Transcript CHRM_2630_Chapter_6 - Resource Sites

Individual Reservations
and Group Bookings
Chapter 6
Components of The Reservation
Automated phone systems
– Well-designed automated phone systems meet with
growing appreciation from most segments of the lodging
market. Customers have come to trust the efficiencies
offered.
– Research shows that for every $1 invested in an automated
phone system, the lodging company will return better than
$2.25 in direct savings. That savings comes from reduced
labor, shorter call duration, and call self-service.
Automated Phone Systems cont’d
Importance of Training
– The fastest reservation is not always the best
reservation.
– CRO’s and in-house reservation centers realize that a
well trained reservationist makes significant differences
in guest satisfaction and booking rates.
– Effective communications skills are more important
than basic computer skills.
– Training reservations agents to be salespersons is the
key to success in the new millennium.
Information Contained in the Reservation
Required fields
– System-mandated data. Required fields must be
completed before computer will accept screen and move
to next stage.
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Arrival & departure dates
Number of Nights
Number of Persons
Number of rooms required
Type of room required
Corporate affiliation
Price
Name
Quality of reservation: Guaranteed, nonguaranteed, advance
deposit
Information Contained in the Reservation cont’d
Optional Reservation Data
– Certain reservation information may not be required.
Examples are:
• Estimated time of Arrival. Critical role in overbooking. When
hotel is oversold, front desk receptionists refer to incoming guests
ETAs. Room is usually held for those who provided late arrival info.
• Special requests. These can be handicapped accessible rooms to
ocean view room. Requests are not promised but front desk
receptionists handle them on case by case basis.
• Discounts or affiliations. Corporate, AAA, AARP are handled
during rate discussion earlier in process.
• Smoking preference. This request is so important that some
systems make it a required item.
• Address. Requested as a matter of record or, if given enough lead
time, a confirmation letter or card may be mailed.
Confirming the reservation
The reservationist closes conversation by furnishing the caller with a
confirmation number generated by the computer
Letter of confirmation or card is usually printed and mailed if the caller
requests it.
Reservation Information Flow
Once entered into system, reservation appears
electronically in many formats and printouts until
date of arrival. On that day, overall responsibility
changes from the reservations department to the
front office staff
Arrival list is printed by the property management
system each night for following day’s anticipated
check-ins.
Majority of reservations remain undisturbed until
date of arrival. Some are changed.
Reservation Information Flow cont’d
With computerized property management
systems, all reservation is stored in computer
memory.
Easy to call up, alterations may be easily made
to the reservation.
Common alterations are: changed date of
arrival or length of stay, changed guest name,
changed room type or discount request or
cancellation
Guest History Databases
Increased data storage capabilities is a benefit
of today’s electronic systems.
Guest history improves the most basic
component of guest service: recognition
Guest history databases make good business
sense. Hotels gain the benefits of enhanced
guest loyalty and repeat visitation.
Reservation Coding
Differences in reservations: method of payment,
guests’ specific requests, commissionable to a
travel agent, time of arrival, affiliation.
Differences are highlighted somewhere in the
reservation where a numerical coding scheme is
used.
Example:
– 11 = VIP
– 13 = Honeymooners
Convention and Tour Group Business
A major player in today's lodging industry,
the term group business represents a variety
of options:
– Major conventions & expositions (trade shows)
– Midsized corporate meetings & conferences
– Smaller incentive travel packages, tour groups
& corporate retreats
The Group Rooms Contribution
See Chart Page 220
Benefits of Group Business
Group business has 3 positive characteristics:
– The market is large
– Groups provide economies of scale
– Group delegates spend more dollars than individual
travelers
Economies of scale: a term that denotes the
economic benefits of mass production
Segments of Group Business
Tour Groups
– Sold as a group
– Guests handled as a group
– One sale, one registration, one service, one
billing=savings
Convention Groups
– Sold as a group
– Guests handled individually
Segments of Group Business cont’d
Expositions and Trade Shows
– Similar to conventions
– Average guest stay is longer with a show because
displays require set up and tear down time.
– Reservation and front-office procedures are the same as
for a convention or an individual guest.
Booking the Convention
Associations book conventions and expositions as
many as 5 to 10 years in advance!
Blanket reservation is committed by the hotel and
a rate is negotiated. Blanket reservation is a
commitment for a set number of rooms at a set
rate for a set date.
Six months to a year in advance, the hotel adjusts
the room block after discussion with association.
Convention and Visitor Bureaus
(CVBs)
Publicly funded, quasi-governmental agencies in
all large and most mid-sized or small cities.
Centralized entity designed to represent the
city’s hospitality industries.
Usually funded by local lodging or room
taxes. May also receive some government
funding and some membership dues.
CVBs cont’d
Negotiating Convention Rates
Convention pricing unique because
organizers bargain hard to obtain the best
rates they can.
The hotel room is the largest expense item
for the conventioneer.
Agreed upon rate is dependent upon number
and profitability of food and beverage
functions as well as number of rooms.
Negotiating Convention Rates cont’d
Comp Rooms
– Complimentary rooms are 1 part of total
package and are usually provided at a rate of 1
comp room per 50 sold.
– Comps are meant to be used by convention
execs and staff during the dates of the
convention, not for use months later as a
personal vacation!
Rate quotes
Quotes are flat or spread
Flat rate (or single rate) = all guests pay the same
convention rate, usually less then the average rack
rate.
Spread rate (or sliding rate) = uses standard rack
rate distribution already in place
Handling Tour Group Reservations
Hotel’s tour and travel desk take over once
tour group is sold on the hotel
Hotels doing large tour and travel business
maintain 4 month horizons.
Tour groups almost always given shareswith rooms. Block is preassigned and is
usually on the same floor or in the same
wing.
Summary
Reservations are contractual agreements.
Almost all properties generate some
percentage of their revenue through group
business.
Group room blocks may be negotiated years
in advance and managed down to the day of
arrival.