Unit 1. Coordinated Activity Planning
1.1. Reception and Reservations
In a large hotel, front desk duties can be divided between receptionists and cashiers.
Receptionists are responsible for handling check-in and communications, and cashiers are responsible for handling all guest payments.
The cashier may be a member of the accounting department assigned to work at the front desk.
In addition to documenting reservations and registering guests, the front desk also performs an important reporting function. At each shift, the front desk staff is asked to keep statistics on arriving and departing guests, room occupancy, and charges owed to the hotel.
The front desk and housekeeping department maintain close communication regarding the condition of each room. Rooms that were occupied the previous night but have been vacated must be cleaned before new guests occupy them.
The front desk is responsible for keeping accurate statistics on early departures or extended stays, early arrivals, cancellations, counter customers and no-shows.
Extended stays occur when guests stay at the hotel beyond their announced departure date. Cancellations occur when guests notify the hotel that they will not arrive at the hotel as planned. Walk-Ins are guests who check into the hotel without a prior reservation.
The reservations function consists of receiving, documenting and analyzing guest reservations. Because room space is the primary product a hotel has to sell, the act of taking a reservation is called selling rooms.
Reservationists must act quickly to determine customer needs, check availability and quote rates.
When a reservation is confirmed, guests must provide certain information and this information must be integrated into the reservation system, and the customer is given a confirmation number. If, for any reason, the customer's reservation is not found upon arrival, the confirmation number constitutes proof that it was indeed made.
A deposit or credit card number may be required to guarantee a late guest's reservation. At some resorts, an advance deposit or full payment is required one week or up to 30 days prior to arrival. Some establishments do not require a guarantee, except for group reservations. In the absence of a guarantee, the hotel may commit to hold the reservation until 6 p.m.
If the reservation was not previously made, data such as the guest's name, address, company, arrival and departure dates, etc., are added to the folio. This will become the guest's permanent record.
1.2. Groups and Conventions
The convention sales manager
is
Responsible for seeking new business in the convention segment. This key position requires close coordination with large organizations and groups, such as professional and trade associations, corporations, such as professional and trade associations, large corporations, and fraternal organizations.
has the task of
develop and maintain contacts with these organizations and promote the hotel as a likely venue for annual conventions, conferences, meetings and seminars.
Convention planning is done well in advance of the opening date - usually two to three years before the event. The convention sales manager fosters this business by inviting decision-makers to visit the hotel, and by providing extensive assistance in planning and promoting activities. Other duties include preparing proposals, setting allotments, and establishing the department's short- and long-term goals.
The convention services manager must possess both the technical knowledge necessary to identify and coordinate appropriate services and the important skill of communicating with the client.
Group reservations for activities such as a convention, a meeting or a sporting activity require special handling. Group reservations must be made well in advance of the proposed stay. Preliminary estimates are made of the number of rooms that will be required to accommodate the group.
1.3. Banquets and Protocol
Protocol is a discipline that offers invaluable help in carrying out different social events, providing multiple solutions when organizing events and treating those attending them appropriately. For the latter, protocol is a practical tool that must contribute to the success of the organized events and to make all the guests feel well treated, without hurting the susceptibility of those who might consider that they should have a more preferential place.
Protocol is a technique that the good tourism professional must know and master thoroughly, but its correct application also requires a special art on the part of the person who uses it, who must know how to transmit warmth and human quality to each organized event.
For this reason, any hotel establishment of certain relevance or where representative social events are held, such as conventions or symposiums, will have a person or persons responsible for and knowledgeable about protocol, who will know how to resolve any doubts that may arise when it comes to appropriately combining a group of people for a particular event.
Whenever a public event is held, many questions arise for the organizer. Some of the most typical ones are the following:
- ¿How will we seat the attendees?
- ¿What kind of tables will we set up?
- ¿How will we distribute them?
- ¿Will we need to give gifts?
- ¿What kind of decoration will be the most appropriate?
- ¿What type of menu and table service will be the most appropriate?
This applies to restaurants. In the case of accommodations, other doubts will arise:
-¿Who will go out to greet visitors?
- ¿How will VIPS customers check in?
- ¿What special amenities will be available in the rooms?
- ¿Will someone be needed to take care of VIPS clients?
In order for all these questions to be answered satisfactorily, good professionals are needed, who are knowledgeable in protocol techniques and have the human qualities to ensure that everything runs smoothly and with a savoir faire.
In large protocol events, such as official ceremonies attended by high-level representatives of countries or organizations, the advice of the personal protocol chiefs of the persons or entities they represent is usually sought. These types of events, although of greater importance, are of less responsibility for the hotel or restaurant, as they are managed by other departments or other bodies.
1.4. Costs, Expenses and Investments
The cost of land could be the determining factor in the number of rooms built. The more expensive the land, the more rooms must be built for the hotel to be profitable. Generally, the more expensive the land, the taller the building will have to be.
Energy control has become one of the most important aspects in the hotel and restaurant business, along with raw material cost control in catering, labor cost control, financial management, social management and time control. Energy management needs a greater emphasis on "present value analysis", considering the cost of capital from the point of view not only of the current cost but also of the years to come, i.e., its life cycle cost.
A building costing $1 million may represent a much less desirable investment than a $1.5 million building if the additional investment will be used to produce lower energy and maintenance costs over the life of the building.
The use of solar collectors to accumulate solar energy and use it to heat water in hotels and restaurants began to be applied regularly from 1975 onwards. Many hotels, especially tourist hotels, installed collectors to absorb solar energy and thus reduce fuel consumption.
Milagros Camacho 8-870-401
