hotel management

Chapter 2 Hotel Concept (1)
The focus of this chapter is some basic theoretical knowledge of the hotel, mainly to enable readers to understand the format of the hotel and its characteristics, so as to have an overall impression of the hotel.

The meaning and characteristics of the first (section) hotel

[-]. The meaning of the hotel
The hotel refers to the production and sales of hotel service products through the use of land, capital, equipment, technology, labor and other production factors approved by the government department, so as to meet the various needs of guests for travel and social interaction, so as to obtain social benefits and economic benefits. A benefit-oriented service enterprise.As an industry category name, there may be hotel industry, restaurant industry, hotel industry, hotel industry, foreign tourism hotel industry, etc.; as a business name, there are often hotels, restaurants, guesthouses, hotels, villas, resorts, buildings, etc.Although the titles are different, their basic functions are the same. In fact, the hotel is first of all a kind of accommodation service facility, which must have the accommodation service function, no matter it is simple or luxurious, otherwise it cannot be called a hotel.Having the function of accommodation service is the main feature that distinguishes hotels from other types of service enterprises.The hotel can be a simple facility that only provides accommodation services, or it can be a large-scale comprehensive facility that is luxurious and high-end, with complete functions, and has service functions such as accommodation, catering, entertainment, business, shopping, and leisure.And all kinds of hotel companies of different scales, types, grades, different economic components, and different business forms form the hotel industry in one country and one place.

With the development of tourism, various types of hotels have emerged as the times require.No matter whether its facilities are simple or luxurious, a hotel must have the ability to provide accommodation, otherwise it cannot be called a hotel.Modern hotels are composed of guest rooms, restaurants, bars, shopping malls, and facilities for banquets, conferences, communications, entertainment, and fitness. A comprehensive service facility that meets these needs.

Some authoritative dictionaries abroad have given such definitions to hotels.

——The hotel is an equipped public accommodation facility, which generally provides meals, wine and beverages and other services.

The Encyclopedia of America

- A hotel is a building that provides lodging and often meals to the public on a commercial basis.

Encyclopedia Britannica

- A hotel is a facility that provides accommodation, and often also meals and certain other services, for tourists and non-permanent residents.

Webster New World Dictionary of American English

Judging from the above definitions, as a hotel, it should meet the following four necessary conditions:
(1) It is a building or a reception facility consisting of buildings;

(2) It must be a government-approved facility capable of providing lodging facilities and often also catering and other high-level services;
(3) The public is its service object, mainly tourists who go out, and also people who live semi-permanently, but not people who live permanently;
(4) It is commercial and for profit, so users must pay for it.

It can be seen from the above discussion that the hotel is a comprehensive service enterprise that mainly provides services. Like other types of enterprises, the hotel uses production factors (land, capital, labor, etc.) and uses modern technology to engage in production and sales activities. basic economic organization.From this, the definition of the hotel is obtained. The hotel is an economic entity with a certain degree of independent capital or capital movement that is invested in the field of tourism consumption services by relying on tangible space, equipment, products and intangible service utility.

The hotel has its own objective laws. The products it provides are mainly services. It is different from other economic organizations such as industrial enterprises, commercial enterprises, and financial enterprises. It is mainly manifested in the intangibility, instorability, difference, and simultaneity etc.

1. Invisibility

The intangibility of hotel services means that labor services are invisible, intangible, dematerialized, and non-quantified.Due to the intangible nature of labor services, it is difficult for hotel companies to describe and display service items and content to guests, and it is impossible for guests to test or try out a certain service before purchasing it, thus causing difficulties in hotel product promotion.We emphasize that hotels should attach great importance to "creating reputation, creating brand name, and establishing image", because when guests choose hotels and restaurants, they often only rely on the reputation of the hotel or restaurant they know.

For the same reason, hotel operators must understand consumer psychology better than operators in other industries, and must master special sales methods.For example, when promoting a certain hotel service, you should vigorously promote the benefits of enjoying the service instead of directly emphasizing the service itself. The former can arouse guests' strong interest in the service, while the latter often loses interest in customers because it is too general. attraction.

The intangible characteristics of services determine that hotel services have no patent rights, thus determining the short life cycle of innovation or invention of hotel service items.Therefore, hotel operators must fully understand the necessity and difficulty of creating unique features.In order to remain invincible in the competition, the hotel has to be unconventional and unique.

2. Non-storability

The non-storability of hotel services refers to the ephemeral nature of services, that is, services cannot be preserved for later use.There is a saying in the service industry: "The three things in the world that are most difficult to save are: airplane seats, lawyer's time and hotel rooms." It is impossible for hotels to store services like factories and stores to meet future needs.A room that is not rented that day, that day's sales opportunity is lost forever.This feature of hotel services has resulted in the limitations and passivity of hotels in coping with fluctuations in demand.Therefore, hotels, especially those hotels with high tourism and obvious off-seasons, must formulate comprehensive plans and take effective measures to open up the hotel's customer sources, so as to make full use of the relatively fixed reception capacity of the hotel.

3. Difference

The difference in hotel services refers to the unavoidable difference in quality and level of the same product provided by a hotel (not between two hotels).The specific performance is that different employees or even the same employee of a hotel often provide different levels and different quality of services at different times, on different occasions, or for different objects.The direct reason for the difference in hotel services is that manual labor is the main means of production in hotels, and the dematerialization and non-quantification of hotel services and the direct participation of guests in the production and sales process of services are not unrelated to this.

The importance of setting quality standards is reflected in the variability of hotel services, and it also illustrates the difficulty of setting standards and insisting that each service meets the standards.After all, hotels are not like factories that can use instruments to test product quality.One of the important contents of hotel quality management is to strengthen staff training.Improving the cultural accomplishment of hotel employees and paying attention to civilized business, the fundamental way to overcome this difference is to improve the quality of the industry and professional skills.

4. Simultaneity of production and sales

The way hotels produce and sell service products is different from the general production and sales of physical products. The production and sales of physical products are two separate processes, while the production and sales of hotel service products are carried out simultaneously or almost simultaneously.The characteristic of simultaneity is mainly manifested in the fact that hotel service products cannot be sent to other places for sale through sales channels, but consumers and producers must be in direct contact.This feature not only determines that the scale of the hotel company is restricted by the region, but also the hotel market has certain limitations. Therefore, when designing its own reception capacity, it must be based on the size of the market. Equally important consideration is given to the production environment and the sales environment.In fact, in many departments of the hotel, such as halls, restaurants, shopping malls, bars, various entertainment facilities, and service production sites are service sales sites.

On the other hand, due to the direct contact between the guests and the waiters, the hotel especially enjoys the opportunity to sell on the spot. For example, the restaurant and bar waiters have the opportunity to directly introduce and recommend wine and dishes to the guests.But this requires the hotel waiter to have both service production and service marketing skills.A competent hotel waiter must be both a waiter and a salesman.

These characteristics of hotel service products have resulted in the limitations and particularities of hotel management, which determines that hotel management must have a set of scientific, systematic and unique management methods.

[-]. The hotel is a business
A hotel is an economic organization that engages in tourism reception activities and provides comprehensive services for guests, with independent accounting and self-responsibility for profits and losses.As an enterprise, the main signs of a hotel are: it must have certain funds and equipment, have legal person status, can sign contracts with other units, be able to independently complete reception service activities, conduct independent accounting, and be responsible for its own profits and losses.Therefore, in order to make the hotel full of vigor and vitality, it must be recognized that it is a relatively independent tourism business operator, and independence and autonomy are what the hotel has in its business activities.Under market economy conditions, as an independent economic organization, how to face the market, develop the market, how to improve competitiveness, how to improve product quality, and how to meet the multiple needs of guests at a higher level are major survival issues facing the hotel.

[-]. The foreignness of the hotel

Hotels are customarily called foreign tourism hotels in our country.Foreign-related tourism hotel is a specific concept in our country. It refers to hotels that can receive foreign guests. This is the difference between it and ordinary hotels and hotels in China.In view of the differences between my country's productivity level, people's living standards and developed countries in the world, the facilities, services and management levels of general hotels are still very low.Foreign guests who come to my country for tourism are generally from developed countries and regions, or tourists with relatively high spending power. They require tourist reception facilities to meet their living standards.As a result, a number of foreign-related tourism hotels with high-grade equipment and facilities, service implementation, complete service items, and good service quality have emerged in my country.According to the relevant regulations of our country, in principle, ordinary hotels cannot receive foreign guests. Only star-rated hotels and foreign-related designated hotels can receive foreign guests. The above is the foreign-related nature of Chinese tourist hotels.With the development of our country's economy, a considerable number of domestic guests have become a market that cannot be ignored by hotels and enjoy tourist hotels.

Category and grade of the second (section) hotel

[-]. The category of the hotel
Hotel facilities of various types and grades make up the hotel industry.Hotel classification has two purposes. One is to facilitate marketing, enabling the hotel to clearly identify its sales targets in the market, so as to formulate marketing plans more effectively and use advertising expenses more intensively; Have clear goals.The second is to facilitate comparison. The quality of a hotel’s operating results is only meaningful when compared with hotels of the same type, especially when the hotel uses various statistical data of the hotel industry to analyze market trends, study competition strategies and formulate business policies. Compared with the same kind, it is particularly important.There are different agencies implementing hotel classification around the world, some are government departments, some are industry associations, and some are companies or institutions related to the tourism and hotel industries.They usually classify hotels according to characteristics such as size, geographical location, facility status, and degree of newness, and then publish relevant data on the operating results of various hotels to guide the operation and management of hotels.

([-]) Classification by source markets
According to the classification of the hotel source market, hotels are generally divided into six types: comprehensive, business, leisure, sightseeing, conference and exhibition, and rehabilitation.

1. Comprehensive hotel

Comprehensive hotels refer to hotels that receive guests for sightseeing, conferences, business, vacations, etc. at the same time.Comprehensive hotels generally have complete functions and can provide a full range of services to meet the needs of various types of guests.In China, most of these hotels are hotels that appeared earlier in the development of tourism, and they undertake the main reception task in the local area.At present, such hotels are mainly used in small and medium-sized cities in various parts of China.

2. Business hotel

Business hotels refer to hotels that mainly provide accommodation, catering and business services for guests engaged in business activities.Most of these hotels are located in city centers or business districts, and the guests are mainly business travelers, who stay for a relatively long time.Business hotels not only require magnificent facilities, but also require high service level, good service quality, advanced and complete equipment and facilities, especially equipment and facilities required for business, so as to meet the needs of business guests, such as international direct dial telephone, fax, Internet, Negotiation rooms, conference rooms, business centers, secretarial services, etc. should well meet the requirements of business guests.

3. Leisure resort hotel

Leisure and resort hotels mainly receive tourists for leisure, vacation and entertainment. Most of them are located in areas with beautiful natural environment and pleasant climate such as seashores, mountains, hot springs, islands, forests, and lakeshores. They open up various entertainment sports such as skiing. , horse riding, hunting, fishing, boating, diving, surfing, golf, tennis and other activities to attract tourists, the key to the success of a resort hotel lies in the quality of these activities.In recent years, in many countries where the hotel industry is developed, there have been hotels that combine vacation and business, the so-called improved resort hotels, and are considered to be the development direction of contemporary hotel facilities.

4. Convention and exhibition hotels

This type of hotel is mainly a hotel that provides comprehensive services such as conference and exhibition venues, accommodation and catering for various trade fairs, large-scale expositions, international conferences, and economic and trade fairs.Conference hotels are generally located in metropolises, political and economic centers, or tourist attractions with convenient transportation. They require comfort and convenience, and they must have meeting rooms of various types and specifications, exhibition halls, showrooms, lecture halls and negotiation rooms, etc. .Conference equipment must be fully equipped, such as projectors, video equipment, sound amplification equipment, communication equipment, audio-visual equipment, etc. Hotels that receive international conferences also require simultaneous interpretation devices to facilitate various business activities and academic exchanges And hold exhibitions, etc., and at the same time to ensure good conference services, conference hotels are generally equipped with staff to help conference organizers coordinate and organize various affairs of the conference, requiring the hotel to have efficient reception staff.

5. Sightseeing hotel

Sightseeing hotels refer to hotels that mainly receive tourist group tourists.These hotels are mainly distributed in tourist cities, and the source of tourists is mainly tourist groups.The management and service of sightseeing hotels are relatively standardized, but this type of hotel is greatly restricted by the source of tourists.With the changes in the tourist source market, this type of hotel is gradually transitioning to a comprehensive hotel, and purely sightseeing hotels are now rare.

6. Rehabilitation hotel

Rehabilitation and recuperation hotels refer to hotels that mainly provide rehabilitation and recuperation services, usually in the form of sanatoriums and cadre rest homes.At present, modern rehabilitation hotels have also appeared in the fringe areas of some large and medium-sized cities. These hotels integrating rehabilitation, leisure and fitness fully pay attention to people's recuperation and fitness, so that people can cultivate themselves after heavy work.

([-]) Classification by hotel size
According to the size of hotels, hotels are usually divided into three categories in the world: large hotels, medium hotels and small hotels.

1. Large hotels
Generally refers to a hotel with more than 500 standard guest rooms, relatively complete service items, and relatively luxurious facilities.Usually large hotels are luxury hotels, and the world tourism continues to accelerate, and many small and medium hotels continue to expand and become large hotels.

2. Medium-sized hotels
Generally refers to a hotel with 300-500 standard rooms.This type of hotel has complete and excellent facilities, complete service items, and moderate and reasonable prices. It is the hotel that ordinary tourists prefer to choose.

3. Small hotels
Usually refers to hotels with less than 300 standard rooms.The facilities and services of this type of hotel can meet the basic needs of guests. Most of them are economy hotels, and the general price is relatively cheap.

([-]) Classification by Valuation Method
1. European-style pricing hotel
European-style pricing hotels refer to hotel room prices that include rent only, excluding food, beverages and other expenses.Such hotels account for the vast majority of the world.

2. American-style denominated hotels
The room price of the American-style rate hotel includes the rent and the cost of three meals a day.At present, such hotels exist in some relatively remote places.

3. Correction of American pricing hotel
The room price of this type of hotel includes the rent and the cost of breakfast and lunch or dinner, so that guests have greater freedom to arrange daytime activities.

4. Continental pricing hotels

Continental rate hotel rates include room rent and a simple continental breakfast of coffee, bread and juice.These hotels generally do not have restaurants.

5. Bermuda denominated hotels

The room rate for this type of hotel includes room rent and an American breakfast.

([-]) Auxiliary tourist accommodation facilities

In order to meet the needs of the vast number of guests, various auxiliary tourism accommodation facilities have also appeared in many countries with developed tourism industry.They include campsites, resorts, condominiums, mobile prefabricated houses, etc., some of which have been used in our country, and some have yet to be developed.

1. Campsites
(End of this chapter)