation department is not limited to making reservations. it maintains records of the hotel
occupancy, which help in planning sales and marketing strategies and estimating manpower requirements.
At the same time, properly excecuted reservations go a long way in ensuring a comfortable stay for guests
the reservation department is important for the hotel as well as for the guest.

Importance of Reservation for the Hotel

The reservation department plays a very important role in increasing the efficiency of the hotel. The data generated
during the reservation process can be utilized to accelerate the facilitation of guest services and planning the activities
of the sales and marketing department. The reservation process is of vital importance to a hotel as it:

 gives the first impression of the hotel to guests.

 sells the main product of a hotel (accommodation)
 generates customers for other departments
 provides important management information to other departments.
The reservation department improves the efficiency of the hotel operations by providing the following services:
 It updates the room availability record and thus maximizes the revenue
generated from room bookings
 It prepares the housekeeping and front desk for arrivals by communicating the arrival details taken at the
time of reservation.
 It helps in planning the distribution of staff at the finance department, which forecasts the volume of business on the
basis of confirmed reservations. The sales forecasts is compared to expenditure budget (e.g. money available for staff
wages and purchases ) on the basis of which cost is cut on materials, labour, and overheads.
  It generates customers for the hotel – first time customers as well as repeat customers – by handling reservation queries
and requests politely.
 It maintains hotel occupancy records, which help the management to plan business strategies – change in room
Rates, renovation of rooms, expansion programmes, or the opening of a new unit the city.

IMPORTANCE OF RESERVATION FOR THE GUEST

A person travelling to another city likes to book a room in advance in the hotel of her choice. This is to avoid any
problem in securing a comfortable place to stay on arrival in the city. A confirmed reservation has the following
advantages for the guest:

Assurance about accommodation: The guest is sure that when she reaches the destination, she will have a place
to stay.
Choice in the type of accommodation: The guest can make the reservation as per her choice , like:
 Type of room or suite : The guest might prefer a suite or a deluxe room.

 As per the guest’s budget : Hotels offer a variety of rooms at different charges; the guest can select from a
Room that matches her budget.

 Preference of floor, view , and personal choice : The guest can request for a high floor or low-floor room;
Sea view/ pool view / monument view room; smoking / non –smoking room etc.

 Receive correspondence at the hotel address : if the guest is travelling, she can use the address of the hotel
to receive any urgent mails, couriers, messages, or calls.

SYSTEMS OF RESERVATION

Depending on the needs of the hotel and the volume of business, a hotel adopt either manual or automatic system
of reservation.

MANUAL SYSTEM OF RESERVATION :

In a manual system, all the reservation records are maintained manually. This old system of reservation is suitable
for a small property, where the number of rooms is less and the volume of reservation requests is also low. The hotel
may use one of the following systems of manual reservation: diary system of reservation or Whitney system of
 reservation.

Diary system of reservation This is a manual system of reservation. As the name suggests, in this system a daily
diary is kept, in which the reservation agent lists all arrivals due on a particular day. It is usually kept on a loose-leaf
basis. The top page represents arrivals on the current date; this is removed and sent to the front desk for receiving
the guests. A new blank sheet is added at the back of the dairy to record the reservation on a new date. The hotel
booking diary may be hard bound also. The format of a hotel diary is shown in Fig. 7.7. The diary system of reservation
is only suitable for very small properties.

SAMPLE HOTEL BOOKING DIARY

ROOM NAM PAX ARRIVAL ADVANCE DATE OF BOOKING BOOKED BY SIGNATURE REMARKS
NONO E TIM MOD DEPARTURE DATE NAM CON OF
E E E . RES.ASST
NO

The tools used in diary system of reservation are as under

 Booking diary
 Room status board/ reservation journal
 Expected arrival list/ Movement list.
 Cancellation register (if required, for taking cancellation)
 Black list (if required, to refuse reservations to undesirable or black- listed guests)

Whitney system of reservation This system of room reservation, developed by the American Whitney Duplicating
Check Company, is suitable for small and medium properties-with up to 150 rooms. It is based on the use of standard
size slips known as Whitney slips or Shannon slips, which can be held on a metallic carrier on Whitney racks. A sample
of a Whitney slip is shown in Fig. 7.8. The slips may be colour coded to identify the status of guests like FIT, group,
crew, VIP, commercially important person, etc. The top line of the slip contains essential information like dates of arrival
and departure, name of the guest rate) as this part remains visible after placing the slip in the metallic carrier.

The Whitney system uses racks that are vertically mounted on walls. It requires a total of forty three racks, out of which
thirty-one racks are kept for the current month (one for each day), eleven racks for the next eleven months of the year, and
one rack for the next year. The thirty one racks are arranged as per the date of the reservation request is received, the
reservation is processed, Whitney slips are made in duplicate, and the original is placed in the Whitney rack.
Whitney slips can be arranged in alphabetical order on the Whitney rack.

The advantages of using Whitney system are as under:

 Bookings can be kept in order of the date of arrival.
 Booking records may be arranged in alphabetical order.
 The racks and carriers can be used over and over again. The running expense is only of the slips.
 The Whitney racks arc placed vertically, saving storage space.
.
DATE OF ARRIVAL NAME OF GUEST ROOM TYPE RATE DATE OF
DEPARTURE
MODE OF RESERVED BY DATE RECEIVED
RESERVATION
AGENCY (IF ANY)

BILLING CONFIRMATION
INSTRUCTION DATE

PROCESSING RESERVATION REQUESTS

Every hotel has its own standard operating procedure (SOP) to deal with a reservation request from a guest. The
standard procedure of responding to a guest's reservation request is first receiving the reservation inquiries, then
determining room availability, and then accepting or denying the request for reservation.

Receiving Reservation Inquiries

The request for a room reservation may reach a hotel from any one of the various modes discussed earlier. While receiving a
reservation request, the reservation agent should ask for only that information which will help in processing the reservation request faster.
The following information will help to determine the availability of the room requested by the guest:
 Date and time of arrival.
 Date and time of departure.
 Number and type of rooms required.
 Number of persons in the party.

Determining Room Availability

 Using the information gathered at the time of receiving the reservation request, the reservation agent will ascertain whether the
requested type of room is available in desired number for the required duration. The reservation agent will use one of the following
records for determining the availability of the rooms bed room journal, conventional/advance letting chart, standard density chart,
or computerized system.

Accepting or Denying Request for Reservation

Once the reservation agent has established the availability of the room for the guest, she will either accept or deny the reservation request
and conclude the of reservation request. The manner in which the reservation assistant interacts with the guest and handles the reservation
request goes a long way in determining the guest's impressions of the hotel.

If rooms are available as per the guest's requirements, the reservation request is accepted. The following details are gathered from the
guest while accepting
the reservation:

 Name of the guest

 Designation and company, if corporate guest
 Address and contact details of the guest
 Time and mode of arrival
 Reservation classification (confirmed, guaranteed, etc.)
 Caller data (in case of third party reservation)
 Special requirements (baby sitter, no smoking room, garden/pool facing, sea
facing, barrier free rooms for a physically challenged guest, interconnecting
rooms, etc.

The hotel should always honour the rate quoted and confirmed to the guest. The agent should be aware of the following:
 Supplementary charges for extra services or amenities
 Minimum stay requirements in effect for the dates requested
 Special promotions in effect for the dates requested
 Applicable currency exchange rates (for international tourists)
 Applicable room tax percentages
 Applicable service charges

Once the availability of the room has been ascertained, the hotel blocks a room for the guest and sends a confirmation
letter to confirm the same. The reservation transaction is allotted a number, known as the confirmation number, which
is mentioned in the confirmation letter. This alphanumeric code is used to identify and document the booking. A
computerized reservation system automatically generates the confirmation letter and the same may be sent to the guest's
mailing address or e-mail.

The reservation department using manual reservation system uses a specially designed form (Fig. 7.12) to record the
reservation transactions. This helps prevent any ambiguity in the information generated during the reservation process.
The reservation form contains information like the personal data of the guest, stay dates
mode and time of arrival and departure, number and type of rooms, mode of bill settlement, guarantee details, special
request, etc. Using a reservation form has following advantages: it provides a permanent record, it helps to summarize
data generated while processing reservation request, and it enables the management to ascertain the person who
handled the reservation request.

The reservation department may choose to turn down a reservation request in the following cases
 The hotel is fully booked.
 The requested room is not available for the requested duration.
 The guest is blacklisted (ie, the hotel does not want to accommodate the guest for various reasons).

When denying a specific request, the agent should always be polite and helpful, and should follow the procedure below:
 If the requested type of room is not available, apologize and explain to the guest that this particular room is
not available. Try to offer alternative accommodation or dates at the hotel, and if this is unacceptable for the
client, try to offer accommodation in a sister hotel, if applicable.
 If the hotel is fully booked, apologize and explain that the hotel is fully booked. Offer alternative dates or
accommodation at the hotel, or in another hotel of the group, if applicable.

Hotel Abe
RESERVATION FORM No.

Name of the Guest-------------------

Company ------------------------------ Designation-----------------------
address of the guest ------------------ Tel ……………………..
Date of Arrival…………………………. Time of Arrival………………………..
Date of departure ……………………. Expected time of departure…………..
Time of Room S ( ) D ( ) T ( ) others category …………………………
No. of Pax…………………….. room rate …………………….
Mode of Arrival……………….. discount …………………….
Flight No ……………………….
Mode of Payment Settlement of Bills ………………..
Credit Card No……………………….. Date of expiry ……………………….
Personal Details of he Person/Agency Making the Reservation ………………………………………
Special Request…………………………………………….
Date & Time of booking …………………………………..

REMARKS : Reservation assistant

Name ………………………..
Signature …………………….

A MENDING R ESERVATION
When guests with confirmed reservations change their travel plans, they convey the same to the hotel. This change-in the type
of reservation (guaranteed or non-guaranteed), date of arrival, duration of stay, type of room, etc.-is termed as amendment. In
case of amendments, the hotel has to check the availability of rooms again as per the fresh details given by the guest. The hotel
might charge an amendment fee for making changes to the existing booking. The reservation agent should ascertain that the
person requesting the amendment is the same as the one who has made the original booking. This is done to avoid any problem
or confusion that may arise at the time of the arrival of the guest. The changes are recorded in a specialized form known as the
reservation cancellation/amendment form.

C ANCELLATION OF R ESERVATION
The cancellation of a reservation occurs when a guest with a confirmed reservation informs the hotel about her
intention to cancel the reservation. As cancellation might lead to the loss of room revenue, hotels discourage
cancellations by imposing retention charges (Exhibit 7.3). In case of a guaranteed reservation, if the cancellation is
not made before a stipulated date and time, the hotel may charge retention charges, which may be equal to the rent
of one night or more.

TYPES OF RESERVATION
Hotels accept reservations for their rooms and suites only after checking various factors, such as the availability of rooms and
suites, sales forecast, room rates, profile of guests and their importance to the hotel, etc. The reservation made by a guest
could be tentative, confirmed, or waitlisted (Fig. 7.2). Once a reservation request is confirmed by a guest, the hotel will make
a guaranteed or non-guaranteed reservation as per the guest's requirement.
R ESERVATIONS
Confirmed
Waitlisted
Tentative
Guaranteed

Non-guaranteed
Reservations can be of the following types :

Tentative reservation

Confirmed reservation

Waitlisted reservation

TENTATIVE RESERVATION
It is a reservation request that a prospective guest makes on a tentative particular stay dates. The hotel holds the room for

the guest till a cut off date . which the guest should confirm the reservation. Upon confirmation From the the hotel changes

the tentative reservation to a confirmed reservation, oh cancels the tentative reservation, and updates its records accordingly.

Waitlisted Reservation

A reservation is waitlisted when the requested category of room is not available for the requested dates. The waitlisted
reservation is confirmed when the receives a cancellation request for a room of the same category. This way the ensures
that its rooms will not remain vacant in case of cancellations, The how does not guarantee a room for waitlisted reservations;
it is understood that the guest will be assigned a room only in the case of a cancellation or a no show The hotel informs the
guest at the time of processing the reservation that the reservation request of the guest is being put on waitlist and may be
confirmed at a later date some rooms are made available due to cancellation. This situation normally occurs in high occupancy

periods like a long weekend, or festival/fair time, or season time. To avoid overbooking, when the total number of rooms reserved
for a certain period of time exceeds the total number of rooms available for sale, the reservation department makes a waitlist
on the basis of earlier records of reservations vis-a vis actual arrivals. The hotel keeps clearing waitlists on a regular basis as per
the cancellations received and the overbooking level for the day.
 Confirmed Reservation
Once a guest confirms a reservation request, the hotel blocks a room for specified stay dates and sends a written confirmation
of the same to the guest The confirmation of reservation (see Exhibit 7.1) is sent through letter or e-mail containing the following
information:

Name of the guest

Date and time of arrival

Room type.

Duration of stay

Room rate

Number of persons in the party.

Reservation classification (guaranteed or non-guaranteed)

Sample confirmation letter:

Hotel Sun n Sand

Confirmation
217 Route 303
Valley Cottage, New Delhi
Tel: (011) 35829294
Fax: (011) 48035701

Dear Guest
Thank you for your reservation. We look forward to your visit. Please note the information below for accuracy. Please review

it and report any discrepancies

Guest name - Mr John

Room type - Executive

Reserve Notes - Room facing swimming pool
Guest Type - group

Rate Type - special

Confirmation No -AC300150786

Arrival Date - 15 November 2008

Departure Date - 15 January 2009
No. of Nights - 61
Adult /Child - 2 Adults, 0 Child

RESERVATION CHARGES
Room Rate - Rs 4,500++
Misc. Total
Room Total - Rs 2,74,500
Total Tax - Rs 3,2940
Total - Rs 3,07,440

DEPOSIT RECEIVED Rs 2,74,500.00

BALANCE DUE Rs 32,940.00

Balance due upon arrival in cash, traveler’s checks, or credit card. We cannot accept personal or business checks for payment

of balance. If you have placed a deposit by credit card, you must bring your credit card with you along with a form of identification
with signature. We cannot accept the use of another's credit card under any circumstances.

We must receive a notice from the guest of any cancellation or change in the number of rooms or nights reserved no later than

4 p.m., 14 calendar days prior to the guest's arrival in order for the guest to receive a refund of 90% of the amount deposited.

If notice is not received 14 calendar days prior to date of arrival, the guest forfeits 100% of the deposit.

Check-in time: 3:00 p.m., Check-out time: 10:00 a.m. Please contact our office for late arrival information.

Thank you for your reservation!

SIGNATURE UPON ARRIVAL: DATE :

Reservation confirmation number

Special request made by the guest like airport pick-up, wheel chair, baby, sitter, non-smoking room, barrier-free room, etc.

A confirmed reservation can be of the following two types:

Guaranteed reservation

Non guaranteed reservation

Guaranteed Reservation
A guaranteed reservation is a confirmation that the will hold the reserved room for the guest and not release it to any other

guest if the guest doesn't arrive on time. This requires the guest to make an advance payment (part or full, depending on the
hotel policy and the hotel occupancy the requested stay dates), irrespective of whether the guest avails the reservation or not,

unless the reservation is cancelled according to the hotel's cancellation procedures. Most hotels have their own guarantee and

cancellation Exhibit 7.2, In the case of guaranteed reservations, the hotel is indemnified from no-shows and holds the room for

the guest beyond its cancellation hours, The guests can be sure of finding a room ready for them even if they arrive late with any

prior information to the hotel. The guaranteed reservation can be obtained through one of the following ways.

 Pre-payment
 Contractual agreement
 Allotment

Pre-payment A guaranteed reservation requires the payment of the room rent or a specified amount in advance, known
as pre-payment. As the hotel holds the room for the guest even after the cancellation hours, pre-payment protects the
hotel from any loss of revenue in case of a last moment cancellation or a no-show Pre-payment can be made by sending
demand draft or depositing cash at the hotel, Cash deposit is the most preferred mode of accepting guaranteed reservation
most of the hotels. In case of deposits of high amounts, hotels might ask the guests for their PAN (Permanent Account Number)
de

Guests can alternatively choose to pay the full amount in advance through their credit/charge cards. A guest should send a

letter B authorizing the hotel to charge payment to their credit card account for obtaining guaranteed reservation,

along with copy of the front and back of the credit card (photocopy if sending by letter or fax, and scan if sending by e mail).
These days credit card is the most preferred method of getting guaranteed reservation. The hotel staff must check the value
authenticity of the card before using it as a guarantee. Reservations made online through hotel websites or travel websites,
like Travelocity and Expedia, require valid credit card details before confirming a reservation. The booking amount is
charged to the credit card account when the reservation is confirmed; a percentage of the charge might be reversed in
case of reservation cancellation thin the cancellation period.

Contractual agreement
A hotel may have a contract with an individual or a company for providing guaranteed reservations confirms the reservations.
According to such a contract, the hotel confirms the reservation for the individual or person referred by the company on a
guaranteed basis, and the person or the company agrees to pay for the reservation, even in the case of a no-show. A guaranteed
reservation will turn into a non-guaranteed reservation if the payment is not made in full in advance the travel agency voucher
or the bill to the company is not received by the cut off date specified by the hotel. Hotels may have contractual agreement
with the following:
 Travel agencies/Tour operators.
 Corporate houses

Travel Agencies/Tour Operators: Travel agencies and tour operators make bulk purchases of rooms at a relatively low
contracted price. They guarantee the hotel a minimum number of room nights in a particular period and agree to pay the
room charges even if they are unable to fill the number of rooms as per their agreement with the hotel. The hotels guarantee
these reservations on the basis of vouchers issued by the travel agency or the tour operator, by which they agree to pay for
the room and service charges mentioned on the voucher; the other services are charged from the guest.

Corporate Houses: In this case, a company or a corporate body may enter into a contract with a hotel, whereby the
company guarantees payment for its employee or sponsored guests and accepts the financial responsibilities for any
no-shows The hotel, in turn, agrees to provide the mutually-agreed number of room to the clients or employees of the
company during a certain period of time. Hotels guarantee these reservations on the basis of a letter from the company,
called a bill to company or BTC letter, acknowledging the guest as its employee or client and agreeing to pay her bills as
per the contract.

Allotment
Allotment is a set of rooms booked for a particular period of time for a company or a group. This type of reservation
is made for training courses, conferences or conventions, and private parties. A guest maybe asked for a booking reference or
any other verification before she is provided a room in the

GROUPS OF RESERVATION

The Groups module is used to make reservations for five or more guests who have some features in common (they are all from
the same company and are arriving on approximately the same dates, or they are all members of an organized tour group). This
module is specifically designed to manage reservations with similar needs. Additionally, groups can receive negotiated rates or
other special treatment.
Using the Groups module you can create, search for, view, and edit a given group reservation. Additionally, you can assign (before
or during check in) rooms, perform a group check in, reserve rooms for groups, and create rooming lists.

You can also create, search for, view, and edit a given room block whose rooms can be later picked up by a group reservation.
The Groups module also allows you to display and enter events that could influence occupancy as well as create confirmation
letters
If your system is configured for the Wait List function, you can place a group reservation on a Wait List and activate later. If your
property works with Fidelio Fax Interface, you also will be able to fax confirmation letters.

SOURCES OF RESERVATION

Direct reservation

A reservation request that a hotel receives directly from an individual or a group (without a
mediator) is known as a direct reservation. The direct reservation request is processed by the reservation team.
In most hotels, the staffing, equipment, location, and layout of the reservation section will depend upon the volume
of the reservation requests received directly.

Central reservation system

Central reservation system (CRS) is a computer-based reservation system, which enables guests to make reservations
in any of the participating lodging properties at any destination in a single call. The central reservation office typically
deals with direct guests, travel agents, corporate bookers, etc. by means of toll-free telephone numbers. The central
reservation offices operate twenty-four hours a day, all round the year, and are equipped with the necessary
communication equipment like computers, telephones, fax machine etc. The systems at member hotels and CRS have
accurate, up-to-date information on room availability. This is helpful for guests as they can check the availability and
make reservations for more than one hotel at the CRS. In case rooms are not available, the itinerary can be reversed
or re-planned, so as to accommodate the guests at the desired hotels. The reservation agents can be creative and can
up sell room categories (e.g., suites and other high-category, low-moving rooms) in case the requested rooms are not
available, or suggest alternative destinations. While making or revising the itinerary of guests, the agents should take
care that the intercity travel arrangements should not tire the guests and spoil their experience of the various
destinations.
 SOURCES OF RESERVATIONS

DIRECT GOVERNMENT SECTOR CENTRAL RESERVATION SYSTEM (CRS)

INTERSELL AGENCY HOTEL WEBSITES GLOBAL RESERVATION SYSTEM(GDS)

AGENCY CORPORATE BODIES

TRAVEL AGENCY COMPAINES

TOUR OPERATOR NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION

AIRLINES INSTITUTION

These options ensure confirmed reservation at all cities for the guests. Without CRS, the guests would have had to call
up the Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur hotels separately for room availability, then prepare their revised itinerary and call back The
respective hotels. As the room rates and room availability status are dynamic, the rates quoted and rooms available at the
time of inquiry might have sold out by the time the guests call back, and the guests would have to go through the entire
process again. The central reservation offices help a guest get the information and room availability status for all the group
hotels and to plan their itinerary in one toll-free call or e-mail and to make reservations.

Hotels are required to provide accurate and current room availability data to the central reservation office. They may pay a
flat fee for obtaining the services of a CRS and an additional fee for each reservation received through the central
reservation office. The CRS is of two types:

 Affiliated system
 Non-affiliated system
 UNIT 5

COUNTRIES – CAPITAL AND THEIR CURRENCY -

Country Name Capital Currency

Afghanistan Kabul Afghani

Albania Tirane Lek

Algeria Algiers Dinar

Andorra Andorra la Vella Euro

Angola Luanda New Kwanza

Antigua and Barbuda Saint John's East Caribbean dollar

Argentina Buenos Aires Peso

Armenia Yerevan Dram

 Country Name Capital Currency

Australia Canberra Australian dollar

Austria Vienna Euro (formerly schilling)

Azerbaijan Baku Manat

The Bahamas Nassau Bahamian dollar

Bahrain Manama Bahrain dinar

Bangladesh Dhaka Taka

Barbados Bridgetown Barbados dollar

Belarus Minsk Belorussian ruble

Belgium Brussels Euro (formerly Belgian franc)

Belize Belmopan Belize dollar

Benin Porto-Novo CFA Franc

Bhutan Thimphu Ngultrum

Bolivia La Paz (administrative); Sucre (judicial) Boliviano

Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo Marka

Botswana Gaborone Pula

Brazil Brasilia Real

Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei dollar

Bulgaria Sofia Lev

Burkina Faso Ouagadougou CFA Franc

Burundi Bujumbura Burundi franc

Cambodia Phnom Penh Riel

Cameroon Yaounde CFA Franc

 Country Name Capital Currency

Canada Ottawa Canadian dollar

Cape Verde Praia Cape Verdean escudo

Central African Republic Bangui CFA Franc

Chad N'Djamena CFA Franc

Chile Santiago Chilean Peso

China Beijing Yuan/Renminbi

Colombia Bogota Colombian Peso

Comoros Moroni Franc

Congo, Republic of the Brazzaville CFA Franc

Congo, Democratic
Kinshasa Congolese franc
Republic of the

Costa Rica San Jose Colón

Cote d'Ivoire Yamoussoukro (official); Abidjan (de facto) CFA Franc

Croatia Zagreb Kuna

Cuba Havana Cuban Peso

Cyprus Nicosia Cyprus pound

Czech Republic Prague Koruna

Denmark Copenhagen Krone

Djibouti Djibouti Djibouti franc

Dominica Roseau East Caribbean dollar

Dominican Republic Santo Domingo Dominican Peso

East Timor (Timor-Leste) Dili U.S. dollar

Country Name Capital Currency

Ecuador Quito U.S. dollar

Egypt Cairo Egyptian pound

El Salvador San Salvador Colón; U.S. dollar

Equatorial Guinea Malabo CFA Franc

Eritrea Asmara Nakfa

Estonia Tallinn Kroon

Ethiopia Addis Ababa Birr

Fiji Suva Fiji dollar

Finland Helsinki Euro (formerly markka)

France Paris Euro (formerly French franc)

Gabon Libreville CFA Franc

The Gambia Banjul Dalasi

Georgia Tbilisi Lari

Germany Berlin Euro (formerly Deutsche mark)

Ghana Accra Cedi

Greece Athens Euro (formerly drachma)

Grenada Saint George's East Caribbean dollar

Guatemala Guatemala City Quetzal

Guinea Conakry Guinean franc

Guinea-Bissau Bissau CFA Franc

Guyana Georgetown Guyanese dollar

Haiti Port-au-Prince Gourde

Country Name Capital Currency

Honduras Tegucigalpa Lempira

Hungary Budapest Forint

Iceland Reykjavik Icelandic króna

India New Delhi Rupee

Indonesia Jakarta Rupiah

Iran Tehran Rial

Iraq Baghdad Iraqi Dinar

Ireland Dublin Euro (formerly Irish pound [punt])

Israel Jerusalem* Shekel

Italy Rome Euro (formerly lira)

Jamaica Kingston Jamaican dollar

Japan Tokyo Yen

Jordan Amman Jordanian dinar

Kazakhstan Astana Tenge

Kenya Nairobi Kenya shilling

Kiribati Tarawa Atoll Australian dollar

Korea, North Pyongyang Won

Korea, South Seoul Won

Kosovo Pristina Euro (German Mark prior to 2002)

Kuwait Kuwait City Kuwaiti dinar

Kyrgyzstan Bishkek Som

Laos Vientiane New Kip

 Country Name Capital Currency

Latvia Riga Lats

Lebanon Beirut Lebanese pound

Lesotho Maseru Maluti

Liberia Monrovia Liberian dollar

Libya Tripoli Libyan dinar

Liechtenstein Vaduz Swiss franc

Lithuania Vilnius Litas

Luxembourg Luxembourg Euro (formerly Luxembourg franc)

Macedonia Skopje Denar

Madagascar Antananarivo Malagasy franc

Malawi Lilongwe Kwacha

Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Ringgit

Maldives Male Rufiya

Mali Bamako CFA Franc

Malta Valletta Maltese lira

Marshall Islands Majuro U.S. Dollar

Mauritania Nouakchott Ouguiya

Mauritius Port Louis Mauritian rupee

Mexico Mexico City Mexican peso

Micronesia, Federated
Palikir U.S. Dollar
States of

Moldova Chisinau Leu

 Country Name Capital Currency

Monaco Monaco Euro

Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Tugrik

Montenegro Podgorica Euro

Morocco Rabat Dirham

Mozambique Maputo Metical

Rangoon (Yangon); Naypyidaw or Nay Pyi Taw

Myanmar (Burma) Kyat
(administrative)

Namibia Windhoek Namibian dollar

no official capital; government offices in Yaren

Nauru Australian dollar
District

Nepal Kathmandu Nepalese rupee

Netherlands Amsterdam; The Hague (seat of government) Euro (formerly guilder)

New Zealand Wellington New Zealand dollar

Nicaragua Managua Gold cordoba

Niger Niamey CFA Franc

Nigeria Abuja Naira

Norway Oslo Norwegian krone

Oman Muscat Omani rial

Pakistan Islamabad Pakistani rupee

Palau Melekeok U.S. dollar

Panama Panama City balboa; U.S. dollar

Papua New Guinea Port Moresby Kina

Paraguay Asuncion Guaraní

 Country Name Capital Currency

Peru Lima Nuevo sol (1991)

Philippines Manila Peso

Poland Warsaw Zloty

Portugal Lisbon Euro (formerly escudo)

Qatar Doha Qatari riyal

Romania Bucharest Leu

Russia Moscow Ruble

Rwanda Kigali Rwanda franc

Saint Kitts and Nevis Basseterre East Caribbean dollar

Saint Lucia Castries East Caribbean dollar

Saint Vincent and the

Kingstown East Caribbean dollar
Grenadines

Samoa Apia Tala

San Marino San Marino Euro

Sao Tome and Principe Sao Tome Dobra

Saudi Arabia Riyadh Riyal

Senegal Dakar CFA Franc

Yugoslav new dinar. In Kosovo both the euro and the

Serbia Belgrade
Yugoslav dinar are legal

Seychelles Victoria Seychelles rupee

Sierra Leone Freetown Leone

Singapore Singapore Singapore dollar

Slovakia Bratislava Koruna

 Country Name Capital Currency

Slovenia Ljubljana Slovenian tolar; euro (as of 1/1/07)

Solomon Islands Honiara Solomon Islands dollar

Somalia Mogadishu Somali shilling

Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative);

South Africa Rand
Bloemfontein (judiciary)

South Sudan Juba Sudanese Pound

Spain Madrid Euro (formerly peseta)

Sri Lanka Colombo; Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative) Sri Lanka rupee

Sudan Khartoum Dinar

Suriname Paramaribo Surinamese dollar

Swaziland Mbabane Lilangeni

Sweden Stockholm Krona

Switzerland Bern Swiss franc

Syria Damascus Syrian pound

Tajikistan Dushanbe somoni

Tanzania Dar es Salaam; Dodoma (legislative) Tanzanian shilling

Thailand Bangkok baht

Togo Lome CFA Franc

Tonga Nuku'alofa Pa'anga

Trinidad and Tobago Port-of-Spain Trinidad and Tobago dollar

Tunisia Tunis Tunisian dinar

Turkey Ankara Turkish lira (YTL)

 Country Name Capital Currency

Turkmenistan Ashgabat Manat

Tuvalu Vaiaku village, Funafuti province Australian dollar

Uganda Kampala Ugandan new shilling

Ukraine Kyiv Hryvna

United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi U.A.E. dirham

United Kingdom London Pound sterling

United States of America Washington D.C. dollar

Uruguay Montevideo Uruguay peso

Uzbekistan Tashkent Uzbekistani sum

Vanuatu Port-Vila Vatu

Vatican City Vatican City Euro

Venezuela Caracas Bolivar

Vietnam Hanoi Dong

Yemen Sanaa Rial

Zambia Lusaka Kwacha

Zimbabwe Harare Zimbabwean dollar

Afiliated system In affiliated reservation systems, all the participating hotel units belong to the same chain or group
Like welcome group of Hotels, Holidex by Holiday Inn Hotels, Image by Hyatt Hotels, and ITT by
Sheraton hotels.

Non affiltated system Non-affiliated system is a subscription-based system, designed to connect independent or non
chain properties, like the Leading Hotels of World (LHW), Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SL.H). This enables non-
chain properties to enjoy the benefits of CRS.
Intersell Agencies An intersell agency is an agency that deals with many products such as hotel reservations, car rentals,
travel arrangements, tour operations airline reservations, railway bookings, etc. Such agencies as Expedia, Travelocity,
Travelguru, MakeMyTrip, etc. are a rich source of reservations for hotels.

Global Distribution System Global distribution system (GDS) is a worldwide computerized reservation network, which is
used as a single point of access for reserving hotel rooms, airline seats, rental cars, and other travel-related items by
travel agents, online reservation sites, and large corporations. GDS provides a bundle of products and services to the
prospective user across geographical boundaries and is a link between the producers and end users of travel products
and services.

A number of hotel reservations are made through GDS. The premier GDS are
Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, and Worldspan, which are owned and operated as joint
ventures by major airlines, car rental firms, and hotel groups

Amadeus IT Amadeus is one of the most commonly used GDS. Owned by the Amadeus IT Group, it was formed in 1987
out of an alliance between Air France Lufthansa, Iberia Airlines, and Scandinavian Airlines. It specializes in the bookings
of hotels, airlines, cruises, travel services, and car rentals.

Galileo CRS Galileo International was founded in 1971 as Chicago-based United Airlines introduced the Apollo®
computer reservation system for use in their own offices to automate seat reservation, booking, and tracking. This
computer based reservation system is owned by Travel port, and is used for the reservation of travel, tourism, and
hospitality products and services. It allows a single record to be created for multiple airline bookings in one database.

SABRE Semi-automated business research environment (SABRE) is a computer based reservation system used by
airlines, hotels, travel agents, railways, and other travel-related companies for reservation of their products and services. It
was first developed in the early 1960s to help American Airlines automate their reservation
system. It is a unit of Sabre Holding's Sabre Travel Network division and is one of the largest electronic travel reservation
systems.
Worldspan This is a GDS used by travel agents and tour operators for travel and hospitality-related bookings. Owned by Travelport, it was
created in 1990 by Delta Airlines, Northwest Airlines, and Trans World Airlines to sell their GDS services
to travel and hospitality operators worldwide.

Agencies Many guests make reservations through travel agents or tour operators The agent will normally take a pre-payment from the
guest, send a confirmation to the hotel, and issue an accommodation voucher on its behalf. Travel agents receive (or deduct) a commission for
their services from the guest, or the hotel, or both Many airlines also offer booking service to their passengers. As hotels receive bookings and
huge volume of business throughout the year from agencies like tour operators, travel agencies, and airlines, they offer very low rates to these
agencies for various room categories

Corporate Bodies Hotels also receive bookings from companies (FMCGs pharmaceutical, etc.), non-governmental organizations (such as
Care, Oxfam, Red Cross, WHO, etc.), and institutions (which may be educational, financial, banking,etc.). These companies also provide bulk
reservations to hotels and get rooms at low rates.

Government Sector Hotels receive bookings from government sectors such as public sector undertakings, embassies, and consulates. As
the government officials travel to different places on official work and need accommodation at the place of visit, they constitute a major source
of reservation and revenue to the hotel.

Hotel Websites A hotel's website is another potential source for receiving reservations. The website contains a link for reservation requests.
By clicking the link, guests can make a hotel reservation as per their requirements from the comforts of their house/office/cyber cafe. Most of
the hotels provide photo galleries, descriptions of room categories and hotel facilities, and virtual tours of the hotel to aid the guest in selecting
the hotel and the room category.
 UNIT 5

COUNTRIES – CAPITAL & CURRENCY

Country Name Capital Currency

Afghanistan Kabul Afghani

Albania Tirane Lek

Algeria Algiers Dinar

Andorra Andorra la Vella Euro

Angola Luanda New Kwanza

Antigua and East Caribbean

Saint John's
Barbuda dollar

Argentina Buenos Aires Peso

Armenia Yerevan Dram

Australia Canberra Australian dollar

Euro (formerly
Austria Vienna
schilling)

Azerbaijan Baku Manat

The Bahamas Nassau Bahamian dollar

Bahrain Manama Bahrain dinar

Bangladesh Dhaka Taka

Barbados Bridgetown Barbados dollar

Belarus Minsk Belorussian ruble

Euro (formerly
Belgium Brussels
Belgian franc)

Belize Belmopan Belize dollar

Country Name Capital Currency

Benin Porto-Novo CFA Franc

Bhutan Thimphu Ngultrum

La Paz
Bolivia (administrative); Sucre Boliviano
(judicial)

Bosnia and
Sarajevo Marka
Herzegovina

Botswana Gaborone Pula

Brazil Brasilia Real

Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei dollar

Bulgaria Sofia Lev

Burkina Faso Ouagadougou CFA Franc

Burundi Bujumbura Burundi franc

Cambodia Phnom Penh Riel

Cameroon Yaounde CFA Franc

Canada Ottawa Canadian dollar

Cape Verdean
Cape Verde Praia
escudo

Central African
Bangui CFA Franc
Republic

Chad N'Djamena CFA Franc

Chile Santiago Chilean Peso

China Beijing Yuan/Renminbi

Colombia Bogota Colombian Peso

Comoros Moroni Franc

Congo, Republic Brazzaville CFA Franc

 Country Name Capital Currency

of the

Congo, Kinshasa Congolese franc

Democratic
Republic of the

Costa Rica San Jose Colón

Yamoussoukro
Cote d'Ivoire (official); Abidjan (de CFA Franc
facto)

Croatia Zagreb Kuna

Cuba Havana Cuban Peso

Cyprus Nicosia Cyprus pound

Czech Republic Prague Koruna

Denmark Copenhagen Krone

Djibouti Djibouti Djibouti franc

East Caribbean
Dominica Roseau
dollar

Dominican
Santo Domingo Dominican Peso
Republic

East Timor
Dili U.S. dollar
(Timor-Leste)

Ecuador Quito U.S. dollar

Egypt Cairo Egyptian pound

El Salvador San Salvador Colón; U.S. dollar

Equatorial Guinea Malabo CFA Franc

Eritrea Asmara Nakfa

Estonia Tallinn Kroon

Ethiopia Addis Ababa Birr

Country Name Capital Currency

Fiji Suva Fiji dollar

Euro (formerly
Finland Helsinki
markka)

Euro (formerly
France Paris
French franc)

Gabon Libreville CFA Franc

The Gambia Banjul Dalasi

Georgia Tbilisi Lari

Euro (formerly
Germany Berlin
Deutsche mark)

Ghana Accra Cedi

Euro (formerly
Greece Athens
drachma)

East Caribbean
Grenada Saint George's
dollar

Guatemala Guatemala City Quetzal

Guinea Conakry Guinean franc

Guinea-Bissau Bissau CFA Franc

Guyana Georgetown Guyanese dollar

Haiti Port-au-Prince Gourde

Honduras Tegucigalpa Lempira

Hungary Budapest Forint

Iceland Reykjavik Icelandic króna

India New Delhi Rupee

Indonesia Jakarta Rupiah

Iran Tehran Rial

Country Name Capital Currency

Iraq Baghdad Iraqi Dinar

Euro (formerly Irish

Ireland Dublin
pound [punt])

Israel Jerusalem* Shekel

Italy Rome Euro (formerly lira)

Jamaica Kingston Jamaican dollar

Japan Tokyo Yen

Jordan Amman Jordanian dinar

Kazakhstan Astana Tenge

Kenya Nairobi Kenya shilling

Kiribati Tarawa Atoll Australian dollar

Korea, North Pyongyang Won

Korea, South Seoul Won

Kosovo Pristina Euro (German Mark prior to 2002)

Kuwait Kuwait City Kuwaiti dinar

Kyrgyzstan Bishkek Som

Laos Vientiane New Kip

Latvia Riga Lats

Lebanon Beirut Lebanese pound

Lesotho Maseru Maluti

Liberia Monrovia Liberian dollar

 Libya Tripoli Libyan dinar

Liechtenstein Vaduz Swiss franc

Lithuania Vilnius Litas

Luxembourg Luxembourg Euro (formerly Luxembourg franc)

Macedonia Skopje Denar

Madagascar Antananarivo Malagasy franc

Malawi Lilongwe Kwacha

Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Ringgit

Maldives Male Rufiya

Mali Bamako CFA Franc

Malta Valletta Maltese lira

Marshall Islands Majuro U.S. Dollar

Mauritania Nouakchott Ouguiya

Mauritius Port Louis Mauritian rupee

Mexico Mexico City Mexican peso

Micronesia, Federated
Palikir U.S. Dollar
States of

Moldova Chisinau Leu

Monaco Monaco Euro

Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Tugrik

Montenegro Podgorica Euro

Morocco Rabat Dirham

Mozambique Maputo Metical

 Rangoon (Yangon); Naypyidaw or Nay Pyi Taw
Myanmar (Burma) Kyat
(administrative)

Namibia Windhoek Namibian dollar

Nauru no official capital; government offices in Yaren District Australian dollar

Nepal Kathmandu Nepalese rupee

Netherlands Amsterdam; The Hague (seat of government) Euro (formerly guilder)

New Zealand Wellington New Zealand dollar

Nicaragua Managua Gold cordoba

Niger Niamey CFA Franc

Nigeria Abuja Naira

Norway Oslo Norwegian krone

Oman Muscat Omani rial

Pakistan Islamabad Pakistani rupee

Palau Melekeok U.S. dollar

Panama Panama City balboa; U.S. dollar

Papua New Guinea Port Moresby Kina

Paraguay Asuncion Guaraní

Peru Lima Nuevo sol (1991)

Philippines Manila Peso

Poland Warsaw Zloty

Portugal Lisbon Euro (formerly escudo)

Qatar Doha Qatari riyal

Romania Bucharest Leu

 Russia Moscow Ruble

Rwanda Kigali Rwanda franc

Saint Kitts and Nevis Basseterre East Caribbean dollar

Saint Lucia Castries East Caribbean dollar

Saint Vincent and the

Kingstown East Caribbean dollar
Grenadines

Samoa Apia Tala

San Marino San Marino Euro

Sao Tome and Principe Sao Tome Dobra

Saudi Arabia Riyadh Riyal

Senegal Dakar CFA Franc

Yugoslav new dinar. In Kosovo both the euro and the

Serbia Belgrade
Yugoslav dinar are legal

Seychelles Victoria Seychelles rupee

Sierra Leone Freetown Leone

Singapore Singapore Singapore dollar

Slovakia Bratislava Koruna

Slovenia Ljubljana Slovenian tolar; euro (as of 1/1/07)

Solomon Islands Honiara Solomon Islands dollar

Somalia Mogadishu Somali shilling

Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative);

South Africa Rand
Bloemfontein (judiciary)

South Sudan Juba Sudanese Pound

Spain Madrid Euro (formerly peseta)

 Sri Lanka Colombo; Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative) Sri Lanka rupee

Sudan Khartoum Dinar

Suriname Paramaribo Surinamese dollar

Swaziland Mbabane Lilangeni

Sweden Stockholm Krona

Switzerland Bern Swiss franc

Syria Damascus Syrian pound

Tajikistan Dushanbe somoni

Tanzania Dar es Salaam; Dodoma (legislative) Tanzanian shilling

Thailand Bangkok baht

Togo Lome CFA Franc

Tonga Nuku'alofa Pa'anga

Trinidad and Tobago Port-of-Spain Trinidad and Tobago dollar

Tunisia Tunis Tunisian dinar

Turkey Ankara Turkish lira (YTL)

Turkmenistan Ashgabat Manat

Tuvalu Vaiaku village, Funafuti province Australian dollar

Uganda Kampala Ugandan new shilling

Ukraine Kyiv Hryvna

United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi U.A.E. dirham

United Kingdom London Pound sterling

United States of America Washington D.C. dollar

Uruguay Montevideo Uruguay peso

 Uzbekistan Tashkent Uzbekistani sum

Vanuatu Port-Vila Vatu

Vatican City Vatican City Euro

Venezuela Caracas Bolivar

Vietnam Hanoi Dong

Yemen Sanaa Rial

Zambia Lusaka Kwacha

Zimbabwe Harare Zimbabwean dollar

` RBI REGULATIONS

THEBANKING REGULATION ACT, 1949

[Act No. 10 of 1949]

[As amended by The Banking

Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2017]

(30 of 2017)
 F OREIGN E XCHANGE AND M ANAGEMENT A CT , 1999
INTRODUCTION

The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to foreign exchange with
the objective of facilitating external trade and payments and for promoting the orderly development and maintenance of foreign
exchange market in India. In fact it is the central legislation that deals with inbound investments into India and outbound investments
from India and trade and business between India and the other countries.

The FEMA provides:

 Free transactions on current account subject to reasonable restrictions that may be imposed
 RBI control over Capital Account Transactions
 Control over realization of export proceeds
 Dealings in Foreign Exchange through Authorized Person (e .g Authorized Dealer/ Money Changer/ Off-shore Banking Unit)
 Adjudication of Offences
 Appeal provisions including Special Director (Appeals) and Appellate Tribunal
 Directorate of Enforcement.

FEMA Rules & Policies

The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) came into force with effect from June 1, 2000. With the introduction of
the new Act in place of FERA, certain structural changes were brought in. The Act consolidates and amends the law relating
to foreign exchange to facilitate external trade and payments, and to promote the orderly development and maintenance
of foreign exchange in India.

From the NRI perspective, FEMA broadly covers all matters related to foreign exchange, investment avenues for NRIs such
as immovable property, bank deposits, government bonds, investment in shares, units and other securities, and foreign
direct investment in India.

FEMA vests with the Reserve Bank of India, the sole authority to grant general or special permission for all foreign
exchange related activities mentioned above.
Section 2 - The Act here provides clarity on several definitions and terms used in the context of foreign exchange. Starting
with the identification of the Non-resident Indian and Persons of Indian origin, it defines "foreign exchange" and "foreign
security" in sections 2(n) and 2(o) respectively of the Act. It describes at length the foreign exchange facilities and where
one can buy foreign exchange in India. FEMA defines an authorized dealer, and addresses the permissible exchange allowed
for a business trip, for studies and medical treatment abroad, forex for foreign travel, the use of an international credit card,
and remittance facility.

Section 3 prohibits dealings in foreign exchange except through an authorised person. Similarly, without the prior approval
of the RBI, no person can make any payment to any person resident outside India in any manner other than that prescribed
by it. The Act restricts non-authorised persons from entering into any financial transaction in India as consideration for
or in association with acquisition or creation or transfer of a right to acquire any asset outside India.

Section 4 restrains any person resident in India from acquiring, holding, owning, possessing or transferring any foreign
exchange, foreign security or any immovable property situated outside India except as specifically provided in the Act.

Section 6 deals with capital account transactions. This section allows a person to draw or sell foreign exchange from or to an
authorised person for a capital account transaction. RBI in consultation with the Central Government has issued various
regulations on capital account transactions in terms of sub-sect ion (2) and (3) of section 6.
Section 7 covers the export of goods and services. All exporters are required to furnish to the RBI or any other authority,
a declaration regarding full export value.
Section 8 puts the responsibility of repatriation on the persons resident in India who have any amount of foreign exchange
due or accrued in their favour to get the same realized and repatriated to India within the specific period and in the manner
specified by the RBI.

The duties and liabilities of the Authorized Dealers have been dealt with in Sections 10, 11 and 12, while Sections 13 to 15 
cover penalties and enforcement of the orders of the Adjudicating Authority as well as the power to compound contraventions
under the Act.
Sections 36 and 37 deal with the establishment of an Enforcement Directorate, and empowers it to investigate the
violation of any provisions of the Act, rules, regulations, notifications, directions or order issued under this Act.
 TOURIST INFORMATION IN INDIA

Tourism in India is important for the country's economy and is growing rapidly. The World Travel and Tourism Council 
calculated that tourism generated ₹15.24 lakh crore (US$210 billion) or 9.4% of India's GDP in 2017 and supported 41.622 million
jobs, 8% of its total employment. The sector is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 6.9% to ₹32.05 lakh crore (US$450 billion) by
2028 (9.9% of GDP). In October 2015, India's medical tourism sector was estimated to be worth US$3 billion, and it is projected to
grow to US$7–8 billion by 2020.In 2014, 184,298 foreign patients traveled to India to seek medical treatment.

Over 10 million foreign tourists arrived in India in 2017 compared to 8.89 million in 2016, representing a growth of 15.6%. 
Domestic tourist visits to all states and union territories numbered 1,036.35 million in 2012, an increase of 16.5% from 2011. In 2014,
 Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh were the most popular states for tourists. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Agra and Jaipur were
the five most visited cities of India by foreign tourists during the year 2015. Worldwide, Delhi is ranked 28th by the number of foreign
tourist arrivals, while Mumbai is ranked 30th, Chennai 43rd, Agra 45th, Jaipur 52nd and Kolkata 90th.

The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report for the year 2017, ranked India 40th out of 136 countries overall. The report
ranks the price competitiveness of India's tourism sector 10th out of 136 countries. It mentions that India has quite good air transport
(ranked 32nd), particularly given the country's stage of development, and reasonable ground transport infrastructure (ranked 29th).
The country also scores high on natural and cultural resources (ranked 9th). However, some other aspects of its tourism infrastructure
remain somewhat underdeveloped. The nation has very few hotel rooms per capita by international comparison low ATM penetration.
The World Tourism Organization reported that India's receipts from tourism during 2012 ranked 16th in the world, and 7th among 
Asian and Pacific countries.

The Ministry of Tourism designs national policies for the development and promotion of tourism. In the process, the Ministry
consults and collaborates with other stakeholders in the sector including various central ministries/agencies, state governments, union
territories and private sector representatives. Concerted efforts are being made to promote niche tourism products such as rural, cruise,
medical and eco-tourism. The Ministry of Tourism maintains the Incredible India campaign focused on promoting the tourism in India.
HISTORICAL AND IMPORTANT CITIES:

One of the best things about traveling is exploring the history of a given place. Doing so can help us understand how
it became what it is today. It can also help us question our own cultures and societies. We have compiled a list of the most

historical cities around the world that are still inhabited. All you have to do is decide which one you’ll visit next.

Cusco, Peru
A city located high in the Andes Mountains, Cusco was once the capital of the legendary Incan Empire.
Not much is known about the city’s origins, but it is believed that it was built in the image of the puma, an animal
sacred to the Incas. Either way, it is clear that the city was constructed in adherence to distinct urban planning.
 Cusco was advanced both economically and administratively. Heads of household were expected to pay taxes,
and city officials used the money to build infrastructure and provide food and security to the people in times of
need. It was also a hub for mathematics, astronomy, and calendar systems. Many ruins are located just outside
of the modern city center, which also offers plenty to do and see.
 Alexandria, Egypt
Before Alexander the Great founded it in 331 BC, Alexandria was already an important port city due to its
location on the Egyptian Nile Delta. Alexandria was once a premier center of knowledge in the ancient
world. It was home to a vast library of scrolls, one of the largest in ancient times. The library stood as
a symbol of culture and intellectual achievement, until it was burned down in a fire that Julius Caesar
himself started. The city was also home to Eratosthenes, the philosopher who discovered the earth was
round through his measurements. Centuries later, Alexandria played a significant role in Napoleon’s military
operations, also due to its central location.

Nowadays, you can walk through ancient streets and see where east met west at the height of classical
civilization.

Athens, Greece

No doubt, Athens has played a fundamental role in shaping the Western world into what it is today. By 1400
BC the city was already prominent in the ancient world. It has actually been inhabited for over 7000 years. A
city-state of the once-burgeoning ancient Greece, Athens played a critical role in shaping philosophy, drama,
literature, and science.
Its central location made it a hotbed for cultural interchange and commerce. Athens is home to many awe-inspiring
ruins like the Parthenon and The Temple of Olympian Zeus. Athens still serves as a bustling metropolis and is
Known for its culture, arts, media, entertainment, commerce, and finance.

Varanasi, India

Dating all the way back to 11th century BC, Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world. It is located in
the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on the River Ganges, and many come to its banks to perform funeral rites,
as it is believed those who die here will be granted eternal life.

Varanasi is also home to many temples, making it one of Hinduism’s seven holy cities. One of its most notorious
sites is the Golden Temple, which honors the Hindu god Shiva.

Nowadays the bustling Varanasi is as vibrant and colorful as ever. Visit to experience the moving rites of life and
death taking place at the riverbank, and get lost in one of the city’s many ancient labyrinthine passageways.
Prague, Czech Republic
One of the most historically preserved cities in Europe, Prague offers a perspective of life in the middle ages.

Some famous figures from Prague include the artist Alphonse Mucha (although born in Ivančice), and author

Franz Kafka. Mozart was also a frequent visitor here.

The Bohemian city is rich in folklore; it was home to a historically large Jewish community, and had a significant
monastic presence. In Prague you can also find the oldest functioning astronomical clock, the Prague Castle, and
the tavern where Pilsner beer was first produced.

It was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and more recently, a member of the Soviet Bloc. Since the Czech
Republic gained its independence, Prague has become an increasingly chic city with a multicultural presence,
great commercial centers, and acclaimed eateries.

Beijing, China
Beijing is officially more than 3000 years old, but it has played a role in Chinese history for as long as eight
millennia, as it is one of the four ancient capitals of China. Specifically, Beijing was the home base of the
notorious Ming and Qing Dynasties, as well as the capital under Chairman Mao during the Chinese Communist
Revolution. The city is ripe for exploring all that they left behind.
There is the famed Forbidden City, which was the astounding imperial palace under the Qing Dynasty. There are
also many exquisite Chinese Temples, and you can walk a good portion of the Great Wall. Beijing bears an
expansive history of one of the greatest and most fascinating human civilizations, and it has since become highly
modernized.

Berlin, Germany
Berlin is known to strike the perfect balance between poor and sexy. Yet, its story is one that requires some
reading between the lines, as you explore the city at present. Berlin’s history is something you feel more than
you see, as you get lost in its hip, nonchalant mood, and suddenly find yourself getting goose bumps as you
recall everything that’s happened here.

Berlin was the capital of Nazi Germany. and it was infamously divided down the middle during the Cold War.
Before this, it was graced by the likes of Marx, Einstein, and many other great thinkers. Its very essence was
born out of this history as its inhabitants developed the counterculture and nightlife, which makes it so famous
today, in response to its rich (albeit sometimes tumultuous) past.
I STANBUL , T URKEY
Istanbul is the crown jewel in an important thread of history. When it was known as Constantinople, it was
the capital of the Byzantine Empire following the fall of Rome, and it was a significant stop in the Silk Roads.
In fact, due to its central location between the East and the West, most classical civilizations played some part in
shaping it. Istanbul was also an Ottoman capital until it was dissolved after World War I.

Reminders of each element of its rich history can be witnessed throughout the city, because much of it is
marvelously preserved. A great example is the Hagia Sophia, which was a massive church under the Byzantine
Empire that was converted into a mosque during the Ottoman rule .

Carthage, Tunisia
It is believed that the Phoenician Queen Dido founded Carthage around 900 BC. The Romans ultimately brought
the Carthaginian Empire to ruin as a result of the Punic Wars. Because of its central location, however, they
realized that is was a necessary strategic location in their empire. Under Julius Caesar, the city was revived and
ultimately flourished as a colony. Unfortunately, Carthage’s plight as a foreign conquest did not end there. The
Vandals, Muslim Conquerors, and the Byzantines all had their hand in Carthage’s history. Many ruins were left
behind including Roman villas, the ancient Antoine Baths, the Sanctuary of Tophet, and the Punic Port that still
harbors remarkable views of the sea.
Boston, USA
Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States. Historically, it is home to America’s intellectual elite.
In fact, the nation’s first university, Harvard, was founded here. Today it is still the city with the most colleges
in the country.

In a political sense, Boston was a significant site for the American Revolution, making it the backdrop to many
events that have altered the course of history. The city has maintained much of its historic urban layout. The
city’s New England-style architecture and cobblestoned streets still pay homage to those times. Boston has
become much more than its past, as it has become an innovative and modern city with a dynamic culture .

R OLE OF I NTERNATIONAL A IRLINES IN THE T OURISM I NDUSTRY

 The role of international airlines in the total tourism business is to provide mass and quick transportation between countries
under safe, standardized and economical conditions. Its relationship to the tourism industry is better understood by breaking
down the entire activity of tourism into its component parts.

Purpose of travel 
 Because of quick and efficient transportation, people are spurred to travel for various reasons as destinations have
become more accessible. Some of these reasons to travel are:
1. Sightseeing- historical, cultural, social and technological sights.
2. Relaxati on- beach and mountain resorts.
3. Sports- mountain climbing, skiing, surfi ng, scuba diving etc…
4. Special interest- Study tours on art, history, religion, culture and science.
5. Shopping-personal and professional.
6. Business.
7. Governmental- political, cultural, social and scientific reasons. The travel industry requires an efficient infrastructure which
put together constitutes the tourism industry which is the world’s second largest industry. The infrastructure is thus:

Transportation :
Airlines (domestic and international); surface transportation such as shipping, rail, tour busses, rented cars,
taxis, caravans, river transportation, etc.
 Accommodation : Hotels of various categories* ranging from five star to modest unclassified hotels to meet all pockets.
 Motels which are modern ‘inns’ are situated on highways and provide garage facilities to keep transport safely.

Travel Agents : They put all the elements of the infrastructure together into one package.
Communications : Accessibility to destinations of interest by rail, road or air. Telecommunication systems to facilitate
quick reservations, etc.
Other Services : 
Simple and quick formalities for entry into the country. Efficient baggage handling at airports, etc. The role of airlines seems
clearly defined as restricted to air transportation. However, in reality it is more complex as we shall see later. Let us first
have look at the dynamics of international airlines operations.

Freedom of the Air  : Each country has a point of prestige its national carrier. To name a few, they are: Air India Of India,
Lufthansa Of West Germany, British Airways Of Britain, Air France Of France, Pan Am Of USA, Saudi of Saudi Arabia, etc.
In order that these national carriers can fly to or over other countries to reach their destinations, Government negotiates
with each other to grant certain “freedoms”. There are basically six freedoms of the air:

1.The right t o o v e r fl y .
2.The right to make technical landing.
3.The right to carry from one’s own territory to another.
4.The right to carry from another territory to one’s own.
5.The right to carry between two territories.
6.The right to carry between two territories over one’s own.
W HY HAVE AN A IRLINE ?
Governments have indulged themselves by running a national carrier irrespective of whether it is profitable or not. The reasons
for this are many:
1.Each government sees the potential of world tourism and wishes to take a slice of its revenue.
2.Having a nati onal carrier is a source of price to each country.
3.Some times due to political reasons government run airlines even though unprofitable. For example, ex-colonial powers may
like to keep air links with former territories. The Moscow-Havana air link is one of the longest non-stop flights and is an example
of an unprofitable route perpetuated for political reasons.
4. Airlines generate foreign exchange.
5. Airlines generate natural tourism growth.

F ARES : 
Air fares are subjected to increasingly competitive conditions. For example, the world oil crisis has hit the airlines industry the
maximum and many airlines have been liquidated or have had to cut down operations by reducing manpower and unprofitable
routes. Together with recent world inflation and unemployment travel which came out of disposable income has become a luxury
for a few. To meet such fluctuating world trends airlines have modulated their fares and devised novel methods of tariffs to meet
the travel need of various segments. They have thus come up with:

1.First class fares- for exclusive passengers.

2.Economy fares- for the common passenger.
3.Excursion fares- for students and emigrants. All fares used by airlines come under two categories:

1.IATA fares.
2.Government directed fares.

IATA
stands for the International Air Transport Association which is an association of airlines that controls airline tickets and how
they should be sold (through IATA agents). With the growing complexity of the fares structure each pricing proposal is
considered in the greatest detail.
G OVERNMENT D IRECTED F ARES
are as a result of negotiations between two countries. Thus, these fares are unique to the carriers of the nations concerned
and cover excursion fares, group fares, etc. Fares have a relation to volume and capacity. Technology brought the wide-bodied
aircraft which increased capacity overnight to almost double per aircraft. While on an average 35% of airline carriage was on
account of business travel, this segment alone could not be relied on totally to fill additional capacities. Thus, the holiday market
had to be tapped and fares reduced to stimulate demand. An increased volume was thus created. We thus have a consumer
mix of business, holiday and student passengers. A peculiar aspect of consumer mix is that product is essentially the
same but the conditions of sale are different. Conditions of sale are governed by:

1.Length of stay permissible at desti nati on.

2.The number of stopovers permitt ed en-route.
3.The strict boundaries of market segments to which fares are offered.
4.Weekend travel on full fares.
5.Rules on refunds.
6.Rules that group must travel together.
7.Rules on services off ered on a fare. A revolutionary concept in air travel was initiated by Freddie Laker offered low
air bus fares as a result cutting down on comforts and services.

Charters :

 Charters had their genesis when obsolescent aircraft were phased out and used or specific movement of people and cargo at
a profit. This activity has become more widespread and has spurred major airlines to have their own charter subsidiary. There
are basically three types of charters:1.Ad-hoc- where an organizer takes an aircraft to move a larger number of  people
between two points at well below scheduled fares. This is normally a “one-off’ event.2.Series—is the mainstay for charter airlines 
and the tourism industry. Hotels recognize the importance of series charters as a source of regular business. An organizer may
have a series of holidaymakers, during season, flying by economical charters.3.Time charters- are becoming rare now. 
Basically, an individual or company leases out an aircraft for a fixed period of time at an agreed cost.

N EW BUSINESS:
 With the crushing oil prices, profitability in the airline business had to be sustained and augmented. This was done through growth
in allied businesses that contributed to the fabric of tourism.
1.Sale of technology- selling of software s; fees earned through cargo handling aircraft engineering and maintenance services.
2.Sale of services- customer service on board the aircraft; flight kitchens; and general sales agencies. In the early sixties many
airlines asked themselves “what business are we really in?” The answer was “We are a total service industry, for growth lies in
providing a total package of service”. From here, it was a short step to the next move- getting into tourism in a big way by entering into:

H OTEL   BUSINESS : The entry into hotel was linked with:

1.A shor tage of hotel beds in selected desti nati ons.

2.Creating demand for destinations by assuring hotel accommodation.
3.Building conven ti on/conference centers .
4.High return on investment.

Examples of airline hotels are the Meridian Chain Of Air France, Intercontinental Chain of Pan Am, Centaur of air India, etc. 
Although hotels operate as independent profit centers, they are viewed essentially as the airlines total activity and as a means of
stimulating passenger movement. Another short step took airlines into the business of tour operations and packaging. The
infrastructure for such activity was readily available. Market research to determine airline business was already available to
ascertain what the consumer wanted. Packaging tours was thus easy. 

T OUR   OPERATIONS :
Types of packaged tours offered by airlines are:

1 .Destination - where the ultimate destination is the unique selling point.

2. Stopover packages- where a passenger has the benefit o stopping at other destinations lying en-route the ultimate destination.
3. Special interest packages- sport, historical, etc
4 .Brand name packages to destinations of known tourist attractions, e.g. Jet Tours, etc. These packages guarantee value for
money, backed by airlines name and reputation for maintenance of standards.
INTERNATIONAL TIMINGS :

T IME Z ONE
W HAT IS A TIME ZONE ?

A time zone is a geographical area in which clocks are synchronized to show a uniform time, known as a ‘standard time’.

Due to the size of some countries and the location of places that come under their jurisdiction, one country can be divided into a

number of time zones. France, for example, covers twelve time zones.

W HY DO WE HAVE TIME ZONES ?

Using time zones makes it easier for us to organize everything from commercial operations to travel. People living within the same

time zone know that they will be working to the same times, whilst someone in one time zone can work out the time in another time

zone by doing a simple calculation.

T HE HISTORY OF TIME ZONES

Time has traditionally been measured according to the position of the sun in the sky, but this is different depending on where you are

in the world. In the nineteenth century, when mechanical clocks began to become popular, time was calculated locally but, as time

calculations based on the sun’s position can vary by four minutes for each degree of longitude, a better system became required so that

railways and new telecommunications systems could operate efficiently.

In 1847, British railway companies began to standardize the time that they were using by equipping staff with portable chronometers,

resulting in what became known as ‘Railway Time’. However, in 1855, the Royal Greenwich Observatory began to transmit time

signals and in 1880, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) became the country’s official standard time.
 Other countries established their own standard times and, in the late 1880s, the International Meridian Conference proposed a

standardized 24-hour day beginning at midnight GMT. Eventually the rest of the world began to use this system, creating the time

zones we know today.

UTC (U NIVERSAL T IME C OORDINATED )

UTC, also known as Universal Coordinated Time or Coordinated Universal Time, replaced Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as the

time calculation by which all time zones calculate their times in 1961. It’s based on International Atomic Time (TAI), a high-precision

time calculation which is arrived at by taking an average time from more than 200 atomic clocks located around the world, although

UTC is slightly behind International Atomic Time.

The word’s time zones are usually shown as either as a positive offset from UTC (i.e. ‘+’ a specified number of hours UTC, meaning

ahead of UTC) or a negative offset (i.e. ‘-’ a specified number of hours UTC, meaning behind UTC).

DST (D AYLIGHT S AVING T IME )

Daylight Saving Time is used by many countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Holland, Spain and France, and in

most American States during the summer, so that it is lighter for longer during the evenings and darker for longer in the mornings.

Clocks in regions that use Daylight Saving Time are typically moved forward by one hour at the beginning of the spring and moved

back again by an hour again in autumn.

The system, the idea for which is usually attributed to George Vernon Hudson, an English-born astronomer and entomologist, was

first introduced in Germany during World War I, partly in order to try to save coal by reducing the need for lighting in the evenings.

Other countries, including the UK, soon followed suit.

S TANDARD T IME

Standard time is the name used for the uniform time obtained by synchronizing the clocks within a time zone. In the UK, standard

time was introduced in the mid-nineteenth century, when clocks began to be set according to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), the time

shown on the clock on the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.

Standard times in other time zones around the world were shown as offsets from GMT until 1961 when Coordinated Universal

Time (UTC) was introduced.

When countries use Daylight Savings Time in summer, the standard time is usually shown without taking this into account.

T IME D IFFERENCE

Time differences between different time zones are simple to work out as a result of Universal Time Coordinated (UTC). As

standard times are shown as positive or negative offsets of UTC, time differences are calculated by establishing UTC, and

calculating the times in each zone from there. Differences to standard times as a result of Daylight Savings Time also need to

be taken into account, if applicable.

The simplest way to discover the time in another part of the world is to consult this website. It will help you to establish which

cities are in which time zones and tell you the standard times within each time zone. It will also perform time difference calculations

for you.