Professional Hotel Front Office Management

Professional Hotel Front

Offi ce Management

ii Professional Hotel Front Offi ce Management

About the Author

Anutosh Bhakta is currently Principal of Jaypee Hotels Training Centre, Agra. He has done his Masters

in Tourism Management after graduating from the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Kolkata. He

has also obtained Postgraduate Diploma in Teacher’s Training from the Institute of Hotel Management

(IHM), Mumbai. A skilled professional with rich experience in hospitality and soft skills training, Mr

Bhakta started his career as Hospitality Trainer at the Indian Institute of Business Management. He was

associated with IHM, Kolkata, for 20 years.

A Certifi ed Trainer recognized by SAITHRDP and HCIMA, Mr Bhakta has done his professional

training in hotel facility planning; design and hotel engineering; and hotel management, operation, staff￾ing, budgeting, and control from Cornell University, New York, US. He has also attended several train￾ing courses organized by Training Division, Department of Personnel and Training, Government of

India, SAITHRDP, supported by European Commission.

Mr Bhakta is a national Trainer and Consultant for Training Need Analysis recognized by Depart￾ment of Personnel and Training, Government of India. He has also been a Support Trainer for SASEC

Care Competency Training Programme funded by Asian Development Bank.

Earlier, Mr Bhakta served as a Training Consultant in Hotel Hindusthan International, Kolkata and

Varanasi, for more than seven years. He was also associated with Hotel Kenilworth, Kolkata and Goa,

as a Training Consultant. During this period, he conducted various operational and soft skills training

programmes for senior level managers as well as junior level staff.

Contents iii

Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited

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Professional Hotel Front

Offi ce Management

Anutosh Bhakta

Principal

Jaypee Hotels Training Centre

Agra

iv Professional Hotel Front Offi ce Management

Published by Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited,

7 West Patel Nagar, New Delhi 110 008.

Professional Hotel Front Offi ce Management

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Contents v

All my past, present and future students

vi Professional Hotel Front Offi ce Management

Contents vii

Preface

I always felt the need for a textbook on Front Offi ce Management during my stint as a hospitality trainer

and this motivated me to write this book.

This book has been primarily developed to cover the syllabus prescribed by the National Council for

Hotel Management, New Delhi. It is also at par with the syllabi of various universities of India, offering

degree courses in hotel/hospitality management.

During my continuous interface with the industry, I have noticed that students do not learn certain

practical aspects of front offi ce operation in college. I have included these important activities in detail

in this book so that the students are equipped with suffi cient knowledge to manage these in the industry.

I have also noticed that students do not get much opportunity to develop themselves during their stint

at college on service attitude, which is the most important aspect of hospitality industry. Keeping this

in mind, a separate chapter on service management has been added. Efforts have also been made to add

information on hotel laws and licenses.

In this book, I have explained front offi ce operation on manual system and gradually switched over

to computerized system, because I believe that manual system helps students to understand ‘why’ rather

than ‘how’. Thus, better conceptualization is possible.

This book would not have been complete without the constant inspiration of my student and ex￾colleague, Mr Soumendra Mukherjee. I am extremely thankful to him. I would also like to express my

sincere thanks to all my students and trainees of various organizations, who inspired me by seeking

clarifi cation during my teaching process, which actually helped me to conceive the idea of writing this

book. I express my sincere gratitude to all expert managers of the industry who added value to this book

by giving valuable suggestions.

Last but not least, I am thankful to my wife and my son for encouraging me continuously.

Anutosh Bhakta

viii Professional Hotel Front Offi ce Management

Contents ix

Contents

Preface vii

1. Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality 1

Hospitality Industry: An Overview 1

Career in the Hospitality Industry 2

An Insight into Hotels and the Hospitality Industry 4

Modern Tourism Development 5

Growth and Development of Hotel Industry in India 9

Classifi cation of Hotels 15

Other Types of Accommodation 25

Organisation of Hotels 29

Summary 31

Key Terms 32

Review Questions 32

Project Works 32

2. Front Offi ce in Hotels 33

Types of Rooms 33

Food Plans 37

Criteria of Charging Room Rent 38

Room Pricing Methods 39

Room Tariff 40

Functional Organisation of Front Offi ce Department 44

Front Offi ce Staff and Job Description 47

Interdepartmental Coordination 58

Summary 62

Key Terms 62

Review Questions 62

Project Work 62

3. Reservation Functions 63

Reservation and its Importance 63

Different Systems of Processing Reservation 73

Reports and Statistics 82

Summary 83

Key Terms 83

Review Questions 83

Project Work 84

4. Front Desk Functions 85

Room Position 85

Registration and its Importance 87

Handling Guest Arrivals 90

x Professional Hotel Front Offi ce Management

Handling Group Arrival 99

Handling Guests 119

Room Change Procedure 121

Handling Mails 122

Handling Message and Paging 124

Manual Key Control Procedure 128

Handling Departures

Identifi cation Of Various Vouchers 137

Safe Deposit Locker 139

Payments 141

Front Offi ce Accounting 150

Night Audit 156

Summary 164

Review Questions 165

5. Concierge and Telephones 167

Concierge and Bell Service 167

Left Luggage Facility 173

Handling Telephones Calls 176

Summary 181

Key Terms 181

Review Questions 181

Project Work 182

6. Other Related Activities 183

Guest Safety and Security 183

Handling Emergency Situation 188

Hotel Laws and License 194

Computerised Front Offi ce 208

Visa and Passport 217

Summary 220

Key Terms 220

Review Questions 220

Project Work 221

7. Management 222

Planning and Evaluating 222

Budgeting 234

Yield Management 239

Defi nition of Some Important Terms 225

Service Management 261

Service Recovery 284

Summary 287

Key Terms 288

Review Questions 288

Project Work 289

Glossary 290

Index 314

Contents xi

List of Diagrams and

Tables

Advance letting chart, (ALC) 69

Allowance voucher 139, 155

Amenities voucher 95

Arrival/departure notifi cation slip 95

Arrival/departure register (departure side) 133

Arrival/departure register 99

Baggage out pass 131

Bill folio 98

Bomb threat form 193

Booking patterns in hotels 242

Cancellation register 80

Cash sheet 156

C-form 103

C-form despatch register 104

Change slip 122

Core product and supplementary services in a luxury hotel 268

Correction voucher 154

Density control chart (DCC) 70

Discrepancy report 60

Double room 34

Errand card (arrival) 95

Errand card (departure) 133

Encashment certifi cate 149

Exchange voucher 73

Fire exit plan 188

Front offi ce organization 47

Front offi ce, coordination with other departments 58

Front offi ce department, layout 44

Foreign Exchange— Annexure A 147

Foreign Exchange— Annexure B 148

Foreign Exchange— Annexure C 149

Group arrival notifi cation slip 100

Guest expectations of service, factors infl uencing 268

Guest registration card (GRC) 89

Hotel diary 76

Hotel income statement 230

xii Professional Hotel Front Offi ce Management

Housekeeper’s room report 60

Key control sheet 129

Left luggage receipt 174

Left luggage register 175

Legal requirements in hotel business 205–206

Licenses required in a hotel 207

Lobby attendant control sheet 134

Location form 126

Locker opening and closing, record of 140

Luggage tag 131

Mail handling (fl ow chart) 124

Mail forwarding register 123

Mail forwarding slip 123

Message handling (fl ow chart) 128

Message slip 125

Miscellaneous charge voucher 138

Morning / afternoon shift handover register 115

Movement list 75

Night shift handover register 116

Organization of a hotel 29

Paid-out voucher 138

Publicity sticker 130

Reservation request, modes of receiving 64

Reservation section, tasks undertaken in 64

Resident card 97

Restaurant and bar check 137

Room reservation form (RR form) 72

Rooms division budget report 232

Rooms division income statement 231

Rooms division operating ratios 233

Room status board (RSB) 68

Service act, nature of 266

Single room 34

Situations and appropriate response when handling telephones 177–178

Standard size of rooms 35

Suite 35

Tariff card 41

Ten-day occupancy forecast form 224

Three-day occupancy forecast form 225

Threshold curve 242

Twin room 34

Visitors tabular ledger (VTL) 159

Wake call sheet 102

Whitney rack 78

Whitney slip 77

Yield management process 253

Chapter ONE

Introduction to Tourism

and Hospitality

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter, you will be able to

» Gain an understanding of the hospitality industry

» Get an idea of the growth and development of hotel industry

» Learn classifi cation and organisation of hotels

» Understand the basic elements of tourism

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY: AN OVERVIEW

In this chapter, we will provide an overview of the hospitality industry and will discuss the basic con￾cepts of this large and exciting industry.

First, we will get an idea of an organisation and an industry. An ‘organisation’ is a group of peo￾ple working together to achieve a common goal and an ‘industry’ is a group of organisations working

together for a common goal. So, an industry could be understood as an umbrella under which many

organisations of the same nature function for a common purpose, e.g. the textile industry, under

which are different organisations like those engaged in textile manufacturing, sales, and garment

manufac- turing operate. Together, all these organisations constitute the textile industry. Similarly, under the

hospitality industry, there are many organisations that work towards a common goal. The Oxford English

Dictionary defi nes hospitality as ‘the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors or strangers with

liberality and goodwill’.

2 Professional Hotel Front Offi ce Management

The hospitality industry can be broadly defi ned as a collection of organisations providing either all

or a combination of the following facilities:

Accommodation

Food and beverage

Transportation

Entertainment

Health care

Some of the organisations that come under the hospitality industry are

Hotels

Independent restaurants

Airline companies

Shipping companies

Railways

Industrial canteens

Amusement parks

Shopping malls

Hospitals/nursing homes

Call centres

Any possible organisation engaged in customer service

The above list implies that the hospitality industry includes not just hotels and restaurants but also

a wide range of other organisations. This means ample job opportunities in hotels, restaurants, airlines,

cruise lines, railways, industrial canteens, amusement parks, shopping mall, hospitals, nursing homes,

call centres, banks, MNCs, etc. and a very bright future ahead. Students are familiar with this brighter

side of the profession. But, many students good in academics have to struggle hard to carve out a

successful career in this industry while others who do not perform so well in academics excel in their

career.

CAREER IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Just graduating in hotel or hospitality management is not enough to build a successful career in the hos￾pitality industry. During my thirty-year stint in the hospitality industry, I have observed that for success

in this fi eld, academics count for approximately forty percent. Other qualities make up the balance sixty

percent. It is extremely essential to blend academic qualifi cation and other qualities to become a success￾ful professional. While pursuing your studies, you must learn to develop and blend these qualities with

your academic qualifi cation. Otherwise, you will see the ladder of success but will not be in a position

to climb it. So, what are these qualities that you need to develop and blend with academics? They are

elaborated below.

Good communication skills

Communication skill is not restricted to speaking good English. It is an ability to make people under￾stand what you want to express, no matter whatever your language or situation is. Communication is an

exchange of ideas, facts, views, opinion, information and emotions by two or more person. This is also

known as a process by which the information is transmitted between individuals and/or organisations, so

that an understanding response results.

Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality 3

Grooming

It means how you present yourself in front of others depending on the occasion, environment, place

or situation. You should look charming and presentable. Take care that your hair is trimmed, you are

properly shaved, your uniform is clean and properly ironed, your shoes polished, and that there are no

broken or missing buttons, etc. That way you will look attractive and presentable, suited for the work

environment. You should appear as per the requirements of the industry. For instance, spiked hair may

look good at a party but is unsuitable in a work environment, especially in the service industry. So, you

should develop a sense of grooming best suited with the environment.

Pleasing and Cheerful Personality

Your main job will be to deal with people and render services to them. In other words, you will earn

money by selling services. People will decide to buy services from you, provided they are attracted to

your pleasing and cheerful personality. In this context, we offer an example here. In 1971, in New York

City, a research was carried out to fi nd the factors most responsible for selling. To carry out this research,

they opened, prior to Christmas Eve, two identical pastry shops, adjacent to each other with the same

size, same decor, same varieties of product, same ambience, same number of staff, etc. But, the counter

staff was different. In one shop, they kept counter staff with smiling face and pleasing personality. While

in other shop, staff was gloomy. After a month, they realized that the shop with smiling and pleasing

counter staff earned ten times more revenue than the other shop. It is rightly said that if you cannot smile,

if you cannot please people, and you are not suitable for the service industry.

Positive Attitude

This is the most important quality you need to develop to be a successful professional. What is positive

attitude? In simple words, positive attitude means your behaviour, and the ability to deal with people

from your heart. Whatever you do for your customers and do it with sincerity—from your heart; because

everybody likes natural and genuine behaviour, which can only come from the heart.

When people like you, they will be willing to spend money on you. A positive attitude will not only

make your customers happy, but will also give you immense happiness.

A famous Chinese proverb says:

If you want happiness for an hour—TAKE A NAP.

If you want happiness for a day—GO FOR A PICNIC.

If you want happiness for a week—GO FOR A WEEKEND.

If you want happiness for a month—GET MARRIED.

If you want happiness for a year—INHERIT WEALTH.

If you want happiness for lifetime—LOVE YOUR WORK.

You can only love your work, if you work from the heart.

Let us now discuss customer-focused activities. The most important thing to remember is that every￾body in and around you is your customer. He or she may be your classmate, colleague, teacher, sub-staff,

visitor or your family member. You should display a positive attitude with everybody. If you think you

are required to display a positive attitude only with people who buy your service, then you are wrong.

Being positive comes from within. It is not acting. Unless you make it a habit, you cannot develop a

positive attitude. Thus, you should be positive with everybody.