Reservation is one of the major section of the front office
department which plays the central role and is responsible for booking the
hotel room. Reservation section is located back of the reception due to the
location problem in the hotel. Reservation and reception are similar as they
play the similar role of booking the room in the hotel. Front office manager is
the boss of reservation section. There are different purpose of reservation and
they are:
- To sale the hotel products i.e.
accommodation.
- To forecast future occupancy report.
- To sale the other hotel products i.e.
swimming pool, food and beverage products, banquet hall,etc.
- To save time and money.
- To build good relation with the market as
well as with other departments.
- To uplift the hotel business during off
season.
- To maximize occupancy level.
- To avoid skippers and non-prospective
guest.
- To maintain stander formation of summary
function.
- To help the sales and marketing for the
promotion of the hotel.
Basic
Reservation Activities:
Step 1:
Receiving enquiries
Reservation assistance should gain all the information about the
guest ant its request such as customer name, originality, no. of pax, date
of arrival and departure, etc. through different sources and modes.
Step 2:
Determining room availability
Reservation
assistance should check the room availability through different checking system
such as forecast board, density board, density chart and computer reservation
system. Now a days, most of the hotel use C.R.S. .
Step 3:
Accepting and Denying
If the rooms are
available according to the request of the guest than the reservation assistance
should accept the request and book the room of the hotel. In three cases,
reservation assistance will deny the request i.e. if the customer is
blacklisted, if the rooms of the hotel are fully booked and if the rooms are
not available according to the request of the guest.
Step 4:
Documenting the reservation request
After accepting the
reservation request, reservation assistance should fill the reservation form.
Reservation form are in triplicated copies.
Step 5:
Confirming the reservation request
There are two types of
reservation request and they are gurranted and non-gurranted
reservation. To confirm the hotel rooms the confirmation should be in written
form not in the verbal way. Reservation assistance should maintain the confirmation
slip and send it to the reception.
Step 6:
Maintaining the reservation request
In the process of
maintaining the reservation request, the guest can amendment and cancel the
request.
Step
7: Compiling the reservation request
This is the last step in
which all the reservation information are distributed to all different
departments. Night auditor will maintain the room status report with the mode
of payments, nationality, no. of pax , etc.
Factors Affecting Reservation
Walking:
Walking guest are known as chance guest.
Walking guest appears to the hotel at any time and they carry scanty baggage.
Walking guests are handled by receptionist. Walking guests are hard to handle
because they can be black-listed,drunkard or skipper. So, receptionist should
collect advance money from the guest.
Confirmation:
Without confirmation,reservation staffs will
not provide the hotel room. Confirmation is handled by front office
staffs. Gurranted reservation is performed for confirmation.
Confirmation should be in written form. After confirmation, reservation letter
will be provided by reservation assistance to the guest.
Cancellation:
Cancellation is the process of
cancelling the booking rooms. For the cancellation process, guest should send
the letter to the hotel and after getting the letter of the guest, reservation
assistance will reply the letter. The information is sent to front office
manager and general manager. Cancellation slip is maintained in triplicated
copies and first copy is sent to reception.
No-Show:
No-Show is one of the situation in
which the guest does not arrive at the proper time and does not provide any
information to the hotel. Due to No-Show, overbooking can be occurred.
Overbooking:
Overbooking is the result of No-Show.
Skillful staffs will handle the overbooking by shifting the guest to others
hotel or under the same hotel. Overbooking is handled by reservation manager.
Out of order:
The room which are under
maintenance is known as out of order. Out of order rooms cannot be sale.
Modes Of Payment
Modes Of Payment
Cash:
Cash
is the simple mode of payment. There are two types of cash and they are local
cash and foreign cash. Front Office Cashier plays the central role of
cashier. During departure time the due amount are settled. We should
follow government rules while collecting the foreign currency. Receptionist
should follow the government rules and should inform front office manager and
lobby manager if the customer wants to pay by its local currency of abroad
country. While collecting the cash, receptionist should identify the guest and
its room number. Four copies of cash bill are maintained.
Company account:
Company account is the agreement
between the hotel and the company. Hotel has provided all the room rates to the
company and if the company wants Vto send the person from company than the
company should pay the money in credit. During departure time customer
should sign in the bill and the first copy is sent to the company.
Traveller cheque:
Traveller cheque is issued by bank.
It is not applicable into own countries. Is is valid under the travel of
different countries. Traveller cheque was discovered by Thomas Cook. Before
receiving the travel cheque, we should verify the customer name and sign from
the passport and tally it with traveller cheque.
Credit Card:
Voucher:
Voucher is an important mode
of payment. Voucher are maintained in printed form and are issued by travel
agency or other sources.
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