Nepal tourism year 2011

Reservation: Front office

Reservation is an advance request for the accommodation and the act of taking reservation is called the selling rooms. It is the process of booking rooms before the arrival of guest in order to ensure the availability of the room as per their need at the time of check-in.The points to be considered while taking reservation:

• Check-in and check-out date
• Number of pax and type of room
• Type of plan

Types of  reservation:

• Guranteed reservation
• Non-guaranteed reservation
• Wait-listed reservation

Modes of reservation:

• Telephone
• Internet
• Letter
• Fax
• Telex
• Direct approach
• Central reservation system

Sources of reservation:

• Travel agencies
• Companies
• Airlines
• Government offices
• Embassies
• NGOs & INGOs
• Personal approach

Reservation tools and instruments:

• Forecast boart
• Advance reservation/ letting chart

1. Conventional booking chart
2. Density booking chart

• Whitney rack

Organizational chart of Front office department

Front office Manager is the first person in authority in the front office department.the secretary of FOM assists the work of the FOM and Assistant front office manager is the second person in authority and below him are responsible for the report to him.

In order to carry out its mission, global and departmental goals and objectives, every company shall build a formal structure depicting different hierarchy of management, supervision, and employee (staff) levels. This very structure is refereed to as organization chart. Moreover, the organization chart shows reporting relationships span of management, and staff/line functions.

• The Front Office organization chart shall be designed according to Functions. Doing so not only enhances the control the Front Office has over its Operations, but also provides guests with more specialized attention. Such a division according to functions, however, is not practical in middle and small size hotels due to the fact that these very hotels don't posses enough and sufficient monetary resources to ensure the existence of at least 3 jobholders (i.e. one for each shift) for each job position. Therefore, in middle size hotels, a front office clerk might be responsible for more than one work position. This is ensured via cross training. On the other hand, in small size hotels, one or two front office clerk(s) might be responsible for all front office activities.

 Typical functions and positions under the Rooms Division Department:

• Front Desk Agent: Registers guests, and maintains room availability information
• Cashier: Closes guest folios, and properly checks out guests
• Accounts Receivable Clerk: Posts charges in correct guest folios and updates folios' outstanding balances
• Night Auditor: Controls the job of the Accounts Receivable Clerk, and prepares daily reports to management (ex: Occupancy Report and Revenue Report)
• Mail & Information Clerk: Takes Messages, provides Directions to Guests, and maintains Mail
• Telephone Operator: Manages the Switchboard and coordinates Wake-up Calls
• Reservation Agent: Responds to Reservation Requests and creates Reservation Records
• Uniformed Service Agents: Handles Guest Luggage, escorts Guests to their Rooms, and assists guests for any bit of information requested

Roles of different departments in the hotel

Role of front office:Front office is the department which is noticed by the guest whenever they enter the hotel.It is the first department guest come into contact in the hotel, therefore it is also called the 'nerve center' of the hotel.The rose of front office department are:

• Responsible for the sale of the hotel rooms through the systematic method of reservation, registration and assignment.
• Forecasts room occupancy and provides room status report.
• Coordinates guest service and answers to their queries.
• Careful design of the front office organization chart.
• Maintains and settles guests account.
• Creates guest history records.
• Maintains all database of guest information.

Housekeeping:
Housekeeping department is responsible for the cleanliness and upkeep of the entire hotel and public areas. The following things are considered:

• Ensure all fixtures and furnitures are in proper working condition.
• Supply of clean linens and good amenities to the guest room.
• Coordinates with the other departments for the smooth operation.
• Provides room for occupancy
• Schedule periodic cleaning of the hotel and guest rooms.

Food and beverage production: This department is responsible for the production of food and beverage items as per the guests order.A kitchen is fully equipped with skillful chefs who can prepare the recipes according the demand of the guests. There are various ranges in the job as per the skills, experience and knowledge.Some of the responsibilities of production department:

• Preparation of the food and beverage items as per the guests order in the specific time.
• Checking the quality of the food.
• Control the wastage through the portion control and cost control.
• Follow the HACCP rules while preparation.
• Purchase and storage of the raw materials in an appropriate way.
• Manage the work load among various staffs in the kitchen.

Food and beverage service: This department is responsible for the service of food and beverage items prepared in the kitchen as per tthe guests order.Therer are different levels of staffs responsible for the supervision and performance of the work.The responsibilities of service department:

• Receive the guests and escort to the specific table.
• Take the order by presenting the menu.
• Serve the guests order according to their demand.
• Settle the account or transfer the folio.
• Maintain the hygiene and cleanliness in the outlet.
• Train the staffs.

Security department: This department works for maintaining the safety and security of the guests, staffs and the entire hotel properties.Security department comes into action when there is theft, fire, and any emergency cases.The very department is also responsible for the lost and found procedures also.

Engineering and maintainance department: This department is responsible for the maintainance and repair of the damaged items. for example, plumbing, repair or the a/c, furnitures, fixtures etc. all are maintained by maintainance department.

Human resource department: This department is responsible for the Hiring and firing of the staff, maintaining rules and regulations of the hotel, providing uniform to the staff, providing extra hands when required, Identity cards for the staff, Training programmes etc.

Account: This department is responsible for maintaining the financial statements and reports of the entire hotel. It is responsible for the calculations of the total profit or loss of the hotel.

History of hospitality industry

In the early times, travellors were either warriors or traders or people in search of knowledge. This was before the advent of hotels. They pitched the tents for accomodation. Due to high value in hospitality, Inns were established to provide accomodation. The inns provided a cot or a bench and people had to share the same room with horses and livestocks, there was no sanitation and privacy. Inn keeping became the first service that money was exchanged.
Till the industrial revolution of 1800s, there was no significance improvement in the inns and taverns, and they were not suitable for aristocrates. Thus, to accomodate wealthy people, the luxurious structures were made with private rooms and proper sanitation with the facilities of European castle. These elegent new establishments adopted the french name "Hotel". Their rates were byond the reach of ordinary person.Herman melville, in his nobel "moby dick" mentioned that he checked in a room of 19th century and woke up in the next morning to find out that he was sharing the bed with a cannibal.
Bethleham inn keeper turned Mary and Joseph away because there was no room suitable for the woman giving birth to a child. The stable that they spent the night was more suitable then the inn itself.
Early history of accomodation for travellers can be traced back to the Greek word "Xenia" which not only meant hospitality, but also the protection given to travellers from discomforts.The city was bound to traditions. In Sparta city,due to rigirius customs, hospitality was not encouraged, Goddess athena was considered as the protector of strangers and her name was "Xenia athena".
After the invention of motor car,the hospitality industry was more flourished and enabled visiting in those parts of the country which could not reach by railways.Another trend in the hotel keeping is motel, which is the twentith century of the old coach inn.

After the evolution of plane. the hotel and hospitality was more flourished and provided the best services with swimming pool, cashinos, especiality restaurants etc.

Organizational structure and services of star category hotels

Organizational structure of a five star hotel:

                                                      
Services provided in five star hotel:

• Expensive furnising, decorations and artwork
• 24 hour room service
• 24 hour coffee shop
• 24 hour doctor on call
• swimming pool
• satellite telivision channels
• telephone
• mini- bar in room
• speciality restaurants
• gift shops and shopping arcades
• meeting and conference facilities
• health club and fitness center
• in room safe deposit locker
• bedroom and bathroom amenities
• good linens
• fitness center

Classification and categorization of Hotel Industry

Hotel is an establishment selling service i.e. food, drink and shelter. The value and the potentiality of a hotel is issued by size, location, service, number of rooms and other revenue earning points it posesses. Hotel can be classified on different basis:
According to size:

• Small hotels- 25 rooms or less
• Medium hotels- 25 rooms to 90 rooms
• Large hotels- 80 to 250 rooms
• Very large hotels- 250 rooms and above

According to their location:

• Airport hotels: located near the airport.Provides standard service ang high cost.
• Motels: located in the highway. people on long tour stay here.
• Resorts: located in the place of natural beauty far from the city. Specially holiday makers come here.
• Downtown hotels: Located in the heart of the city.
• Floatels: These hotels are cruises/ships on the sea.High standard services with Expensive cost.
• Railway hotels: Located near the railway stations.

According to the degree of comfort:

• Low class hotels
• Middle class hotels
• Luxury hotels

OR

• One star Hotels
• Two star hotels
• Three star hotels
• Four star hotels
• Five star hotels

According to the ownership:

• Independent hotels: Independent hotels do not have any ownership affilation with other properties. The owner hires professional managers and staff who run the hotel operation.
• Owner operated: These types of hotels are operated and managed by the owner itself and his own family. These properties have no affilation with other properties.
• Owner managed: These are similar to owner operated hotels, the exception is that the owners may hire the professional staffs to run the property.
• Chain hotels: In the first type of chain operated hotels, the hotel actually ownes as well as operates it. In the second type, the different management firm agrees to manage the hotel for a specific financial period.
•  Franchised hotels: Such hotels are owned by the investors.the owner of the hotels does an agreement to use the brand name of the parent hotel. This helps to setup a uniform standard, quality, training, promotional and advertisement benifit of the organization.