HTH575 .FRONT OFFICE

8/7/2019 HTH575 .FRONT OFFICE

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Importance of Front officey Front office term cover reception, concierge,

switchboard etc

y It also heart of the hotely It also the only contact by the guest traveler at the

hotel

y To ensure that guests contact with the front office will

be positive


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y It also as the communication centre of the hotel thatprovide info to other dept.

y It also about organizing and controlling people toachieve objectives


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Front office structurey Hotel size determine the structure of front office.

y There are share features to every type of hotels.

y Small hotel dont have separate management post likebig hotel


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y The success of front office is the presence of workethics of the team

y It also important to maintain positive workingrelationship with other dept.


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Reservations

y This department is often part of the front desk.y The reservation procedure usually begins with an

inquiry by a potential guest about room availabilityon specific day and period.

y Small hotel and B&B may not able to affordcomputerized system, so they used manual backupprocedure.

y Computerized system usually offer greateraccessibility than manual ones. It can smoothrunning of the front desk.


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y Confirmation of reservations is very important forboth the hotel and the guest. It show

professionalism, especially reservation made overthe phone or internet.

y Confirmation is also important for the hotel bcozit is a way to double checking each reservation.

y Overbooking is another important issue forreservation.

yHotel overbook for 2 main reasons;

y There is often a number of guest that do not haveguaranteed reservation

y Guest with guaranteed reservation fail to show up.


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y The purpose of overbooking is to maximization profit,but if the hotel in unfortunate situation, like everyguests show up, the hotel will have to find the roomsfor the guests that cannot be accommodated.

y In some case, the hotel guests want to extend their stayalso may cause the hotel to overbooked.


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CHECK-INy Important task that front desk personnel have to

undertake.

y

Receptionists have to perform a multiple task.y They must be polite, put guest at ease & make

them feel welcome.


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y At the same time efficiently performing the followingduties:

y Checking that the registration details on the card arecorrect and legible.

y Checking with the guest that details of the booking arecorrect.

y

Verifying that the guest knows the room rate and what itincludes

y Checking that the room is allocated and ready.

y Checking for messages for he guest/ any other special

requestsy Issuing the room key.


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Registrationy Contains information required of the guest.

y 2 distinct categories:

1. Information necessary for hotel to operate that hotelis legally obligated to obtain

2. Keep for a certain period.

Usually include the guests name, address, nationality,

passport number and signature


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Other information usually required by the

hotel includes;

y Date of arrival and departurey Time of arrival

y Number of guests per room

y

Payment method and deposit informationy Room number

y Rate and what it includes

y Who handled the guest's registration


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CHECK OUTy The last contact with the hotel that a guest has on any

particular stay.

yPrincipals functions of the check-out are therefore tosettle the guests bill/ accounts.

y This account was opened at the check-in stage and arecertain principles that have to be followed regarding

guests accounts.


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y These are:

They must be always up to date and accurate.

Cash sales must be separately posted-hotel accountantprepares the cash flow statement for the hotel.

The system of records must be easy to operate andeconomic in terms of time and maintenance costs.


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y Most hotel today use computerized systems.

y Control procedures are integrated in these computer

packages.y These control producers include:

Goods in the form of cost control

Accommodation,

Telephones

Separately recorded cash transactions

Bad debts


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y Methods of payment are another consideration duringthe check-out.

y The most common methods of payment are: Cash

Credit and debit cards

Bank transfers

Cheques

Vouchers

Bill sent to the company that made the reservation.


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Night Audity Typical night audit shift 11pm and 7pm

y Also called as the graveyard shift

y Function that night audit perform:-Auditing the front office department and other revenuegenerating department within the hotel

The main link between the front office and the account

department of the hotelEvery shift must balance up all payments received beforegoing off duty


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Hospitalityy Terms such as hospitality, providing a service, andaccommodating the guests needs to avoidmisunderstanding

yHospitality the concept of anticipating andsatisfying all guests (reasonable) wants and needs.

terms want and needs cover both materialrequirements as well as psychological benefits suchas making a guest feel welcome


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y Providing a service the process of satisfyingguests need and it combines what is done and howit is done

y Quality of service provided is not measurable byany hard criteria.

y It is a matter of perception and accordingly variesfrom guest to guest, deriving from guests prior

expectation and current state of mind.y Provision of service involves guest/hotel personal

interaction


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y The front office department is the most visibledepartment of the hotel

y Guest look to front office personnel to answerquestions, provide direction, suggest restaurant andetc.

y The hotel relies heavily on front office personnel toconvince their guest about the quality of service thatthe hotel is providing


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The following key area of activity that

involve to convince the guests

y Good personal and uniform appearance is the keyto a positive first impression.

Good personal appearance covers areas grooming,hairstyle, fingernails, jewellery

Good uniform appearance means that the uniformmust be clean and properly pressed and shoes mustbe coordinated with the uniform


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y Facial expression must communicate willingnessto offer assistance, emphasized by direct eye

contact and a warm smile.y Proper posture and body language means of

visual communication at all times and particularlyduring the first encounter, must convey alertness,

enthusiasm and the willingness of personaly Every guest must be addressed with a welcome

salutation, positive altitude and the guests namemust be used as often as possible

y

If the front office personnel are unable to help withguests problem volunteer to offer otheralternative before guest asks for it


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Examples on how to deal with difficult

guest relation situations

y 8 steps can be used when confronted with such asituation

Listen carefully to what the guest is saying withoutinterrupting.

Filter through to the real problem by asking questionregarding the problem

Develop alternative situations

Act immediately

Never make a promise that you cannot keepRefer problem that are beyond your authority or control

Give the guest your undivided attention

Always be pleasant


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PRICING

1. Pricing is one of the most important managerial aspects

of the front office department.2. It is affects the volume of sales and profit maximization

for the hotel.

3. Two main approaches to pricing:

(a) Cost Based / Cost Plus Pricing- Are based on the following general approaches.

- The cost related to one room rental are identifiedand

then a fixed. rate of return is added to calculate theselling price.


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(b) Market Based- Price follow-ship and prestige product pricing.- Hotels will identified what the consumer is preparedto

pay for a specific service.

- Trying to achieve the desired rate of return.- Hotel can afford to do detailed market anddemographic analysis in order to determine this.

4. Some hotels however, use a combination of cost basedand market based.

5. The advantage of this strategy is that they remaincompetitive.

6.The problem however is that chain can use thisbehavior to heir advantage.


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MARKET PENETRATION STRATEGY1. By reducing their room price, hotel chain operators can

force independent operators out of business.2. The chains profit will support the lost making hotel.

3. An independent hotel that does not make any profit willgo bankrupt, leaving a greater market share for the chainoperated hotel.

4. When the lager market has been secured and

competition reduced the chain operated hotel can thenincreased room rates and become profitable again.5. This strategy usually employed by new entrants to a

market, and is called market penetration strategy.


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PRICING POLICY1.Determine by the characteristics of:

(a) The Guests Characteristics- Length of stay and meal requirements.- Alternative eating facilities in the hotels locale.- Guest spending power.- Price sensitivity.

- Homogeneity.(b)Hotel Characteristics

- Grade, size, market position and marketing strategy.2. That both independent as well as chain operated hotel must

considered in relation to their pricing strategy(a) Price variations due to different room types.(b) Number of occupants or room.(c)Market segments or type of guest.(d) Room rack rate(e) Variety of other room rates.(f) Contracts with tour operator, travel agencies and other.


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YIELDMANAGEMENT1. Hotel companies have started using yield

management to try to maximize their profits.

2. Originally used by airline companies.

3. Based on the principle of supply and demand.

4. Concentrates on specific market segments andtime period.

5. Based on future bookings and booking forecast,

using the yield management the hotel operators

adjusts the hotel room price to achieve theoptimum balance between supply and demand

for the specific period.


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CONTROLy -the objectives;y a)To establish specific targetsy

b) To monitor the performance c) To take corrective action- -a no. of areas can and must be controlled.- -F.O manager must be able to choose the

- necessary information and report.- -the report will see by, senior managers, headoffice and every departmental manager.


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< the report must be accurate as well as adapted to the needs of the

specific property & specific manager.


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The advantages of the report:y Help the manager to see if the department is meeting the set budget or

if corrective action is needed.

y Manager can identify which are the most popular rate and planaccordingly.

y Breaks down the total revenue figure by method of payment (cash,credit card and vouchers)

Arrival list (the name of suggests, a detailed list of theDetail list days arrivals)

Departure list (all the departures that are expected for

the day)

y The report will be generates by night shift include the night audit team.

y The report, give an advantages to other department.y For example, departure list that the housekeeping department can use

to organize personnel levels.


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- Overall, all the lists serve the purpose of manual back up in the

unfortunate case of a computer breakdown.

No Reports Particular

a.) VIP guest report -includes arrival & departure information of VIP guest that

arrive that day

b.) special request report -For all arriving guests

c.) room out of order - Listing all the hotel rooms that are out of order

d.) messages report-lists all the guests arriving that day & who have messages or

parcels waiting

e.) maintenance report -lists all maintenance work to be carried out during the day

f.) credit limit report -Lists the credit limits that the hotels credit controller has

allocated to each guest

g.) in-house guests report - List all the guests that are staying in the hotel

h.) vacant room report - lists all rooms that are vacant

i.) No shows report - Guests with reservations that failed to show up him previous

night


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-2 main purposes :-

a.) They act as backup in the case of a computer failure

b.)Hotel employees who do not work in an office such as maintenancepersonnel do not have constant access to this information.

- Apart from cash and revenue is guest satisfaction.

- Hotel give guest satisfaction questionnaires for the purpose ofgetting feedback on customer satisfaction.

- The questionnaires are left in the guests room and ask the guest tograde.


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PERSONNEL

y

Providing a god quality and effective service infront office.

y Proper and continuous training in collaboration

with the previously mentioned control

procedures.y The characteristic:-

a.) appropriate personnel levels

b.) keeping the personnel motivatedc.) having welfare and appraisal systems in place

d.) ensuring career development possibilities


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IT & EQUIPMENTy Technological advances have changed the ways hotels operate, & emerging

technologies will continue that trend such as:

a) sales force automation

b) seamless reservation systems

c) paperless mgktd) interactive services

y These systems integrate front office with all food & beverages outlets;reservations; central reservation; the accounts department; conference andbanqueting; sales & mktg; & more.

y The services are more efficient and enable them to provide a better service to

hotel guests & not a replacement of traditional hospitality & personal contacty But technological equipment and computes cannot make a guest feel welcome.


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Summaryy This chapter briefly discussed the functions of hotels F.O department.y The functions were grouped into 3 main categories:

Operational aspects social & psychological mgkt aspectsOf F.O of F.O mgkt

y The importance of the front office department stretches beyondrevenue generation and the communication centre of the hotel,

coordinating all the other departments aiming to provide the hotelguests with a level of service that will meet, or even exceed, theirexpectations.

HTH575 .FRONT OFFICE

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