Front Office Operation, Semester - First

Front Office Operations

Diploma
In Hotel & Hospitality Management
Subject Code-HM-15

School of Distance Education

Karnataka State Open University, Karnataka

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 Front Office Operation, Semester - First

Copyright 2012, Karnataka State Open University

All Rights Reserved
Compiled and Printed
By
ECDL Educations Private Limited
For,
School of Distance Education
Karnataka State Open University

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 Front Office Operation, Semester - First

Preface….

Hospitality Industry is considered to be one of the fastest

growing Industry in the world , and with ever changing trends .

We need to be updated …. We have tried to put across the latest

development and educate our students for facing the Industry in
a most technically advanced way.

Front office is considered to be the show window, So in all sense the

various aspects should be of highest standard as to create the first
impression on a guest mind, and forever.

We hope this book will go a long way in making the student

aware of newest approach for their Career.

ECDL…

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CONTENTS
BLOCK- I
UNIT Topic Contents Page No.
1 Hospitality 1.1 Introduction to hotel industry 9
Industry 1.2 Overview of accommodation. 10
1.3 Modern trends of industry, Evolution of Modern Hotel 11
1.4 Grouping hotels, Guest profile & Functional aspects. 12
2 Types of Hotel, 2.1 Commercial, airport, resort, time share & condominium 14
Supplementary 2.2 Heritage hotels, Motels. Conference & convention centers 15-16
accommodation 2.3Defining Supplementary accommodation 17-18
2.4 Types & Characteristics of Supplementary accommodation 19
3 Heritage 3.1 History, Various Heritage hotels in India. 21
Hotels, Palace 3.2 Size, Star system, Eligibility for Star classification. 22-24
& Classification 3.3 How to apply for star classification. 25-27
of Hotels 3.4 Five star category, 2 star category hotels 28-29
4 Basis of room 4.1 Various types of - CP, EP, AP, MAP, Bermuda Plans 32
tariff charges 4.2 Types of rooms in Hotels 33
4.3. Facilities offered in Hotels 33
BLOCK –II
UNIT Topic Contents Page No.
5 Organization of 5.1 Independent hotels. Chain hotels. 37
lodging 5.2 Franchise and referral groups. Management 38-39
properties 5.3 Organizational missions, goals and strategies, 40-42
Organizational chart and its functional areas
5.4 Front office organization (Staffing including uniformed 43-44
staff) Job description, Functional organizational of F.O.
department
6 Front Office 6.1 Reservations, Types, Tentative or confirmed, Guaranteed. 47
Operations pre-payment, credit cards, travel agent and corporate
6.2 Non-guaranteed reservation, Sources, enquiry, Central 48-49
reservation system, Group reservations
6.3 various charts, computerized system, CRS, records 50-52
6.4 confirmations, amendments, cancellations, expected arrivals 53-54
and departures, processing deposits, reservation history.
7 Front Office 7.1 Room Inventory. 56
Computer 7.2 Status. 57
Application 7.3 Software used 58
8. Registration 8.1 Registration, Guest Data, Reports, Self check-in : Walk In 60
F.O Procedures Client
8.2 Call accounting, Guest information, Employee information, 61-63
Post charges, Messages, Wake up calls.
8.3 Inquiries, Registration, Check-outs, Credit balances 64-65
8.4 Security, Thieves, Fire alarm, Burglar alarm, Security code, 66-67
Guest Folio.

BLOCK –III

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UNIT Topic Contents Page No.

9 Hotel Guide 9.1 Organization & History, 73
9.2 Mission, 73
9.3 Achievements 74
9.4 Organization & History, 74
10 Handling of 10.1 Co-ordination with other departments 76
Guest mail, 10.2 Handling of keys - types of keys. 77
Messages 10.3 Handling of Pagers, Fax, E-Mail etc. 78
10.4 Telephone Handling 79
11 Visitor's 11.1Guest Weekly Bill 81
Tabular Ledger 11.2 NCR Machines, 82
11.3 Maintenance of Cash book, 82
11.4Night Auditor 83
12. Approvals 12.1 At project stage. 86-87
required for 12.2 Classification & Reclassification of hotels 88-90
Hotel
BLOCK –IV
UNIT Topic Contents Page No.
13 Tourism 13.1 History 95
13.2 Recent Developments 96
13.3 Sustainable Tourism 96
13.4 Growth 97
14 Guest 14.1 Guest Dissatisfaction 99
satisfaction 14.2 Customer Relations 99
14.3 Service is a Two-sided coin, 100
14.4 Delivery of Psychological Service 100
15 Value based 15.1 Exposure to Cultural Heritage of India 102
education in 15.2 Values through learning & teaching 103
Hospitality

16 Application of 16.1 Time Management 105

Management 16.2 Manpower Management, Resource Management 106
Principles 16.3 Time and Motion Study, Conflict Management 106
16.4 Cost-Benefit Analysis 107

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UNIT -01
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

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CONTENTS
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction to hotel industry
1.2 Overview of accommodation.
1.3 Modern trends and growth of industry
1.4 Evolution of Modern Hotel
1.5 Grouping Hotel On the basis of Size
1.6 Guest Profile & Functional aspects
1.6.1 Guest Classification
1.7 Lesson Summary
1.8 Key Words
1.9 Questions to Solve
1.10 References

1.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
•Hotels, history of hotels, development and growth of hotel industry in India,
•Category of hotels,
•International corporate hotels and
• Major hotel groups in India.

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO HOTEL INDUSTRY

Hotel industry is a hospitality industry. Of course, hospitality is not free, but is paid for,
where the payment depends on the comforts and services provided for. Payment also
depends on the fancy and economic affordability of the customer. The hospitality
industry is nowadays a global industry, and is considered as an important employer in
countries world-wide. It now has attained a much higher status in society and demands
high standards of work ethics and efficiency from its employees. Employment
opportunities are many, and are now sought by a vast majority of people.
In other words, Hospitality means making a tourist feel totally welcome as not
only your guest, but also the guest of the complete family of the Hotel. Hospitality is
genuine smiling face. Hospitality can be termed as deliberate, planned and sustained
effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and
public i.e. business of making and keeping friends, and promoting an atmosphere of
better understanding. Hospitality activity covers everything i.e. providing attentive and
courteous services, facilities and amenities to a traveler, meeting and greeting him at the
door, providing efficient and caring service of food and beverage to him in the room i.e.
providing ―A Home away from Home‖, and making his visit a memorable and pleasant
experience.

1.2 OVERVIEW OF ACCOMMODATION

Many countries have recognized the vital importance of accommodation industry in
relation to tourism and their governments have coordinated their activities with the
industry by way of providing attractive incentives and concessions in the form of long
term loans, liberal import licenses and tax relief, cash grants for construction and
renovation of buildings, and similar other concessions to the accommodation industry.

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The United Nations Conference on International Travel and Tourism held in Rome in
1963 considered, in particular, problems relating to means of accommodation. The
Conference acknowledged the importance of means of accommodation, both traditional
(hotels, motels) and supplementary (camps, youth hostels, etc.) as incentives to
international tourism. The Conference recommended that governments should consider
the possibility of including projects, and particularly those relating to accommodation,
on the list of projects eligible for loans from industrial or other corporations, and that,
where required; they should establish special financial corporations for tourism. It also
has recommended that governments should give sympathetic consideration to the
possibility of granting special facilities and incentives for accommodation projects.
According to the WTO Report on 'the Development of the Accommodation Sector,‘
tourist accommodation is used to denote the facilities operated for short-term
accommodation to guests, either with or without service, against payment of and
according to fixed rates. For the purposes of classification, all tourist accommodations
have been divided into the following groups:
(i) Hotels and similar establishments (the hotel industry proper) and,
(ii) Supplementary means of accommodation.
The first group usually includes hotels, motels, boarding houses and inns, while the
second includes registered private accommodation (rented rooms, apartments, and
houses), camping / mountain huts and shelters as well as health establishments that are
sanatoria and convalescent homes.

1.3 MODERN TRENDS AND GROWTH OF INDUSTRY

Gone are the days when people looked upon a hotel for a bed and food. Now it provides
almost everything that a guest needs. Hotels have become service providers for the
guests in all possible ways. Competition has set into providing these services in order to
woo the guests. Every big hotel chain / group has been spending crores of rupees in
order to stay in this race. Different services are rendered by the hotels, viz. Banquets,
convention centers, exhibition centers, restaurants, catering service, secretarial services,
corporate services, money changers, travel desk, butler service, valet service, internet
service, facility for sports and games, massage parlor, health club, gym, shopping
arcade, swimming pool, tourist limousines, airport service, etc.
These services are either wholly owned and run by the hotel, or owned by hotel and run
on franchise by experts in the field, or owned & run by outsiders but attached to the
hotels. These services complement each other and also help in improving the occupancy
rate of the hotels.
1. Banquet- Hotels provide wide range of banquet menus, Weddings, parties, business
gathering, all of which help in improving food sales and also work in attracting new
customers.
2. Convention Center- Meetings, seminars, conventions and other social gatherings are
arranged which in turn attract group bookings, good occupancy and food service.
3. Restaurant- Restaurants serving different specialty cuisine like Chinese, Korean,
Italian, Continental, Mexican, Indian (South Indian, Mughalai etc.) are set up by hotels
with the interiors suiting those places are run to cater to the different tastes of domestic
as well as international tourists. Catering services are also undertaken at off-campus
locations.

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4. Secretarial Service- This is an essential service for corporate clients. The CEOs, MD‘s
and Chairpersons of different companies need this arrangement for expediting their
notes, letters and agreements, communications etc.
5. Corporate Service- This works as an extension to the corporate offices of the clients.
All the services needed for handling corporate affairs are provided to make the
corporate guest feel at ―office away from his office.‖ Internet Service is the latest
addition to the corporate service list. This is available even in small and medium sized
hotels. The guest can connect his laptop to this service and perform his regular work /
tasks.
6. Money Changers- Where there is high proportion of foreign tourists / visitors; there
will be the need of money changing service. Here the hotel exchanges the foreign
currency for local currency. However it cannot sell foreign currency. This service must
function as per the foreign exchange rules and guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India
from time to time.
7. Travel Desk- Provides car rental services, air & train ticketing and looks after the
other travel needs of the guest. In some hotels Concierge looks after this service too.
8. Butler Service- A personalized service provided to the guest and his visitors
exclusively. He provides the food and beverage and also wine service, looks after the
visitors to the guest and helps in keeping the room tidy from time to time and also
arranges the wardrobe for the guest.
9. Valet Service- A personalized service, but limited to help at car parking and laundry
facility etc., in hotels.
10. Health Club and Sports and Games- This is provided not only in resort or leisure
hotels but also in down town & commercial hotels. The present corporate guest even
though a busy person wants some time out for himself for health and pleasure reasons.
Health club, Spa, Gym, Massage Parlor, Swimming pool, billiards, bowling ally, tennis
court, mini golf course are some of the popular facilities. In some parts of our country
health tourism has picked up at places like Himachal Pradesh and Kerala where health
spas and ayurvedic treatments are provided. The tourist on vacation can go back a
rejuvenated person.

1.4 EVOLUTION OF MODERN HOTEL

The concept and the format of hotel have changed a great deal over the years. There are
different types of hotels ranging from international hotels to resort hotels catering to the
increasing and diversified demand of the clients. The size, the facade, architectural
features and the facilities and amenities provided differ from one establishment to
another. In addition, the landscape in a particular destination area also greatly
influenced the architectural features of a hotel. The following are the main types of
hotels:
i) International Hotels ii) Commercial Hotels iii) Residential Hotels
iv) Resort Hotels v) Floating Hotels vi) Palace Hotels
vii) Capsule Hotels iii) Heritage Hotels ix) Guest Houses

1.5 GROUPING HOTELS ON THE BASIS OF SIZE

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Classification is made based on the number of let able rooms. It can be indicated either
by rooms as is done in America or by the number of beds as is done in Europe.
• Small hotels: 25 rooms or less
•Average hotels: 25 rooms to 90 rooms
•Above average hotels: 80 rooms to 250 rooms
• Large hotels: 250 rooms and above

1.6 GUEST PROFILE AND FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS

A hotel customer or client is called a guest because the hotel offers homely and
professional service to him, and establishes an intimate relationship with him during his
stay.
Hotel guests may be defined as ―people who have, who are, or who will be availing the
services of hotel, for a particular period in order to satisfy their demand for
accommodation, food and beverage or entertainment, for which they are willing and
able to pay‖.
Guest relation is the integral part of the hotel industry. It is a means for the management
to reach out to the guest and convey to him the feeling of warmth and welcome.
1.6.1 Guest Classification
A guest may be classified under following headings:
1. Guests on the basis of presence in the hotel: an expected guest, an in-house guest and
check out guest.
2. Guests on the basis of recognition: regular guest, V.I.P, special attention and
distinguished guest and new guests
3. Guests on the basis of revenue: paying guests and Complimentary Guests.

1.7 LESSON SUMMARY

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The hospitality industry is part of a larger enterprise known as the travel and tourism
industry. The two main segments of the hospitality industry are the lodging industry
(also called hotel industry) and the food and beverage industry (also called restaurant
industry).
Some of the earliest known hotels are taverns or inns, caravanserais, etc. where travelers
rested and slept. During the middle ages, the churches across the world established
guest offices for pilgrims and travelers. The merchant class hotels began to emerge in
15th century due to increase in trade. The inns of the 16th century provided private
rooms to the visitors. The present day hotels started emerging from the late 18th
century. The past one hundred years have brought about dramatic changes in modes of
transportation, as well as in lodging accommodations. Hotels are built near the railway
stations and bus stands for the convenience of passengers.

1.8 KEY WORDS

Sanatoria - a resort for maintaining or improving health
Renovation – renewal, restoration, redecoration
Convalescent – recuperative, restorative, recovery
Concierge – caretaker, janitor
Rejuvenated – revitalized, re-energized, recharged
Amenities – facilities, services

1.9 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. Write in short about the Hotel Industry?
2. Write about the Overview of Accommodation?
3. Write in detail about Modern Trends & growth of Industry?
4. Write about Evolution of Modern Hotel?
5. What is grouping of Hotel on the basis of size?
6. Write about Guest Profile and its functional aspects?

1.10 REFERENCES
1. M. Zulfikar, Introduction to Tourism and Hotel Industry,Sangam Books Ltd.
2. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
3. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,
Wiley.
4. Tom Powers, Clayton W. Barrows, Introduction to the Hospitality Industry, Wiley.

UNIT -02

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TYPES OF HOTELS & SUPPLEMENTARY ACCOMMODATION

CONTENTS
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Airport Hotel.
2.3 Resort Hotel
2.4 City Hotel
2.5 Time Share & Condominiums
2.6 Heritage Hotels
2.6.1 Heritage
2.6.2 Heritage Classic
2.6.3 Heritage Grand
2.7 Motels
2.8 Conference & Convention Centers
2.9 Supplementary Accommodation
2.10Defining Supplementary Accommodation
2.11 Characteristics of Supplementary Accommodation
2.12 Types of Supplementary Accommodation
2.12.1 Youth Hostels/ Yatri Niwas
2.12.2 Caravans, Camping group, Tourist Camps.
2.12.3 Railway/ Airport Retiring Rooms
2.12.4 Hotel Garni & Condominiums
2.13 Lesson Summary
2.14 Key Words
2.15 Questions to Solve
2.16 References

2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
• Types of hotels,
• Heritage hotels & palaces,
• Types of Supplementary accommodation and
• Characteristics of Supplementary accommodation.

2.1 INTRODUCTION
Hotel is the transient home away from home. Hotel industry is a hospitality industry. Of
course, hospitality is not free, but is paid for, where the payment depends on the
comforts and services provided for. Payment also depends on the fancy and economic
affordability of the customer. The hospitality industry is nowadays a global industry,
and is considered as an important employer in countries world-wide. It now has
attained a much higher status in society and demands high standards of work ethics and
efficiency from its employees. Employment opportunities are many, and are now sought
by a vast majority of people.

2.2 AIRPORT HOTELS

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As the name suggest, these hotels are situated at airports and are ideal for transit
passengers who have only a few hours to while away, making it impractical for them to
stay in a downtown hotel. Rates are on E.P., i.e., charges for room only.

2.3 RESORT HOTELS

These types of hotels are located in the hills, on beaches or at other naturally scenic
places and are mainly patronised by vacationers. Facilities may range from the basic to
the most luxurious. The rates quoted are often on A.P., i.e., room plus meals.

2.4 CITY HOTELS

These are hotels located in the heart of the city and within a short distance from the
business centre, shopping areas, theatres, public buildings, etc. Business clientele
normally prefer such hotels. Rates are generally high due to their geographical
advantages and due to the fact that the rate of return on investment (R.O.I.) computed
on these capital-intensive hotels are substantially high.

2.5 TIME SHARE AND CONDOMINIUM

Time share properties involve individuals who purchase the ownership of
accommodation for a specific period of time usually 1 or 2 weeks a year. These owners
then occupy the unit during the time. Owners may also have the unit rented out by the
management company, which operates the hotel. These hotels are becoming popular in
resort areas.

Condominium hotels are similar to time share hotels but the difference between the two
lies in the type of ownership units in condominium hotels have only one owner instead
of multiple owners. In a condominium hotel an owner inform the management
company as to when he or she occupy the unit. That way, the management company is
free to rent the unit for the reminder of the year.

2.6 HERITAGE HOTELS

‗Heritage Hotels‘ cover running hotels in palaces /castles/forts/ havelies/ hunting
loges /residence of any size built prior to 1950. The facade, architectural features and
general construction should have the distinctive qualities and ambience in keeping with
the traditional way of life of the area. The architecture of the property to be considered
for this category should not normally be interfered with. Any extension, improvement,
renovation, change in the existing structures should be in keeping with the traditional
architectural styles and constructional techniques harmonizing the new with the old.
After expansion/ renovation, the newly built up area added should not exceed 50% of
the total built up (plinth) area including the old and new structures. For this purpose,
facilities such as swimming pools, lawns etc. will be excluded. Heritage Hotels will be
sub-classified in the following categories:
2.6.1 Heritage:
This category will cover hotel in Residences/Havelies/Hunting
Lodges/Castles/Forts/Palaces built prior to 1950. The hotel should have a minimum of
5 rooms (10 beds).
2.6.2 Heritage Classic:

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This category will cover hotels in Residences/Havelies/Hunting

Lodges/Castles/Forts/Palaces built prior to 1935. The hotel should have a minimum of
15 rooms (30 beds).
2.6.3 Heritage Grand:
This category will cover hotels in Residence/Havelies/Hunting
Lodges/Castles/Forts/Palaces built prior to 1935. The hotel should have minimum of 15
rooms (30 beds).
Room & Bath Size:
No room or bathroom size is prescribed for any of the categories. However, general
ambience, comfort and imaginative re-adaptation would be considered while awarding
sub-classification ‗classic‘ or ‗grand‘.

2.7 MOTELS
The term is derived from the phrase, ‗Motor hotels‘ which are located principally on
highways. They provide modest board and lodging facilities highway travelers. The
length of stay is usually over night, the rates quoted are on European plan i.e.; room
only.
2.8 CONFERENCE AND CONVENTION CENTERS
These are specially designed to handle group meetings. Most full service conference
centers offer overnight accommodation. They usually provide all the services and the
equipment necessary to ensure a meetings success. They are often situated outside the
metropolitan areas and many provide leisure facilities like golf course, spas etc.

These hotels may have as many as 2000 rooms or more. These facilities are designed to
accommodate large conventions. They have sufficient number of guest rooms to house
all the attendees of most conventions. They have huge conference halls, ball rooms etc.
Business services like tele-conferencing, secretarial assistance, language translator of
facsimile machines are also usually available.

2.9 Supplementary accommodation

You are aware that by following the price segmentation methods in the target markets it
becomes clear that the paying capacity of the tourists differ to a large extent. This has
bearing on the accommodation demand. For various reasons, there is great demand for
accommodation outside the organized hotel sector.
2.10 Defining Supplementary accommodation
There are a number of establishments outside the hotel industry which offer
accommodation to tourists. For example, supplementary accommodation in India had
been provided by Sarais and Dharamshalas, on the principle that the traveler can make
do with accommodation if not hotel service when on holiday. However, supplementary
accommodation is that which is specifically designed to cater to the tourist where hotel
accommodation may not be available or may be beyond the budget of the tourist. In the
present context we may consider tourist bungalows with dormitory accommodation,
travel lodges, youth hostels, railway retiring rooms and PWD rest houses as
supplements to the organized accommodation sector. The basic criteria are:
• To provide furnished accommodation, either rented rooms or apartments, and
• Related to the investment that is being planned for the development of infrastructure
in consonance with an overall promotional strategy.

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2.11 CHARACTERISTICS OF SUPPLEMENTARY ACCOMMODATION

When youth tourism was identified as an important motivation for the development of
tourism, the plans stressed the setting up of supplementary accommodation in the form
of youth hostels to cater to the young travelers, both domestic as well as foreign.
The development of the Yatri Niwas as a supplement to western style hotel facilities was
also a step in this direction. Various points along the highways and in the suburbs of
metropolitan cities became the ideal locations for setting up supplementary
accommodation units. Country clubs, holiday inns, holiday villages, traveler’s lodges
and inns were set up at such locations.
The criteria was to encourage the linkage between transport and accommodation and
develop visitor flows in such a way that accommodation moved out of a central business
district to the leisure needs of the local residents as well as visitors.

2.12 TYPES OF SUPPLEMENTARY ACCOMMODATION

In the following Sections we will discuss about various forms of supplementary
accommodation.
1.12.1 YOUTH HOSTELS/YATRI NIWAS
Youth took to travel on foot or hitch-hiking both from the cities as well as the
countryside for education, adventure and recreation. This requirement created the need
for providing accommodation. Germany took the lead in establishing youth hostels at
the turn of the century. Youth hostels provide dormitory accommodation with common
bathing and cafeteria facilities. They also provide kitchens for self-catering. Self service
in a low cost environment encouraged the youth tourism movement and the World
Tourism Organization encouraged all member countries to construct hostels. In India
the youth hostels movement began in the early sixties and provided young and family
oriented domestic tourists the opportunity to travel to different parts of the country
using the LTC subsidy. They were no longer limited to destinations where they had
friends and relatives.

The Yatri Niwas was a similar concept, to provide domestic tourists low cost self service
accommodation in cities. The first such facility was constructed in the Janpath area of
Delhi attracting budget tourists. Such accommodation units encouraged people from
different regions and social backgrounds to interact with each other. Comfort is modest,
the stay is short and the cost is low. Such properties are set up and operated by non-
commercial or developmental organizations. They are located at historical, cultural and
natural sites. The hostels are small to medium scale and their average capacity is about
40 rooms. Hostels are constructed by the Central Government on land given free of cost
by State Governments as they would not be able to provide low cost accommodation
without such a subsidy. They are operated by the State Governments and social
organizations like the YMCA and YWCA.

2.12.2 CARAVANS, CAMPING GROUPS AND TOURIST CAMPS

Such facilities are normally located within cities in open spaces. Delhi has such locations,
in Asif Ali Road and Kashmere Gate. They provide parking space along with water,
electricity and toilets. Destinations like Goa, Khajuraho and Aurangabad, which have a
mild and dry climate along highways and along major tourist circuits are being
encouraged to set up such sites. Camps must follow certain regulations regarding

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quality of services and costs set up by municipalities and the serving personnel there
require some prior exposure and training to ensure that tourists get the required
facilities

2.12.3 RAILWAY /AIRPORT RETIRING ROOMS

The purpose of retiring room accommodation is to offer a convenience to the traveler
without going into the city. These are situated at the main platform of major railway
stations and at domestic and international airports. They provide accommodation to
railway confirmed and current tickets or air passengers from out of these retiring rooms
are offered at reasonable rates and are often air conditioned at the major junctions. They
are generally clean and well maintained. They have attached baths and Railway canteen
or airport restaurant catering. Bookings are made through the Station Superintendent.
Or Airport Manager

2.12.4 TRAVELLERS LODGES/BOARDING HOUSES

These are modest hotels situated away from the centre of the city or at remote
destinations. These are self- sufficient establishments offering standard facilities like well
furnished rooms with catering and bar facilities. Tourist Bungalows also offer similar
facilities. Some extend their services to telecommunication and postal facilities as well as
a general store. These services cater to budget and middle class tourists particularly in
destinations which do not attract the major hotel industry. These bungalows have prime
locations since they are the first to set up operations at many tourist centers. However,
their maintenance and services need to be upgraded and the tariff structure has to be
more flexible to cater to a range of income groups. They are small sized units which
could be more profitable if the number of rooms can be increased from 5 to 25-30. State
Governments and Tourism Departments also provide tourist rest houses at scenic
locations in the mountains and forests where most wild life tourism is located. They
provide access to the forest and also have good viewing locations.
They are constructed to mirror the appeal of the area.
Boarding houses are establishments which usually provide accommodation and meals
at specified periods of time like the week end or for a specified stay. Thus they cater to
residents and tend to be small enterprises and require advance booking to ensure space.
They can range from simple hostel like facilities to the more sophisticated ones
depending on the duration of the stay and the kind of customers. In Europe these
mansions are an important supplement for tourist accommodation in big cities as well as
touristic destinations. Such units are good for families because they provide all meals
and comfortably furnished rooms and do not mind having children.

2.12.4 HOTEL GARNI AND CONDOMINIUMS

These units provide bed and breakfast and supplement accommodation in big cities. In
rural and resort areas such units are also popular with young people who need a room
to sleep and spend the whole day on the move. They provide the single tourist with
company, a family atmosphere and home cooking which makes for a relaxed holiday
with no formal dress code, public areas and behavior and no extra costs.
This involves ownership of a suite or an apartment, with payment for the common
facilities for maintenance and surroundings, as well as for the recreational services. The
owner can access a holiday destination at will; can rent it to others when not in use and

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in the rest of the period the condominium is looked after by the common staff. Thus, a
condominium is private ownership of space with joint ownership of common facilities.
Beach tourism in Europe owes its rapid growth to the development of this type of
accommodation which was often started by a package tour operator to ensure regular
traffic. Many charter operations also own condominiums. The concept of time-sharing is
also gaining ground and certain companies are developing resorts on this basis.

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2.13 LESSON SUMMARY

Hotels are of various types depending on number of factors like the nature and facilities
offered, size, location, etc. Hotel can be classified into Economy / Limited Service
Hotels, Mid-Market Hotels, All-suite Hotels, First-Class or Executive Hotels, Luxury or
Deluxe Hotels. According to ownership and management, hotels can be classified into
Independent Hotels, Chain / Group Hotels and Management Contractual Hotels.
According to type of plan (tariff pattern), hotels are classified into European Plan,
Continental Plan, American Plan/ Modified American Plan and ‗Bed and Breakfast
Plan‘. According to the size, hotels are grouped into small hotels, average hotels, above
average hotels and large hotels. According to visitors stop-over, hotels are grouped into
Residential Hotels, Semi Residential Hotels, Transient / Transit Hotels and Resort
Hotels. According to its relationship with transport, hotels are grouped into Motels,
Railway Hotels, Airport Hotels and Floating Hotels.
In India, the development of hotel industry is closely linked to travel. For rest, the
travelers stayed at dharmashalas, choultries, temples and other religious places free of
cost. Musafir khanas and sarais were established during the Arab occupation. Sarais are
later developed as inns by the British Rulers in cities like Calcutta and Bombay.

2.14 KEY WORDS

Transient – temporary, passing, momentary
Vacationers - vacationers
Façade – frontage, front elevation, front wall
Supplementary – additional, ancillary, accompanying
Convenience – ease, handiness, expediency
Sophisticated – stylish, classy, refined
Mansions – house, manor, hall
Recreational – leisure, fun, entertaining

2.15 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. Write in short about airport, city, & resort hotels?
2. What is time share & condominium?
3. Write in detail about Heritage Hotel?
4. Write in short about motels, conference & convention centers?
5. Define supplementary accommodation?
6. What is the characteristics Supplementary accommodation?
7. Write in short about Yatri Niwas / Youth Hostels?
8. Write about Caravans, Camping Groups, & Tourist Camps?
9. Write in short about Airport / Railway Retiring room?
10. What are Traveler Lodges / Boarding Houses?
11. What are Hotel Garni / Condominiums?

2.16 REFERENCES
1. M. Zulfikar , Introduction to Tourism and Hotel Industry,Sangam Books Ltd.
2. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
3. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,
4. Tom Powers, Clayton W. Barrows, Introduction to the Hospitality Industry,

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UNIT 03
HERITAGE HOTELS & CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS

CONTENTS
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction & History of Heritage Hotels
3.2 Various Heritage Hotels in India.
3.2.1 Welcome Heritage Hotels
3.2.2 Neemrana Hotels
3.2.3 HRH Group of Hotels
3.2.4 Palaces of India
3.2.5 Samode Hotels
3.3 Size, Star system
3.4 Eligibility for star classification
3.5 How to apply for star classification
3.6 Five Star Category
3.7 Two Star category hotels
3.8 Lesson Summary
3.9 Key Words
3.10 Questions to Solve
3.11 References

3.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit you should be able to:
• understand the Heritage Hotel History,
•appreciate the importance of Heritage Hotel in India
•learn about different types of Heritage Hotel & Palaces in India
•know how to apply for Star Classification, Eligibility, and above all facilities & services
offered in Five Star & Two Star category Hotels.

3.1 INTRODUCTION & HISTORY OF HERITAGE HOTELS

For decades, if not centuries, the Rajput fortress, the defensive castle, the composite
Haveli was the abode of nobility- where hospitality was a way of life. Visitors, guests,
even strangers were welcomed in a tradition that was a part of the life styles. Even
enemies, should they have come calling, were treated with utmost respect. And an
extensive network of matrimonial alliances amongst the warring clans ensured that all
battles ended on the field.

The chivalry and gallantry of the warrior clans was reflected in the architecture of the
feudal homes. A grand entrance was reserved for state guests. There were separate
viewing galleries for woman, and the ladies of the 'zenana' conducted their own durbars
and wielded considerable power from behind the 'purdah'
Post independence democratic India witnessed the merger of the Princely States,
abolition of 'Jagirs' land reforms and finally the withdrawal of the special privileges and
Privy Purse from the royal families a few decades later consequently the noble families
lost their traditional means of livelihood and even the wealthy merchants left their
homes for more lucrative pastures.

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Their large castles and mansions lay almost abandoned or unattended till a few
enterprising pioneers realized that perhaps the only way to maintain these historic
homes was their appropriate reuse. The large Palaces of the Maharajas set the trend by
becoming five star hotels. Now, some of the ancestral homes to find sustenance in this
new lease of life -
Much of the charm of these heritage hotels, united under a common banner, is the
individual attention and personalization; the very meals, for example that were cooked
for generations are still served at your table.
Families in residence for centuries now welcome you to their homes as guests. And each
ancestral home is different, uniquely so, reflecting its own, exceptional history, tradition
and period. The ambience is perfectly reflected through sepia photographs and family
memorabilia. Even the retainers may have been in the service of the families for
generations.
While history is always at hand, there have been changes too, so that the home are
modernized to meet the needs of Today's international traveler, with adjoining
bathrooms, running hot and cold water, modern plumbing, even perhaps a swimming
pool.
3.2 VARIOUS HERITAGE HOTELS IN INDIA

Heritage hotel chains in India are those hotels, which at some point of time in history
were fortresses, and castles that were home to the rulers of Rajasthan. For centuries, the
ancient fortress, the defensive castle, or the composite haveli-was the abode of royalty
and the nobility where hospitality was an integral part of
life in Rajasthan. These Heritage hotels are a special treat
to the visitors, as those who run or maintain these hotels
have made sure that the traditional work, carvings,
décor and the style of hospitality remain as it were in the
olden times in the state of Rajasthan, India. As already
mentioned, these heritage hotels were home to the
Rajputs and Rajasthani rulers; therefore it is but natural
that the architecture and décor of these palaces are
lavish. Some of these heritage homes are reflective of
Rajputana and Mughal architecture. The architecture of these royal buildings was such
that there were separate viewing galleries for the ladies of these households. There were
separate wings constructed for the men, women, guests and the servants of the
household.

Over the centuries it has been the custom of these heritage homes in Rajasthan, India, to
provide hospitality to every person who visited these homes, now that most of these
homes have been transformed into hotels, the owners endeavor to maintain the
traditional concept of extending a warm and hospitable atmosphere to each and every
individual who visits these hotels in Rajasthan.

After the year 1947, that is in the post independence period the Government of India
abolished royal titles and the concept of feudal lords and feudal ownership of lands in

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Rajasthan. The Government of India withdrew the Privy Purse and special privileges to
the royalty. Consequently, members of most of the royal families found it extremely
difficult to maintain these huge buildings in Rajasthan. These large mansions lay almost
abandoned or unattended till a few enterprising people realized that perhaps the only
way to maintain these historic homes was their appropriate reuse. And the large palaces
of the Maharajas set precedent by becoming five star luxury hotels. Later some of the
heritage homes followed suit and are now functioning as luxury heritage hotels all over
Rajasthan.

3.2.1 Welcome Heritage Hotels

Spread across erstwhile princely India is a large number of

palaces and estates that were once home to families that
ruled over India. These bastions of history still reverberate
with memories. Memories of coronations, durbars, polo
balls, spectacles, extravaganzas, pageants... Welcome
Heritage represents some of the best traditions of heritage
hospitality in India. After independence in 1947, some of
the owners of such glorious properties resolved to preserve the heritage of the past by
converting their properties into 'heritage hotels'. And finally, these once-private royal
homes opened their doors to share their gracious lifestyles with the world. In doing so,
they have ensured that the properties continue to be maintained in a befitting manner. A
slice of history that would otherwise have been irretrievably lost continues to survive. It
offers 20 exclusive heritage destinations in India and a number of resorts.

Khimsar fort - Nagaur, Rajasthan -India

Bandavgarh Jungle Lodge - Bandhavgarh, Madhya Pradesh
Kanha Jungle Lodge - Kanha, Madhya Pradesh India
Balsamand Lake Palace - Jodhpur, Rajasthan -India
Sardar Samand Palace - Pali, Rajasthan -India
Maharani Bagh Orchard - Ranakpur, Rajasthan
Karni Fort - Udaipur, Rajasthan -India
Taragarh Palace - Taragarh, Himachal Pradesh
Judges Court - Pragpur, Himachal Pradesh
The Belvedere Palace - Nainital, Uttaranchal
WoodVille Palace - Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
Corbett RamGanga Resort - Corbett , Uttaranchal
Kasmanda Palace - Mussoorie , Uttranchal
Windamere Hotel - Darjeeling , West Bengal
Hotel Shambha La - Leh , Ladakh , Jammu & Kashmir
Connaught House - Mt. Abu , Rajasthan
Umaid Bhawan Palace - Kota , Rajasthan
Noor Us - Sabah Palace - Bhopal , Madhya Pradesh

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Royal Camp, Nagaur fort - Nagaur , Rajasthan

Jagat Palace - Pushkar , Rajasthan
Solang Valley Resort - Manali, Himachal Pradesh
Grace Hotel - Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh
Khimsar Sand Dunes - Khimsar , Rajasthan
Bassi Fort, Chittorgarh - Chittorgarh , Rajasthan
Regency Vilas Palace - Ooty, Tamil Nadu
Fern Hills Palace, Nilgiris - Ooty, Tamil Nadu
Bundel Khand Riverside hotel - Orchha, Madhya Pradesh
Rajendra Villas Palace - Mysore, Karnataka

3.2.2 Neemrana Hotels

Even though history is a record of the past, it lives in the present

and waits in the future.Where valor, romance, feasting and
celebrations have had a history of their own. Eight Neemrana 'non-
hotels'- from the 14th to the 21st centuries offer a panorama of 700
years.

Hill Fort, Kesroli - Near Alwar

Neemrana Fort Palace - Neemrana, Rajasthan
Mud Fort, Kucheswar - Bulandshahar, UP
Hotel Del Orient - Pondicherry
Ramgarh Bungalows - Ramgarh, Kumaon Hills, Rajasthan
The Verandah in the Forest - Matheran , Maharashtra
Piramal Haveli, Bagar - Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan
Glass house on the Ganges - Rishikesh , Uttranchal
Villa Pottopati - Bangalore, Karnataka
Wallwood Garden - Coonoor, Tamil Nadu

3.2.3 HRH Group of Hotels

The HRH Group of Hotels offers authentic heritage palace-hotels and historical venues,
for memorable events which happen once-in-a-lifetime like 'Regal Weddings' and other
events Conferences, Theme Shows, Banquets.

Udaipur

Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel, Udaipur

Fateh Prakash Palace Hotel, Udaipur
Shikharbadi Hotel

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Garden Hotel & Restaurant

Kumbhalgarh The Aodhi Hotel Jaisalmer

Gorbandh Palace, Bikaner

Gajner Palace, Gajner
Karni Bhawan Palace
Maan Bilas Hotel

Jaipur, Ramgarh Resort & Polo Complex

3.2.4 Palaces of India

Palaces of India, is a company specializing in Sales & Marketing operations for Palaces,
Forts & Heritage Hotels in India. It represents premium Palaces, Forts & Heritage
Homes in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Northeast

Castle Mandawa - Mandawa, Rajasthan

Deogarh Mahal - Deogarh, Rajasthan
Jaipur House - Mt. Abu, Rajasthan
Mandawa Haveli - Jaipur, Rajasthan
Raj Mahal Palace - Jaipur, Rajasthan
Rohetgarh - Rohet, Rajasthan
Udai Bilas Palace - Dungarpur, Rajasthan
Desert resort - Mandawa, Rajasthan

3.2.5 Samode Hotels

Samode hotels are luxury heritage hotels in India's most exquisite and remote settings.
Each property is enhanced by its unique surroundings and expands horizons for
travelers while respecting local ways of life. All are family run hotels offering
personalized service and attention to detail that makes the welcome warm and the stay
unforgettable.

Samode Hotels have three world class luxury hotels in Rajasthan, as different as their
location each property upholds the Samode commitment to integrate the highest
international standards of hospitality with indigenous culture, designs and materials.

1. Samode Palace The winner of best Heritage Hotel in the country, for 5 consecutive
years, the Palace has been meticulously restored offering a retreat into an aesthetically
beautiful environment where visitors can enjoy India's natural beauty and rich history.

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Samode Palace is one of India's most charming and romantic hotels. It offers a quiet,
elegant and luxurious atmosphere.

2. Samode Haveli
The Samode Haveli is a unique small property hotel
offering intimate and personalized service. Its unique
atmosphere blending the contemporary and the historic
elements gives Samode Haveli a warm & friendly
atmosphere. It's a home away from home.

With its understated luxury, antique furniture, furnishings

and original work-of-art, the hotel is a celebration of traditional values and gracious
living.

3. Samode Bagh
Samode Bagh is a garden paradise located 4 kms from the Samode Palace. It is nestled
on 20 acres of beautiful grounds combines warmth and luxury. It is a romantic
hideaway, a unique experience of an air-conditioned tented camp where the dune
colored tents is luxuriously furnished with every comfort. The garden is about three
blocks long and is enclosed by a 15-foot high stonewall.

Two hundred feet long row of fountains fed from natural springs and wells are
displayed all along the garden. Victorian and traditional Rajasthan décor echo life in a
16th century luxury camp.

Development in the field of transportation, communication and increase in population

had effect on the growth, type and location of hotels and supplementary
accommodation. Today, we find many hotels and catering establishments of varied
character, size and nature operating in different cities and tourist centers.
Classification of these hotels and supplementary units within the industry is a
complicated task.
Hotels are of various types depending on number of factors like the nature and facilities
offered, size, location etc. Classification in the real sense separates accommodation into
different categories or class on the basis of objective criteria, for example, by the type of
accommodation, such as hotels, motels, tourist lodges, holiday camps etc. It seeks to
present information about tourist accommodation units in a form, which enables the
user to find information he requires. Information thus obtained will help to compare
with identical classification and thus, separates accommodation according to physical
features.
3.3 SIZE, STAR SYSTEM
Classification is made based on the number of let able rooms. It can be indicated either
by rooms as is done in America or by the number of beds as is done in Europe.
· Small hotels: 25 rooms or less
· Average hotels: 25 rooms to 90 rooms
· Above average hotels: 80 rooms to 250 rooms
· Large hotels: 250 rooms and above

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3.4 ELIGIBILITY FOR STAR CLASSIFICATION

The Department of Tourism classifies functioning hotels under the star system, into five
categories from 1-star to 5-star. For this purpose a permanent Committee, the Hotel and
Restaurant Approval and Classification Committee (HRACC) has been set up which
inspects the applicant hotels to assess their suitability or otherwise for award of the star
category applied for. Based on the recommendations of the HRACC, deserving hotels
are awarded the appropriate star category and are placed on the approved list of the
Department. Approved hotels become eligible to various fiscal reliefs and benefits. The
Department intercedes on behalf of such hotels whenever necessary to ensure that their
needs get priority consideration from various concerned authorities. These hotels also
get worldwide publicity through tourist literature published by the Department of
Tourism and distributed by the Government of India Tourist Offices in India and
abroad. Approved hotels become eligibility for obtaining foreign exchange for their
import of essential equipment and provisions and for their overseas advertising,
publicity and promotion under the Hotel Incentive Quota Scheme.
To be eligible to apply for classification, a functioning hotel must fulfill the following
minimum basic requirements:
i) The hotel must have at-least 10 let able bedrooms.
ii) All rooms should have proper ventilation and ceiling fans.
iii) Carpet areas in respect of rooms and areas of bathrooms should by and large adhere
to the following limits prescribed:
Failure to satisfy these conditions will disqualify a hotel for consideration. The general
features, facilities and services expected of hotels in the different star categories are
broadly described here:

3.5 HOW TO APPLY FOR STAR CLASSIFICATION

A classification fee (at the existing rate) is payable by the hotels applying for
classification.
The Classification fee is payable by means of a demand draft drawn in favor of the pay
and accounts officer, department of tourism, New Delhi. For reclassification, fee will by
50% of the fee payable at first time.
Application form for the particular star category applied for can had from the member
secretary H.R.A.C.C, department of tourism, Government of India, ‗Transport Bhawan‘,
New Delhi.
The powers to classify hotels in 1 and 2 star categories have been delegated to the
respective State Government/Union Territories w.e.f 1.1.1986. A hotel applying for 1 or
2 star categories is, therefore, required to approach the concerned stare
government/union territory.
◘ Classification for newly operational hotels must be sought within 3 months of
completion of approved hotel projects. Operating hotels may opt for classification at
any stage. However, hotels seeking re-classification should apply for reclassification one
year prior to the expiry of the current period of classification.
◘ If the hotel fails to reapply 1 year before the expiry of the classification order, the
application will be treated as a fresh classification case.
◘ Once a hotel applies for classification / re-classification, it should be ready at all times
for inspection by the HRACC. No requests for deferment of inspection will be
entertained.

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◘ Classification will be valid for 5 (five) years from the date of issue of orders or in case
of reclassification from the date of expiry of the last classification provided that the
application has been received within the stipulated time mentioned above, along with
all valid documents. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
◘Hotels which propose to let out part of or all its rooms on time-share basis are not
eligible to be classified

3.6 FIVE STAR CATEGORY

General Features - The facade, architectural features and general construction of the
hotel building should have the distinctive qualities of a luxury hotel of this category .The
locality, including the immediate approach and environs should be suitable for a luxury
hotel of this category and there should be adequate parking space for cars. The hotel
should have at least 25 let able bedrooms, all with attached bathrooms with long bath or
the most modern shower chambers. All public rooms and private rooms should be fully
air-conditioned and should be well equipped with superior quality carpets, curtains,
furniture, fittings etc., in good taste. It would be advisable to employ the services of
professionally qualified and experienced interior designers of repute for this purpose.
There should be an adequate number of efficient lifts in the building of more than two
stories (including the ground floor) with 24 hours service. There should be a well-
designed and properly equipped swimming pool. There should be a well-designated
lobby and ladies' and gentlemen's cloakroom equipped with fittings and furniture of the
highest standard.

Facilities - There should be a reception, cash and information counter attended by

highly qualified, trained and experienced personnel and conference facilities in the form
of one each or more of the conference rooms, banquet halls and private dining rooms.
There should be bookstall, beauty parlor, barbershop, recognized travel agency, florist
and a shop for toilet requisites and medicines on the premises. There should be a
telephone in each room and telephone for use of guests and visitors and provision for a
radio or relayed music and a TV set in each room. There should be a well equipped,
well-furnished and well-maintained dining room /restaurant on the premises and
wherever permissible by law, there should be an elegant, well equipped bar / permit
room. The kitchen, pantry and cold storage should be professionally designed to ensure
efficiency of operation and should be well equipped.
Services - The hotel should offer both International and Indian Cuisine and the food and
beverage service should be of the highest standard. Glassware, cutlery, silver, table wear
and all necessary accessories should be of best quality and standard. There should be
professionally qualified, highly trained, experienced, efficient and courteous staff in
smart, clean uniforms, and the staff coming in contact with guests should understand
English. The supervisory staff knowing at least one continental language should be
rotated on duty at all times. There should be 24-hour service for reception, information
and telephones. There should be provision for reliable laundry and dry cleaning
services. Housekeeping, at the hotel, should be of the highest possible standard and
there should be plentiful supply of linen, blankets, towels etc., which should be of the
highest quality available. Each bedroom should be provided with a good vacuum jug/
thermos flask with ice cold boiled drinking water except where centrally chilled purified
drinking water is provided.

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There should be a special restaurant / dining room where facilities for dancing,
orchestra are available.
3.7 2 STAR CATEGORY HOTELS
General Features - The building should be well constructed and the locality and
environs including the approach should be suitable for a good hotel. The hotel should
have at least 10 let able bedrooms of which at least 75% should have attached bathrooms
with showers and a common bathroom for every four of the remaining rooms and
should be with modern sanitation and running cold water with adequate supply of hot
water, soap and toilet papers. 25% of the rooms should be air-conditioned (where there
should be heating arrangements in all the rooms) and all rooms must be properly
ventilated, clean, and comfortable with all the necessary items of furniture. There should
be a well-furnished lounge.
Facilities - There should be a reception counter with a telephone. There should be a
telephone or call bell in each room and there should be a telephone on each floor unless
each room has a separate telephone. There should be a well-maintained and well
equipped dining room / restaurant serving clean, wholesome food and a clean, hygienic
and well-equipped kitchen and pantry.
Service - There should be experienced, courteous and efficient staff in smart and clean
uniforms. The supervisory staff coming in contact with guests should understand
English. There should be provision for laundry and dry cleaning services. Housekeeping
at the hotel should be of a good standard and good quality linen, blanket, towels etc.,
should be provided. Similarly, crockery, cutlery and glassware should be of a good
quality.

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3.8 LESSON SUMMARY

The Heritage Hotel Scheme has created immense interest and it has great potential
because it will greatly enhance India as a product owing to its special attraction. It will
also substantially increase the accommodation available for tourists within the country
in a short time and with comparatively less investment and will make substantially that
short fall which exists in the approved hotel category.
It will help to the heritage of the country (though in private hands) which may
otherwise be lost forever. Finally, it will generate substantial economic activity and
employment, particularly in the lesser developed areas where many of these properties
are located.
We hope that the information provided in the Unit will be utilized by you as per your
own requirements. These could be providing information to clients, putting Heritage
Hotels on the itinerary with packaging tours, planning to open your own heritage hotel,
improving the services, etc.
Normally hotels have four categories of rates, viz. rack rates, group and tour rates,
special and promotional rates, and package rates. The tariff also varies as per room
categories and bedding. A number of hotels offer special discounted rates for
Companies, Government, Military Tour, Agent and Salesperson. The meal plans are
usually of five types, viz. European plan, American plan (full and modified),
Continental plan and ‗Bed and Breakfast‘ plan. Guest relation is the integral part of the
hotel industry. A guest may be classified on the basis of presence in the hotel, on the
basis of recognition and on the basis of revenue (paying and complementary).

3.9 KEY WORDS

Clans – tribe, family, relations
Chivalry – politeness, courtesy, loyalty
Gallantry – courage, bravery, daring
Feudal - of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a medieval fee
Privy Purse- Amount of money given by the government to the kings & princes for their
Private expenses after India became independent.
Sepia - a photograph with a brownish tone
Lucrative – profitable, rewarding, worthwhile
Memorabilia - objects collected as souvenirs of important personal events or experiences
Fiscal – economic, financial, monetary
Intercede- intervene, mediate, negotiate
Environs – neighborhood, surroundings, locality
Deferment – postponement, rescheduling, suspension

3.10 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. Define History of Heritage Hotels?
2. Mention about the various Heritage Hotels of India?
3. Mention about the welcome Heritage Hotels?
4. Mention the Heritage Hotels of Neemrana?
5. Mention the HRH Heritage Hotels?
6. Name the palaces of India?
7. Write about Samode Hotels & Samode Haveli?
8. What is classification of hotel?

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9. What is the eligibility for star classification?

10. How to apply for star classification?
11. What are the general features, Facilities & services for a five star hotel?
12. What are the general features, Facilities & services for a two star hotel?

3.11 REFERENCES
1. M. Zulfikar, Introduction to Tourism and Hotel Industry,Sangam Books Ltd.
2. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
3. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,
Wiley.
4. Tom Powers, Clayton W. Barrows, Introduction to the Hospitality Industry, Wiley.

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UNIT -04
BASIS OF ROOM TARIFF CHARGES

CONTENTS
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Various types of room plans.
4.2.1 European Plan
4.2.2 Continental Plan
4.2.3 American Plan
4.2.4 Modified American Plan
4.3Types of Rooms in Hotels
4.3.1Deluxe Room
4.3.2 Superior Room
4.3.3 Standard Room
4.3.4 Economy Room
4.3.5 Suite
4.4 Lesson Summary
4.5 Key Words
4.6 Questions to Solve
4.7 References

4.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
• Various Plans applicable in the hotels
• Different types of Rooms available in the Hotel.
• The facilities available to the guest.
4.1 INTRODUCTION
In most of the standard hotels, now days the basis of charging the guest differs
according to the property. There are various plans as per the choice of the guest, which
they feel suitable, and are charged according to that. There are various types of rooms
too available as per the choice of the guest, and above all regarding the facilities offered
by the hotel as per their classification.
4.2 VARIOUS TYPES OF ROOM PLANS
4.2.1 European plan - In this case only the lodging i.e. bed is offered. Thus the charges
are made for lodging only. The guest is free to take or not to take teas, breakfast, and
meals in the hotel. He has a choice of eating out at any other good restaurant. The guest
is booked to pay for lodging only and is charged separately for all other things or
services he enjoys or consumes. This system is generally followed by youth hostels or
hotels which are situated in metropolitan cities. In India most of the hotels are being run
on European plan. Almost all the public sector hotels are run on this basis.
4.2.2 Continental Plan - In the case of continental plan, bed and breakfast are included
in the tariff charges. Thus bed is offered along with breakfast and the guest is, however,
free to take his meal and tea as he likes. Thus the guest tariff includes lodging and ‗bed
and breakfast‘ and for other he is separately billed.
4.2.3. American Plan - Hotel where American plan is prevalent, boarding and lodging is
provided in the charge. The tariff fixed includes board and lodging. It is an all inclusive

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full board tariff. Accommodation and three meals daily are included in the price of the
room. It includes bed, breakfast and two principal meals and evening tea. The needs are
usually 'table d‘hôte menu'. It is also known as 'full pension'. This analysis is mostly
used at those tourist resorts, which are not situated in big cities.
4.2.4. Modified American Plan - The tourists mostly prefer this plan, as it is
comparatively more flexible. It is offered in most of the good hotels and is normally by
arrangement. It includes hotel accommodation, breakfast and either lunch or dinner in
the price of the room. Thus, in this type of accommodation bed and breakfast and along
with it one principal meal, lunch or dinner at the discretion of the guest is also included.
It generally includes continental breakfast and either 'table d‘hôte lunch or dinner in the
room rates. It is also known as 'demi-pension'. It has been observed that the Indian style
local hotels in India follow the European plan. However, and the western style hotels
operating in India which cater the foreign tourists, operates on the American plan.

4.3 TYPES OF ROOMS IN HOTELS

The tariff also varies as per room categories. Every hospitality establishment has
different types of rooms available but the most common type of rooms available in large
hotels are A - Deluxe (Maximum Rate), B - Superior (Moderate Rate), C – Standard
(Minimum Rate), D - Economy (Promotional rate). The accommodation is also
categorized depending on occupancy rates charged accordingly. Su - Suite, S - Single
occupancy, D – Double occupancy.
Category Type of Accommodation
4.3.1. Deluxe Room- offers the best location in the hotel and offers best view, highest
level of comfort with matching furnishings and decor. The amenities include a fully
stocked bar or refrigerator and the room has king or queen beds.
4.3.2. Superior Room - is a medium rate room usually located on the ground floor with a
good view and may have a double king or queen bed.
4.3.3. Standard Room is a regular room consisting of one or two double beds, a queen
bed or two twin beds. They may not have either a good view or a good location.
4.3.4. Economy Room- generally a room reserved for promotional or discounted rates
and may have under sized beds, small floor plan or a mediocre location.
4.3.5. Suite normally consists of two rooms -a living room and a sleeping room. It may
sometimes also have a kitchenette or conference room. The other amenities provided are
a stocked bar and refrigerator.

4.4 FACILITIES OFFERED IN HOTELS

Facilities offered by hotels may be the most important criteria for classification. Some
countries adopt Star Rating System. Thus a five star hotel which is the highest rating
provide facilities such as central air conditioning, attached bathrooms with hot and cold
water, channel music, wall to wall carpeting, shopping arcade, health club, swimming
pool, sports facilities and a variety of restaurant & bars including coffee shop, specialty
restaurant, grill room etc. These are some of the criteria of star rating. Certain such
facilities are denied as the star rating of the hotels goes lower and lower. They may be
excluded for a variety of reasons such as cost, level of business etc.

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4.4 LESSON SUMMARY

According to type of plan (tariff pattern), hotels are classified into European Plan,
Continental Plan, American Plan/ Modified American Plan and ‗Bed and Breakfast
Plan‘. According to the size, hotels are grouped into small hotels, average hotels, above
average hotels and large hotels. According to visitors stop-over, hotels are grouped into
Residential Hotels, Semi Residential Hotels, Transient / Transit Hotels and Resort
Hotels. According to its relationship with transport, hotels are grouped into Motels,
Railway Hotels, Airport Hotels and Floating Hotels.
Normally hotels have four categories of rates, viz. rack rates, group and tour rates,
special and promotional rates, and package rates. The tariff also varies as per room
categories and bedding. A number of hotels offer special discounted rates for
Companies, Government, Military Tour, Agent and Salesperson. The meal plans are
usually of five types, viz. European plan, American plan (full and modified),
Continental plan and ‗Bed and Breakfast‘ plan. Guest relation is the integral part of the
hotel industry. A guest may be classified on the basis of presence in the hotel, on the
basis of recognition and on the basis of revenue (paying and complementary).

4.5 KEY WORDS

Discretion – carefulness, judgment, caution
Amenities – facilities, services
Mediocre – average, ordinary, middling
Kitchenette - a very small room, or part of another room, equipped and furnished as a
kitchen
Arcade – mall, walkway, shopping arcade

4.6 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. Mention the various types of room plan?
2. Mention the different types of Rooms in Hotel?
3. Write in short about the facilities offered in the hotel?

4.7 REFERENCES
1. M. Zulfikar, Introduction to Tourism and Hotel Industry, Sangam Books Ltd.
2. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
3. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,
Wiley.
4. Tom Powers, Clayton W. Barrows, Introduction to the Hospitality Industry, Wiley.

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UNIT -05
ORGANIZATION OF LODGING PROPERTIES
CONTENTS
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2. Independent Hotels
5.3 Chain Hotels
5.4 Franchisee and Referral Groups
5.5 Management
5.6 organization Mission goals & strategies
5.6.1 Mission
5.6.2 Goals
5.6.3 Strategies
5.7 Hotel Organization & its functional areas
5.7.1 Functional areas
5.8 Front office Organization
5.9 Functional Organization & FO Department
5.10 Lesson Summary
5.11Key Words
5.12 Questions to Solve
5.13 References

5.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
• Regarding the advantages & disadvantages of Independent hotels,
• The various Chain Hotels in India & abroad.
• Franchisee & referral Groups
◘ Front office department and its functions
◘ Front office organization
◘Duties and responsibilities of front office staffs
◘ Front office desk layout and equipments

5.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit we discuss the Organization of Lodging properties presently in practice.
The organization and management depends on the type of hotel organization they are
operating. From this we can understand the advantages and disadvantages of various
types of organization hotels are operated.
At the hub of the hotel world is the reception desk where most guest transactions take
place. It is here that the guest is received, registered and assigned a room. Information,
mail, messages, complaints and room accounts are all dealt with here.
Therefore, to a large extent, the reception team is the key to an enjoyable and problem-
free stay for the hotel guest. It is also the centre of attraction and money generation for
the establishment.

5.2 INDEPENDENT HOTELS

These hotels are on ownership basis and do not have any affiliation or contract through
any other property. And also they do not have any tie-up with any other hotels with

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regards to policy, procedures and financial obligations. The advantage in this type of
hotel is that they need not maintain a particular image and they are not bound to
maintain any set targets, but can independently adapt quickly to the changing trends.
 Independent hotels do not have ownership or management affiliation with other
properties.
 They have no relationship to other hotels regarding policies, procedures,
financial obligations, management, accounting etc.
 These may be registered as sole proprietor-ship or a private limited company.
 The owner may decide the standard, type of clientele, the tariff etc.
 He may tie up with travel agencies to sell his property against commission.

5.3 CHAIN HOTELS

There are many single owner hotels, yet more and more hotels and motels are now
getting affiliated to each other. This gives them the advantage of a large central
organization providing reservation system, management services, financial strength,
expertise, manpower specialties, merchandises and promotional help.

5.4 FRANCHISE AND REFERRAL GROUPS

Franchises: are special categories of chain operations, they pay fees to use name,
building design and business methods of the franchisor. Furthermore, the franchisee
must agree to maintain the franchisor‘s business and quality standards. The franchisee is
usually responsible for generating funds to start the business.
 Franchise is a system in which the franchise owner grants another the right or
privilege to merchandise a product or service for a specified return.
 Franchise Agreement is an agreement under which the owner operates as a
member of the chain, utilizing the brand image, name, goodwill and obtaining
for a certain fee some services of marketing and operating nature support from
resources of a large organization, advertising, sales promotion, technical and
financial help etc.
 The best known franchising companies are Holiday Inn, Choice International,
and Quality Hotels & Inns etc.

Referral groups are that members, who are independent operators, achieve the
marketing benefits of chains without chain membership.

 Referral Groups consists of independent hotels which have grouped together for
some common purpose.
 Though the properties in the referral group may be different from each other but
there is sufficient consistency in the quality of service to satisfy guest
expectations.
 The member hotels recommend guests to other member hotels.
 Best Western International, one of the largest hotel chains is the best example of
referral groups.
 The referral groups also extend benefit of more extensive reservation and
expanded advertising through pooled resources.

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5.5 MANAGEMENT
 Management companies are organizations that operate properties owned by
others.
 Those other hotels may be owned by individual persons, partnerships or private
limited companies.
 The individual hotel, under construction, may contract with a professional hotel
management company to operate the proposed property.
 These contracts are normally on a long-term basis.
 Some management companies, when feel that they must have a hotel in a
particular location then they approach prospective individuals to build a hotel
and operate under their managements contract.
 The management contract can even be signed before the construction starts.
 After paying the management fees, operating expenses, the owners keep the
balance cash for paying their debts, taxes etc. and the balance is their net profit.
 The Management companies only take over the management of the company,
whereas the franchising companies provide the financial assistance, advertising,
central reservation facilities, marketing etc.

5.6 ORGANIZATIONAL MISSIONS, GOALS AND STRATEGIES

5.6.1 MISSION:
Therefore, the mission statement should indicate how it would satisfy all three
factors so that they continue performing well in the hotel industry. An example
of a mission statement is given below.
In the initial stages of the formation of a company, promoters discuss and
formulate the broad guidelines that the company will follow in the future. These
guidelines are collectively known as the MISSION STATEMENT.

A MISSION is the unique purpose that sets one hotel or motel company apart
from others. Moreover, the mission statement gives meaning and direction to
hotel policies. When faced with problems, uncertainties or the need to take
strategic decisions, managers shall always make sure that their decisions match
the mission statement. The mission statement shall be general and broad. For, if a
mission were specific and limited, it would be impossible to apply the mission
statement in any future circumstances. The mission statement shall reflect the
interests of participants interacting in the hotel industry, namely:

1. Guest: Guest(s) constitute one of the most important factors in the hotel industry. No
guest means an accommodation sector!
2. Employee: A hotel with no employees would simply mean that guests would not be
welcomed, registered or assisted. Employees are therefore the fundamental factor in
hotel industry.
3. Management & Owners: A hotel with no managers resembles an army sans
generals. Moreover, there have to be investors to put in money to build, furnish and
operate a hotel.

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5.6.2 GOALS:
Bearing in mind the company's mission statement, managers shall put together
the company's global objectives and then break them down to departmental
goals and objectives.
By definition, goals are those activities and standards an organization must
successfully perform or achieve to effectively carry out its mission. Moreover,
goals shall be:
1. Specific and limited
2. Tangible
3. Quantifiable

If objectives were general and non-quantifiable, it would be impossible to ascertain

whether company‘s actual performances match planned objectives.
5.6.3 STRATEGIES:
After determining departmental goals and objectives, managers shall design the
best methods their respective departments or divisions shall use to achieve its
goals. These methods are referred to as strategies.
Managers shall further break down each strategy into tactics (i.e. day-to-day
methods to implement the strategies). An example of a Front Office department
goal, a strategy to achieve this and the related tactic is given below:
Goal: Operate the front desk efficiently and courteously so that guests register within 2
minutes of arrival.
Strategy: Pre-register guests with reservation guarantees as room become available from
the housekeeping department.
Tactic: Pre-print registration cards for arriving guests and segregate cards of all guests
with reservation guarantee.
Managers should continuously monitor and evaluate their strategies and tactics,
revising them if necessary, so that department goals and objectives are fully
attained at the end of the planned period.

5.7 HOTEL ORGANIZATION AND ITS FUNCTIONAL AREAS

In order to carry out its mission, global goals and departmental objectives, every
company shall draw up a formal structure depicting the hierarchy of managerial,
supervisory and employee (staff) levels. This structure is referred to as organization
chart. The organization chart projects reporting relationships span of management
and staff or line functions. Two types of relationships might exist between any two
functions on an organization chart. An organization chart shall be flexible in order to
reflect and survive ever-changing environmental dynamics. Therefore, organization
charts shall be reviewed from time to time to determine whether the actual
organization still matches environmental needs and conditions (guests, employees,
technology, competition, etc.). Changes in the organization chart shall be initiated
through SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis.
Organization charts shall be tailored to fit the needs of each individual hotel
property. Given the uniqueness of an individual property, it is most unlikely there
be any two hotels having exactly the same organization chart.

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FUNCTIONAL AREAS:
There are two approaches to classify departments in typical hotels:

1. Revenue Generating versus Cost Centers: The first approach is by differentiating

departments with respect to revenue generation. Departments that generate revenue
to the hotel (e.g. Front Office, F&B, etc.) are called revenue generators and
departments that incur cost without directly contributing to hotel profitability are
called cost or support centers (e.g. Accounting Department, Maintenance and
Engineering Department, etc.).
2. Front House versus Back House: This approach classifies departments by the
frequency their staffs communicate with guests. If communication between staff and
guest is frequent then the department is termed as a ―front house‖ or ―front office‖
department (e.g. Front Office Department). On the other hand, if communication
between department staff and guests is non-existent or occasional, then the
department is said to be a ―back house‖ or ―back office‖ (e.g. Maintenance and
Engineering Department).

5.8 FRONT OFFICE ORGANIZATION

Front Office Manager- He is the head of the department. His area of activity include
front desk, bell desk, lobby, information counter, back office, telephone operator,
reservation counter etc. the manager has ensure that his staff reports of duty in time
with proper uniform. He has to ensure smooth running of the dept. The manager
prepares the duty schedule, weekly off, sanction leave etc. He has to ensure that the
V.V.I.P. or V.I.P. is received properly. He has to check the functioning of each section
under the dept. He deals with a complaint against his staff and also the complaints of
the guests. He is responsible to taking decision at the time of unusual events such as
death, theft etc.
Asst. Front Office Manager- He is the responsible person for taking decision in the
absence of front office manager. He has ensured the smooth running; efficient polite

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personalized service is given to the guest by his staff. He has to see that all dept. staff are
carried out their duty is very efficiently.
Reservation Manager- In large hotel, reservation is responsible for the smooth
functioning of the entire reservation section. He has to plan and control all room
reservation and must inform the front office manager about the room position. He has to
handle all reservation including groups, crews, V.I.P. etc.
He has to prepare monthly reports 10 days forecast etc. He has to see all dates are fully
booked after the approval from the F.O. Manager. He has to prepare the training
schedule for all new recruits in this section.
Reservation Assistant- In a large hotel, he is responsible for handling the entire duties
assistant by the reservation manger and in a medium type hotel he is the in charge of the
reservation section. He has to prepare the details regarding arrival room requirements
expected departures etc. He has to check the V.I.P. reservation and ensure V.I.P.
ministers, voucher for fruits, beverages and other special items providing in the guest
room. He has to prepare replaces to all reservation enquiring coming through telephone
telex, fax. He has not down the arrival of V.I.P.‘s and guest required special services.
Reservation Clerk- He is responsible to attending all reservation enquires by personal
by letter, telephone, telex, and fax etc, gives proper information. He has to comfort the
booking and prepare the arrivals list for each day. He has to send the arrival list to
reception, housekeeping dept. F & B dept. etc.
Lobby Manager- He is responsible to look after all activities in the lobby. The reception
information bell desk etc., are normally under the control of the lobby manager. He is
considered as a problem solver and authority to handle all guests problem. The lobby
manager could this have to be an experienced person and should capable to handing the
guest problem. He has to known about the rules and regulations of establishment. The
lobby manager controls a learn supervisors and they will handle the different sections.
He would have highly diplomatic in all his dealings.
Bell Captain -He is the person responsible to organize and supervise and control all
lobby service to guest satisfaction. He is responsible to control and supervise all bell
boys to get maximum efficiency. He is responsible for the safely and security of the
lobby. He has to ensure that all procedure regarding arrivals and departure are followed
strictly. He has to attend all guest complaints in the issue of manager He has to
supervise delivery of morning newspaper to the guest room and handle left luggages.
Bell Boys- There is responsible for handling all guest luggages in the hotel. He is
responsible to take the guest baggages from the vehicle and escort the guest to this room
at the time of guest arrival. He has to explain the operation of light switches, A/c
controlling etc. to the guest. At the time of departure he has to bring down the luggage
from the room. He is also responsible to distribute daily news papers to guest room
administrative officers depts. Etc. They have to keep the lobby area clean and clear to
ensure smooth traffic floor. They have to reports to the lobby manager about the guest
with sandy baggages or to no baggages. The bell boys will do the paging distribution of
mail etc…

Front Office Supervisor- He reports to Asst. Front office manager or lobby manger. The
supervisor is responsible to supervise and ensure the smooth and efficient functioning of
the front desk systems and standard set by the manager. He has to ensure that all front
staff reports on time with proper uniforms and properly uniformed. He is responsible

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briefing all dept staff to ensure maximum efficiency. He has to check and sign the log
book and take appropriate action. He is also responsible to meet and great all at the time
of guest arrival.
Information Asst. - An information asst is responsible to distribute room keys to
registered guest. Answer all the incoming call for all messages. Handle guest mail,
parcels, telegrams, telex etc… Keep information about their hotel tourist places road
maps, plate timing, train timing…
Front Office Asst.- He is responsible to receive, register and allotting room to all guests
coming to the hotel. In large hotel, the receptionist reports to the front office supervisors
and the receptionist must keep a room status register or board accurately.
Front Office Cashier - He is responsible to receive payment from guest at the time of
departure or settlement of their bills. He is responsible to accept all credit payment by
getting the signature of the guests in to the voucher. He has to accept credit cards,
travelers cheques, travel agents voucher etc. He is also responsible to look after the safe
deposit lockers and foreign currency exchange regulations.
Telephone Operator- He is responsible for the efficient operation of the telephone
exchange installed with .The telephone has to attend all the incoming calls with the
hotel and direct to the proper extensions. He has to control all outgoing calls from the
hotels including STD & ISD. He is also responsible to handle wake-up call service
promptly and timely. The operation should very speedily and accurate when connecting
all incoming calls and outgoing calls. He should keep a clear voice while attending the
calls.
Doorman / Linkman- He is place of duty is the main entrance of the hotel. He is
responsible to open the main door at the time of a guest arrival or departure. When a
vehicle arrived, he should inform the bell desk for bell boys and then opens the door of
the car. He should carry umbrellas in the rainy season. He keeps the unwanted visitors
away from the hotels. At the time of guest departure he should call the car or the vehicle
for the guest. Normally he may wear a peak cap as a part of his uniforms.
Valet- This is also a uniformed staff in the hotel. A valet is responsible for giving
personnel service to the room guests according to their request. He may help in all his
personal works including packing and in packing of guest‘s baggage‘s, ironing of
guest‘s clothes and attending any laundering and dry-cleaning needs of the guest. The
valet service is normally provided by superior hotels, in such most of the guest may
request a personalized service.
Lift Operator- In some hotels the lift is normally operated by a lift operator. Even if the
lift is automatic, it is advisable to have and attend to operate lift. The operator is
responsible for the condition and cleanliness of the lift. He should keep a regular
maintenance record and never permit any unauthorized person to operate the lift. He
should take care that the lift is not over loaded and normally he wears a similar uniform
that of bell boys.

Guest Relation Executive- In large hotels there are G.R.E is and they are the
representative of the management of the hotel, for dealing all problems and complaints
of the house guests. He must always touch with the hotel guest and her office is near to
the reception office. She has to deal with the all problems very politely and
diplomatically.

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5.9 FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF F.O. DEPARTMENT

The front office department of a hotel comprises of various sections. Depending on the
size of the hotels, the sections may vary. In small or medium sized hotels the sections
may be merged and handled accordingly. The following are the sections of the front
office department.
1. Reservation Section is responsible for booking of rooms in advance. It is responsible
for the receiving of the room requests, reservation analyzing and documentation of the
room requests received. This section of the department depends upon the size of the
hotel; if the hotel is small sized there may be not be a separate section for reservations.
This section is mostly found in mid sized and large sized hotel.
2. Front Desk Section is responsible for receiving the guest, registering of the guest,
assigning of room and room keys and remote controls for television and air conditioners
if such services are available and assistance to the guest during their stay. They are also
a source of information for government offices.
3. Bell Desk is mainly responsible for luggage handling of the guests. It consists of
group of uniformed staff for guest services. This section is maintained separately in
large hotels only.
4. Travel Desk Section handles the transportation facility of the hotel guest. It assists in
the booking of air tickets, hiring of the car and other transportation facilities. It also
arranges / organizes city tours, sightseeing tours to the guests on request.
5. Business Centers serve the guests with laptops, internet, mobiles, facsimile, LCD
projectors, and photocopier and also on request secretarial facilities. This is the latest
addition in the large and medium sized hotels, in line with the electronic era.
6. Concierge Section provides information about the hotel, its services and amenities,
city, town, country, travel and transport, banks etc. They can also handle the guest
luggage and bags if the hotel does not have the bell desk section. The receiving and
distribution of mail and message, packets, news papers and magazines in the early
mornings to guest room are also attended to. In addition, it may also handle the hiring
of the car and booking of air tickets and other transportation facilities if there is no travel
desk in the hotel.
7. Cashiering Section is responsible for maintaining and recording guest accounts and
bills and folio of guest and either cash or credit settlement of guest folios at the time of
departure.
8. Communication and Telephone Section handles the guest telephones and messages,
both incoming and outgoing of the guest.

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LESSON SUMMARY

The hospitality industry is part of a larger enterprise known as the travel and tourism
industry. The two main segments of the hospitality industry are the lodging industry
(also called hotel industry) and the food and beverage industry (also called restaurant
industry).
Some of the earliest known hotels are taverns or inns, caravanserais, etc. where travelers
rested and slept. During the middle ages, the churches across the world established
guest offices for pilgrims and travelers. The merchant class hotels began to emerge in
15th century due to increase in trade. The inns of the 16th century provided private
rooms to the visitors. The present day hotels started emerging from the late 18th
century. The past one hundred years have brought about dramatic changes in modes of
transportation, as well as in lodging accommodations. Hotels are built near the railway
stations and bus stands for the convenience of passengers.

The front office department is the nerve centre of the hotel. This is the department where
the guest first checks-in and finally checks-out of the hotel. The front office is also the
main controlling centre of all room services. The front office functions include
reservations, registration, room and rate assignment, guest services, room status
maintenance, settlement of guest accounts and creation of guest history records.
The front office department of a hotel comprises of the following sections: Reservation
section, Front desk section, Bell desk, Travel desk, Concierge section, Cashiering section,
Communication and telephone section, and Business centers. The Front Office Manager
must be a skilled planner who channelizes the various resources viz. people, money,
time, work methods, materials, energy and equipment to suit the objectives of the
property. The Front Desk Agent (Receptionist or Front office Assistant) is the first
person a guest sees on entering the hotel and the last person the guest sees on leaving.

5.11 KEY WORDS

Affiliation – association, relationship, connection
Obligations – compulsion, responsibility, commitment
Merchandises – products, commodities, produce
Prospective – potential, future, forthcoming
Hub – center, core, focal point
Sans – without, lacking, short
Tangible- touchable, real, substantial
Quantifiable- medical, experimental, proven
Hierarchy - pecking order, ladder, chain of command

5.12 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. What are Independent Hotels?
2. Write in short about Chain Hotels?
3. What are franchisee and referral group?
4. What is management based hotels?
5. Write in detail about Organizational mission, Goals & Strategies?
6. Write in detail about Hotel Organization & its functional areas?
7. Write in detail about Front Office Organization?

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8. Write in detail functional sections of Front office?

5.13 REFERENCES
1. M. Zulfikar , Introduction to Tourism and Hotel Industry, Sangam Books Ltd.
2. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
3. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,
Wiley.
4. Tom Powers, Clayton W. Barrows, Introduction to the Hospitality Industry, Wiley.
5 Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,
Wiley.
6. James A. Bardi, Hotel Front Office Management, Wiley.
7. Ahmed Ismail, Front office operations and management, Thomson Delmar Learning.
8. Michael L. Kasavana and Richard M. Brooks, Managing Front Office Operations,
Educational Institute of American Hotel & Motel.

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UNIT -06
FRONT OFFICE OPERATIONS

CONTENTS
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2. Reservation
6.3 Types of Reservation
6.3.1 Guaranteed Reservation
6.3.2 Non Guaranteed Reservation
6.4 Reservation Enquiry
6.5 Sources of Reservation
6.5.1 Central Reservation System
6.6 Group Reservation
6.7 Wall Charts
6.8 Computerized System
6.9 Control Books
6.10 Reservation Confirmation
6.11Amendment/ Cancellation
6.12 Expected arrival, Stay Over
6.13 Lesson Summary
6.14Key Words
6.15 Questions to Solve
6.16 References

6.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
◘ Reservation and its types
◘ Sources of reservation
◘Reservation availability
◘Equipment tracking room availability
◘Reservation records and confirmation.

6.1 INTRODUCTION
A hotel mainly relies on the income generated from the effective letting of its bedrooms
for profit. A large percentage of revenue is obtained from room sales, and out of that
again, a large proportion is contributed by the advance booking or reservation of rooms
of the hotel.
Reservation is an activity concerning the sale of room. In a small hotel, the volume of
reservation, i.e. advance booking of room is much less as compared to a large hotel;
hence this function and subsequently the work involved in reservations can be done by
the receptionist himself at the reception counter. In a large hotel, the volume of work of
booking of rooms is quite big and hence it becomes necessary to allocate a separate
section away from the reception counter so that the receptionist can concentrate more on
the guest services

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6.2 RESERVATIONS
Reservation is the activity of booking the room in advance for a prospective guest on his
request for future, which may be from few days to months in advance. Below is the
detailed process of reservation:
1. Conduct the reservation enquiry
2. Determine room and rate availability
3. Create the reservation record
4. Confirm the reservation record
5. Maintain the reservation record
6. Produce reservation reports.
Functions of the Reservation Section:
· The main function of the reservation section is to help the hotel in generating revenue
from future and prospective room sales.
· The reservation section should receive the reservation request from the prospective
guest, check availability of rooms, process the request and either accept it, wait list it or
deny it and communicate the decision.
· Prior to Computerization Era, the main function of the Reservation Process is only to
determine basic room availability. That is, the reservation clerk can only tell the
potential guest whether a room is reserved for him / her or not. However, the
reservation clerk cannot tell the type of the room, rate honored etc. But nowadays, with
the wide use of computer reservation (on-line reservation) with software package
programs, it is now possible to reserve a room by room type, rate, and to accommodate
all the possible special requests of the guest. Therefore, the selling function has largely
shifted from the front office to the reservation department. Hence, projections of Room
Revenues and Profitability Analysis became one of the main functions of the Reservation
Department.

6.3 TYPES OF RESERVATIONS

6.3.1 Guaranteed Reservation

Ensures that the hotel will hold a room for the guest until a specific time following the
guest‘s scheduled arrival date [i.e. check in time or start of the hotel‘s day shift or any
time the lodging property chooses]. On return, the guest shall guarantee his / her
reservation of room unless reservation is properly canceled. In order to guarantee a
reservation, guests might opt for one of the following methods:
1. Prepayment Guaranteed Reservation – the hotel request the prospective guest to
either send the complete deposit or a partial deposit and on receiving, makes the
booking for the prospective guest.
2. Credit Card Guaranteed Reservation – in this case the prospective guest gives his
credit card number and details to the hotel. The hotel confirms the room from the credit
card guarantee and then claims from the credit card company, if the guest does not
occupy the room on the said date.
3. Travel Agent Guaranteed Reservation – some travel agents have arrangement with
hotel chains to book room for their clients and executives travelling to various
destination. The travel agents are solely responsible for the reservation; they are billed
after the guest‘s stay is completed.

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4. Voucher or Miscellaneous Charge Order [MCO] - this is a special arrangement

designed to attract return guest or new business. This is usually provided by the hotels
themselves for their prospective guests.
5. Corporate Guaranteed Reservation – in this case the corporation or company takes
the responsibility for booking for their executives, visitors etc.

6.3.2 Non-Guaranteed Reservation

A hotel agrees to hold a room for the guest until a stated reservation cancellation hour
(usually 6 p.m.) on the day of arrival. In case the guest who has made the reservation
arrives after 6.00 pm, the hotel is not bound to provide him accommodation. Non-
guaranteed reservation usually occurs when the prospective guest does not provide any
payment guarantee but simply confirms through a letter. Reservation agents shall make
sure to encourage their guests to guarantee their reservations, especially in the high
season.
6.3.3 Tentative / Provisional Reservation
Provisional reservation is done when a request from prospective guest is received for
some future day arrival and the hotel blocks the room for this guest, provisionally in the
hotel records such as charts and diaries and racks or computer and sends a letter of offer
to the prospective guest. The offer has a cutoff date by which the guest should send his
confirmation which may be in the form of a letter, guarantee by company, credit card or
deposit whichever the hotel may request. Once the confirmation from the guest is
received by the hotel within the cutoff date, the hotel makes the tentative booking into
confirmed booking. Otherwise the tentative booking is cancelled and the records
updated.

6.4 RESERVATION ENQUIRY

Guests can communicate their reservation enquiries in any one of the methods; in
person, over the telephone, via mail, through facsimile, telex or e-mail. Moreover,
reservation inquiries can also be made through Central Reservation System or Inter-sell
Agency. While getting a reservation enquiry, the reservation agent shall obtain the
following guest-related information:
i) Guest‘s name, address and telephone number
ii) Company or travel agency name, where possible iii) Date of arrival and departure
iv) Type and number of rooms requested
v) Desired room rate and type of room
vi) Number of people in the group, if applicable
vii) Method of payment and / or guarantee
viii) Any other special requests

6.5 SOURCES OF RESERVATIONS

6.5.1 Central Reservation Systems
The majority of Lodging Properties belongs to one or more Central Reservation Systems.
A central reservation system is composed of a central reservation office, member hotels
connected together via communication devices, and potential guests. Central
Reservation Office [CRO] offers its services via a 24-hours toll free telephone number(s).
Member hotels of the central reservation system shall provide and exchange accurate
room availability data to central reservation offices. To illustrate, central reservation

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offices and member hotels shall communicate (on real time) any reservation transaction.
This is possible, nowadays, with the sophisticated communication equipment available.
These equipments shall be provided by central reservation offices to its member hotels.
Such equipment may range from teletype, telex, facsimile machines, to personal
computers or Internet connections.
On return for the services, central reservation offices charges a fee for the utilization of
its services which might take the form of a flat fee and a variable fee, or a flat percentage
of potential room revenue, actual room revenue, and / or Rooms Division gross profit.
Central Reservation Offices are divided into two:
i) Affiliate reservation network - this network is referred to as the hotel chain‘s
reservation system. In fact, it is composed of a CRO and hotels, which are members of
the same chain. The main advantages of affiliate reservation network are:
a) Streamline the process of reservation
b) Reduce overall system costs
c) Attract business for or refer business to another chain property
d) Affiliate reservation networks might serve, in addition to its main function, other
duties like:
· Serve as an inter property communication network
· Serve as an accounting transfer tool
· Serve as a destination information center
· Serve as a connection with Global Distribution Systems [GDS] System including
several Central Reservation Offices connected to each other.
ii) Non-affiliate reservation network - A non –affiliate reservation network is composed
of a central reservation office, potential guests, and member independent hotels.

6.6 GROUP RESERVATIONS

Conducting a reservation request for a group shall be treated differently than
accommodating a reservation of individual guests (i.e. Frequent Independent Traveler).
The main reason is that individual reservation requests are treated by the reservation
department, while group reservations are initiated by the Sales &
Marketing Division, and finalized through a careful coordination of the reservation from
one hand and the marketing on the other. Below is a detailed procedure of how group
reservation, in a typical hotel, is conducted:
1. A group representative, a member of the travel agency or the tour operator, not
individuals, shall communicate group reservations' request to the hotel's marketing
department
2. Upon availability, the hotel's reservation department shall block the requested
number of rooms for this very group
3. The Hotel shall give a deadline for the group, in order to receive their final list. That
deadline is called Cut-off Date.
4. After receiving the final list, the reservation department shall change the desired
number of rooms' status from blocked to booked (or reserved) rooms, and release the
remaining rooms if any left) as vacant for sale.
5. If the hotel did not receive the final list by the cut-off date, then the reservation
department has all the right to cancel the group reservation and release all the initially
booked rooms into vacant rooms. However, management shall use this right with

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precautions especially when it comes to groups reserving from travel agencies and tour
operators of which the hotel is frequently servicing.
Reservation availability
After receiving a reservation request, the hotel might accept it, as it is, if there is room
availability. If not, the reservation department should suggest alternative room types,
dates, and / or rates, to the potential guest. If, however, the potential guest insists on his
/ her previous request, the hotel should suggest an alternative hotel. That's one of the
main reasons why we need to maintain good relationships with nearby competing
hotels. The reservation department should always compare historical reservation
volumes against actual arrivals. The main reason is to cope with overbooking, which a
situation occurring when the total number of rooms reserved for a certain period of time
exceeds the total number of rooms available for sale, for the same period of time. In
order to cope with the overbooking problem, some statistical and historical data should
be stored and processed by the hotel and should be continuously updated. Such data
should include:
◘ Number of rooms reserved for a specific date
◘ Number of rooms occupied by stay over‘s (for a certain specific date)
◘ Forecasted no-show-ups percentage
◘ Forecasted under stays percentage
◘ Forecasted overstays percentage
◘ Forecasted cancellation percentage
◘ Out of order rooms for a specific date.

6.7 WALL CHARTS

These are charts stapled on the wall depicting days of the month versus hotel rooms.
Moreover, upon need and convenience, these charts might be customized to track
appropriate room numbers, rates, and codes, hence, is advantageous to control books.
Moreover, in this system, different colors are used to differentiate between different
reservation transactions and types of guest reserving. Wall charts eliminates the erasures
and rewriting associated with control book, hence less errors might occur.

6.8 COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM

In order to function properly, the reservation department shall maintain control books,
wall charts, and / or a computerized system. Whatsoever system chosen, the reservation
department shall maintain and update that system to include any reservation
transaction (i.e. whether a reservation, cancellation, or modification).
Below is a description of the three commonly used sets of equipment to track room
availability under the manual, semi-automated and fully-automated systems:
Computerized systems are by far the best systems that track room availability. In fact,
these systems control room availability data and automatically generate many
reservation-related reports in an accurate manner. Moreover, computerized systems can
itemize room availability for future periods by open dates, closed dates, versus special
event dates. This system can also forecast room availability for any reservation horizon
needed in the future. In the case of non-availability of room type, the system can further
suggest alternative room types, rates, or even other hotels.

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6.9 CONTROL BOOKS

Control books are standard three-ring, loose-leaf binders with a tally page assigned to
each day of the year. Under this very system, when a potential guest calls to have a
reservation, the reservation clerk shall check the cells corresponding to rooms. If there is
an empty cell for all the length of stay of the guest then the reservation clerk marks it as
X (i.e. reserved). If the guest is expected to continue staying the next day, then the
reservation clerk shall mark the next day's respective room cell as (i.e. Stay over). Lastly,
the reservation clerk is encouraged to use colors while updating information or the cells
on the control book.

6.10 RESERVATION CONFIRMATION

The hotel should communicate with guests by telephone, telex, mail, or e-mail a Letter
of Confirmation, which confirms the important points of the reservation agreement. This
letter might be shown at the registration process in order to accelerate the pace of
registration and to prove that the guest has the right to have a room at the hotel.
The Hotel shall send a confirmation letter to all reserved potential guests, whether their
reservations are guaranteed or non-guaranteed. Below are the main points that should
be communicated in a confirmation letter:
◘Name and address of the guest
◘Date and time of arrival
◘Room type and rate
◘Length of stay
◘Number of persons in a group, if any
◘Reservation type [guaranteed or not]
◘Reservation confirmation number
◘Special requests, if any.

6.11 AMENDMENTS, CANCELLATIONS

Potential guests initially asking for an accommodation might make up their minds
later (before arrival) and call back for a reservation modification. In fact, guests might
change their arrival date, expected departure date, method of payment or call for any
other item change previously confirmed in their confirmation letter or simply call to
cancel their previous reservation. In such a case, if possible reservation clerks shall
proceed as to satisfy guest needs. Below, are two possible examples of guest
modification? The first one concerns modifying a reservation type from non-guaranteed
to guaranteed. This might be because the guest's airplane schedule has changed in a way
that the guest is no more certain to reach the hotel by the cancellation hour. On the other
hand, the second example depicts a situation where the guest calls to cancel a
reservation (both guaranteed and non-guaranteed cancellations will be discussed).

1. Modify a reservation type (from non-guaranteed to guarantee):

In this very case, the reservation clerk shall:
a) Obtain the guest‘s name, and access the correct non-guaranteed reservation
b) Obtain the guest‘s credit card type, number and expiration date, and the
cardholder‘s name, and verify the validity of the credit card (Here assuming that the
guest would like to guarantee via a credit card)
c) Assign the guest a new reservation confirmation number, if it is the hotel‘s policy

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d) Complete the reservation type change from non-guaranteed to guaranteed

reservation status according to additional property‘s procedures, if any

2. Reservation Cancellation:
Reservation clerks accepting a reservation cancellation shall behave in a polite,
courteous and effective manner even though that reservation might make the hotel faced
with unsold room(s). The main reason is that guests are doing the hotel a favor,
especially under the non-guaranteed type of reservation, to communicate the hotel their
cancellation to let you adjust your room availability, and try to find alternative potential
guests beforehand.
When canceling a reservation, the reservation clerk shall issue and communicate a
cancellation number to the guest. In accordance to confirmation numbers, cancellation
numbers shall be meaningful as to be used for statistical purposes, and as to prove
whether a reservation has been properly canceled according to hotel cancellation
policies or not.
A) Cancellation of a non-guaranteed reservation:
In this very case the reservation clerk shall:
a) Obtain guest‘s name and address
b) Obtain number of reserved room(s)
c) Obtain scheduled arrival and departure dates
d) Obtain the reservation confirmation number, if applicable
e) Access the right account, and cancel it
f) Assign a cancellation number
g) Suggest an alternative reservation
B) Cancellation of a guaranteed reservation:
All the above mentioned procedure applies also for the cancellation of a guaranteed
reservation. Moreover, the reservation clerk shall pay attention to the following:
1. In the case of a cancellation of a credit card guaranteed reservation, the cancellation
number acts as a proof of whether a certain guarantee shall be refunded to the
potential guest or not.
2. In the case of advance deposit guaranteed reservation, again the cancellation number
acts as a proof of whether a certain guarantee shall be refunded to the potential guest
or not.
3. In the case of any other guaranteed reservation, the reservation clerk shall obtain the
representative‘s coordinates and mail him/her a letter documenting the cancellation

6.12 EXPECTED ARRIVAL, STAY OVER, AND DEPARTURE LISTS:

On a daily basis, the reservation department shall prepare the expected arrival, stay
over, and departures lists and communicate them to the front office department.
1. Arrival list: List of the names, and surnames along with respective room number of
the guests who are expected to arrive the next day.
2. Stay over list: List of the names, and surnames along with respective room number
of the guests who are expected to continue occupy their rooms the next day.
3. Departure list: List of the names, and surnames along with respective room number
of the guests who are expected to depart the next day.

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6.13 PROCESSING DEPOSITS, RESERVATION HISTORY

Guests who decide to guarantee their reservation by paying a certain deposit to the hotel
shall be informed about the procedure of sending deposits (i.e. how, when to send the
deposits?). Moreover, only employees who do not have access to reservation records
shall process deposits (ex: General Manager Secretary or hotel's general cashier). The
reason is if reservation and monetary transaction overlap, than internal control over one
of the most important assets of the hotel (i.e. cash) becomes very weak.
When a hotel assigned agent receives deposit, he/she shall:
a) Endorse deposit checks with the hotel stamp as soon as it is received
b) Record in the deposits received log the check number, amount, date received, guest
name, arrival date, and confirmation number, if known
c) Only the log shall be sent to the reservation department

Maintaining Reservation History Statistics:

The reservation department shall maintain, and update various reservations history
statistics to be used in the future whenever needed (ex. to integrate statistics in a model
to solve overbooking, to come up with operational ratios, to help for Rooms Division
budget preparation…). The following items are some of the data that might be stored in
the reservation department system:
a) Number and distribution of guests by market segment, age, income, and
nationality…
b) Number of expected occupied rooms
c) Reservation volumes by sources of reservation
d) Reservation volumes by types of reservation
e) Number of turn away guests with reasons of refusal

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6.13 LESSON SUMMARY

Reservation is the activity of booking the room in advance for a prospective guest. The
process of reservation includes conduct the reservation enquiry, determine room and
rate availability, create the reservation record, confirm the reservation record, maintain
the reservation record and produce reservation reports.
Reservations are of many types, viz. prepayment guaranteed reservation, credit card
guaranteed reservation, travel agent guaranteed reservation, voucher or miscellaneous
charge order, corporate guaranteed reservation, non-guaranteed reservation, tentative /
provisional reservation, etc.
Hotels depend on the income generated from the sale of its bedrooms. Reservation is an
activity concerning the sale of room. Reservations are done by the receptionist at the
reception counter. In large hotels, it is done by a separate section.

6.14 KEY WORDS

Sophisticated – stylish, classy, refined

Tentative – uncertain, unsure, cautious
Communicate – correspond; be in touch, converse,
Affiliate- associate, member, belong to
Streamline- rationalizes, update, restructure
Statistical – arithmetical, numerical, geometric

6.15 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. Write in detail about Reservation section in a hotel?

2. Mention the different types of Reservation?
3. What is reservation enquiry?
4. What are the sources of Reservation?
5. How to handle Group reservation?
6. What is meant by Reservation availability?
7. Write short notes on Wall charts, computerized system in reservation?
8. What is Central Reservation System?
9. Write in short about reservation confirmation?
10. How is cancellation and amendments done in reservation?
11. Write about Expected & Departure List?
12. Write in short about processing deposit & reservation History?

6.16 REFERENCES

1. Michael L. Kasavana and Richard M. Brooks, Managing Front Office Operations,

Educational Institute of American Hotel & Motel.
2. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
3. Michael L. Kasavana, Richard M. Brooks, Managing Front Office Operations,
Educational Institute of American Hotels.

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UNIT-7
FRONT OFFICE COMPUTER APPLICATION

CONTENTS
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2. Room Inventory
7.3 Status
7.4 Software used
7.4.1 Reservation Management Software
7.4.2 Rooms Management Software
7.4.3 Guest Account Management Software
7.4.4 General Management Software
7.5 Lesson Summary
7.6 Key Words
7.7 Questions to Solve
7.8 References

7.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
•To know the importance of room Inventory,
•Importance of various status of rooms, and
• Regarding the computer software used in the hotel & esp. in Front office.

7.1 INTRODUCTION
Hotel industry is a hospitality industry, where every aspect for utmost care of guest
should be considered. For proper handling the work and other aspects of front office
should continuously update regarding room inventory and the awareness of room
status and nevertheless the computer software to cope with the present sophisticated
hospitality work.

7.2 ROOM INVENTORY

Making room inventory is a continuous process in any hotel industry. Room inventory
is maintained for housekeeping purpose. Actually this term used in determining how
many rooms is currently available in the hotel. The process of room inventory system
basically comprises of an activity whose job is to regularly revise and scrutinize a
database for deciding housekeeping status in the hotel.
Though the front office department will be responsible for making reservation, but for
having the regular update of housekeeping status the front office department should
have to make regular communication with other staffs of Housekeeping, Maintenance,
and reservation Department. The front office personnel should also have to be updated
about the process of room inventory as it plays a vital role in the operational activities of
Front office department.
Besides the front desk personnel and the floor supervisor, the reservation staff also
should be updated about the room inventory to ensure confirmed guest reservation and
qualitative service.

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7.3 STATUS
Status of a hotel room changes rapidly, also it is very much crucial to give accurate room
status information to the front desk, so that they can sell the room or stop selling or
guiding guests.
1. Complimentary- The room is occupied by the guest but he is not charged
for using. This sort of offer is given to management staff from other
branches, special guests of the management or to big group leaders etc.
2. Did Not Check Out- The guest have made arrangements previously to
settle the account but did not turn up neither informed regarding his
check out. Here we have to note that he is not a skipper, as he has settled
his account.
3. Do Not Disturb- The guest has requested not to be disturbed. This is
usually indicated with a sign left hanging on the room‘s door knob or
electronically by a red light indicator outside the guest room door. This is
one of the most popular terms of Hotel Industry.
4. Due Out- The guest is expected to leave after the following days check
out time.
5. Late check out- The guest has requested and is being allowed to check out
later after the standard check out time which is usually 11 am or 12noon.
Normally one hour is allowed after check out time, and after that
normally it is charged.
6. Lock out- The room is locked and the guest will not be allowed until he
has been cleared by the hotel official.
7. Occupied- The guest is registered to the room and has not checked out
yet.
8. On Change-The guest has just checked out and the room is in the process
of cleaning, by housekeeping, and is not ready for resale.
9. Out of Order- The room is not ready for sale as it is closed for
maintenance, repair, cleaning, refurbishing, etc.
10. Skipper-The Skipper is a guest who leaves the hotel without settling the
account.
11. Sleeper- This situation occurs when the front desk has not updated their
room status information. The guest has settled his account and left the
hotel, but it was not recorded in the front desk.
12. Sleep out- The guest registers into the room but does not use the bed.
13. Stay over- The guest did not check out on the said date and extends his
stay, and would stay one more night.
14. Vacant & Ready-The room has been cleaned and fully ready for resale.

7.4 SOFTWARE USED

All front office computer systems do not operate identically. The Property Management
Systems (PMS) may illustrate the nature of the front office computer applications. PMS
contains sets of computer software packages capable of supporting a variety of activities
in front office areas. Common front office software packages are designed to help front
office employees perform functions related to:
Reservations Management
Rooms Management

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Guest Account Management

General Management
7.4.1 Reservations Management Software: Enables a hotel to rapidly process room
requests and generate timely and accurate rooms, revenue, and forecasting reports,
Central reservations system timely and accurate rooms, revenue and forecasting reports.
Computerized in-house reservations records, files and revenue forecasts are
immediately updated as reservation are immediately updated as reservation data are
received at the hotel. It is through electronic file updating that the computer system
remains current and in control of reservations activities. Various reservation
management reports, containing a summary of reservation data and guest account
status information can also be generated. Current reservations management also
includes upgraded rate control features, guest history modules and more detailed
property information such as bed types, guestroom views and special features.
Reservation management software can also track deposits due, requests deposits and
record deposit payments made.
7.4.2 Rooms Management Software: maintains current information on status of rooms
provides information on room rates, assists in room assignment during registration and
help front office in coordinating guest services. It can be used to provide rapid access to
room availability data during the reservation process. This information is useful in short
term reservation confirmation and room revenue forecasting-also provides a summary
on each room status
7.4.3 Guest Account Management Software: increases the hotel‘s control over guest
accounts and significantly modifies the traditional night audit role. Guest accounts are
maintained electronically, thereby eliminating much of the need for folio cards, folio
trays and account posting machines. The guest accounting module monitors
predetermined guest credit limits and provides flexibility through multiple folio
formats. When hotel revenue outlets are connected to the front office computer system,
remote electronic cash registers can be used to communicate guest charges to the front
office. These charges can then be automatically posted to the appropriate electronic
guest folios which reduces the chances of late charges.
7.4.4 General Management Software: This software cannot operate independently of
other front office software packages. It is report generating which means that it will
depend on data collected through the reservation management, room‘s management
and guest account management programs. Reports include days expected arrivals, and
number of rooms available for occupancy etc. It also serves as a link between front office
and back office computer system interface applications.

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7.5 LESSON SUMMARY

Room inventory is maintained for housekeeping purpose. Actually this term used in
determining how many rooms is currently available in the hotel. Status of a hotel room
changes rapidly, also it is very much crucial to give accurate room status information to
the front desk. All front office computer systems do not operate identically. The
Property Management Systems (PMS) may illustrate the nature of the front office
computer applications. PMS contains sets of computer software packages capable of
supporting a variety of activities in front office areas. Some of the software‘s are,
Reservations Management, Rooms Management, Guest Account Management, and
General Management.

7.6 KEY WORDS

Inventory – list, stock, record, supply

Scrutinize – inspect, examine, analyze
Complimentary – praising, admiring, approving
Crucial – vital, critical, essential
Refurbishing – restore, redecorate, renew
Eliminating – eradicate, remove, abolish

7.7 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. What is room Inventory?

2. What is the different status of rooms in a hotel?
3. What is the different software‘s used in a Hotel?

7.8 REFERENCES

1. M. Zulfikar, Introduction to Tourism and Hotel Industry,Sangam Books Ltd.

2. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
3. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,
Wiley.
4. Tom Powers, Clayton W. Barrows, Introduction to the Hospitality Industry, Wiley.

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UNIT -8
REGISTRATION & FRONT OFFICE PROCEDURES
CONTENTS
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2. Registration
8.3 Guest data
8.4 Reports
8.5 Walk in Guest
8.6 Call Accounting
8.7 Guest Information
8.8 Message
8.9 Wake up calls
8.10 Enquiries
8.11 Reservation
8.12 Registration
8.12.1 Functions of Registration
8.12.2 Check Outs
8 .13 Security
8.14 Theft
8.15 Fire alarm
8.16 Burglar Alarm
8.17 Guest Folio
8.18 Lesson Summary
8.19 Key Words
8.20 Questions to Solve
8.21 References

8.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
◘ Registration processing and records
◘ Methods and systems of registration
◘ issuing room keys and fulfilling special requests
◘ Room rates and room assignments
◘ Methods of payments.

8.1 INTRODUCTION
Guest registration is one of the first and most lasting impressions on a hotel customer.
Guest registration sets the tenor for the stay and is, therefore a critical contact point. The
front desk should promote the warmth and hospitality of the property. Guest
registration is the point at which critical information is collected about the customer and
his / her wishes. Reservation is also another important procedure in front office,
including Information and aspects which goes a long way in making front office job run
smoothly.

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8.2 REGISTRATION
Registration is a mandatory requirement that all guests over the age of 16 years –
irrespective of Indian or foreigner, ordinary personnel or VIP. Regardless the size of the
hotel, be it small or large guests, must provide basic information about them and fill up
either a visitors register / hotel register. The register may be a Red Book / form or a card
also called G.R. Card (Guest Registration Card). The guest has to fill in the form and
attest his signature. This agreement between the hotel and the guest is known as a
simple contract.

8.3 GUEST DATA

When a guest first enters the hotel then he needs to fill up guest registration card. Hotel
collects data from guests for security concern. Also such specific data is further used for
making guest history and for marketing purpose. Here are some basic points of
Information a hotel collects from its guests.
Full Name
Address and country of Residence
Type of travel document and serial number.
Validity of endorsement for arrivals.
Type of Visa and its expiry data.
Validity of document of Overseas.
Date of Entry.
Purpose of stay.
Birth date
Date of arrival & departure
Here is some step by step instruction for front desk personnel‘s on how to collect data
from a guest on his first arrival in your hotel:
1. After a guest checks in collect his passport and travel documents. Be sure
the photo match with the person standing in front of you. Nowadays you
should give extra care in order to catch fraud.
2. Request your guest to fill all required data in detail in guest registration
card. Don‘t use any backdated registration card; according to the present
security demand includes new information.
3. If guest becomes bored or slow, angry to fill so much detail then politely
inform him or her that all these information are needed to be taken for
national security.
4. Collect business card and frequent flyer card from all first time travelers
in order traveler in order to perform a proper guest profile.
5. If your guest does not have any business or not willing to give you then
gently request him or her to fill in the remainder of the guest registration
card.
6. Not take much of his time as other guest might wait behind him and
want to check in. Try to complete check in procedure promptly but
emphasize much on accordance not for time saving, as taking proper
information is your ultimate task.
7. After collecting data verify with present document and be sure
information he has provided are correct.

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8.4 REPORTS
Occupancy report- The Occupancy figures and other Information are presented daily to
the management and consolidated on a standard occupancy report. This is either
prepared by the late shift on reception or by the night audit staff.
Operational reports- A number of reports need to be regularly completed to assist in the
smooth running of the hotel. Some of these are completed by the housekeeping
department, and checked by reception.
Housekeeper‘s report- The Housekeeping department will send to reception a report on
the state of each individual room in the hotel.
Standard room report- The reception department is sometimes involved in the filling out
of standard room report. The aim of the report is to ensure that the rooms are
maintained and decorated to the highest standard.
Room Status Report:
The Front Office and the Housekeeping Department shall prepare at the same time, as
frequent as needed by management, their room status reports, which lists, according to
each department, the recent room status of each room in the hotel. Later, these two
reports shall be cross-referenced and compared to detect room status discrepancies and
correct them as soon as possible in order to maximize room revenue, detect skippers
before it is too late…
In the manual system, room status reports shall be reconciled at least each hour. This
very frequency might increase as the business volume increases (i.e. in the high season)!
In the semi-automated system, reconciliation shall be at least once per shift (preferably
at the beginning of each shift)!
Lastly under the fully automated system, since housekeeping and front office
department‘s communication is ensured electronically on real time, reconciliation needs
to be done only at the night shift by the night auditor

8.5 WALK IN GUEST

In hospitality sector walk-in-guest refers to that person who has come to hotel without
any prior reservation. Hotels do not have any sort of obligation to provide proper
accommodation to walk-in-guest if there is no room available. On the other hand
accommodating walk-in-guests can enhance sales and daily occupancy if it is managed
properly. If the guest cannot be accommodated then he should refer him to the other
hotel of that group or any nearby hotel.
Guidelines to deal with walk-in-guest:
1. Treat the guest warmly with ready smile as like a registered guest.
2. Create such situation so that the guest does not feel hesitated.
3. Ask his desire, length of stay & room preference.
4. Check whether such room is available or not.
5. If not then offer other room.
6. Quote the room rate and room facilities.
7. If guest agrees then proceed for registration otherwise if guest want then send
him to another hotel.

8.6 CALL ACCOUNTING

Hotels make more sophisticated use of call accounting systems than many corporate
entities. First, hotels require real-time processing from their call accounting systems.

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Also, while corporate call accounting systems largely provide departmental chargeback,
call accounting systems in hospitality provide more sophisticated chargeback and
markup algorithms for revenue based resale of phone services to targeted visitors, staff,
partners, and guests.

Traditionally, hotel chains and management companies have suggested that properties
keep their call accounting systems up-to-date and accurate. They have done this for four
main reasons: (1) to recover the cost of long-distance calls, (2) to properly allocate,
account for, and charge customers for their phone usage, (3) to generate revenue
through the resale of phone calls, and (4) to track phone calls made to and from their
property for marketing, planning and other purposes. However, given the low cost of
telecommunications capacity available to the hoteliers today, the low phone usage rates
in hotels, and the limited qualified staff available within individual hotel properties,
such activity is increasingly problematic.

8.7 GUEST INFORMATION

Front office management can better understand its clientele and determine guest trends
when it develops and maintains a guest history file.
It contains personal and financial data of the guest hence it is confidential and
proprietary. It is the last step in check out and account settlement. Many hotels build
guest history cards from expired registration cards. It has information about the guest‘s
spouse, family etc. the information may help develop ads that appeal to the types of
clientele the hotel is attempting to attract. Guest histories may also point out the need for
new, supplementary or enhanced services

8.8 MESSAGES
Receiving messages for in-house guests in their absence, recording them and
communicating to the guests as soon as possible is an important function of the front
desk staff. The efficiency and professionalism of the hotel and the attitude of the staff is
reflected by the way this function is carried out by the staff. Usually when a guest goes
out of his room he would leave his room key at the counter where the information clerk
would put it in the appropriate pigeon hole of his room in the mail and key rack. The
guest my leave a filled ―Location Form‖ indicating where he will be for the next few
hours.
There are only two ways that a person can contact an in-house guest.
(1) In case of a phone call the telephone operator will connect it to the room of the guest.
Since the guest is not in the room the call comes back to the operator who connects it to
the Information Section of the Front Desk. After checking that the guest has left his key
at the desk (as confirmed by the key being in the ―Mail and Key Rack‖) the telephone
call is transferred to the ―Message Desk‖. The message clerk prepares the message slip
in triplicate. It is important to read back the message to the caller and confirm the details
before signing off. The top two copies are given to the Information Clerk who puts it the
room no on the forms (from the Information Rack). The Top Copy is sent to the room to
be slipped under the door. The Second Copy is put in the appropriate room no pigeon
hole of the Mail and Key Rack. In addition, for further safety, an ―attention card‖ or a
―mail and message advice card‖ is put on the door knob of the room or ―message light‖
is activated in those hotels which use electronic systems. The message details may also

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be fed into the computer and the guest may view it on the screen of the T.V. in
his room.
(2) In case of the visitor coming to the hotel, he is asked to first try the house telephones
to contact the guest. When he finds the guest is not in his room he comes to the
Information Desk and fills in the message slip in triplicate as given above.
MESSAGE SLIP
To___________________________Room No_______
Date________________Time__________
DURING YOUR ABSENCE
Mr/Mrs/Ms___________________________________________
Of_____________________________________________________
Tel No__________________________
Called by Telephone
Please call him/her
Came to see you
Will return
Wants to see you
Urgent
MESSAGE_____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Received by__________________________________

8.9 WAKE UP CALLS

Wake up call is an in-house telephone call to a sleeping guest at an specific time to wake
him up, predetermined by the guest. It is generally done in the morning, but a guest
may require anytime of the day. It is the duty of telephone department to wake-up the
guest but if the call will be made up for airline crews or group of guests the lobby
personnel will take calls from local airline operators about the timing of the flight and
they should forward the message to telephone operator.
In case of airline or groups generally, the wake –up call should be done 45 min. or 1
hour before the pick-up time. In small hotels it is the duty of front desk agent to wake up
guests, here are some tips you should follow:

Give full attention to write proper room number, name and time to wake-up
guest to avoid any mistake.
Always insure that guest really wakes-up after your call. You can politely ask the
guest then if he wants to have a second wake-up call or not.
If no reply is received by the guest while you are calling or guest just hang up the
phone and hardly give any reply then you should call him again.
While calling you should start this way, ―Good morning, Mr. X It is 6 am in the
morning, which is your wake-up call, have a nice day‖.
If after second call guest does not respond at all then send the bell person to
knock his door and wake him up.

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8.10 ENQUIRIES
Guest‘s enquiries can easily be turned into sales. They also give you an opportunity
to help guests & make them feel welcome.

How to Handle Enquiries:

1. Know your product. Anticipate all the question people might ask about the hotel
& locality. Learn as much possible about areas outside your own department.
2. When the guest you for information, smile & offer to help.
3. If you do not know the answer, find somebody who does. Never say, I don‘t
know & leave it at that. Find out the information yourself or direct the guest to
the person who can help.

8.11 RESERVATION
Reservations are a contract of sorts between the hotel & the guest. In accepting a
reservation, the hotel agrees to provide a room for a specific length of stay at a
predetermined rate. In turn, the guest arrives on the chosen date & purchase the hotel
room as per request in the reservation.

The reservation area is critical to the success of a hotel. It is the area involved in selling
rooms to future guest. In this sales capacity, reservation must work very closely with the
marketing & sales department.

The reservation department also cooperates with front office or as a division of the room
function department. In large hotel, the reservation staff usually specialized in the
telephone skills & a good sales person.

The agreed-on terms are simple & generally include the following:
 Rate, Date, Room type, Method of payment & guarantee, Guest name & address,
Number of guests, Number of rooms, Applicable discounts, Special needs or
requests

8.12 REGISTRATION
The most highly visible duty of the front office is to register & check out guest. At first
glance, few tasks may seem as simple as greeting people & making them feel welcome.

Once the guest has arrived & has made it to the front desk, the registration process
begins. It is the point where more guests have begun to create an impression of the hotel
in their minds. The front desk personnel must continue to focus on guest satisfaction.
Hotels that create a warm & inviting atmosphere around the front office are ensuring
that the registration process goes smoothly.

The purpose of registration process is to register guests with expediency & care, ensure
their needs are met while following guidelines to ensure the hotel‘s profitability.

8.12.1 FUNCTIONS OF REGISTRATION

Registration serves 3 main functions:
1. It satisfies the legal requirements

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2. It provides a record of actual arrivals

3. It helps to confirm the guest‘s acceptance of the hotel terms & conditions

8.12.2 CHECK-OUTS
The main duties of the front office at check out are:

1. Settlement of guest accounts

2. Up-dating front office records after guest departures
3. Creating good lasting impressions

When checking out a guest, the front office staff should follow certain basic
procedures:

Greet guest and check their name and room number

Check for late charges
Produce master and guest folios for guest inspection
Settle accounts
Up-date front office records

Role of Cashier during Check out:

1. Greet guest with a smile and always try to use his name and wish him the time of
the day.
2. Confirm guest details (i.e. name and room number) against the guest‘s account.
3. Check whether late checkout charges should be applied. If the guest is leaving
after the check out time and he is not a frequent guest then add the relevant late
checkout charge to the account.
4. Check for late charges and in particular check breakfast or telephone charges.
Give the guest the master and or guest folio for checking

8.13 SECURITY
Security has always been a concern for hotels worldwide. Security of guest and his
property and the hotel property as well is of great concern for the hotel. In India very
few cases (hardly any) have been filed in the civil court asking for compensation for
alleged security deficiencies whereas in the U.S. hundreds of cases of negligence leading
to law suits for large sums (thousands of dollars) are filed. A hotel would always prefer
to have an out-of-court settlement to not only avoid money and time wastage but also to
keep itself from controversy and save its reputation. At any reasonable cost, the hotel
management would want the complaint withdrawn.

8.14 THEFT
In most hotels there is the possibility that dishonest staff will remove all hotel
property, be it food, bed, linen, towel, etc. for their own use. The security of these hotel
properties has the responsibility of each departmental head. A frequent stock taking
and spot checks are essential not only to establish quantities of items in stock, but also to
monitor unusual loses which might point to staff theft.

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In most hotels there is a staff entrance to the premises and a clock in system were
by each staff is required to punch a card upon arrival and departure from his or her
work showing the time of duty. The timekeeper will also act as a watchman to see that
nothing expect the staffs personal property is removed. From the hotel and may have
the right to check workers bag and basket to open parcels carried out of the hotel and to
call the manager or security officer if necessary.

8.15 FIRE ALARM

One of the major threats is that of fire. Although we have not had loss of life in hotels in
India (perhaps as a result of our methods of construction and the absence of wall to wall
carpeting) hotels here are also bound by law to take necessary fire safety precautions.
A front office manager is duty bound to ensure that he is satisfied with a hotel‘s:
◘ Fire detection systems
◘ Fire control provisions
◘ Escape procedures
◘ Fire-fighting equipment

8.16 BURGLAR ALARM

It is unfortunate that even the wealthiest of guests may have a tendency to pilfer a
hotel‘s property as a souvenir. This normally happens at check out when a guest leaves
the hotel with a variety of items – virtually anything that is not securely fastened down:
soap, towels, mats, sheets, blankets, coat hangers, lamps, trouser presses, electric kettles,
TV sets and even plumbing fixtures.

8.17 GUEST FOLIO

A folio is a record of a business transaction and on this document financial data are
recorded and summarized.
The term guest folio from hotel point of view means knowledge of what is to be received
from the guest and what is paid by the guest. To have updated information of the same,
it is important that at all times during the guest cycle, an efficient system is used.
Various systems such as manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic system may be used
depending upon the size and type of the hotel.
The objective of the guest folio procedures is as follows:
· To maintain accurate and up-to-date guest accounts.
· To ensure that payment is received promptly and in full.
· To provide management with accurate and up-to-date financial reports.

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8.18 LESSON SUMMARY

Registration is a mandatory requirement that all guests. The guests provide personal
and financial information by filling-in the form and / or answering the questions. The
information collected is recorded in a register or computer for providing better service to
the guests.
The registration process involves several steps which include collection of information,
assigning right room, providing billing information, sale of rooms and completion of
check-in. A typical registration record includes guest name and surname, guest address
and telephone number, company affiliation (if applicable), expected arrival date,
planned departure date or length of stay, required room rate, required room type, room
number, method of payment, special requests (if any) and signature of the guest.
Security can be classified under physical aspects, security of persons (guest and staff)
and security of systems. The physical aspects o f security can further be subdivided into
internal and external. Security aspects of persons can further be subdivided into staff
and guests. Security aspect of systems in hotel is equally important to physical and
persons‘ security. The objective of such security is to safeguard the assets of the hotel.
One of the major threats is that of fire. The Front Office Manager must always have a
watch on the fire detection systems, fire containment provisions, escape procedures and
fire-fighting equipment of the hotel. Apart form the above, the hotel must provide safety
and security from terrorist attacks, threats on privacy, threats on guests‘ property,
confidence tricksters or conmen, misbehaving guests / staffs, theft, skippers or runners
and immoral activities

8.19 KEY WORDS

Tenor – meaning, sense, intention
Warmth – affection, tenderness, kindness
Hospitality- welcome, warmth, kindness
Mandatory – obligatory, compulsory, binding
Emphasize – highlight, stress, underline
Discrepancies – inconsistency, difference, disagreement
Consolidated – combine, unite, merge
Reconciled – submissive, prepared to accept
Glance - quick look, glimpse, look
Expediency – convenience, practicality, usefulness
Pilfer – steal, make off with, embezzle
Souvenir – memento, reminder, keepsake
Compensation – reward, reimbursement, payment

8.20 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. What is the role of Registration in Hotels?
2. What is guest Data?
3. What are the different reports prepared in Front office?
4. What is Walk-in-guest?
5. What is Call- Accounting?
6. What is guest Information?
7. Mention the procedure of Messages?
8. Mention the procedure of Wake up calls?

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1. Write short note on Enquiries in Front office?

2. Write in short about Reservation & Registration in Front office?
3. What are the procedures of Check-out?
4. Write short notes on :
a) Security
b) Theft
c) Fire Alarm
d) Burglar Alarm
e) Guest folio

8.21 REFERENCES
1. James A. Bardi , Hotel Front Office Management, Wiley.
2. Ahmed Ismail, Front office operations and management, Thomson Delmar Learning.
3. Michael L. Kasavana and Richard M. Brooks, Managing Front Office operations,
Educational Institute of American Hotel & Motel.
4. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
5. Abbott P. and Lewry S, Front Office: Procedures, social skills and management,
Butterworth Heinemann.
6. Goetal, Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry, Wiley.
7. Kasavana M. and Brooks R., Managing Front Office Operations Fourth Edition,
Educational Institute.

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UNIT -9
HOTEL GUIDE
CONTENTS
9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Organization & History, Mission, Achievements.
9.2.1 FHRAI
9.2.2 IHA
9.2.3 ITDC
9.3 Lesson Summary
9.4 Key Words
9.5 Questions to Solve
9.6 References

9.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
•Organization and History of various group which helps hotel Industry,
•An insight into the different aspects of Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association
of India,
• IHA, International Hotel Association and,
• ITDC, India Tourism Development Corporation.

9.1 INTRODUCTION
There are various organizations which guides and support the hotels in
development and other aspects. Some of which are discussed in this unit are
Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India(FHRAI), International Hotel
Association (IHA) and above all India tourism Development Corporation .
9.2 ORGANIZATION & HISTORY, MISSION, ACHIEVEMENTS

9.2.1 FHRAI -The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India, often known
by the acronym, FHRAI, is the Apex Body of the four Regional Associations
representing the Hospitality Industry. FHRAI provides an interface between the
Hospitality Industry, Political Leadership, Academics, International Associations and
other Stake Holders. FHRAI is committed to promote and protect the interests of the
Hospitality Industry

By actively seeking better privileges and more concessions for the Industry. FHRAI
members are always kept abreast with the latest trade information and trends, statistical
analysis and reports on various topics that have a direct impact on the Industry,
Government notifications and circulars.

FHRAI helps the Hospitality Industry to grow, prosper and keep in pace with the
development in the International scenario.

With more than 3691 members comprising of approximately 2358 hotels, 1178
restaurants, 155 associate members and the 4 regional associations, FHRAI is truly the

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voice of the Hospitality Industry that brings several million dollars to the exchequer
and employs more than 17 million direct workers.

9.2.2 IHA- is nonprofit organization found in 2002 by a group of experts to help

members to be more competitive and successful in the hotel and restaurant industry.

To promote hospitality industry standards and its related occupation standards.

To provide current hospitality industry information and resources.
To promote and share experiences on hospitality internationally.
To provide professional training on hospitality industry.
To provide professional consulting and services on hospitality industry.
To host event to celebrate excellence.

9.2.3 ITDC- came into existence in October 1966 and has been the prime mover in the
progressive development, promotion and expansion of tourism in the country. Broadly,
the main objectives of the Corporation are:
◘To construct, take over and manage existing hotels and market hotels, Beach Resorts,
Travelers‘ Lodges/Restaurants;
◘To provide transport, entertainment, shopping and conventional services;

◘To produce, distribute, tourist publicity material;

◘To render consultancy-cum-managerial services in India and abroad;

◘To carry on the business as Full-Fledged Money Changers (FFMC), restricted money
changers etc; and
To provide innovating, dependable and value for money solutions to the needs of
tourism development and engineering industry including providing consultancy and
project implementation
The Corporation is running hotels, restaurants at various places for tourists, besides
providing transport facilities. In addition, the Corporation is engaged in production,
distribution and sale of tourist publicity literature and providing entertainment and
duty free shopping facilities to the tourists. The Corporation has diversified into new
avenues/innovative services like Full-Fledged Money Changer (FFMC) services,
engineering related consultancy services etc. The Ashok Institute of Hospitality &
Tourism Management of the Corporation imparts training and education in the field of
tourism and hospitality.

Presently, ITDC has a network of eight Ashok Group of Hotels, six Joint Venture Hotels,
2 Restaurants (including one Airport Restaurant), 12 Transport Units, one Tourist
Service Station, 37 Duty Free Shops at International as well as Domestic Customs
Airports, one Tax Free outlet and two Sound & Light Shows.

Besides, ITDC is also managing a hotel at Bharatpur and a restaurant at Kosi on behalf of
the Department of Tourism. In addition, it is also managing catering services at Western
Court, Vigyan Bhawan, Hyderabad House and National Media Press Centre at Shastri
Bhawan, New Delhi

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9.3 LESSON SUMMARY

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India, often known by the
acronym, FHRAI, is the Apex Body of the four Regional Associations representing the
Hospitality Industry.
IHA is nonprofit organization found in 2002 by a group of experts to help members to
be more competitive and successful in the hotel and restaurant industry
ITDC came into existence in October 1966 and has been the prime mover in the
progressive development, promotion and expansion of tourism in the country.

9.4 KEY WORDS

Interface – boundary, edge, line

Abreast - alongside each other, side by side
Scenario – situation, state of affairs, circumstances
Conventional – conservative, straight, usual
Innovative – pioneering, inventive, original

9.5 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. Mention the organization & History of FHRAI?

2. Mention the organization & History of IHA?
3. Mention the organization & History of ITDC?

9.6 REFERENCES

1. M. Zulfikar, Introduction to Tourism and Hotel Industry, Sangam Books Ltd.

2. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
3. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction.
4. Tom Powers, Clayton W. Barrows, Introduction to the Hospitality Industry, Wiley.

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UNIT-10
HANDLING OF GUEST MAIL, MESSAGES
CONTENTS
10.0 Objectives
10.1 Introduction
10.2. Interdepartmental Communication
10.2.1 Housekeeping
10.2.2 Engineering and Maintenance
10.2.3 Revenue centers
10.2.4 Marketing & Public Relation
10.3 Handling of Keys, types of keys
10.3.1 Key control system
10.4 Handling of Mails & fax
10.5 Telephone Handling
10.6 Lesson Summary
10.7 Key Words
10.8 Questions to Solve
10.9 References

10.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
• Regarding the Interdepartmental Communication with other department,
• Handling Keys and the different types of keys,
• And, Handling of Mails & fax.

10.1 INTRODUCTION
In this Unit one of the most critical aspect of departments is the Interdepartmental
communication with various departments like Housekeeping, Engineering &
maintenance, revenue centers, marketing & public relations. Another important feature
of industry is handling of the keys, and types of keys.
We have also discussed the importance of telephone handling as this help in creating a
good impression with the guest.

10.2 INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMUNICATIONS

The front office generally exchanges the most information with personnel in
housekeeping & in engineering & maintenance.

10.2.1 Housekeeping
 Housekeeping & front office must keep each other informed of changes in room
status to ensure that guests are roomed efficiently & without complications
 The more familiar front office personnel are with housekeeping procedures- &
vice versa- the smoother the relationship will be between the two departments
10.2.2 Engineering & Maintenance
 Engineering & maintenance personnel begin each shift by examining the front
desk log book for repair work orders

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 Front desk staff use the log book to track maintenance problems reported by
equipment, or broken furniture
 When the work is completed, the engineering & maintenance division informs
the department that filed the work request order
 If a maintenance problem makes a room unsalable, the front office must know
immediately when the problem is fixed so the room can be placed back in
available inventory

10.2.3 Revenue Centers

 Although hotels enjoy their greatest revenues through guestroom sales,
additional services & activities may support a hotel‘s profitability
 In addition to the rooms division, hotel revenue centers may include:
 Coffee house, Snack bars & specialty restaurants
 Bars, lounges & nightclubs
 Room service
 Laundry/ valet service
 Vending machines
 Gift shops, barber shops & newsstands
 Banquet, meeting & catering facilities
 Local & long distance telephone service
 Health clubs, golf course & exercise rooms
 Car rentals, limousine services & tours
 Casinos, & gaming activities
 Pay-per-view television movies
 Valet parking & parking garages
 Front desk personnel must be familiar with these facilities & services so they can
answer guest questions in a positive & knowledgeable way
 The transactions charged by guests at hotel restaurants, gift shops & other
remote points of sale must be communicated to the front desk to ensure eventual
payment

10.2.4 Marketing & Public Relations

 A hotel‘s marketing & public relations effort depends on the participation &
enthusiasm of front office personnel
 Guest receptions, health & fitness programs, family events & even
complimentary coffee in a hotel‘s lobby may provide settings for guests to
socialize & can promote repeat business
 Front office may contribute to hotel newsletters, guest history systems &
customized registration & check out processes which help personalize hotel
services for frequent guests.

10.3 HANDLING OF KEYS, TYPES OF KEYS.

10.3.1 Key Control Systems
 Are used to ensure guest safety by changing the access to a guest room between
guests
 Eventually evolved into systems that were easier to replace called key cards

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 These plastic keys resembled a playing card & were filled with small holes on
one end that the door lock could read when inserted
 The drawback to key cards was that they had the room name printed on it
 Modern hotels today use computer-controlled key control systems
 A credit card type is assigned a special code when activated by the front desk
 This key is preprogrammed with a guest‘s arrival & departure information as
well as specific guestroom information
 These cards will only work for the duration of the guest‘s stay & only in a
specific room
 Upon departure, these cards can be reprogrammed for a new guest & new room
 If lost, the information can be erased easily
 Another benefit to these keys is that no guest room number is printed on them,
therefore lost keys pose no security risk

1. EMERGENCY KEY
Opens all guestroom doors, even when they are double-locked, that is, locked
with both a standard door lock & a device operable only from within the
guestroom. Their use should be strictly controlled & recorded. An emergency
key should never be taken from the hotel property.

2. MASTER KEY
Opens, all guestrooms that are not double-locked. When not in use on the
property, a master key should be secured in a designated place for safekeeping.
Only authorized personnel should have access to master keys. Keys are issued to
personnel based on their need to use the key- not simply on their status. A
written record should be maintained of which employees have received a master
key.

3. GUESTROOM KEY
Opens a single guestroom if the door is not double-locked. Front desk staff
should not give a guestroom key just to anyone; the staff should check
appropriate identification to ensure that the person who asks for the key is the
guest registered to that room. In addition, the staff should remind guests to
return keys at check out.

10.4 HANDLING OF MAILS,& FAX

 In general, hotels time-stamp all guest mail when it arrives at the property as the
evidence of when the mail was received in case any questions arises on how
promptly the mail was delivered
 When mail arrives, front office records should always be checked immediately to
see if the guest is either registered, due to check in, or has checked out
 Usually, mail for a registered guest is held in the appropriate room slot in a mail
& message rack, or in alphabetical rack by the guests‘ last names
 The front desk staff should notify a guest as soon as possible that he or she has
received mail

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 If mail arrives for a guest who has not yet registered, a notation should be made
on the guest‘s reservation card or record & the mail held until the guest arrives
 Guest mail that is not picked up or has arrived for a guest who has already
checked out should be time-stamped a second time & returned to its sender

Facsimiles
 Front office personnel generally time-stamp any fax received at the property,
hold the fax in the guest‘s mail or message rack, & notify the guest according to
the property‘s procedures
 Some hotels keep a log of every fax received
 Information recorded in the fax log book may list the recipient, the sender, the
time the fax was received & the total number of pages
 Front desk staff may also record when the guest was notified, & when the guest
picked up the fax
 A similar record is kept of outgoing faxes if the property offers such service
 The guest will be charged for the service

10.5 TELEPHONE HANDLING

1. Be prepared – Neither you nor the caller have time to waste while you search
for a pencil or a misplaced schedule
2. Answer promptly – answer by the third ring if possible
3. Use proper identification – the hotel may have a set format for their employees
to use when answering the phone. Identify yourself & ask the purpose of the
call. For example, you might say; ―Front desk, good morning, Sylvia speaking,
may I help you?‖
4. Speak directly into the telephone – do not chew gum, smoke, or do anything
else that interferes with clear speech
5. Relax & be yourself – An artificial personality is a noticeable by telephone as in
person. It is easy to establish rapport if you are as sincere & personable on the
phone as you are in person
6. Ask questions – if you are not sure you understand everything that is said, or if
you feel you may have missed something, ask the caller to repeat the statement.
Clear up any confusion or misunderstanding, so that it does not embarrass you
later
7. Listen carefully – be an active listener. Limit your own talking, you can‘t talk &
listen at the same time. Listen for ideas, not just words
8. Take notes if necessary – your written documentation of the call will help you
remember important points
9. Use reflective phrases – when you would like the caller to elaborate on a point,
use a reflective phrase, such as ―you said‖, ―you mentioned‖, or ―you
described‖. After repeating the statement, follow through with a question
10. Keep call holds to a minimum – if it is necessary to place a guest on hold, check
back every minute or so to reassure the guest he or she has not been forgotten.
When you return to the line, thank the caller for waiting & explain the reason
for the delay
11. End the call courteously – wish the caller a pleasant day

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10.6 LESSON SUMMARY

The front office generally exchanges the most information with personnel in
housekeeping & in engineering & maintenance, so interdepartmental communication is
of utmost importance.
A system of key control is essential to the security of a lodging property. All keys
whether metal or electronic should be adequately controlled. Most lodging
establishments use emergency keys, master keys and guestroom keys. Metal keys are
being replaced by electronically coded keycards. It is normally a flat, rectangular piece
of plastic which stores a digital signature that is used to control locks. There are several
popular types of key-cards in use, viz. hole-card, bar code card, magnetic stripe card,
smart-card, etc.
Handling mails & Faxes of guest is very important in the industry, and above all
handling of telephones should be done in a professional way.

10.7 KEY WORDS

Vending – transaction, deal, selling
Enthusiasm – eagerness, interest, keenness
Personable – friendly, pleasant, likable
Courteously- politely, considerately, chivalrously

10.8 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. Mention Interdepartmental communication with :
a) Housekeeping,
b) Maintenance & Engineering,
c) Revenue centers,
d) Marketing & Public relation
2. Write in detail types of Key and handling of keys?
3. Write in detail about Handling Mails / Fax of guest?
4. Write in detail about telephone Handling?

10.9 REFERENCES
1. Ellis, Raymond C. and Stipanuk, David M, Security and Loss Prevention
Management, Lansing MI.
2. Joan C. & Lennox, Margaret Branson , Hotel Housekeeping Principles and Practice,
Edward Arnold, London.
3. Rosemary Hurst, Housekeeping Management for Hotels and Residential
Establishments, William Heinemann.
4. Louis A. Tyska, Lawrence J. Fennelly, Physical Security 150 Things You Should Know,
Elsevier.
5. Bill Phillips, The Complete Book of Locks and Locksmithing, McGraw-Hill
Professional

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UNIT -11
VISITOR'S TABULAR LEDGER

CONTENTS
11.0 Objectives
11.1 Introduction
11.2. Guest weekly Bill
11.2.1 Guest bill communication method
11.3 NCR Machines
11.4 Maintenance of cash book
11.4.1 Front office cash sheet
11.5 Night Auditor
11.5.1 Functions of Night Auditor
11.5.2 Role of Night Auditor
11.6 Lesson Summary
11.7 Key Words
11.8 Questions to Solve
11.9 References

11.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
• Regarding the guest weekly bill
• NCR Machines, maintenance of cash book & FO cash sheet
• And, Role & functions of a Night Auditor.

11.1 INTRODUCTION
This Unit deals the guest weekly bill and various aspects of, guest bill communication
method i.e. manual, mechanical, & fully automatic.
We have also discussed the FO cash sheet & maintenance of cash book. Lately in this
unit we have mentioned the role & functions of Night auditor.

11.2 GUEST WEEKLY BILL

The guest bill is updated immediately as it is received from the various departments /
sales outlets. It is very important to maintain and record all up to the minute details of
the accounts of the guest. A person who checks into a hotel is usually entitled to credit
facilities for his purchases of accommodation, food and beverages, telephone and other
facilities.
11.2.1 Guest Bill Communication Methods
Speed and accuracy in preparing and maintaining of guest account is very important so
as to avoid any late charges. This is possible only when there is very effective
communication system between the billing section and sales outlet. Depending upon the
type of hotel the communication methods can be:
1. Manual In small hotels, a bell boy or a waiter or a person from the department where
sale has taken place rushes to the billing counter for entry into the guest folio.
2. Mechanical Some medium or large sized hotels have pneumatic tubes (pressure
suction tubes) for sending signed vouchers of the guest from the department or outlet
selling the service or commodity to the billing counter.

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3. Fully Automatic System From the point of sale terminal (POS) the entry is made to
the centralized computer server where the guest folio is updated and stored. This
method is very efficient and convenient and is widely used today in almost all the
medium sized and large hotels.

11.3 NCR MACHINES

* Used to post, monitor, & balance the guest purchases charges

Normally provides:
◘A standardized means of recording transactions
◘A legible guest account statement
◘A basis for cash & deferred payment sales activity
◘An audit trail of charge purchase transactions
*Should be located near the front office folio tray & voucher rack
*Have built-in tabulation devices that allow management to systematically audit current
charge postings
*Update account balances after each posting.

11.4 MAINTENANCE OF CASH BOOK

The task of accurately & completely recording all transactions which affect guest ledger
accounts rests with the front office. The front office also records all transactions-except
collection-which affect non-guest accounts. The back office accounting division is
responsible for collection of non-guest ledger accounts.

11.4.1 Front Office Cash Sheet

The front office is responsible for a variety of cash transactions which may affect
both guest & non-guest accounts
Proper cash handling procedures & controls must be established, implemented &
enforced
Most non-automated or semi-automated operations require front office cashiers
to complete a front office cash sheet that lists each receipt or disbursement of
cash
The information contained on a front office cash sheet is used to reconcile cash
on hand at the end of a cashier shift with the documented transactions which
occurred during the shift
A front office cash sheet provides separate columns to record transactions
affecting guest accounts, non-guest (or city ledger) accounts, & miscellaneous
transactions
Front office policy may also require the completion of a cash voucher as support
documentation for cash transactions affecting front office accounts
The most common entry on a front office cash sheet is the money collected from
departing guests during check-out
When guest pay on their accounts, the cashier typically records the amount paid,
the room number & the folio number on the front office cash sheet
If a guest has paid for his or her accommodations in advance of check-out, the
front desk staff records this payment to offset room & tax charges posted
afterward

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The front desk staff‘s entry will frequently render a zero folio balance
FO cash sheet also provides space for itemizing cash disbursement or paid-outs

11.5 NIGHT AUDITOR

Since hotels operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the front office must regularly
review & verify the accuracy & completeness of its accounting records. The audit is a
daily review of guest account transactions against revenue center transactions which
helps guarantee the accuracy & thoroughness of front office accounting. The front office
audit is usually called the night audit because hotels generally perform it at night.

11.5.1 Functions of the Night Audit

The main purpose of the night audit is to verify the accuracy & completeness of guest &
non-guest accounts against departmental transaction reports. Specifically, the night
audit is concerned with the following functions:
Verifying posted entries to guest & non-guest accounts
Balancing all front office accounts
Resolving room status discrepancies
Monitoring guest credit limitations
Producing operational & managerial reports

11.5.2 The Role of the Night Auditor

 Requires attention to accounting detail, procedural controls & guest credit
restrictions
 Should be familiar with the nature of cash transactions affecting the front office
accounting system
 Tracks room revenues, occupancy percentages & other standard operating
statistics
 Prepares a daily summary of the cash, check & credit card activities that took
place at the front desk
 Summarizes & reports the results of operations to management

11.5.3 Establishing an End of Day

 The night auditor generally works the night shift, from 11.00pm to 7.00am,
compiling, balancing & reviewing the transactions from the previous day
 Each front office must decide what time will be considered the end of its
accounting day
 An end of day is simply an arbitary stopping point for the buisness day so that
the audit can be considered complete through a specific point in time.
 Usually the closing time of hotel revenue outlets determines the end of day
 Hotels with 24 hour room service & restaurants, the official end of day is the time
when the majority of outlets close
 The business day ends when the night audit begins
 The period from the night audit begins until the audit is completed is usually
referred to as audit work time

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11.6 LESSON SUMMARY

Guest accounting means what is the amount that need to be received and what is the
amount paid by the guest. To have updated information of accounts, it is important to
have an efficient system of amount collection from the guests. Systems such as manual,
semiautomatic or fully automatic system may be adopted depending upon the size and
type of the hotel. The objective of the guest accounting procedures is to maintain
accurate and up-to-date guest accounts, to ensure that payment is received promptly
and in full and to provide management with accurate and up-to-date financial reports.
Depending upon the size of the hotel, the communication methods for billing can be of
type manual, mechanical or fully automated. The process of guest accounting is based
on the financial transaction, creation and maintenance of accurate accounting details,
making of necessary documents and recording of transaction on relevant documents,
ensuring internal control, checking and establishing the accuracy of the recorded
transaction and settlement of the accounts, which may be by cash payment or credit
payment.
The task of accurately & completely recording all transactions which affect guest ledger
accounts rests with the front office. The front office also records all transactions-except
collection-which affect non-guest accounts. The back office accounting division is
responsible for collection of non-guest ledger accounts
Since hotels operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the front office must regularly
review & verify the accuracy & completeness of its accounting records. The audit is a
daily review of guest account transactions against revenue center transactions which
helps guarantee the accuracy & thoroughness of front office accounting. The front office
audit is usually called the night audit because hotels generally perform it at night.

11.7 KEY WORDS

Legible – readable, understandable, clear

Transactions- dealings, connections, business
Implemented – apply, execute, apply.
Enforced – compulsory, forced, imposed
Folio – sheet, piece of paper, side
Render – make, provide, submit
Arbitrary- illogical, subjective, uninformed
Disbursement – payout, expense, costs

11.8 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. What is guest weekly bill & guest bill communication methods?

2. What are NCR machines?
3. Write about Maintenance of cash book & front office cash sheet?
4. Write in short about night auditor?
5. What are the roles & functions of a night auditor?

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11.9 REFERENCES

1. Ahmed, M.N, Hotel Accounting, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd.

2. Peter Abbott, Sue Lewry , Front Office: Procedures, Social Skills, Yield and
Management, Butterworth-Heinemann.
3. Michael L. Kasavana and Richard M. Brooks, Managing Front Office Operations,
Educational Institute of American Hotel & Motel.
4. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
1. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,
Wiley.
2. James A. Bardi, Hotel Front Office Management, Wiley.
3. Ahmed Ismail, Front office operations and management, Thomson Delmar Learning.
4. Michael L. Kasavana and Richard M. Brooks, Managing Front Office Operations,
Educational Institute of American Hotel & Motel.

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UNIT - 12
APPROVALS REQUIRED FOR HOTEL

CONTENTS
12.0 Objectives
12.1 Introduction
12.2. Project Stage
12.3 Classification & Reclassification of Hotel
12.4 Lesson Summary
12.5 Key Words
12.6 Questions to Solve
12.7 References

12.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
• Approvals required at project stage of hotel.
• And, regarding Classification and reclassification of hotel.

12.1 INTRODUCTION
There are numerous norms for building a star classified hotel, especially at the project
stage itself these norms has to be fulfilled in any condition. These guidelines are as per
the Govt. of India, Department of Tourism. After the completion the next terms and
condition is regarding Classification and reclassification of new and old hotels.

12.2 PROJECT STAGE

1. The Department of Tourism approves hotels at project stage based on

documentation, which enables the hotels to get certain benefits from the govt.
as announced from time to time. The documents required for project
approvals are listed below.
2. Project approvals are valid for 5 years. Project approvals of the Govt. of
India, Department of Tourism cease 3 months from the date that the hotel
becomes operational even if all its rooms are not ready. The hotel must apply
for classification within these 3 months.
3. The Govt. India, Department of Tourism reserves the right to modify the
guidelines / terms and conditions from time to time.
4. Application form. This covers
i. Proposed name of the hotel
ii. Name of the promoters with a note on their business antecedents
iii. Complete postal address of the promoters/tel./fax/email
iv. Status of the owners/promoters
1. If Public / Private limited company with copies of
Memorandum and Articles of Association.
2. If Partnership, a copy of partnership deed and certificate of
registration.

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3. If proprietary concern, name and address of proprietor /

certificate of registration.
v. Location of hotel site with postal address
vi. Details of the site
1. Area (in sq.meters)
2. Title – owned / leased with copies of sale / lease deed.
3. Copy of Land Use Permit from local authorities
4. Distances from Railway station, airport, main shopping centers
(in Kms)
vii. Details of the project
1. Copy of feasibility report.
2. Star category planned.
3. Number of rooms and area for each type of room (in sq. ft.)
4. Number of attached baths and areas (in sq. ft.)
5. Details of public areas – Lobby / lounge, restaurants, bars,
shopping, banquet / conference halls, health club, swimming
pool, parking facilities.
6. Facilities for the physically challenged persons.
7. Eco – friendly practices and any other additional facilities
(Please indicate area in sq. ft. for each facility mentioned above
at 5,6 &7)
8. Date by which project is expected to be completed and
operational.
viii. Blue prints / sketch plans signed by owners and architect showing
1. Site plan
2. Front and side elevations
3. Floor plans for all floors
4. Details of guest room and bathroom with dimensions in sq. ft.
5. Details of Fire Fighting Measures / Hydrants etc.
6. Details of measures for energy conservation and water
harvesting.
ix. Air – conditioning details for guest rooms, public areas.
x. Local approvals by
1. Municipal authorities
2. Concerned Police Authorities
3. Any other local authority as may be required.
4. Approval / NOC from Airport Authority of India for projects
located near Airports

The above mentioned approvals / NOCs are the responsibility of the

promoters / concerned company as the case may be. The Department‘s
approval is no substitute for any statutory approval and the approval
given is liable to be withdrawn in case of any violations without notice.
xi. Proposed capital structure
1. Total project cost
a. Equity component with details of paid up capital
b. Debt – with current and proposed sources of funding

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xii. Letter of acceptance of regulatory conditions.

xiii. Please indicate whether the promoter intends to give a few rooms or
all rooms on a time – share basis.
xiv. Application Fee
5. In the event of any changes in the project plans, the approval must be sought
afresh.
6. Authorized officers of the Department of Tourism should be allowed free
access to inspect the premises from time to time without prior notice.
7. The hotel must immediately inform the Department of the date from which
the hotel becomes operational and apply for classification within 3 months of
this date.
8. The fees payable for the project approval and subsequent extension, if
required are:

Star Category Amount in Rs.

5 – Star 15, 000
4 – Star 12, 000
3 – Star 8, 000
2 – Star 6, 000
1 – Star 5, 000
Heritage Category 12, 000

9. The promoters must forward regular progress reports for each quarter failing
which the project approval would be considered withdrawn.
10. All documents must be valid at the time of application and a Gazette Officer
or Notary must duly certify copies furnished to the Department. Documents
in local languages should be accompanied by a translation in English /
Official language and be duly certified.
11. Projects, where it is proposed to let out part or whole of the hotel on time
share basis will not be eligible for approval.
12. For any change in the category the promoters must apply afresh with a fresh
application form and requisite fees for the category applied for.
13. Any changes in the project plans or management should be informed to the,
Department of Tourism / Regional Directors Office (For 3,2 & 1 Star
categories) (for 5 – D, 5,4 Star and Heritage categories) within 30 days
otherwise the approval will stand withdrawn / terminated.
14. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.

12.3 CLASSIFICATION & RECLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS

1. Classification for newly operational hotels must be sought within 3 months of
completion of approved hotel projects. Operating hotels may opt for classification at
any stage. However, hotels seeking re-classification should apply for reclassification one
year prior to the expiry of the current period of classification.
2. If the hotel fails to reapply 1 year before the expiry of the classification order, the
application will be treated as a fresh classification case.

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3. Once a hotel applies for classification / re-classification, it should be ready at all times
for inspection by the HRACC. No requests for deferment of inspection will be
entertained.
4. Classification will be valid for 5 (five) years from the date of issue of orders or in case
of reclassification from the date of expiry of the last classification provided that the
application has been received within the stipulated time mentioned above, along with
all valid documents. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
5. Hotels which propose to let out part of or all its rooms on time-share basis are not
eligible to be classified.
6. Hotels applying for classification must provide the following documentation.
a) Application Form detailing
i) Name of the Hotel
ii) Name and address of the promoters / owners with a note on their business
antecedents.
iii) Complete postal address of the hotel with tel.no/fax/email
iv) Status of the owners / promoters.
b).If Public / private limited company with copies of Memorandum and Articles of
Association.
c) If Partnership, a copy of partnership deed and certificate of registration.
d) If proprietary concern, name and address of proprietor / certificate of registration.
i) Date on which the hotel became operational.
ii) Details of hotel site with postal address and distance from Airport / Railway Station
/ iii) City Centre / Downtown shopping area (in Kms)
Details of the hotel
a) Area (in sq. meters) with title – owned / leased with copies of sale / lease deed.
b) Copy of Land Use Permit from local authorities.
c) Star category being applied for
d) Number of rooms and area for each type of room in sq. ft. (single / double / suites)
e) Number of attached baths.
f) Details of public areas – Lobby / lounge, restaurants, bars, shopping area, banquet /
conference halls, health club, swimming pool, parking facilities, facilities for the
physically challenged persons, Eco-friendly practices and any other additional facilities.
g) The area for each facility should be indicated in sq. ft.
h) Detail of guestroom and bathroom with dimensions in sq. ft.
i) Details of Fire Fighting Measures / Hydrants etc.
j) Details of measures for energy conservation and water harvesting and other eco –
friendly measures and initiatives.
k) Air – Conditioning details for guest rooms, public areas.
l) Certificates / No Objection Certificate‘s (attested copies)
m) Certificate / license from Municipality / Corporation to show that your
establishment is registered as a hotel.
n) Certificate / License from concerned Police Department authorizing the running of a
hotel.
o) Clearance Certificate from Municipal Health Officer / Sanitary Inspector giving
clearance to your establishment from sanitary / hygienic point of view.
p) No Objection Certificate with respect to fire fighting arrangements from the Fire
Service Department (Local Fire Brigade Authorities)

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All applications for classification or re-classification must be complete in all respects –

application form, application fee, prescribed clearances, NOCs, certificates etc. –
incomplete application is liable to be rejected.
Hotels will qualify for classification as Heritage hotels provided a minimum 50% of the
floor area was built before 1935 and no substantial change has been made in the façade.
Hotels, which have been classified / re-classified under Heritage categories prior to
issue of these Guidelines will continue under Heritage categories even if they were built
between 1935 – 1950.
The application fees payable are as follows:
Star Category Classification / Re-classification fees in
Rs.
1 – Star 6, 000
2 – Star 8, 000
3 – Star 10, 000
4 – Star 15, 000
5 – Star 20, 000
5- Star Deluxe 25, 000
Heritage 15, 000
(Grand, Classic & Heritage categories)

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12.4 LESSON SUMMARY

The Department of Tourism approves hotels at project stage based on documentation,

which enables the hotels to get certain benefits from the govt. Project approvals are valid
for 5 years. Project approvals of the Govt. of India, Department of Tourism cease 3
months from the date that the hotel becomes operational even if all its rooms are not
ready. The Govt. India, Department of Tourism reserves the right to modify the
guidelines / terms and conditions from time to time.
Classification for newly operational hotels must be sought within 3 months of
completion of approved hotel projects. Operating hotels may opt for classification at
any stage. However, hotels seeking re-classification should apply for reclassification one
year prior to the expiry of the current period of classification.

12.5 KEY WORDS

Cease – stop, finish, end

Antecedents - past history, background, qualifications
Memorandum – memo, note, communication
Feasibility – viability, probability, practicability
Notary - legal representative, attorney, public prosecutor
Heritage- inheritance, tradition, custom

12.6 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. What are the approval & norms to be met at project stage of a star hotel?
2. Mention the details for Classification & re classification of a hotel?

12.7 REFERENCES

1. M. Zulfikar, Introduction to Tourism and Hotel Industry, Sangam Books Ltd.

2. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
3. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,
Wiley.
4. Tom Powers, Clayton W. Barrows, Introduction to the Hospitality Industry, Wiley.

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UNIT - 13
TOURISM
CONTENTS
13.0 Objectives
13.1 Introduction
13.2. History
13.3 Recent Development
13.4 Sustainable Tourism
13.5 Growth
13.6 Lesson Summary
13.7 Key Words
13.8 Questions to Solve
13.9 References

13.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
• Regarding tourism and its History
• Recent developments in the tourism scenario
•And in respect to sustainable tourism and its growth

13.1 INTRODUCTION
Tourism is one of those industries which have always shown a growth. For some
country, tourism is one of the important part of their economy. There had been recent
developments in tourism in regard to the technological advances. Sustainable tourism
can be seen as having regard to ecological and socio-cultural carrying capacities and
includes involving the community of the destination.

13.2 HISTORY

Wealthy people have always travelled to distant parts of the world, to see great
buildings, works of art, learn new languages, and experience new cultures and to taste
different cuisines. Long ago, at the time of the Roman Republic, places such as Baiae
were popular coastal resorts for the rich. The word tourist was used by 1772 and tourism
by 1811. In 1936, the League of Nations defined foreign tourist as "someone traveling
abroad for at least twenty-four hours". Its successor, the United Nations, amended this
definition in 1945, by including a maximum stay of six months

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism
Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their
usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and
other purposes".

Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2010, there were over 940
million international tourist arrivals worldwide, representing a growth of 6.6% when
compared to 2009. International tourism receipts grew to US$919 billion (€693 billion) in
2010, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 4.7%. As a result of the late-2000s

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recession, international travel demand suffered a strong slowdown from the second half
of 2008 through the end of 2009. After a 5% increase in the first half of 2008, growth in
international tourist arrivals moved into negative territory in the second half of 2008,
and ended up only 2% for the year, compared to a 7% increase in 2007. This negative
trend intensified during 2009, exacerbated in some countries due to the outbreak of the
H1N1 influenza virus, resulting in a worldwide decline of 4.2% in 2009 to 880 million
international tourists‘ arrivals, and a 5.7% decline in international tourism receipts.

13.3 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

There has been an up-trend in tourism over the last few decades, especially in Europe,
where international travel for short breaks is common. Tourists have a wide range of
budgets and tastes, and a wide variety of resorts and hotels have developed to cater for
them. For example, some people prefer simple beach vacations, while others want more
specialized holidays, quieter resorts, family-oriented holidays or niche market-targeted
destination hotels.

The developments in technology and transport infrastructure, such as jumbo jets, low-
cost airlines and more accessible airports have made many types of tourism more
affordable. On April 28, 2009 The Guardian noted that "the WHO estimates that up to
500,000 people are on planes at any time." There have also been changes in lifestyle, for
example some retirement-age people sustain year round tourism. This is facilitated by
internet sales of tourist services. Some sites have now started to offer dynamic
packaging, in which an inclusive price is quoted for a tailor-made package requested by
the customer upon impulse.

There have been a few setbacks in tourism, such as the September 11 attacks and
terrorist threats to tourist destinations, such as in Bali and several European cities. Also,
on December 26, 2004, a tsunami, caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, hit the
Asian countries on the Indian Ocean, including the Maldives. Thousands of lives were
lost including many tourists. This, together with the vast clean-up operations, stopped
or severely hampered tourism in the area for a time.

The terms tourism and travel are sometimes used interchangeably. In this context, travel
has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms
tourism and tourist are sometimes used critically, to imply a shallow interest in the
cultures or locations visited by tourists.

13.4 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

"Sustainable tourism is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a

way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural
integrity, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity and life support
systems."

Sustainable development implies "meeting the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

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Sustainable tourism can be seen as having regard to ecological and socio-cultural

carrying capacities and includes involving the community of the destination in tourism
development planning. It also involves integrating tourism to match current economic
and growth policies so as to mitigate some of the negative economic and social impacts
of 'mass tourism'. Murphy (1985) advocates the use of an 'ecological approach', to
consider both 'plants' and 'people' when implementing the sustainable tourism
development process. This is in contrast to the 'boosterism' and 'economic' approaches to
tourism planning, neither of which considers the unfavorable ecological or sociological
impacts of tourism development to a destination.

However, Butler questions the exposition of the term 'sustainable' in the context of
tourism, citing its uncertainty and stating that "the emerging sustainable development
philosophy of the 1990s can be viewed as and extension of the broader realization that a
preoccupation with economic growth without regard to its social and environmental
consequences is self-defeating in the long term." Thus 'sustainable tourism development'
is seldom considered as an autonomous function of economic regeneration as separate
from general economic growth.

13.5 GROWTH

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecasts that international tourism will
continue growing at the average annual rate of 4 %. With the advent of e-commerce,
tourism products have become one of the most traded items on the internet. Tourism
products and services have been made available through intermediaries, although
tourism providers (hotels, airlines, etc.) can sell their services directly. This has put
pressure on intermediaries from both on-line and traditional shops.

It has been suggested there is a strong correlation between tourism expenditure per
capita and the degree to which countries play in the global context. Not only as a result
of the important economic contribution of the tourism industry, but also as an indicator
of the degree of confidence with which global citizens leverage the resources of the
globe for the benefit of their local economies. This is why any projections of growth in
tourism may serve as an indication of the relative influence that each country will
exercise in the future.

Space tourism is expected to "take off" in the first quarter of the 21st century, although
compared with traditional destinations the number of tourists in orbit will remain low
until technologies such as a space elevator make space travel cheap.

Technological improvement is likely to make possible air-ship hotels, based either on

solar-powered airplanes or large dirigibles. Underwater hotels, such as Hydropolis,
expected to open in Dubai in 2009, will be built. On the ocean, tourists will be welcomed
by ever larger cruise ships and perhaps floating cities

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13.6 LESSON SUMMARY

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism
Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their
usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and
other purposes".
The terms tourism and travel are sometimes used interchangeably. In this context, travel
has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms
tourism and tourist are sometimes used pejoratively, to imply a shallow interest in the
cultures or locations visited by tourists
Sustainable development implies "meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
It has been suggested there is a strong correlation between tourism expenditure per
capita and the degree to which countries play in the global context. Not only as a result
of the important economic contribution of the tourism industry, but also as an indicator
of the degree of confidence with which global citizens

13.7 KEY WORDS

Successor – heir, descendant,
Amended – alter, modify, revise
Recreational - spare time, fun, entertaining
Leisure – vacation, holiday, relaxation
Influenza – flu, infection, respiratory tract infection
Niche – role, slot, place, function
Facilitated - make easy, ease, assist
Envisaged imagine, foresee, predict

13.8 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. Write in brief History of Tourism?
2. Write in detail about the recent developments in Tourism?
3. What do you understand by Sustainable Tourism?
4. Write in brief about the growth of Tourism?

13.9 REFERENCES
1. M. Zulfikar, Introduction to Tourism and Hotel Industry, Sangam Books Ltd.
2. S.K. Bhatnagar, Front Office Management, Frank Bros. & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
3. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,
Wiley.
4. Tom Powers, Clayton W. Barrows, Introduction to the Hospitality Industry, Wiley.

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UNIT- 14
GUEST SATISFACTION
CONTENTS
14.0 Objectives
14.1 Introduction
14.2. Guest Satisfaction
14.3 Guest Satisfaction
14.4 Customer Relation
14.4.1 Service a two sided coin
14.5 Delivery of Psychological Service
14.6 Lesson Summary
14.7 Key Words
14.8 Questions to Solve
14.9 References

14.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
• Insight into guest Satisfaction & dissatisfaction
• Customer relations and regarding the service
•And, regarding delivery of psychological service

14.1 INTRODUCTION
For any business to have a regular visit of clients, the most important thing is to look
into the matters of guest satisfaction & dissatisfaction. For this there need to be customer
relations. As per the guest needs we have to deliver the psychological service for a better
growth in business.

14.2 GUEST SATISFACTION

A hotel guest‘s significance can be seen from the fact that all activities and innovations
in a hotel revolve around one term—guest satisfaction. Basically guest needs can be
classified as follows.
1. Physiological needs: Related to protection against heat, cold, rain etc. in the form
of room and related to his appetite/thirst and special food requirement.
2. Economic needs: Value for money i.e. is he getting returns worth the value of
money spent by him? How much can he afford?
3. Social needs: Attending functions and gatherings, to meet others, going out with
friends.
4. Psychological needs : Enhancement of self-pride, the need for variety

14.3 GUEST DISSATISFACTION

This can be usually because of two reasons classified as follows.
1. Under the control of the hotel: Such as unhelpful staff, cramped conditions and
lack of choice of product i.e. type of accommodation and other service available
for offer to the guest.
2. Beyond the control of the front office of the hotel: Factors such as location, the
weather, other customers and transport problems.

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Guest satisfaction shall ensure repeat business, increased clientele and

maximized revenue for the establishment.

14.4 CUSTOMER RELATIONS

Better known as guest relation in hotel industry, it undoubtedly cannot be anything but
providing hospitality to the guest of the hotel. It can be achieved by using procedures
which will improve guest sales factor. It is important in this connection that we
understand the basic principle that service is a two-sided coin and we must also
understand their marketing concept which involves identification and satisfaction of
guest needs.

14.4.1 SERVICE IS A TWO-SIDED COIN

There are two sides to service: (i) Operational side, and (ii) People side.

Most of the hospitality operations do understand the importance of providing basic

levels of physical services such as good food (food to be served hot, etc.) clean rooms
and standards facilities etc.

But it is the ‗people side‘ where the major shortfall tends to be. For a serious
understanding of marketing concept and hence satisfaction to guest it may be said that
the service provider (staff) is some kind of an amateur psychologist. Human needs can
be arranged according to priorities. Needs like hunger and thirst come first and must be
taken care of first and other needs follow this. Coldness, rudeness or being ignored
leaves some powerful human needs-the needs to be accepted, to belong to feel secure, to
have status, to have recognition, and to the needs to the wanted unsatisfied.

14.5 DELIVERY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICE

It requires understanding of: (1) customer‘s need for recognition (2) importance of smile
(3) a positive attitude (4) genuineness and (5) an understanding of the importance of
customer‘s expectation

1. Recognition of customer’s needs: It is vital to pay attention to customers and to

demonstrate that you are paying attention. Aim at individualizing the customer,
for example by the use of the customer‘s name.
2. Smile: Smile is contagious like anger. No Smile goes waste. No matter how bad
you feel, you must keep smiling. Staff must be friendly. Hire right staff with right
attitude for your customers.
3. Think positive: Make sure your staff has positive attitude. They take their lead
from you. Treat your staff in a friendly and fair way. Don‘t tell your problems to
your establishment
4. Genuineness: Genuineness can‘t be preached and taught. It comes from within
like positive attitude. Wherever possible address the guest by name. Use self-
involvement techniques such as address the guest by name, etc. Genuineness
means accepting the guest for what he is without judgment or censor.
5. Customer’s expectation: It is a very important point because normally customer
dissatisfaction is not related to the actual level of service provided but to the fact
that the customer did not get what he expected and perceived.

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14.6 LESSON SUMMARY

A hotel guest‘s significance can be seen from the fact that all activities and
innovations in a hotel revolve around one term—guest satisfaction. Guest satisfaction
shall ensure repeat business, increased clientele and maximized revenue for the
establishment. Human needs can be arranged according to priorities.
It requires understanding of: (1) customer‘s need for recognition (2) importance of smile
(3) a positive attitude (4) genuineness and (5) an understanding of the importance of
customer‘s expectation

14.7 KEY WORDS

Innovations – novelty, improvement, advance

Enhancement- improvement, development, enrichment
Amateur - part-time, unpaid, layperson
Genuineness – authenticity, realness, legitimacy

14.8 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. Write in short about:

a) Guest Satisfaction
b) Guest Dissatisfaction
c) Customer Relations
2. Explain ―Service is a two sided Coin‖?
3. What do you understand by , Delivery of Psychological services?

14.9 REFERENCES

1. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,

Wiley.
2. James A. Bardi , Hotel Front Office Management, Wiley.
3. Ahmed Ismail, Front office operations and management, Thomson Delmar Learning.
4. Michael L. Kasavana and Richard M. Brooks, Managing Front Office Operations,
Educational Institute of American Hotel & Motel.

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UNIT- 15
VALUE BASED EDUCATION IN HOSPITALITY

CONTENTS
15.0 Objectives
15.1 Introduction
15.2. Exposure to cultural heritage of India
15.3 Values through learning and teaching
15.4 Lesson Summary
15.5 Key Words
15.6 Questions to Solve
15. 7 References

15.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
• Regarding the Exposure to cultural Heritage of India
• And, values obtained through learning and teaching.

15.1 INTRODUCTION

This Unit gives an exposure to the cultural heritage of India for the students to promote
it through their career and which supports a management student for further growth.
And the values the student gets through learning and teaching in Hospitality.

15.2 EXPOSURE TO CULTURAL HERITAGE OF INDIA

The culture of India refers to the religions, beliefs, customs, traditions, languages,
ceremonies, arts, values and the way of life in India and its people. India's languages,
religions, dance, music, architecture, food, and customs differ from place to place within
the country. Its culture often labeled as an amalgamation of these diverse sub-cultures is
spread all over the Indian subcontinent and traditions that are several millennia old.

Regarded by many historians as the "oldest living civilization of Earth", the Indian
tradition dates back to 8000 BC, and has a continuous recorded history since the time of
the Vedas, believed variously to be 3,000 to over 5,500 years ago. Several elements of
India's diverse culture, such as Indian religions, yoga and Indian cuisine, have had a
profound impact across the world.

Since independence, Indians have become keen on promoting their sense of rational
identifies of cultural unity. There has been a revival of interest in music, dance and
painting. India is rich in the spiritual aspect of life and we should not adopt the ill effects
of western culture. We should pick and follow only the good points, and assimilate them
in our social and cultural environment, for the sake of a better society and nation.

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15.3 VALUES THROUGH LEARNING & TEACHING

Teaching-learning process Teaching and learning is aimed at training the student the
process of teaching is the act by which the teacher shows educational
content(knowledge, habits, skills) to a student within a context. The process of learning
is the complementary process of teaching. Learning is the act, by which a student
attempts to capture, understand and develop the content posted by Professor, but this
does not apply only to student-teacher relationship, this applies to any person who is in
the process of learning anything, either experimental or scientific. According to
Vygotsky learning theory is divided into two levels first through interaction with others,
and then integrating that knowledge into mental structure of the individual. HePiaget
observed that learning could be through adaptation to the interaction with the
environment. The imbalance occurs by assimilation of new experience, which adds to
previous knowledge of the student to complement knowledge already learned. Ausubel
thinks favorable to learning developed knowledge; you need a statement formally
established. Ausubel takes into account two elements: • Student learning, ranging from
the repetitive or rote to meaningful learning. • The strategy of education, ranging from
the receptive to the teaching that is based on the discovery by the learner himself.
Learning is meaningful when knowledge is incorporated into structures of knowledge
already possessed by the individual. To produce this meaningful learning should be
given the following conditions:

The logical significance: refers to the logical sequence of processes and

consistency in the internal structure of the material.
Cognitive Psychology (previous knowledge): The student must have ideas that
will act as a link between pre-existing cognitive structure of learners and new
ideas.

In professional education, learning by teaching designates currently the method created

by Jean-Pol Martin that allows pupils and students to prepare themselves to teach
lessons, or parts of lessons. Learning by teaching should not be confused with
presentations or lectures by students, as students not only convey certain content, but
they can do that and chose too, their own methods and educational approaches in
teaching classmates that subject. Neither should it be confused with tutoring, because
the teacher has intensive control of, and gives support for, the learning process in
learning by teaching as against other methods.

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15.4 LESSON SUMMARY

The culture of India refers to the religions, beliefs, customs, traditions, languages,
ceremonies, arts, values and the way of life in India and its people. India's languages,
religions, dance, music, architecture, food, and customs differ from place to place within
the country.
Teaching-learning process Teaching and learning is aimed at training the student the
process of teaching is the act by which the teacher shows educational
content(knowledge, habits, skills) to a student within a context. The process of learning
is the complementary process of teaching.
In professional education, learning by teaching designates currently the method created
by Jean-Pol Martin that allows pupils and students to prepare themselves to teach
lessons, or parts of lessons.

15.5 KEY WORDS

Beliefs – attitude, viewpoint, values

Traditions – customs, way of life, society
Amalgamation – merger, join up, mixture
Rational – balanced, normal, based on reason
Assimilate – incorporate, absorb, take in

15.6 QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. Explain, Exposure to cultural Heritage of India?

2. Explain, Values through Learning and Teaching?

15.7 REFERENCES

1. Alan T. Stutts, James Wortman, Hotel and Lodging Management: An Introduction,

Wiley.
2. James A. Bardi, Hotel Front Office Management, Wiley.
3. Ahmed Ismail, Front office operations and management, Thomson Delmar Learning.
4. Michael L. Kasavana and Richard M. Brooks, Managing Front Office Operations,
Educational Institute of American Hotel & Motel.

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UNIT - 16
APPLICATION OF MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

CONTENTS
16.0 Objectives
16.1 Introduction
16.2. Time Management
16.2.1 Basic principles of Time management
16.3 Manpower Management / Human Resource Management
16.4 Time and Motion Study
16.5 Conflict Management
16.6 Cost Benefit Analysis
16.7 Lesson Summary
16.8 Key Words
16.9Questions to Solve
16.10 References

16.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, and
show an understanding of the following:
• Time Management & the basic principles of time management
• Human Resource Management & Time & motion study
•And, for handling conflicts and regarding cost benefit analysis.

16.1 INTRODUCTION
The time management system is a designed combination of processes, tools, techniques,
and methods. Usually time management is a necessity in any project development as it
determines the project completion time and scope. Now a days in any industry HRM is
the most important department for dealing all kinds of problem of human resources.
Time and motion study have to be used together in order to achieve rational and
reasonable results. It is particularly important that effort to be applied in motion study
to ensure equitable results when time study is used. Conflict management in a
hospitality operation is an issue which every General Manager, Department Head or
Line Manager of a hotel has to contend with at one time or another. Cost benefit
Analysis (CBA) is a tool used either to rank projects or to choose the most appropriate
option. The ranking or decision is based on expected economic costs and benefits..

16.2 TIME MANAGEMENT

Time management is the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control
over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness,
efficiency or productivity. Time management may be aided by a range of skills, tools,
and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and
goals complying with a due date. This set encompasses a wide scope of activities, and
these include planning, allocating, setting goals, delegation, analysis of time spent,
monitoring, organizing, scheduling, and prioritizing. Initially, time management
referred to just business or work activities, but eventually the term broadened to include
personal activities as well. A time management system is a designed combination of

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processes, tools, techniques, and methods. Usually time management is a necessity in

any project development as it determines the project completion time and scope.
16.2.1 Basic Principles of Time Management
1. Each day, make a list at first to get the things done.
2. Set a priority level to each item of your list. Plan to do the toughest things first, and
save the easier tasks for later in the day when you are low on energy.
3. Arrange your work schedule in best possible way so that you can take best advantage
of the hours when you work best.
4. Always set aside a block of time when you can work without any disruptions.
5. Be flexible about changes in your schedule so that you can handle unexpected events
and situations occurred, if any.
6. Set aside time in your daily schedule for exercise such as jogging, aerobics, or brisk
walking. You'll find that the time spent is well worth it and may even increase your
productivity.
7. Do not forget to keep some times each day or week in which you always do some
planned leisure activity ~ after all, everybody needs a break

16.3 MANPOWER MANAGEMENT / HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that

focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who
work in the organization. Human Resource Management is the organizational function
that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance
management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee
motivation, communication, administration, and training.

The hotel business is one of the most cutthroat and competitive businesses in the world.
Usually the human resources manager has his or her hands full all the time because of
employee complaints and a very high turnover rate. However, there are a few human
resources management tips for hotels that can eliminate some of the problems that
plague most hotel human resources managers. Since one of the biggest problems that a
human resources manager in the hotel industry faces is the issue of employee retention,
many of the tips address that issue.

16.4 TIME AND MOTION STUDY

A time and motion study (or time-motion study) is a business efficiency technique
combining the Time Study work of Frederick Winslow Taylor with the Motion Study
work of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (not to be confused with their son, best known
through the biographical 1950 film and book Cheaper by the Dozen). It is a major part of
scientific management (Taylorism). After its first introduction, time study developed in
the direction of establishing standard times, while motion study evolved into a
technique for improving work methods. The two techniques became integrated and
refined into a widely accepted method applicable to the improvement and upgrading of
work systems. This integrated approach to work system improvement is known as
methods engineering and it is applied today to industrial as well as service
organizations, including banks, schools and hospitals.

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Time and motion study have to be used together in order to achieve rational and
reasonable results. It is particularly important that effort to be applied in motion study
to ensure equitable results when time study is used. In fact, much of the difficulty with
time study is a result of applying it without a thorough study of the motion pattern of
the job. Motion study can be considered the foundation for time study. The time study
measures the time required to perform a given task in accordance with a specified
method and is valid only so long as the method is continued. Once a new work method
is developed, the time study must be changed to agree with the new method

16.5 CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Conflict management in a hospitality operation is an issue which every General
Manager, Department Head or Line Manager of a hotel has to contend with at one time
or another- it is in essence unavoidable at times and is exacerbated by the stressful
nature of hotel work. Managers in the traditional mould tend to view conflict as
disruptive in nature. In truth, certain amounts of conflict are valuable for good work
performance and lead to careful analyses of the goals of the business, and this is always
a beneficial exercise. Conflict that is however at a high level for a relatively long period
is destructive and may result in chaos and a failure on the part of a department to meet
business objectives in both the long and short-term.
The necessary is to manage conflict by improved communication skills and by
developing an esprit d’corps amongst the employees across each of the departments in an
operation. Conflict may be healthy to a degree. When conflict becomes problematic, a
systematic approach to solving it is highly desirable. In this paper, types of conflict are
identified and sources of conflict in hotels are analyzed. Various approaches and
techniques to use in solving conflict in the workplace have been investigated and a
technique to resolve conflict in hotels is suggested. Existing conflict management
research is thus supported and extended.

16.6 COSTS-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Cost benefit Analysis (CBA) is a tool used either to rank projects or to choose the most
appropriate option. The ranking or decision is based on expected economic costs and
benefits. The rule is that a project should be undertaken if lifetime expected benefits
exceeds all expected costs.
The art of the analysis process comes in the measurement of these impacts, their
adjustment for market failure, and for the effects of time, income distribution,
incomplete information and potentially irreversible consequences.
A principle of western economics since Adam Smith is that ‗the market knows best‘. In a
perfect world, the market would ensure that land, labor and capital were allocated in a
way that would maximize both profits, and the welfare of society. Ours is an imperfect
world, but CBA is a tool that allows the analyst to mimic the welfare optimizing
behavior of the market.
Although complexities arise when costs and benefits are being measured and corrected,
CBA is a simple tool with numerous uses and applications, especially in the
environmental assessment sphere. Its use increases accountability and consistency in
decision-making

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16.7 LESSON SUMMARY

Time management is the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control
over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness,
efficiency or productivity.
Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that
focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who
work in the organization.
A time and motion study (or time-motion study) is a business efficiency technique
combining the Time Study work of Frederick Winslow Taylor with the Motion Study
work of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. Conflict management in a hospitality operation is an
issue which every General Manager, Department Head or Line Manager of a hotel has to
contend with at one time or another
Cost benefit Analysis (CBA) is a tool used either to rank projects or to choose the most
appropriate option. The ranking or decision is based on expected economic costs and
benefits. The rule is that a project should be undertaken if lifetime expected benefits
exceeds all expected costs.

16.8 KEY WORDS

Conscious – aware, mindful, alert
Encompasses – include, cover, take in
Exacerbated – worsen, aggravate, intensify
Conflict – disagreement, difference, clash
Irreversible – irreparable , unalterable , permanent
Complexities – difficulty, complication, intricacy

16.9QUESTIONS TO SOLVE

1. Explain, Time Management?

2. Explain Manpower Management?
3. Explain Time & Motion Study?
4. What is conflict Management?
5. Write in short about Cost benefit analysis?

16.10 REFERENCES

1. Abbott P. and Lewry S, Front Office: Procedures, social skills and Management,
Butterworth Heinemann.
2. Goetal , Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry, Wiley.
3. Kasavana M. and Brooks R., Managing Front Office Operations Fourth Edition,
Educational Institute.

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