UNIT 2HOSPITALITY & LODGING INDUSTRY

DEFINING THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

The word ‘Hospitality’ means a friendly treatment, which is offered to a stranger. The concept of Hospitality has diversified to a huge extent after the process of globalization, which has taken place in most of the countries of Earth.Hospitality Industry can be classified into main two segments:1. LODGING INDUSTRY: that includes hotels, casinos, resorts, parks,

hostels and other types of accommodation.2. FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY: that includes restaurants, fast food

counters, bars, coffee shops and so on.

DEFINING THE LODGING INDUSTRY: The lodging industry can be defined as a dimension of the hospitality industry; which strives on the vision and mission of providing accommodation services to the bonafide travelers.

The lodging industry is further classified into the:(a) The organized hotel industry(b) The unorganized supplementary Accommodation Industry(c) The semi organized Intermediate Accommodation Industry

THE LODGING INDUSTRY & ITS DIMENSIONS

LODGING INDUSTRY

Organized Hotel Supplementary Intermediate Acc.Industry Acc. Industry Industry

Airport Hotels Youth Hostels Eurotels Motels Circuit Houses Apart Hotels Business Hotels Dak Bungalows Villas Resorts Retiring Rooms

Mountain Cabins Suburban Hotels Dermatomes Sanitaria Conference Centers Holiday Camps Hospitals Boutique Hotels Tourist Bungalows Convention Hotels Private Households

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LODGING INDUSTRY

INTERNATIONAL

The lodging industry is perhaps the oldest commercial industry of the World and is a fast growing industry with a lot of career opportunities.The establishment of money during the sixth century B.C. gave the opportunity to the people of trade and travel. Thus the origin of hotel can be traced back to the sixth century B.C. which was in the forms of inns which were the first type of hotels to cater to the lodging requirements of the travelers. These inns were managed by the husband and wife team who provided the travelers with overnight accommodation. They also provided food and wines and some other types of facilities.

The beginning of Industrial revolution in Europe introduced the new ideas in the business of inn-keeping as traveling become more frequent after the development of

other means of transportation such as railways and ships. The industrial revolution also led the opportunities for people to involve themselves into the business in which they have to travel from one place to another, thus increasing the demand of place where they can get shelter or we can say home away from home.

In England, in earlier days the lodging industry was divided mainly into two parts. Firstly was “Inns” which were constructed for the noble and elite guests and second were called “Taverns” which were constructed to suffice the needs of common people.

In French, similarly “Hoteliers” were constructed to cater to the needs of rich and wealthy people and “Cabarets” were for the common people.

Similarly, other native form of hostelry also become popular in other parts of the World such as “Riokan” in Japan, “Pardons” in Spain and “Posada” in Portugal.

England was the first country to use the term “Hotel” to these commercial lodging establishments in the year 1760 A.D. In U.S.A., the lodging establishments were called “Inns” or “Coffee Houses”.

U.S.A. was the first country where the real growth of hotels took place, when the first building for hotel purpose was built in the year 1794 called the “CITY HOTEL” in New York. This was followed by an era of competition in the field of the hotel industry as many beautiful hotels were constructed at this time.

The concept of the operation of the chain hotel was introduced in the field of the hotel industry with the beginning of the first commercial hotel by Ellsworth Statler in 1908 A.D. called “The Buffalo Statler”.

In the year 1930, there was a great Economic Depression in United States and Europe which sank the business of the hotel industry into all time low. After that there was a speedy recovery to that during and after the Second World War

IMPORTANT LANDMARKS IN THE HISTORY OF THE HOTEL INDUSTRY

1794 A.D.: The first commercial building for the hotel purpose called the “CITY HOTEL” was constructed in New York, U.S.A.

1829 A.D.: The “Tremont House”, “1st First Class Hotel” was constructed in Boston, U.S.A.

1875 A.D.: The most expensive hotel of its day called “The Palace” was built in San Francisco

1908 A.D.: Mr. Ellsworth Statler started the first commercial chain of hotels called “The Buffalo chain of Hotels”

1915 A.D.: The international chains of hotels were started. 1930: The economic depression led to the decline of the hotel

industry. 1939 – 1945:There was an increase in the number of hotels during World

War II

HISTORY & DEVELOPMENT OF LODGING INDUSTRY IN INDIA

In India, the concept of shelter for travelers is not new. In fact it is as old as its recorded history. The historical records and books mention the words like “Dharamshalas”, “Viharas”, Sarais” & “Musafirkhanas”. These establishments provided a home to all the tourists whether they are pilgrims, scholars, adventurers or merchants.

The shelter under various names has always been a part of Indian culture as a valuable institution, providing a vital service.

The ancient Buddhist Monks were probably the first to institutionalize the concept of a shelter in India. The cave temples scattered all over the South Western region of India have both a “Chaitya” (Sanctuary) for worship and prayers and “Viharas” (Monastery). These monks, although living in their quit retreats away from towns and villages, were nevertheless mindful of the needs of travelers and pilgrims who found shelter and food at these monasteries. It is interesting to note that these monasteries were located on the ancient trade routes between important centers of pilgrimage of the region. It is gathered from some inscriptions that merchants gave liberal donations for the construction and maintenance of these establishments. Mere charity was obviously not the motivation in these displays of generosity. The traders traveled with their merchandise and money on these routes and the “Viharas” were their “Hotels”.

In the medieval period this ancient institution gradually assumed a more secular character. Although religious centers invariably had “Dharamshalas” and “Musafirkhanas” attached to them, the caravan “Sarais” appeared as an exclusive travelers lodge with a nanhai (Cook) attached with it. Sher Shah Suri, the great Afghan emperor, the builder of the Grand trunk Road, is credited with having built “Caravas” “Sarais” at regular intervals all along this highway creating favorable conditions for commerce and travel. However, he was not alone in this venture. The Mughals built such facilities all over their empire. Later on Kings, Rajas, Nawabs and other rich businessmen built Sarais making traveling less difficult.

At apx the same point of time, the Inns were the western Counterpart of India’s Sarais. With the expansion of the commerce, traveling became profitable and with it enverged the business of providing comfortable shelter and good food to the growing number of travelers. The Sarais in India, like Inns in Europe or the stage coach stations in the U.S.A. of the 18th & 19th centuries, stood all along the well traveled routes. They provided food and shelter to the travelers and fodder to their horses. The amenities these early hotels offered would seem to us to be primitive but they confirmed to the life style at that age. However, with the passage of time, the age old institution of the Sarais adapted itself to the changing and modern World. Very soon in early 20th century hotels were also built in India like Oberoi Maidens of New Delhi & Taj Mahal Hotel of Bombay etc.

DEFINING THE TERM HOTEL

A hotel can be defined as the establishment whose primary purpose is to provide accommodation services to a bonafide traveler and other services such as food and beverage services, house keeping services, laundry services and uniformed services etc.

In other words a hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging, usually on a short term basis. Hotels often provide a number of additional guest services such as Restaurant, Conference Services, Swimming Pool, and Meeting Halls etc.In Australia, a hotel may also be an establishment that serves alcoholic drinks and meals in a casual setting but which does not necessarily provide accommodation.

This type of establishment would more usually be called a PUB or BAR in other countries. In general use, in Australia, the term hotel & pub are usually taken to be the synonyms of hotel which is not the case in rest of the World.

In a Layman’s language hotel can also be referred as “Home away from Home”

Hotel or Inn is defined by a British law as a “place where a bonafide traveler” can receive food and shelter, provided he is in a position to pay for it and is in a fit condition to be received.

ORIGIN OF HOTEL INDUSTRY

The hotel industry is perhaps the oldest endeavors in the World. The first inns go back to the 6th century B.C. and were the products of the urge to travel, spurred by the invention of wheels. The earlier inns were ventures by husband and wives who provided large halls for travelers to make their own beds and sleep on the floor.

UNIT 3CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS

Hotels can mainly be divided into various categories on the several important features.

The main categories are:-

1. LOCATION: Any hotel can be named in the category depending upon its location.The main sub-categories of the hotels which falls under the category of locations are:

(a) DOWNTOWN HOTEL: Its features are:

(i) Located in the centre of city at the hub of the business centre and also at the same time near to the shopping areas and public buildings.

(ii) Provides services like business centre, board room, conference halls etc which would serve to the best of the needs of the business traveler.

(iii) Rates of these hotels are on a higher side.(iv) Business clientele.

(b) SUB-URBAN HOTELS: Its features are:

(i) Situated at the suburbs therefore is quieter and not very over-congested.

(ii) Basic needs are provided to the guests like only one restaurant and not the other facilities like swimming pool, health club etc.

(iii) Rates are lower.(iv) Budget clientele, ideal for conferences and seminars because its

quieter nature.

(c) RESORT HOTEL: Its features are:

(i) Located on the hills or at beaches.(ii) Facilities provided are like sight seeing, mountaineering etc.(iii) Rates are seasonal(iv) Clientele is vocational and pleasure travelers.

(d) AIRPORT HOTELS: Its features are:

(i) Situated near Airport.

(ii) Length of stay would be very short as the guest would normally be transit guests waiting for the next flight.

(iii) Normally on European plan.

(e) MOTEL: Its features are:

(i) Motel means Motor + Hotel. Situated at highways.(ii) Good parking facilities.(iii) Length of stay is overnight, generally on continental plan.

(f) INN: Its features are:

(i) Located in our outside city.(ii) Basic facilities, more stress on lodging and not on food & beverage

service.(iii) Rates are moderate.

2. SIZE: The capacity of a hotel in terms of number of rooms is the main criteria of this category.Sub-categories are:

(a) Small Hotels: 25 rooms and less(b) Medium: 25 – 100 rooms(c) Large: 101 – 300 rooms(d) Very large: more than 300 rooms

3. LENGTH OF STAY: This is a category of hotels in which they are mainly classified or named on the basis of the duration of the stay of the guests:Sub-categories are:

(a) TRANSIENT HOTELS: Where guest stay maximum for one day(b) RESIDENTIAL HOTELS: Where guest stay for long time, may be for 7 days or more.(c) SEMI-RESIDENTIAL HOTELS: Staying for 3 – 4 days.

4. CLASSIFICATION OF HOTEL ON THE BASIS OF SERVICE LEVELS: Hotels can also be classified on the basis of the standards of services it

is offering to the guests. The sub-categories in this are:(a) WORLD CLASS SERVICE: Luxury hotels providing high class restaurants,

lounges, exquisite décor, conference halls and board rooms lays in the category of World class hotels. In these hotels, great importance is given to the amenities provided in the rooms such as toiletries, magazines, personalized guest stationary and other things similar to that. The clientele of these types of hotels are top business executives, celebrities, politicians and strikingly rich guests.

(b) MID RANGE SERVICE: These types of hotels provide the service which cannot be very highly ranked, but at the same time all the basic services are also provided like a coffee shop, 24 hrs room service, housekeeping etc. Clientele of these hotels are families, groups and travelers of middle or upper middle class.

(c) ECONOMY / LIMITED SERVICE: Hotels which provide the basic needs of food and shelter comes into the category of economy or limited service hotels. They might not provide an exclusive business center, a conference hall or health club facilities which are provided in the other category hotels, but at the same time it will be offering clean room and hygienic food. Clientele of economy service hotels are families, groups and travelers belonging to middle class and lower middle class.

5. CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS ON THE BASIS OF OWNERSHIP OF AFFILIATION:

Another very important criterion on which hotels can be classified is the ownership of affiliation. In this hotels are classified into two important segments:

(a) INDEPENDENT HOTELS: These hotels have no ownership of affiliation. They are stand alone hotels owned by one person or group of persons following their own rules and policies in the hotels. There is no compulsion on these hotels to provide any particular services and amenities to the guests or to follow any particular standards. These type of hotels may be equivalent to the world class hotels and provide all the comforts and amenities to the guests or they can be as low and modest as economy class hotels. All the policies, rules and regulations of these types of hotels is solely on the discretion of the owning company and is not bounded by any chain of hotels or group of hotels.

(b) CHAIN HOTELS OR GROUP HOTELS: These hotels are the parts of any particular group or chain. This chain of hotels can be in one country or it can also be distributed among various countries. Whatever may be the case, any hotel which is a part of chain or group of hotels have to follow the strict guidelines and parameters which is decided by the parent company hotels. Example of such chain of hotels in India are: Park group of Hotels (or Aay Pee Jay group), Jay Pee Group, Park Plaza group, ITC group, Fortune group of hotels, Country Inns & suites etc. Examples of chain of hotels internationally are: Taj group of hotels, Oberoi group of hotels, Hilton group of hotels, Sheratons etc.

MANAGEMENT CONTRACT

Management contract is an agreement or mutual contract between a property (hotel) owner with the management company in which the owner hires or invites the management company to operate his hotel on a long term basis on the basis of profit sharing. Under this agreement, the rights and responsibilities of each party are clearly discussed and legally formulated.

Method of calculating the percentage of profit to the management company can be either calculated on the basis of fixed percentage from the profit or it can be on the percentage of total revenue. All the expenses of building of the hotel and other capital expenditure is paid by the owner, whereas the management pays the operating expenses (day to day expense) like food cost, material cost, salary & wages cost etc. All the standards, human resource policies, rules and other important aspects of the hotel lie in the hands of Management Company.

BENEFIT TO THE OWNER

1. PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT: Since the hotel is managed and operated by a management company, the chances of the hotel to be successful is very high as the management company is professional enough to run the hotel successfully.

2. BORROWING CAPITAL: The owner has an advantage in the case of management contract as the owner can easily get the loans from banks and other financial institutions as the management company has already made its name and reputation in the market.

3. COST TO THE OWNER:

(a) Payment of management fees: the fee which has been negotiated between the owner and the management company has to be paid by the owner from his pocket.(b) Required facilities and standards: Management company has its own standards and specifications etc. and to follow that standards, the owner has to spend huge capital and money from his pocket.

BENEFIT TO THE MANAGEMENT COMPANY

1. CHEAP EXPANSION AND FAME: Since the management company is only spending on the operating cost, therefore the capital spends is low as compared to the fame it is getting in the market and subsequently the expansion and increase of the different projects they will be getting.

2. MINIMUM RISK AND HIGH PROFIT: Since all the major expenses are beared by the owner therefore the management company has the least risk of capital loss and the chances of profit therefore are quite high.

3. COST TO THE MANAGEMENT COMPANY:(a) Spending money in the operating costs like reservation software, advertising and other promotional activities.(b) Spending capital on paying the salary to the managers and executives in different departments such as F&B, Front Office etc.

FRANCHISE CONTRACT / FRANCHISE AGREEMENT

Franchise agreement is an agreement under which the hotel owner use the name, trademarks and various services offered by the company and in return pays the negotiable fees to the hotel company. In this the hotel company which has already developed a name in the market and also has set up the standards and policies of operating and running the hotel offers all these to the hotel owner.

BENEFIT TO THE FRANCHISE (OWNER)

1. RECOGNITION, NAME & REPUTATION TO THE OWNER: As the hotel company already has the name in the market, since it is present in the industry long enough to make for itself the name, fame & reputation, therefore, the owner by signing an agreement with the company also gets the same name and hence the same kind of recognition and image in the market.

2. RESERVATION SERVICES: Since the hotel company has other hotels in the market, therefore, the guest can make reservations from any hotel for any particular destination. There is a system which is already in the practice and therefore the owner of the hotel would also get the same kind of reservation services.

3. ADVERTISEMENT AND SALES: By signing an agreement with the hotel company, the new hotel of the owner gets free advertisement for himself and his hotel and the cost of it is bared by the hotel company.

4. MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE: The hotel company has the parent management company, which assists and set the guidelines for the policy and procedures for the new hotel of the owner or franchise.

5. MAINTAINING A CONSISTANT PRODUCT & LEVELS OF SERVICES:The hotel company has several other hotels in the country or outside and the consistency is always maintain in the products it offers or the service it provides, therefore, the hotel owner also gets the same consistency and levels of service.

COST TO THE FRANCHISE / OWNER:

1. MAINTENANCE COST OF THE FACILITIES: Since the hotel owner has to provide the consistent level of facilities and services in the hotel, therefore, he has to bear the cost involved to offer that facilities and services.

2. MEMBERSHIP FEE: The owner or the franchise has to pay the negotiated amount mutually discussed earlier with the hotel company.

BENEFIT TO THE FRANCHISOR / HOTEL COMPANY:

1. INEXPENSIVE METHOD OF EXPANSION: As the franchiser or the hotel company is offering its name and levels of services to the new hotel of the owner, therefore, the name and the brand of the franchiser is expanded at almost least of cost involved.

COST TO THE FRANCHISOR

1. BEAR THE COST OF SERVICES: Franchiser has to bear the cost of services it is offering such as reservation, advertising and sales etc.

2. QUALITY CONTROL: The franchiser or the hotel company has to take several steps to maintain quality and standards in the hotel and which needs capital investment which has to be bared by the franchiser.

REFERRAL ORGANIZATION / AGREEMENT / HOTELS

Referral hotels or the referral agreement is the mutual agreement between the individual owner of the hotel with the chain of hotels.

In the above agreement, the chain of hotels gives its name to the hotel of the owner at NO PROFIT NO LOSS BASIS. In return the chain hotel makes the regular inspections and audits to the owners’ hotel, failing to which the contract between the chain hotel and the individual hotel gets breached and the chain hotel takes away its name which was attached to the owner hotel.

Great such example of the referral hotel is the leading hotel of ITC group “Maurya Sheraton Hotel”. In this hotel, the Maurya belongs to ITC group (or the individual owner) and it is attached to the Sheraton Group Worldwide on the basis of referral agreement and on NO PROFIT NO LOSS BASIS. Sheraton group keeps on making audit and inspection to the Maurya hotel and see to it that the standards and quality of the hotel is not desecrating.

ALTERNATE LODGING FACILITIES

Alternate lodging facilities or places are the places of accommodation other than the mainstream organized hotel industry.It can be divided into two main parts:

1. SUPPLEMENTARY LODGING ACCOMMODATION: Supplementary lodging accommodation includes all the establishments of the unorganized sector of the accommodation industry which do not provide elaborate services that are provided by the organized hotel industry, but these establishments

provides the basic services of accommodation and may or may not provide food services and other services.Classifying the supplementary accommodation:(a) YOUTH HOSTELS: These are the accommodation establishments managed by non-commercial organizations whose aim is the development of youth tourism. Youth hostels provide clean and cheap accommodation to the young people who are in the city either in groups or as free individual travelers.Young men Christian Association (YMCA) & Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) runs the chain of youth hostels around the whole world.(b) CARAVAN COMPANY SITES: These hospitality establishments are also called company grounds or tourist camps or open-air hostels. The concept of caravan company sites initiated in the Federal Republic of Germany in the first half of the 20th century.(c) CIRCUIT HOUSES: Circuit houses are the types of accommodation or bungalows, which are built to cater to high ranked govt. officials. The services provided are of high class as the circuit houses are accompanied with a skilled cook and an attendant.(d) DAK BUNGALOWS: These types of tourist accommodation are also for the high ranked govt. officials, which are on tour on official basis. (e) DORMITORIES: Dormitories is the common accommodation, which is provided to more then one tourist. It comprise of a long hall in which numbers of single beds are placed for tourist which are normally the students or low class travelers who can’t spend much of money on accommodation. The bathrooms and toilets are common for all the tourists in the dormitories.(f) RAILWAY RETIRING ROOM: These rooms are the kind of waiting rooms for the passengers of the railways having their confirmed railway ticket of journey but are waiting for their train either because of the train delay in time or the connected train they have to catch.(g) TRAVELERS LODGE: There are modest hospitality establishments situated in the places of tourist interest. The rooms of the travelers lodge are moderately furnished and are generally self sufficient establishment which provide rooms with attached bathroom, dining rooms, laundry services etc.(h) HOLIDAY CAMPS: These camps are situated outside the cities and have the same objectives as those of company grounds. These camps have a permanent building with the facilities of entertainment and recreation in addition to the holiday accommodation.(i) PRIVATE HOUSE HOTEL (PAYING GUEST): Many people owing houses provides accommodation and also sometimes food to the tourist in return of money, these types of accommodation are called as Private accommodations or private house.(j) HOLIDAY AND CONFERENCE CENTERS:The holiday and conference centers are open to the general public groups. These holiday and conference centers do provide substantial facilities to the guests and travelers but these facilities need not be available for block arrangements.(k) BREAKFAST ESTABLISHMENTS (BED & B’FAST ESTABLISHMENTS): These establishments are very popular in USA and provide overnight accommodation and food to the travelers and the passersby and are generally located in towns and cities.(l) BOARDING HOUSES (GUEST HOUSES): These are the accommodation establishments which provide meals at the regular intervals and generally caters to the travelers and students.(m) TOURIST BUNGALOWS: These are the small establishment with not more than 15 rooms. These are basically situated in the tourist place like beaches, hill station etc. This type of accommodation is generally preferred by the tourist which don’t have heavy pockets and cannot afford to stay in normal hotels / resorts.

(n) FOREST LODGE: As the name suggest, these types of supplementary accommodation are situated in the forest or the wild life sanctuaries. These lodges are built for the tourist who has come to visit the forest; emphasis is laid on the fact that these lodges should not disturb the natural habitats of the animals in the sanctuaries.

2. INTERMEDIATE ACCOMMODATION: Intermediate accommodation includes all the establishments of the semi-organized sector of the accommodation industry which do provide accommodation, food and beverage services and some other services but not as elaborate as the services that are provided by the organized hotel industry.Intermediate accommodation is classified into the following categories:

(a) EUROTEL: These are the kind of apartmental houses built by more than one owner. This type of accommodation establishment is very famous in USA and Europe. The basic feature of Eurotel is that the co-owners of these apartments can exchange or in other words use another apartment by the mutual agreement. These establishments are designed in such a way that the occupants are provided with all the facilities of a leading hotel nature.(b) APART HOTEL: These Apart hotels have been derived from the word “Apartment”. In such case of accommodation, the owner owns a particular apartment or the group of apartments and sells or on hire gives that to the hotel management company. An owner himself as a guest is liable to get all the facilities by the hotel management company. During his absence, the hotel management company is allowed to rent the units to other guests. The origin of Apart Hotel is from Spain in the year 1970.(c) VILLAS, CHALET, and BUNGALOWS: “Villa” is an Italian concept, which is a large country residence with an estate around it or near to it.“Chalet” is a Swiss concept, which means the farmers’ residences, which are generally wooden cottages with over hanging roofs. The Chalets are generally smaller in size as compared to Villas.

These types of accommodation have now become holiday homes where the guests hire accommodation and other facilities required during their stay. Some of them are even open to the people for sale.

(d) CABINS IN MOUNTAINS AND ALPINE CLUBS: As the name suggests these types of accommodation establishments are situated at the mountains and hills to cater to the needs of the tourist who have come here for mountaineering and other winter sports such as skiing.

(e) SANITARIA: These are the intermediate accommodation establishments built and equipped for persons requiring rest during medical treatment.

(f) HOSPICES: A free accommodation to cater to the religious travelers like Dharamshalas in India.

TARGET MARKET OR SALES & MARKETING IN HOTELS

Hotel marketing is no different from product marketing except that a hotel room is very “perishable commodity” and cannot be held back. A successful marketing manager has, therefore to keep this factor in mind while planning his strategy. He may take a clue from product marketing and work on similar lines:

(a) Research & Analysis: This includes an independent study of what the competition is doing.

(b) Establish unique selling propositions (USP) Consumer oriented propositions to fulfill needs of the customers.

(c) Determine objectives and strategies.(d) Advertise promise, which is genuine and credible and in which a consumer

can easily discuss his own benefit.(e) Keep the promises simple.(f) Continuous market research and monitoring of the progress.

The above plan of action is applicable to all hotels, big or small. Although potential markets of the hotel are world wide, yet a hotel manager cannot afford to ignore his own backyard. If he concentrates his efforts on close-at-hand markets half the efforts in terms of investment and follow-ups may double the business.

A hotel manager should look at the following potential prospects for prime sources of business in his own country:

1. An assortment of prosperous industries and their sales offices.2. Major commercial companies.3. Government corporations.4. Travel Agents, both foreign and local5. Airlines.6. Sports Clubs7. Universities.8. Chambers of Commerce

A successful marketing manager develops long lasting contacts such as:

(a) Secretaries and Women’s executive clubs could eat in the hotel at discounted rates.

(b) Secretaries to senior executives could come and eat in the hotel with their families.

(c) Offering attractive honeymoon packages in an interesting idea.(d) Organization of seminars or workshops for continuing education with the help

of local or foreign universities is a good way to develop new traffic.

There are some ways of making attractive marketing and thus a long lasting contract.

It is essential for the marketing manager to be acquainted with the local press crops for effective public relations. An occasional press briefing on VIP visits or on special functions in the hotel brings windfall publicity.

Consumer needs are the corner stone of the marketing analysis. A hotel manager must learn to view his activities from consumers’ prospective. He can thus respond with action, which is consumer oriented rather than management oriented.

Importance of Front Office(Why front office is called the Nerve Center of the hotel)

Front office can be defined as a front of the house department located around the lobby area of a hospitality industry.Since this department is situated in the lobby of the hotel and is visible to the guests and visitors at the front of the hotel, it is called “ front office department”.Front office is one of the major operational and revenue producing department of the hotel which generates two third of the revenue earned by the hotel from the sale of guest rooms.The front office in a hotel is the department responsible for the sale of hotel rooms through systematic methods of reservation, followed by registration and assigning rooms to the guests. The term “sale of room” may appear misleading to those unfamiliar with the industry, sale here means the use of hotel room at a price for the mentioned no. of days.Room tariff i.e. rate charged per room is computed for a particular day and ends at 12:00 hrs. The front Office in a Hotel holds prime importance in view of the basic nature of the hotel i.e. to sell rooms. As rooms are the most perishable commodity of the hotel, hence the importance of front Office is more as compared to the other departments of hotel. Front office may be called as nerve center of the hotel, since it is the department, which is easily approachable by the guest as it is in the front area. Hence all other departments are linked directly to front office regarding the needs and complaints of the guest. It is just like a heart of the hotel through which all other departments are linked as nerves.Since it is well known phrase that “first impression is that last impression”, and the first impression of the hotel on the guest is through front office department. Therefore Front office is the most important section of the Hotel.

FRONT OFFICE ORGANIZATIONDepartmental Hierarchy

FRONT OFFICE MANAGER

ASST. FRONT OFFICE MANAGER------------------------------------------------------------

LOBBY MANAGERS / DUTY MANAGERS GUEST RELATION EXECUTIVE

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Supervisor Supervisor Supervisor Head Sr. Bell SupervisorReservation Information Reception Cashier Captain Telephones

Reservation Information Receptionist Cashier Bell TelephoneAssistants Assistants Captain Operator

Junior Bell Receptionist Boys

Trainee Trainee Trainee Trainee Page Boys/ Trainee

Trainee

FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT

Front Office Organization is divided into divisions. The divisions of Front Office are:

(a) RESERVATION: This section is responsible for reserving the rooms for the prospective guest. This section is also responsible for cancellation and amendment of room bookings.

(b) RECEPTION / REGISTRATION: This section is responsible for welcoming guests on arrival; the section is also responsible for registering the guests on arrival. Registering of guest is a statutory obligation for any organization engaged in accommodation business.

(c) INFORMATION: Front office has a very important segment called Information desk. This section is the nerve center of the hotel and should be easily approachable by all the hotel guests for their queries and information.

(d) CASH & BILLS: This section is responsible for maintaining the statement of expenditure (guest bill or guest folio) for a resident guest. This section is also responsible for settlement of guest bills on departure.

(e) BELL DESK: This section is responsible for handling guest baggage at the time of arrival, at the time of departure.

(f) TELEPHONES: This is responsible for all incoming and outgoing calls both for the guests and management.

REFER TO THE CHART / DIAGRAM ON PAGE NO. 5 OF

THE REGISTER.

Normally Front Office is divided into two categories

1. Front Office, which consist of Reception, Information Desk, Bell Desk and Cashiers.

2. Back office, which consist of Reservation & telephones.

FRONT OFFICE OPERATIONS

TYPE OF ROOMS

ROOMS

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General Types (Most Rooms) Special Types (Few Rooms)

A. GENERAL TYPE ROOMS

(a) Single Room: Room with a single bed and meant for the accommodation of one personAbbreviation: “SGL” Symbol: “-”

(b) Twin Room: It is a room meant for two persons having two single beds separated from each other.Abbreviation: “TBR” Symbol: “=”

(c) Double Room: It is a room meant for two persons having one double bed.

Abbreviation: “DBL” Symbol: “+”

(d) Suite: It is an apartment having a bedroom with a double bed and a living room. Besides the room numbers every suite has got a name depending upon the décor, theme etc, like ITC Maurya Sheraton has suits by the name of Mauryan dynasty like: Ashoka, Emperor, Chandragupta etc. The furniture and fittings are generally quite costly. Symbol: “S”

B. SPECIAL TYPE ROOMS

(a) Junior Suite: When a big room is converted into a suite with the help of a partition; it is known as a Junior Suite.

(b) Pent House: It is a suite, which is situated at the terrace level, and a part of

it is open to the sky.

(c) Cabana Room: It is a room situated away from the main building, is near to the swimming pool. Room is mainly used for changing purposes. A cabana may not have a bed. A temporary bar is optional. A cabana is rented as hourly basis.

(d) Duplex: It is a room having two levels. The upper level is used as a bedroom and the lower level is used as a parlour or living room. The two levels are connected through a staircase.

(e) Hospitality Room: It is a room where a resident guest can entertain their own guest. The hospitality room has no bed. They are rented on hourly basis and are mainly available with commercial hotels.

(f) Efficiency Room: It is a room with kitchen facilities. They are usually available in resort hotel because most of the guest requires these rooms as they are on a special diet.

(g) Hollywood Twin Bedded Room: It is a twin room with two single beds separated from each other, but having a common head board.

(h) Studio Room: It is a single room with one or more sofa, which can be converted into a bed.

(i) Murphy Bedded Room: It is a room having a Murphy bed. (It is a bed, which can be folded against the wall).

EQUIPMENTS USED IN FRONT OFFICE OPERATIONS

Any department of a hotel requires some kind of equipments to run that particular department efficiently.

A large number of factors play a very important role in the choice of equipments to keep in the Front Office of a hotel to carry out day-to-day administration and management of the department.

The equipments used in Front Office are mainly classified into 3 segments:

1. FULLY AUTOMATED EQUIPMENTS:

(i) CREDIT CARD VALIDATOR: The credit card validator is automated front office equipment used by the Front office cashier to check the validity of the credit card presented by the guest as a mode of payment at the time of departure. This equipment is linked to a credit card data bank, which holds information concerning the validity of the C.C. of the guest. This equipment helps the hotel to know the validity as well as the balance of the credit card, which is, offends by the guest thus reducing the chances of loss to the hotel.

(ii) TIME-STAMPING MACHINE: This is an electronic device, which is used extensively by the Front Office of a hotel. The machine imprints the details of a guest on a piece of paper like check in and out time, any message etc. This equipment is very helpful to the hotel as it ease out the operations of the Front office department to maintain the records and other data pertaining to the guests.

(iii) FAX MACHINES: The full form of the Fax is Facsimile Automated Xerox machine and is an important electronic equipment used in the Front desk for the purpose of communication. This equipment operates through telephonic lines and is used extensively to receive or send official documents, which are important from the point of view of guest and also the hotel.

(iv) CALL ACCOUNTING SYSTEM: The call accounting system is called APBX (Automated Private Branch Exchange) is used in Telephone exchange section of the front office department to automatically trace and bill the outgoing calls made by the guests during their stay in the hotel.

(v) COMPUTER: Almost all the hotels of the world is using computer these dates for the successful operations of the hotel. A computer is very essential equipment where one can feed various data and information pertaining to the guests. Computer these days are installed with the special software like Fidalio, POS, IDS etc. which has all the inputs data and formats of the hotel operations and thus easing out the work of audit and control of the hotel.

2. SEMI-AUTOMATED EQUIPMENTS:

(i) POSTING MACHINE: Posting machine is very essential equipment used in the Front Office for posting the various charges in the accounts of the guests. The posting machine is generally used to calculate the totals of the guests’ accounts, departments and transactions.

(ii) CASH REGISTER: The cash register is semi-automated equipment used generally by the Front desk such as stamps, newspapers, candy etc.

(iii) WAKE UP CALLS: The most famous and common wake up device is known as the “James Remindo Timer”. In this all the wake up request from the guests are feeded into this times monitoring the date, time, room no., name of guest and the telephone of that particular room automatically rings at the mentioned time thus waking up the guest.

(iv) CREDIT CARD IMPRINTER: This device is mostly used by the Front Office cashier at the time of arrival, when the guest presents this credit card to the cashier as the mode of payment of his hotel bills. All the details of the credit card is imprinted on the paper with the help of the device.

3. MANUAL EQUIPMENTS:

(i) ROOM RACK: Room rack is a large wooden framework located just behind the front desk. It contains a metallic array of pockets, which contains large number of room rack slips for showing the reservation and house keeping status of each guest room of a hotel. It is a joint effort of the front desk and housekeeping to timely update the room rack in order to have an accurate room status position.

(ii) INFORMATION RACK: This is again an important device present at the front desk, which contains all the required information of in-house guests in an alphabetical order. The information rack is a revolving device, which enables front office assistant to know the details of guests, which are staying in the hotel, like name, room no., arrival date, date of departure etc.

(iii) MAIL & MESSAGE RACK: Mail or message rack is a wooden framework present at the front desk, which has pigeonholes mentioning each room number of the hotel. Any message for in-house guest is noted on the message slip and then put in the pigeonhole of the room no. in which that particular guest is staying.

(iv) KEY RACK OR KEY DRAWER: Key rack or key drawer is a wooden or metallic framework present underneath the front desk. It contains an array of slots used for keeping the keys of the guest rooms in sequential order for the guest rooms present in the hotel. Nowadays most good hotels are using the electronic keys for their guest rooms, but for hotels, which are still persisting with the metallic keys, the key rack is an important device to maintain the control of keys.

(v) FOLIOWELL OR FOLIO BUCKET: This is important equipment used in the front desk cash section. This equipment contains a large number of slots where the folios are arranged. Sequentially according to the room number. The folio well is used by the front office cashier to store and track the folios of the various registered guests of the hotel and is used to maintain the folios safely for future use and reference.

TARIFF PLANS

Food plan or meal plan is a composite package offered by Front office department, which includes accommodation and meals.

MAJOR TARIFF / FOOD PLANS ARE:

(i) EUROPEAN PLAN: Under this plan, guest is offered only accommodation. E.M.T. (Early Morning Tea) is optional depending upon the policy of the hotel.

(ii) CONTINENTAL PLAN (C.P.): Under this plan, the guest is offered a continental breakfast along with the accommodation. E.M.T. is again optional. Continental breakfast is the lightest breakfast, which includes: Fruit juices, break basket with preserves & Tea/Coffee.

(iii) BERMUDA PLAN (B.P.): Under this plan, the guest is offered an American breakfast with accommodation. E.M.T. is again optional. American breakfast includes: Fruit juice, Cereals, Bread Basket with preserves, Eggs to order & Tea/Coffee.

(iv) AMERICAN PLAN (A.P.): This plan is also known as “Full boarding plan”. Under this plan, guest is offered with 02 minor meals (i.e. breakfast & evening snacks) & 02 major meals (Lunch & Dinner) along with accommodation. E.M.T. is again optional.

(v) MODIFIED AMERICAN PLAN: Under this plan, the guest is offered with one minor meal and one major meal along with accommodation. E.M.T. is optional.

TARIFF CARD / TARIFF ROOM RATES:

It is compulsory for all kinds of hotel to display the tariff structure. In small hotels it is done through Tariff Board where the room rates are displayed in Reception. In 5 star hotels tariff plans are used, it is a small sized card where tariff according to the food plan is presented. It is available with reception and also available in each guest room.

Following are the information obtained from a Tariff card:

1. Rack rates according to food plan.2. Govt. taxes as applicable eg. Luxury tax, sales tax etc.3. Basis of charging room rent.4. Brief description of facilities available in the hotel.

TYPES OF ROOM RENT:

1. RACK RATE: It is the rate printed on a tariff card. It is the highest equipped rate generally offered to Free Individual Travelers (F.I.T.).

2. PACKAGE RATE: This is a special rate which covers all expenses right from airport pick up and drops, meals, room rent, sight seeing etc. These package rates are normally set for a fix period of time eg. Weekend package, summer package, charismas package etc.

3. OFF SEASON RATE:This rate is normally offered in Resorts, where special discounted rates are offered to the tourists during off seasons eg. Off-season for Simla would be the winter months and off-season for Goa will be summer months.

4. EMPLOYEE DISCOUNTED RATES: In chain hotels, employee may be given discount on rack rates for the hotels belonging to that chain. Employee discounted rates would depend on the availability of space and are generally offered during slack season.

5. PUBLICITY & PROMOTIONAL RATES: For publicity purposes, influential persons like Company Directors, Top Executives, Celebrities etc may be given discounts for the sake of publicity. These kinds of persons are known as C.I.P. (Commercially Important Person) from whom the hotel can expect business.

6. CORPORATE RATES: It is also known as C.G.V.R. (Company Guaranteed Volume Rates). Companies, which give regular business to the

hotel, are given special discounted rates, which are known as Corporate Rates.

7. GROUP RATES: Special discounted rates are offered to groups of guest. Discount percentage would depend upon number of group members.

8. CREW MEMBER DISCOUNTED RATES: For airline crewmembers, discounted rats are offered by hotel based on the contract between Airline Company and the hotel.

9. FHRAI MEMBERS DISCOUNTED RATES: Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Association of India members are offered a discount up to 30% by hotels.

10. EXTRA BED RATE: A fix charge generally one fourth of the room is allowed to permit the extra bed in the same room.

EXAMPLE OF TARIFF CARD:

E.P. C.P. B.P. M.A.P A.PSingle Occupancy 3000 3150 3200 3400 3600Double Occupancy 3500 3650 3700 4000 4200Suite Occupancy 5000 5200 5400 5600 6000

NOTE: All Rack rates are (highest) room rates but all room rates are not rack rates.

TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS / TYPE OF GUESTS

There are 03 egos status with a human being:

(i) Parent Ego(ii) Adult Ego(iii) Child Ego

This analysis helps us to deal with the people (guests) irrespective of age and sex they belong to.

(i) PARENT EGO: When a person is in parent Ego, he thinks he is intelligent and can influence other persons. This person is said to be in Parent ego, eg. giving suggestions, advice etc.

X

YWhere ‘X’ is the ego of guest and ‘Y’ is the ego the second person.

(ii) ADULT EGO: When a person talks logically and the level of thinking is same as that of a person with whom he is communicates. He is said to be in Adult ego.

X Y(iii) CHILD EGO: When a person behaves emotionally. He is said to be in Child

ego.Y

XOnly one type of ego stays as active at a particular time. Age also plays an important role to determine which ego state is likely to be active.

In hotels we have to keep the adult ego active. Most of guest (99.9% approx.) has their adult ego active and hence we don’t have any problems in dealing with them as they understand logic and talk sense.

Unfortunately 0.1% guest has their adult ego inactive.

If guest is in parent ego, we cannot shift our adult ego to parent ego but we have to bring down the guests’ parent ego to adult ego, so that the communication becomes in straight line.

So guests are normally divided into 02 main segments:

GUESTS

Normal guests Awkward guests

(Adult ego active) (Adult ego inactive)(99.9% guests) (0.1% guest)

AWKWARD GUESTS ARE DIVIDED INTO VARIOUS CATEGORIES:

(a) ANGRY GUESTS: There anger can be compared with the steam in a pressure cooker. If one tries to block the steam of cooker, it will burst, so do the angry guest.

Rules could be:(i) Do not interrupt(ii) Listen to them(iii) Let the steam cool(iv) Apologize(v) Take prompt action in front of the guest.(vi) Follow up

(b) SNOB GUESTS: These guests are in parent ego and are suffering from superiority complex. These guests tell about their high contacts and try to demoralize and influence the hoteliers.

Rules to tackle them are:(i) Ignore their comments but don’t ignore the guest.(ii) Suggest alternatives, which would be better, and matches with guest status.(iii) Be firm if the problem persists.

(c) CHATTER BOX GUESTS: They are generally old people or sometimes middle-aged females, which demands and expects respect from the senior persons of the hotel. The rule for them is to take the help of your colleagues in a right way eg. Phone call from the managers to the guest room.

(d) SOCIALIZER GUESTS: These guests try to be friendly with the hotel staff of opposite sex. The rule for them is to solve the humorous notes if still the problem persists, call the manager.

Qualities of Front Office Personnel

Since the front office is the most important department of the hotel as it generates the maximum revenue of the hotel. It is very essential for a front office personnel to have qualities his qualities are:

1. Punctuality- he/she should be punctual in duty and should always report on time.

2. Has a positive attitude towards the job and the moral.3. Recognizes both the positive and negative aspects of job.4. Possess maturity in judgment

5. Should never be overfriendly with guests6. Maintain control and composure ever in difficult situation.7. Should be ever smiling.8. Should exhibit cordial and pleasant nature.9. Should have helpful attitude.10. Should possess a good sense of humor.11. Should practice good listening skills12. Should be flexible in nature.13. Should be well groomed in appearance 14. Good salesmanship.

Grooming for Gentleman

1. The hair should be clean, free from dandruff, odorless and glossy in appearance. It is necessary that all gentleman working in Front office should have short and neatly combed hair at all times i.e. not touching the ears and collars.

2. A clean daily shave is also compulsory. Always keep your mustaches well trimmed.

3. Hands carry germs, therefore, wash hands and nails frequently and always before leaving washroom.

4. Pay attention to your personal hygiene, use a deodorant to prevent body odor.

5. For those with bad smell can use mouthwash.6. Wear clean, fresh and well-pressed uniforms at al times. Shirts and

blazers should always be buttoned up.7. Shoes should be nicely polished; heels should be of comfortable height

and should always be black in color.8. Wash face frequently if it l\tends to show up oil.9. Do not wear a fancy jewellery, maximum being a ring and a watch.10. Do not apply strong smelling perfumes / colognes / aftershave lotions. A

mild fragrance is advisable.11. It is compulsory to wear clear vests.12. Always maintain an erect posture, slouching should be avoided.

Grooming for Ladies

1. Pay special attention to your hairstyle. Simple styles are desirable without the use of fancy hair clips.

2. For ladies with long hair, tying it up is mandatory.3. Please be conservative in your use of cosmetics.4. Use mouthwash to avoid mouth odor.5. Keep hands clean and finger nails well manicured. Avoid the use of henna

on hand.6. Select a comfortable pair of footwear to match your uniform.7. Pay special attention to your personal hygiene; apply deodorant rather

than a heavy smelled perfume.8. Wear fresh, clean and well-ironed uniform.9. Drape (wear) your saree in conventional Indian style and not any other

styles like gujrati etc.10. Adopt a graceful posture and stand erect.

FRONT OFFICE SALESMANSHIP

The difference between a successful hotel and an un-successful hotel is the ability of the staff to get a guest to spend an extra rupee and get the value for it. Most of the time a guest arrives to the hotel without an exact idea of how he is going to utilize his free time. A timely suggestion by the front office employee can stimulate a guest

to utilize a service and pay for it. The front office staffs have a key role to play in hotel selling.

Following are the different aspects by which the quality to sell or we can say that the salesmanship of front office personnel can improve. In other words, the front office personnel should have the following qualities to be a good salesman.

1. PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE: Knowledge of the product is the most important quality, which front office personnel should have. He should be well dressed with the services offered by the hotel and types of rooms. The hotel has and should also possess detailed and correct information about the city. By the knowledge of the various products only, he would be able to sell them and can give suggestions to the guest to pass his free time. For eg. A very rich guest comes to the reception for a room for 02 nights. It is up to the receptionist to understand the need and status of the guest. Receptionist may offer him the normal room with normal rates and on the same time, a good salesman at the reception can offer a high-class room by explaining to the guests about the extra services, which is offered in that particular room. To suggest same kind of services to the guest, knowledge of the product like knowledge of rooms and its types, knowledge of restaurant, other services hotel is offering etc.

2. SALES PROMOTION: Front office staff must be aware that the guest attaches value to the service sold and will be prepared to spend for it. For eg. a room has a maximum moderate and minimum rate attached to it. The maximum must be quoted but the value of the rate must be sold. The room may be overlooking the swimming pool or having a soft decor to please the guest.After the room is allocated, the front office assistant may recommend a sauna bath and massage at the Health club especially after the guest has returned from a long journey. The assistant may volunteer to reserve his table at one of the restaurants and bar.The good front office personnel always give the choice to the guest, so that guest should feel that he himself has make a final decision from the varieties opened to him.

3. GUEST NEEDS: A good salesman always understands the guest needs and thus recommend him the room or other kinds of services, which would therefore increase the sale. Any guest who has checked in the hotel has a motive or reason for that; it can be business, pleasure, fun, adventure etc. A good salesman would anticipate the guest needs and thus would do the suggestive selling accordingly. For eg. A guest arriving in the hotel for the purpose of business would be offered the facility like business center or board room, on the other hand, a guest arriving in the hotel for the purpose of relaxation would be offered services like spa, health club, swimming pool and the room should also be of the same standard.

4. DESIRE TO HELP: Desire to help the guest is an essential quality by which front office personnel can become a good salesman. A person should have desire in himself to help the guest is fulfilling his needs and expectations and should also give answers to all his queries.

5. COMMUNICATION: Communication holds the great importance for a person to become a good salesman. It’s the way you communicate with guest leaves the impression of yourself and your nature in front of the guest. Things should be suggested to the guests to enhance the sale but it should be in a way that guest should not feel defensive or he should not feels that things are forced upon him for the sake of money. For eg. Suggesting a presidential suite to a guest, front office assistant should use a very soft language like “May I suggest you” rather than using “You should go for presidential suite etc.”

Here are some typical phrases to use:

“MAY I HELP YOU”“MAY I RECOMMEND”“I BEG YOUR PARDON”“MAY I REQUEST YOU TO”“ONE MOMENT PLEASE”“WOULD YOU KINDLY”

JOB DESCRIPTION OF FRONT OFFICE PERSONNEL

IMPORTANCE OF JOB DESCRIPTION

A job description as the word suggests means “A written description of a job to be performed in a particular job position”.Job description specifies the parameters within which a job is done. It is thus a realistic guide to any employee recruited for a particular job. It is like a Bible to him and he without any changes should follow that particular job and all the duties described in that particular position. A good hotel would normally make every new employee familiar with the job description during the induction period. The new employee thus would clearly know what exactly he needs to do, how to do it, whom to report and what are his powers to exercise.

Following are the several advantages of the job description:-

1. An employee clearly gets to know what exactly he has to do and what are the ways to perform.

2. Job description clearly show or describe the superiors or seniors for the employee, thus the new employee gets protected from a unreasonable superior who may like to over burden him.

3. Job description clearly makes the results to be achieved and the duties to be performed by an employee. Thus it clearly informs the employee that what exactly is expected from him.

A. JOB DESCRIPTION OF FRONT OFFICE ASSISTANT.

JOB POSITION: Front Office Assistant / Front Desk Agent.REPORTS TO: Front Office Supervisor / Front Office Manager.POSITION SUMMERY: Represent the hotel to the guest throughout all stages of

the guest stay. Determine a guest reservation status and identifies how long the guest will stay.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:1. Register guests and assigns them rooms.2. He should follow the room blocking status and then assign the room accordingly.3. Should have complete knowledge of cash handling policies and procedures of

the hotel.4. Should have the complete knowledge of room status and other feature of

rooms like location, types of room available and room rates etc.5. Should be a good salesman and should use his techniques for up selling.6. He should also have the knowledge of reservations. He has to take the

reservation of same day and future reservations when necessary.7. He should have fare knowledge of cancellations of room bookings also.8. He is responsible for the control of keys in the hotel.9. He should have a thorough knowledge of all the front office equipments.10. Should have fare knowledge of check out procedure.11. Should have complete knowledge of posting the guest charges to his master

folio.12. He should use proper telephonic enquiries.

13. He is responsible for maintaining the cleanliness at the front desk.

CO-ORDINATES WITH:

1. He co-ordinate with house keeping on room status, knowing the exact status of vacant, dirties occupied, under maintenance rooms etc.

2. Co-ordinates with bell desk to shift the guest luggage from lobby to the guest room.

3. Co-ordinates with security department in case of theft in guest room or any nuisance created by guests in the lobby.

4. Co-ordinates with Engineering department for any maintenance work like painting, up holstering etc. to be done.

B. JOB DESCRIPTION OF RESERVATIONS AGENT.

REPORTS TO: Reservation Manager / Front Office Manager.POSITION SUMMERY: Responds to communications from guests, travel agents

& tour operators’ etc. concerning reservations arriving by mail, telephone, fax etc. or through a central reservation system. Creates and maintains reservations records usually by date of arrival and alphabetical listing. Prepares letters of confirmation and promptly processes any cancellation and modifications, track future room availabilities on the basis of reservations and helps develop forecasts for room reserve and occupancy, knows all types of rooms the hotel has as well as their location and lay out.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:1. Take reservations from mails, telephones, fax or central reservation systems.2. Takes reservations from the sales office, travel agents etc.3. He should know each type of room available in the hotel and should also know

the décor its location and layout.4. He should be a good salesman and should recommend the better and high

tariff room by the process of suggestive selling.5. He should know the credit policy of the hotels and the company, which are

authorized for the credit by the hotel.6. He should know the hotel’s policy on guaranteed reservations and no-shows.7. He makes the reservation chart by date of arrival of guests and alphabetical

order.8. He handles daily correspondence. He responds to enquiries and makes

reservations as needed.9. Determines room rates based on the selling tactics of the hotel.10. Prepares letter of confirmation.11. Prepare expected arrival list for the front office use.12. Maintain a clean and neat appearance at all times and a clean and neat work area.13. Promotes good will be being courteous, friendly and helpful to guests,

managers and fellow employees. C. JOB DESCRIPTION OF FRONT OFFICE CASHIER.

REPORTS TO: Front Office Manager.POSITION SUMMERY: Posts revenue center charges to guest accounts.

Receive payments from guests at check out. Co-ordinates the billing of credit card and direct billed guest account with the accounting division. All guest account is balanced by the cashier at the close of each shift.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Operates Front office equipments like EDC machines, computers etc. which help in posting of guest bills.

2. Completes guest check in procedures.3. Posts charges to guest accounts.4. Handles paid outs.5. Transfer guest balance to other accounts as required.6. Completes guest check out procedures.7. Handles cash, travelers’ checks, personal checks, credit cards and direct

billing requests properly.8. Dispenses guest records upon checkouts.9. Transfer folios charge to the non-guest ledger to each company’s master file.10. Balances cash at the close of shift.

KEY CONTROL

In hotel, the room keys of the lettable guest room are of great importance because the earning of revenue and guest security in respect of occupied rooms depends on the proper key control system.Unless a proper control system is laid down in respect of room keys the available rooms may remain unsold or unsold rooms may be occupied by unauthorized persons causing unwanted incidents to occur in hotel, which will adversely affect on the goodwill of the hotel.KEY CONTROL PROCEDURE:1. The first check on the room keys is desired by the hotel is by the use of

“Resident Card or Key Card or Welcome Card”.On arrival, the guest is given the Resident Card by which he can collect the keys from the reception by showing the same. All doubtful cases / guests should be asked to show the Resident Cards while collecting the keys.

2. The second check on the room keys is by the night receptionist with the use of “Key Control Sheet”. This sheet is made around 1:00 a.m. which shows the vacant / occupied / check out rooms in the hotel at that given time. After the preparation that sheet, the night receptionist follows the status of room keys by:

(a) The vacant rooms should have keys in the key rack at reception desk.

(b) The occupied rooms should not have keys in the key rack at reception desk.

If any key is missing that needs the action to search the reason. Normally Grand Master Key is made which can open all the rooms of the hotel and is normally handled by Lobby Manager / Executive House Keeper.Floor Master Key is the key, which can open all the rooms present on that particular floor. This key is handled by Floor supervisor of house keeping department.Card Keys / Electronic Key System: To overcome the problems faced by manual keys, now most of the hotels are following the process of “Electronic Card Keys” by which the problems of missing of keys / loss of keys or other security problems are solved.

The guest upon arrival is issued with a plastic card with a magnetic strip reader. A computerized console in the reception provides coded information on the card key. The same information is present on a door of a particular room and that lock of the door can only be opened only with the help of that key card only.If guest looses a card key, simply the code is changed on a new plastic card. The old card is automatically becomes invalid on the issue of new card key of the same code.

HOTEL ORGANIZATION

Defining “Hotel Management”

The people authorized by a hotel’s owner to represent his / her interests are called Hotel Management.In small properties / hotel, Hotel Management may be represented by one person whereas in big hotels, the hotel management may be represented by many person. The hotel management guides the daily operations and regularly gives news about the overall financial status of the hotel to the owner of the hotel. Hotel Management makes various policies of the organization and sets “standards operating procedures (S.O.Ps) for the various departments.The major responsibility of a hotel management includes planning, organizing, co-coordinating, staffing, directing, controlling and evaluating the overall activities of the hotel.The top official of the hotel is called as “General Manager”. GM supervises the overall functioning of the hotel and reports to the Director or owner. The Resident Manager (R.M.) and other departmental heads assist him in his job.Thus with the help of efficient and well qualified staff, the hotel functions effectively and gives valuable guest services and earns revenue and profit.

Defining the term “Organization Chart”

“An organization chart is a schematic representation of the relationship between positions with in an organization”.An organization chart shows where each position fits in the overall organization, as well as where the division of responsibilities and the lines of authority lies.Solid lines or bold lines on the card indicates the direct line accountability whereas dotted lines indicates the relationships that involves as high degree of co-operation and communication, but not a direct relationship.An organizational chart should be flexible and should be reviewed and revised annually. The organizational structure depends on various factors such as the size of the hotel and the availability of the various facilities in the hotels such as restaurants, banquet halls, conference centers etc.Thus, we can say that an organization chart clearly reflects the line of authority in an organization and thus helps in achieving the mission and goals of an organization at large.

FUCNTIONAL DEPARTMENTS / DIVISONS OF HOTEL

A large hotel or a 5 star hotel can be divided into various segments and divisions depending upon its nature of job and functional areas.

It can be divided into following various divisions: -

1. ROOM DIVISION DEPARTMENT:

The room division consists of departments and personnel essential for providing the services guests during their stay. In most of the hotels, this is the only division, which collects the most revenue by selling the guest rooms.The following are the main departments under the Room Division:

(a) Front Office(b) House Keeping(c) Uniformed Services

2. FOOD & BEVERAGE DIVISION:

This division generally ranked second after the Room Division in terms of the total revenue. This division is responsible for the production of Food & Beverage and their

service to the guests for catering to their needs. It includes various food and beverage outlets such as the restaurants. Coffee shops, bars, banquets etc.

3. SALES & MARKETING DIVISION:

This division is one of the most important divisions of a hotel since they are involved in the four main responsibilities i.e. sales, convention service (Banquet Service), advertising and public relation. The marketing employees of a hotel attract guests towards the hotel, research the market place, competing products and guest’s needs and their satisfaction at large. On the other hand sales employee try to create revenue through sales of different products and service of the hotel.

4. ACCOUNTING DIVISION

The hotels accounting divisions’ controls the financial activities of the hotel. Its job typically includes paying pending bills, payment of the salary to the employees and preparing various financial reports. In addition, the account department is also responsible for making bank deposits, securing the various cash loans and keeping a proper control on the various financial activities of a hotel.

5. HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT:

The human resource department is perhaps the most important division in any hotel because this is the only division, which deals with the manpower planning, recruitment and selection of staffs for the various departments of a hotel. Besides this, HR department is also responsible for the training and developing of the staffs and also keeps a track on their performance during their job and thus awards and punishes them suitably.

6. ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE DIVISION:

This division is responsible for maintaining the hotel’s structure and grounds, as well as its electrical and mechanical equipments. This division also has the responsibility of the maintenance of the swimming pools, sanitation, parking area cleanliness and the fountain operation. Apart from all these it is also responsible for the work like painting, plumber etc.

7. SECURITY DIVISION:

This division plays a very important role as they provide total security to the guests. It includes in house staff or contractual security officers or retired police or defense officers. The main job is the patrolling of the hotel, monitoring with special equipments and in general ensuring that the guests, visitors as well as employees felt secure in the hotel.

See Figure in Register Page 46LOBBY

A lobby is an area furnished with seating arrangements is a meeting place, common to all hotels guests, whether resident or not, located immediately upon entry into the hotel building. The front office is located within the premises of lobby.

The lobby is an important area of any hotel as it is the first and last area of the guest in contact with the hotel. Thus, hotel spends considerable funds and efforts to make the lobby esthetically attractive and rationally convenient.

Besides having the Front office where all registrations of guests is done in to the hotel and final clearance is made at their departure, the lobby desk situated in the lobby is the heart of all co-ordination between guests and hotel services. The lobby desk is manned by a lobby manager who represents the management all 24 hours. He is a problem solver and has the authority to handle all guest grievances. The lobby manager thus has to be a mature and experience person, well conversant with hotel rules and should be effective in dealing with guest problems. He would have to be mentally alert and diplomatic in all his dealings as he is essentially a troubleshooter.

The lobby manager controls a team of lobby supervisors, Front office supervisors (Bell captains) and lobby attendants (Front Office Assistant and Bell Boys).

Lobby Managers main duty is to train the Bell desk staff on performing various guest errands like handling their baggage on arrival and departure of their stay, placing Front office amenities in the room, scanty baggage check etc.

Large hotels may also have a guest relation executive (who is normally a lady located in the lobby to handle in-house public relations with guest. She is responsible for receiving VIPs and attending to any coordinational aspects regarding them. She also does “Aarti & garland” of VIPs checking in the hotel.

LOBBY DEPARTMENT HIERARCHY

LOBBY MANAGER

F.O. SUPERVISORS SR. BELL CAPTAINS

GUEST RELATION EXECUTIVES

F.O. ASSTT. BELL CAPTAINS

BELL BOYS

JOB OF A BELL DESK

(a) To receive authorization to take a guests baggage to the allocated room at the time of guest arrival and to take the baggage out of the hotel at the time of departure.

(b) To inform F.O. supervisors or lobby managers about the shoppers or the guest carrying scanty baggage.

(c) To help in paging guest.(d) To help a residing guest to shift his room in case of a relocation of room.

(e) To re-check the status of rooms if there is a discrepancy between the house keeping lust and front office racks.

CO-ORDINATION OF LOBBY WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS

WITH SECURITY: To handle undesirable guests who are creating indiscipline and non-sense in the lobby and are disturbing the other guests.

TELEPHONES: To co-ordinate with telephones in the case of crew or groups morning wake up call. Sometimes guests do not wake up by telephones, so telephones have to tall the lobby staff to personally go to the room and wake up the guest by knocking the room door.

WITH HOUSEKEEPING: Taking the help of house keeping and co-coordinating with it to provide extra facilities to the guests.

WITH ENGINEERING: To inform the engineering or maintenance department about any repair work or painting required in the lobby.

WITH STORES: To make daily requisition for their department like stationary material, packing tapes etc.

HANDLING OF VIPs

The VIP or very important guests generally include the dignitaries, commercially important guest and well-known personalities in the field of entertainment, sports and academics etc. and thus are huge source of revenue for the hotels besides publicity.

In case of any VIP guest coming to the hotel, the hotel management pays a special attention on their comfort and convenience and best kind of services is offered to a VIP from registration to his check out.

It is the duty of the Front office manager of the hotel to inform in advance all the Head of Departments of the hotel about the date and arrival time of the VIPs checking in the hotel. All HODs should therefore brief their staff members about the VIPs name, nationality, his likings and disliking and hence a VIP can be assured of the best services of the hotel.

In case of handling a VIP, each department plays a vital role to give comfort and best of stay to VIP in the hotel. The duties and responsibilities of each department in case of handling VIPs are:

1. FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT:

F.O. is the most important department of the hotel and therefore its has the maximum responsibility of the satisfaction and comfort of the VIP arriving in the hotel. A F.O.M. deputes the valet in uniform to pick up the VIP from the airport / railway station. The valet should be well groomed and should be wearing clean and ironed uniform. He should have a paging board with him in which VIPs name with correct spelling should be mentioned. At the time of arrival, the doorman salutes and greets to the VIP with his name to offer him the feeling of personalization and recognition to VIP. A “Red Carpet Welcome” is given to VIP from the main porch to his room.

The Guest relation executive welcomes the VIP in the lobby by “Aarti, tikka and garland”. The G.M. of the hotel personally meet VIPs and assure him the best of services and a comfortable stay to the guest.

It is the main responsibility of the Front Office department to pre assigns the room, which is supposed to be given to the VIP. All the formalities of registering is done at the room and not at the reception desk. F.O. in advance gives the amenities voucher to the respective department to be placed in the VIP room.

Bell boy carries the luggage of VIP guest and F.O.M. or G.M. personally escort the guest to his room. F.O.M. acquaints the VIPs about all the facilities present in the room and wishes him the pleasant stay. At the time of check out also, the same procedure is followed, where up most care and importance is given to the VIP guest

while carrying his baggage. A cab is arranged in advance to drop the guest to the airport.

2. HOUSE KEEPING DEPARTMENT

House keeping department also plays the vital role in case of any VIP guest checking in the hotel. House Keeping makes sure that the room is absolutely clean before the guest checked in that particular room. All the toiletries and other room accessories like blanket, pillow covers, laundry bags etc are properly placed in the rooms. The amenities voucher received from F.O. department has to be duly paid attention and all the amenities like bouquet of flowers etc should be placed in advance in the room.

3. F&B SERVICE DEPARTMENT:

F&B also plays a role in case of VIP guest in the sense that; Room service department places the complimentary bottle of wine or champagne as per the amenities voucher given to them in advance by Front office department. All the room service orders are carefully checked by the Room service captain and then sent to the room. Restaurant managers of department outlets are briefed by F&B Manager about the VIP staying in the hotel and accordingly manager of the restaurant brief their staff to give special care to VIPs; in case VIP guest takes meals in the restaurant.

4. KITCHEN DEPARTMENT:

An executive chef also receives the details of a VIP guest and chef reads the guest history card of VIP guest and pays attention in case any thing is mentioned regarding the likings of guest about some special type of cuisine or dish. Executive Chef makes sure that the cuisine or that dish is included in the “buffet of the day” in the coffee shop of the hotel.

5. SECURITY, ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT:

Other back of the house departments like security, engineering and maintenance department also gives importance to the VIP guest rooms. A guard is placed outside the room of VIP guest to give him special security. Engineering and maintenance department makes sure that all the equipments and electronic points of the room are in good working condition.

UNIFORMED SERVICES

The uniformed service department consists of staffs that provide special uniformed services to the guest such as parking of the vehicles of the guest (valet), opening the door of the hotel for guests (doorman), handling guest luggage (Bell Boys) etc.

They are divided into following segments:

1. BELL BOYS: Guest always arrives in the hotel with baggage. They receive help handling their luggage from probably the best-known employee applied among the uniform service staff.Depending on the size of the hotel, bellboys are responsible for:(a) Familiarize guest about the room features, safely features of the hotel and room & as well as amenities provided in the room.(b) Provide information of hotel services and facilities.(c) Deliver packages to the guest rooms.(d) Carrying the guest luggage at arrival and departure.

2. DOOR ATTENDANT: They play a role similar to bellboys; i.e. they are dedicated to the welcoming of guest to the hotel. These employees are

generally found in hotels offering “World Class Services”. Some of the duties which door attendant or doorman performs includes:(a) Opening doors of the main porch and assisting guests on arrival.(b) Help guests to load and unload from the vehicles.(c) Controlling vehicles traffic flow and safely at the hotel entrance.(d) Calling taxies on request.(e) Assisting with valet parking service.

3. VALET PARKING: Valet parking is generally available at the hotel offering “World Class Service” specially trained employees / drivers are the part of valet parking department whose main duty is to park the guest cars from main porch to the hotel parking areas. Valet parking attendants are also responsible for the securing of guest vehicles.

4. TRANSPORTATION PERSONNEL: Transportation services are gaining in popularity these days. Many airport hotels offer complimentary bus services between their hotel and airport on regular basis. Bus driver should be well trained and properly licensed to operate a vehicle, since these drivers sometimes will be in first contact with the guest and thus forms the first impression of the hotel in the eyes of the guest. It is important for them to be polite, efficient and knowledgeable about the hotel.

5. CONCIERGE: Even though this department in existing from quite some time, then also concierge is perhaps the least understood department in the uniformed service area. Duties of concierge include making reservation of a hotel in a restaurant, securing tickets of the movies, arranging for transportation and provide information on cultural events or local attraction. It is important that a highly successful concierge person should be able to speak several languages.

Front Office Procedure in case of emergencies

1. FIRE IN THE HOTEL: As soon as a fire is detected, the first thing to do is to inform the telephone department. In most hotels the telephone department plays the most important role of alarming the hotel. The telephones being the part of Front Office department therefore all the major decisions is taken by the F.O.M only .The telephones would call the fire department in the city for help, it also should inform all the guests about the fire in the hotel and also the hotel should be properly manned to fight fire and there should be provision in the hotel to facilitate communication from one point to the other. F.O staff should also actively involve in the case of fire and search each room thoroughly, especially under the beds, in cupboards and the bathrooms of the guest rooms. Front office should direct the guest to use fire exit path (Staircase) and functioning of lifts / elevators should be at once stopped at the detection of fire in the hotel All the staff of F.O should have knowledge of the different Fire Extinguishers and their use in different types of fire.

2. IN CASE OF DEATH: The front office should inform the General Manager, the security officer and call for the hotel doctor. An alarm is not raised and other guests are not informed about the same to avoid panic. The General Manager may decide to call the police. The body must be removed from the staff gate and not from main lobby area. The relatives of the dead person / guest should be informed about the death by referring to the names and addressed mentioned on the guest registration card.

3. IN CASE OF “LOST & FOUND”: This is a term used in the hotel to refer to any item temporarily misplaced or lost by the guest but traced later by hotel staff. Such articles are handed over to the housekeeping department who maintain a special room for the same, which is known as “Lost & Found Room”. If an item belongs to the guest who has already checked out of the hotel, an invitation is sent to the guest about the same on the address mentioned by the guests at reception. In case the item is found in the public areas and one can’t determine the belongings of the same. It is kept in a different room with the House Keeping. After the stipulated amount of time, which is generally three months in most of the hotels, if nobody comes to claim item, it is generally given to the staff member who found that particular item or it is auctioned to the staff. In case of items found from the public areas, any guest claiming that item has to give the detail of the items and after the satisfaction of the hotel management, that item is handed over to that guest.

4. THEFT: If a guest has stolen any item from the room, then the value of the same is charged to the guest. The amount is added on the guest room but at the time of departure, but this should only be one if Front office manager is 100% sure that the guest has stolen that item from the room. If the theft has taken place in public area and culprit is not known, the hotel security is informed about the same giving all the details.

5. DAMAGE TO THE PROPERTY BY HOTEL GUEST: If hotel’s authority finds any damage done in the room or in the public area and Front Office is 100% sure about the same, the amount is charged from the guest about the same. If guest does not pay the charge of the damaged article and tries to be have rudely, hotel security is called.

6. DRUNK GUEST: It is recommended that never argue with the drunken guest, as he is not in his senses. He is politely escorted to his room. If he tries to be over angrily, hotel security should be called.

IMPORTANT FRONT OFFICE TERMINOLOGY

1. TIME LIMIT: (CANCELLATION HOUR) / (Cut Off time): This term means, specifying a particular time by which the prospective guest with non-guaranteed reservation must check in the hotel otherwise the room may be allocated to some other guest. In most of the hotels the cut off time is generally 6 p.m. This time is usually set to avoid the loss of business to the hotel in case the guest with tentative / non-guaranteed / non-confirmed does not check in the hotel. In other term we can say that this is done as a precautionary measure against “No-shows” guests.

2. TURN AWAY: It refers to those guests who have been refused accommodation on arrival usually the walk in guest are turn away guests. Following might be the reason to refuse accommodation:

Rooms are not available Black listed person Mentally handicapped person.

3. STAY OVER: Stay over rooms are the rooms occupied by the guests who arrived to occupy a room before the date of arrival given by them. This is up to the Front office manager’s discretion to give the room to these guests depending on the reservation status of the hotel.

4. OVER STAY: Over stay guests / over stay rooms are the rooms occupied by the guest who stays beyond their originally scheduled departure date. This is also on the discretion of Front Office Manager to give the rooms or not.

5. UNDER STAY: Under stay rooms are the rooms which are occupied by the guests who checks out before their scheduled departure date. This is on the discretion of Front Office Manager to charge these guests of their under stay or not.

6. BLOCK ROOMS: The total number of rooms blocked for a particular group arriving in the hotel. These number of rooms are pre decided between the group leader and reservation manager. This tally of room is not the final tally of the total no. of rooms which would be finally reserved by the group. A special date is set which is known as C.O.D. (Cut off date) among the hotel authority and the group leader, before which group leader has to give the exact details of the rooms to be reserved or booked along with the type of room required by that group. Extra rooms after that date are released from the category of block rooms and are included in the normal lettable / saleable rooms category.

7. COMPLIMENTARY ROOM: This term indicates that the room is occupied, but

the guest won’t be charged for the same. There can be several reason for giving a complimentary room to the guest like sales promotion, VIP guest, HOD of the hotel, Resident Manager, Night Manager etc.

8. TWIN DOUBLE / DOUBLE DOUBLE ROOM: A room with two double beds, which is meant for 04 persons.

9. DUE OUT: The room status that indicates that the room is expected to become vacant after the following days check out.

10. ADVANCE DEPOSIT GUARANTEE: This is a type of reservation in which guest pay an advance deposit on night’s stay as an advance deposit as a means of guaranteeing his reservation.

11. AFFILIATED HOTEL: This is a hotel, which is either a property of a hotel chain or is a franchisee or a member of referral group.

12. AMENITIES: This is an extra product or service, which is offered to the guest by the hotel authority. e.g. personalized stationary in the guest rooms.

13. ARRIVAL TIME: This is the time specified by the guest where the guarantee to arrive at the hotel property and claim his/her reservation.

14. ATRIUM CONCEPT/ HOTEL: This is a type of hotel design in which the guestrooms overlook the lobby from the first floor to the terrace of the hotel property.

15. AUDIT: This is a process conducted to verify the accuracy and completeness of the various accounts of a particular organization.

16. ARR (AVERAGE ROOM RENT): This is an amount which is obtained by dividing the actual rooms revenue of a day by the total number of rooms sold.

17. AVERAGE RATE PER GUEST: Total room revenue of a day divided by house count.

18. HOUSE COUNT: Total number of guests staying in a hotel on a particular day.

19. AVAILABLE SELLABLE ROOM: These are the number of guest rooms that are ready for sale out.

20. AVAILABILITY: This is the total number of rooms that are expected to be ready for sale on a particular date.

21. BACK TO BACK: A situation in which there is continuous group departures and arrivals arranged by tour operator so that a guestrooms of a hotel are never vacant and thus provide continuous and stable business to the hotel.

22. BED & BOARD (AMERICAN PLAN): This is a plan, which includes room charges, emt, breakfast, lunch, evening tea & dinner.

23. BLACK LISTED GUEST: These include persons whom the hotel would not allow as guests in their hotel due to their bad reputation.

24. BRUNCH: This is a meal which is heavier than breakfast and lighter than lunch and is normally served as a replacement to both.

25. CANCELLATION HOUR: This is a number, which is assigned to the guest by the property.

26. CENTRAL RESERVATION SYSTEM: This is an extremely sophisticated combination of hardware and software with high level programming features used by the central reservation office to manage and process the various reservation requests from the travel agents, tour operators and other sources for the various member hotel properties.

27. CHECK – IN: This is a process, which combines the entire process of receiving the guest and registering him by assigning him room.

28. CHECK-OUT: This includes all the procedures associated with the departure of the guest and his account settlement.

29. CONFIRMED RESERVATION: This is a hotel’s acknowledgement or agreement in writing to the guest’s reservation request.

30. CORKAGE: This refers to the charges of providing various equipments and soda charged by the hotel authorities to the guests who bring their own alcoholic beverages and consume in the hotel or any licensed establishment.

31. CREDIT CARD GUARANTEED: This is a type of guaranteed reservation where a credit card company accepts the financial responsibilities in case the guest is a no-show and thus guarantees payment to the hotel for unoccupied reserved rooms.

32. DAILY ROOMS REPORT: This is a report which is prepared daily night for recording the room status of the guest rooms of the hotel. This report is used for reconciliation of any room status discrepancy and is used as a means of verifying the room statistics.

33. DAY RATE: This is a reduced type of room rate that is charged from the guests who do not stay overnight at the hotel; i.e. guests who arrive and depart the same day from the hotel.

34. DENSITY CONTROL CHART: This is a type of reservation control system where the number of rooms committed is controlled by room types.

35. DIRECT BILLING: This a type of credit arrangement in which the hotel bills the company for the charges incurred by a corporate guest during his stay at the property provided there is pre-established correspondence between the hotel and the company for the same.

36. DOUBLE UP: This is situation when a room is occupied by two guests who are not related to each other and separate room rack slip has been maintained for each of these guests.

37. ECO-TOURISM: This is a modern concept which amalgamates the development of the various tourism related activities in a tourist destination along with a proper preservation of the natural environment and the various other natural and cultural heritages.

38. ECONOMIC / LIMITED SERVICE: This a level or type of service provided by small hotels and emphasizes clean, comfortable, inexpensive room fulfilling the basic needs and requirements of the guests and is generally targeted towards the budget minded people.

39. FORECAST: This is the process of predicting or estimating the future business of a particular firm or company.

40. FORECAST SCHEDULING: This is the process of scheduling the various jobs and tasks of an organization on the base of the forecast made.

41. FRONT OF THE HOUSE: These are the departments and outlets of the hotel which are in extensive guest contact such as front office and food and beverage outlets.

42. FRONT OFFICE: This is a term given to entire front desk and personnel working the desks who are involved with the duties and responsibilities in the sale of the guestrooms and providing efficient services to the guests during their entire stay.

43. FULL DAY: This is the term given to the entire hotel day for which a guest is charged and is thus extremely useful for front office accounting.

44. FULL HOUSE: This is a situation when all the guestrooms of a hospitality property are occupied by guests.

45. GUARANTEED RESERVATION: This is a type of reservation in which the hotel management guarantees to keep a room for a guests for 24 hours following the guest’s scheduled date of arrival in return for guarantee given by the guest to pay for the same either through cash advance deposit, credit card, voucher, letter from company and other methods of guarantee.

46. GUEST CYCLE: This is a concept which identifies the various stages of the guest contact with the hotel staff and also identifies the financial transactions between the guest and the hotel during these stages.

47. GUEST HISTORY RECORD: This is the term given to the record of the financial and personal information about the various guests of the hotel and is used by the front office department and the sales and marketing division for anticipating the various needs of the guests in order to serve them in a better way.

48. HOSPITALITY: This is a term, which describes friendly and cordial treatment to a guest with proper provisions for a sophisticated service.

49. HOTEL: This is defined as a lodging establishment whose primary purpose is to provide accommodation services to the guests and can even provide various other services such as food and beverage services, housekeeping services and uniformed services in return of payment from the guests and thus is also called “A House of taxes and endless Luxury”.

50. HOUSE COUNT: This is a front office statistics giving information about the total number of guests registered and residing in a particular hospitality property.

51. HOUSE LIMIT: This is a credit limit established by the hotel for the guests and thus is the maximum limit up to which the hotel can accept charge purchase privileges for the guests.

52. HOUSE PHONE: This is a telephone which is located in the lobby of the hotel from where a visitor can call and contact a guest in his room.

53. HOUSEKEEPER’S REPORT: This is report prepared by the housekeeping department and is sent to the front desk during each shift and contains information about the room status of all the guest rooms of the hotel property in tat particular shift and thus is based on thorough physical check. This report is also called Housekeeping status report.

54. HUBBART FORMULA: This is a formula used for computing and determining the average room rates on the base of a bottom up approach to pricing and considers various factors such as the operating expenses, average price per room, desired profit, desired return on investment, expected rooms sold and income from various departments of the hotel.

55. INFORMATION RACK: This a front office equipment with aluminum slots which holds information slips of various guests registered in the hotel in an alphabetical manner and thus is used by the front desk to place telephone messages and visitor enquiries of the in-house guests.

56. IN-HOUSE GUEST: This is a term given to guest who is registered to a hospitality property and has currently occupies a guestroom.

57. IN-ROOM GUEST CHECK OUT: This is an exclusive feature provided by the property management system in fully automated hotel systems which allows the in-house guest to check out of the hotel through an in-house guestroom television.

58. INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMUNICATION: This is the flow of the communication process between the various departments of a hospitality property.

59. JOB DESCRIPTION: This is a broad statement of the purpose, duties and responsibilities of a job or a position and is thus is a listing of the job title, pay, tasks, reporting relationships and working conditions required to perform a particular job.

60. LIGHT BAGGAGE: This is a guest who arrives at the hotel property with a very few baggage and is thus requested to pay in advance of his stay. This guest is also called Scanty Baggage.

61. LOG BOOK: This is a register, which is maintained by all the operating departments of a hotel and thus acts as an important means of communication between the shifts.

62. MORNING CALL: This is also called a wake-up call and is made by the telephone operator for the guests at their requests.

63. MURPHY BED: This is a standard double bed which folds into the wall in the closet made in the wall.

64. NIGHT AUDIT: This is a process of verification of the various guest accounts for their accuracy and completeness conducted by the night auditor during the night shift in at the front desk.

65. NIGHT AUDITOR: The person who performs the important function of night audit at the front desk is called the night auditor.

66. NIGHT AUDITOR’S REPORT: This is a report prepared by the night auditor during the night auditing process and summarizes the revenue earned by the front office along with the list of VIP guests and sale summary of the various outlets of the hotel.

67. NON-AFFILIATE RESERVATION NETWORK: This is a type of central reservation network established by various independent hotels and connects them for process the various reservation requests.

68. NO-SHOW: This is a term given to guests who fail to register in a hotel in spite of having a confirmed reservation.

69. OCCUPANCY PERCENTAGE: This is the total number of rooms occupied in the hotel divided by the total number of rooms available in a hotel for sale (x100)

70. OFF-SEASON RATE: This is a reduced or discounted rate which is offered to guests to hotels and resorts which are located in destinations with extreme climatic conditions.

71. OVERAGE: This is a type of discrepancy which occurs at the front office cash section when after removing the initial cash bank, the total amount of the cash, cheques and other negotiable items in the cashier’s drawer is more than the net cash receipts.

72. OVERBOOKING: This is a process of reserving or booking more number of guestrooms than that are actually available in the hotel property. This process is also called Overselling.

73. REFERRAL GROUP: This is a term given to the independent hotel handed together for business profitability and market recognition as these hotels refer business to each other in terms of reservation.

74. REGISTRATION: This is term given to the entire procedure followed by the hotel authorities on the arrival of the guests to confirm the stay of the guest at the hotel and includes the process of signing of the guests on the registration card.

75. REGISTRATION CARD: This is a form which is completed by the guests on arrival or by the front office staff on behalf of the guests but is signed by

the guests as it is an important document which acknowledges the visiting patron as an in-house guest.

76. RESERVATION: This is a mutual agreement between the guest and the hotel in which the guest hires accommodation from the hotel at a given for a given time.

77. ROLLAWAY (BED): This is a movable or portable bed which measures about 30 inches in breadth and 72 inches in length and is generally supplied by the hotels on request the guests in the guestrooms.

78. SKIPPER: This is a term used to describe a guest who leaves the hotel without making arrangements to settle his bill account.

79. STAR CATEGORIZATION: This is the process of categorization of the hotels into different ranks of stars and is thus is widely accepted and applied by the hotel industry around the whole world.

80. STAYOVER: This is a room occupancy status which states that the guest is not departing the present day and will continue to stay for at least one more night and thus continues to occupy a particular guestroom from his date of arrival to his date of departure.

81. TRANSIENT GUEST: This is a guest who stays in a hotel for a short duration or period.

82. TRAVEL AGENT: This is an intermediary agent which books or reserves accommodation and other facilities for the guests in the various hotel properties and also books space for travelers in various transport carriers and returns receives commission from the hotels and transport operators for providing with guests and passengers.

83. TRAVELER’S CHECKS: These are prepaid checks that are issued by banks and other financial institutions to the visitors and guests and thus are an important means of account settlement.

84. UNDERSTAY: This is a guest who leaves the hotel before his scheduled date of departure.

85. WORLD – CLASS SERVICE: This is a term given to the famous international hotels with personalized service being offered to the guests and also have fine dining restaurant, lounges, guestrooms with exquisite décor and furnishings and above all a high staff guest ratio.

TourismMeaning & Definition of Tourism: -

Tourism is the act of travel for the purpose of recreation and business and the provisions of services for this act.

Tourists are people who are “traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from with in the place visited”. The distance between these two places is of no significance.A more comprehensive definition would be that tourism is a service industry, comprising a number of material and non-material elements.

The material elements include: -

(a) Transport system like air , rail , road , water & now space .(b) Hospitality services like accommodation, food & beverages,

tours etc.(c) Other related services like banking, insurance and safety &

security.

The non-material elements will include: -

Rest & relaxation, culture, escape, adventure, new and different experiences.

One of the earliest definitions of tourism was given by the Australian Economist, Hermann Von Schullard in 1910. He defined it as, “ Sum total of operators, mainly of an economic nature, which directly relate to the entry, stay & movement of foreigners inside and outside a certain country or a region”.

Hunziker & Krapf, in 1942 defined Tourism as, “it is the totality of the relationship & phenomenon arising from the travel and stay of strangers, provided that the stay doesn’t imply the establishment of a permanent residence and is not connected with a remunerative activities”.

In 1976 Tourism Society of England defined it as, “ Tourism is the temporary, short term movement of people to destination outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during the stay at each destination. It includes movements for all purposes.”

TYPES OF TOURISM

Tourism may be classified into the following types: -

(i) Inbound international Tourism:- Visit to a country by non resident of that country .(ii) Outbound International Tourism: - Visits by the residents of a country to

another country.(iii) Internal tourism:- Visits to a resident of a country in their own country.(iv) Domestic tourism: - Inbound international tourism + internal tourism.(v) National tourism: - Internal Tourists + Outbound International tourism.

SPECIAL FORMS OF TOURISM\REASON FOR TRAVEL\CLASSIFICATION OF TOURISM

Tourism may be classified into: -

ADVENTURE TOURISM: - Tourism involving travel in rugged regions or adventurous sports such as mountaineering etc.

AGRITOURISM: - farm based tourism, helping to support the local agricultural economy.

ANCESTRY TOURISM: - (Also known as Genealogy Tourism):- It is the travel with the aim of tracing one’s ancestry , visiting the birth places of these ancestors & sometimes getting to know distant family.

ARMCHAIR TOURISM & VIRTUAL TOURISM: - Not traveling physically, but exploring the world through Internet, books etc.

AUDIO TOURISM: - It includes audio walking tours and other. BOOK STORE TOURISM: Book store tourism is a grass roots effort to

support independent book stores by promoting them as a travel destination.

CULTURAL TOURISM: It includes urban tourism, visiting historical or interesting cities such as Berlin, Kathmandu, Lahore, Lima, Buenos Aires, London, Paris, Delhi, Rome, Prague, Dubrovnik, Beijing, Istanbul, Kyoto, Warsaw and experiencing their cultural heritages. This type of tourism may also include specialized cultural experiences such as art museum tourism where the tourist visit many art museums during the tour, or opera tourism where the tourist sees many operas or concerts during the tour.

DARK TOURISM: Dark tourism is the travel to sites associated with death and suffering. The first tourist agency to specialize in this kind of tourism started with trips to Lakehurst, New Jersey, the scene of the Hindenburg airship disaster.

DISASTER TOURISM: Traveling to a disaster scene not primarily for helping but because it is interesting to see. It can be a problem if it hinders rescue, relief and repair work.

DRUG TOURISM: Travel to a country to obtain or consume drugs, either legally or illegally.

ECOTOURISM: Sustainable tourism which has minimal impact on the environment, such as safaris (Kenya), Rainforests (Belize) and Hiking (Lapland) or National Parks.

EDUCATIONAL TOURISM: May involve traveling to an education institution, a wooded retreat or some other destination in order to take personal interest classes, such as cooking classes with famous chefs or craft classes.

EXTREME TOURISM: Tourism associated with high risk. GAMBLING TOURISM: Example to Atlantic city, Las Vegas, Palm Springs,

California, Macau or Monte Carlo for the purpose of gambling at the Casinos there.

GARDEN TOURISM:Visiting botanical gardens famous places in the history of gardening, such as Versailles and the Taj Mahal.

HERITAGE TOURISM: Visiting historical (Rome, Athens, Cracow) or Industrial sites, such as old canals, railways, battlegrounds etc.

HEALTH TOURISM: Usually to escape from cities or relieve stress, perhaps for some ‘fun in the sun’ etc. often to sanatoriums or “Health Spas”.

HOBBY TOURISM: Tourism alone or with groups to participate in hobby interests, to meet others with similar interest, or to experience something pertinent to the hobby. Examples might be garden tours, amateur radio Dx-peditions or square dance cruises.

INCLUSIVE TOURISM: Tourism marketed to those with functional limits or disabilities. Referred to as “Tourism for all” in some regions. Destinations often employ Universal Design and Universal Destination Development principles.

MEDICAL TOURISM: For example- For what is illegal in one’s own country, such as abortion or

euthanasia.- For advanced care that is not available in one’s own country.- In the case that there are long waiting lists in one’s own country.- For use of free or cheap health care organizations.

PERPETUAL TOURISM: Tourism for vacation or to save tax and to avoid being resident to any country.

PILGRIMAGE TOURISMS: Tourism to visit holy temples and places. SPORT TOURISM: Tourism to play the favorite games available in other

countries.

IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM IN INDIA / SOCIO ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF TOURISM

Tourism today plays an important role in the economy of most countries of the world and India is no exception. India was a late starter in this field and the Indian

Government did not realize its economic significance till the seventies, when the late PM of India, Indra Gandhi set up a separate Ministry of tourism and Civil aviation. Tourism has now been given the status of an Export Industry by the ministry of tourism and the planning commission. This means that tourism related activities can claim incentives and concessions given to other export industries, but the message does not seem to have percolated to all the wings of State and Central Governments. For instance, manufacturing industries pay a concessional rate of electricity, but hotels is charged a very high rate for the power consumed by them. There is other example of lobule standards applied by the Government to the tourism industry-presumably because tourism has connotations of a ‘luxury’, which is frowned upon in the current political environment. Indians have to pay ten per cent ‘expenditure tax’ to the Central Government, if they stay and eat in hotels charging Rs 2000 or more for a room per night. It was Rs 400 per night till the Finance Minister raised it to Rs 1200 in 1992-93 and later to Rs 2000.

In India, tourism has created direct or indirect employment for some seventeen million people; it generates earnings for hoteliers, travel agents, taxi drivers, craftsmen, souvenir-sellers, transporters, airlines, tourist guides and shoemakers.

Some Rs 1000 crore worth of handicrafts are sold every year to tourists, taking the benefit of tourism to the village where our craftsmen live and work.

In certain parts of India, tourism is the only industry-Kashmir, for instance and now Himachal Pradesh and Goa. Or, consider Khajuraho. Tourism has transformed this once impoverished, obscure and backward village into a thriving tourist centre.

By the year 2010, India can earn Rs 30000 crore from tourism. According to the Government of India’s estimates-in the year 2000, it earned Rs. 14415 crore.

Tourism can yield enough revenue to purchase one Boeing 747 Jet for Air India every ten days. Or, one Airbus for Indian Airlines every five days. Or, one Jaguar deep penetration aircraft for the Indian Air Force every two days. From another point of view, tourism’s earnings could pay for ninety medium-sized schools every day. Or, four hospitals of two hundred bed each for the country, everyday.

Tourism could pay for almost the entire Tenth Plan bill for the power projects. Most important, tourism can help pay for our imports.