hotel management

Chapter 4 Hotel Concept (3)
A "second home" is an accommodation facility that is used exclusively for vacation, that is, a private villa or apartment.Although such facilities have existed for a long time, in the past only the wealthy and special classes of society could enjoy them.With the development of the economy, many middle classes in some economically developed countries have begun to own their second homes.Some are in their own country and some are in foreign countries. This has become a new fashion.Britons have as many as 40 vacation homes abroad, mostly in countries along the Mediterranean Sea, Spain, Portugal and southern France that they often visit.However, the number of Britons who bought a second home overseas accounted for only 3% of the total population, which is not much, while the proportions in Switzerland, Belgium, France and Germany were even higher.Italians have purchased about 35% of second homes in the country.

At the same time, a new type of vacation accommodation has emerged, called "Time-sharing".It is similar to a "second residence", but it is not owned exclusively by one family, but is jointly invested and built by many families, and then the time that each family can use each year is determined according to the investment ratio.That is to say, within a certain period of time (a week, a few weeks or a month), it is owned by a certain family and can be enjoyed by itself, or it can be lent or rented to others, or exchanged for similar measures. Its management and maintenance are entrusted to a special company to act as an agent.This type of facility is best suited for upper-middle-income families.There are many indications that this kind of time-sharing housing will be further developed, especially with the realization of the integration of Western Europe and the removal of tax and currency barriers, more people will set foot in this market.Not only the elderly, but also more middle-aged people, even young people are willing to invest in this kind of holiday residence, further improve the corresponding service system, and further promote the development of this industry.It can be predicted that families in regions other than Europe and the United States, especially Japan and Hong Kong, China, will follow suit.

Of course, the challenges faced by the hotel also come from outside the hotel industry. The advent and widespread use of high-speed transportation will reduce the time of tourists’ stay. It will also reduce certain business trips, and consumers will spend more money and time on such aspects as family entertainment facilities, and travel and accommodation or consumption in hotels will also be affected to a certain extent.

[-]. The rapid development of the hotel industry in the Asia-Pacific region
According to the analysis of the round table meeting of the tenth plenary meeting of the World Tourism Organization, the favorable factors that will promote the future growth of tourism in the Asia-Pacific region include:
(1) The recovering world economy has made the Asia-Pacific region one of the fastest growing regions in the world;

(2) People from all over the world are more interested in the people and cultures of Asian countries;

(3) Scale and diverse tourism development;

(4) Strengthen economic and trade cooperation between the world and Asia and countries within Asia;
(5) Blood relations between countries in the region;
(6) International aviation service links have been developed;
(7) The expansion of the influence of computer technology in the sales system;
(8) A large number of tourism promotional activities;

(9) a substantial increase in the population capable of overseas travel;

(10) Increased financial capacity and interest in overseas travel;
Overseas tourism, especially within this region, has rapidly expanded and liberalized.

The above favorable factors will definitely promote the great development of tourism in this region.

[-]. Product diversification and comprehensive management

In the history of the development of the world's hotel industry, there was a period of building luxury hotels, and there was also an upsurge in the construction of mass hotels represented by car hotels.Today's world travelers are not only becoming more sophisticated, but their needs are also becoming more diverse.The world hotel industry also tries its best to provide diversified products to meet the needs of different markets.Some large hotel chains are constantly adjusting their product structure and changing their product image in order to find new market opportunities.In the United States, as family tourists and business travelers become more and more important for large urban hotels, many hotels have changed traditional single rooms and double rooms into suites with reception rooms, and the suites are equipped with common household cooking utensils.Now, not only are suites increasing as a percentage of total hotel rooms, but some all-suite hotels are also appearing.These new types of suites are more practical and less luxurious than the few senior suites in the past, and the price is moderate, but they are more convenient than ordinary rooms, so they are very popular.

As an independent hotel, especially a city hotel, comprehensive management has become very popular.On the whole, major hotels attach great importance to catering services.The era of making money only by "selling bed boards" is over.They all think of ways to allow hotel guests to eat at any time and anywhere: there is a mini bar (Minibar) in the room, drinks and food are always available, and if you want to eat something, you can ask the waiter to deliver it to the room; The venue has vending machines for self service. There are 24-hour coffee shops and bars, as well as restaurants and banquet halls of various styles, providing dishes with different flavors from all over the world.The Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong has only 200 guest rooms (sets), but it has five restaurants, including the most prestigious Hong Kong Inagiku Japanese Restaurant, Chunyue Chinese Restaurant and Pachesa Swiss-style restaurant managed by the Swiss.The new member of Shangri-La Group - Beijing International Trade Center, in addition to five large restaurants, there are another 17 food and beverage outlets, in addition to serving the famous European Western food, Chinese food with different Chinese dishes, and Asian, especially the flavors of Southeast Asian countries meal.

In addition, souvenirs are also valued by hotels in many cities, and there are sales of gifts and other high-end daily necessities.Set up souvenir shops in the lobby, or set up high-end shops or duty-free shops to serve customers in the hotel and society.Among the 31 hotels of Nikko International Hotel Co., Ltd. in Japan, guests can buy whatever they need without going out, because 19 of them have comprehensive high-end stores or duty-free stores.

[-]. Environmental protection is getting more and more attention

The development of tourism depends on the environment, and environmental protection has become an increasing concern of the world hotel industry.People of insight in most foreign hotels have realized that adding environmental factors to hotel management does not necessarily increase costs and reduce luxury.Such as "purchasing green bathroom supplies"; replacing the currently used plastic bottles with bottles made of new materials for reuse; replacing disposable plastic bags with cloth laundry bags, which can (save) costs in the long run; Install (energy-saving) lamps in public places; use water-saving facilities in the showers of guest rooms, which can (save) 10% of water; some hotels even post small notices in bathrooms: "Thank you for your efforts to protect the environment— —Take one less shower a day." In fact, many saving measures themselves already reflect the awareness of environmental protection.Although some environmental protection measures need to increase some investment, in the long run, cost saving can still be achieved.

[-]. The shortage of hotel management talents and service talents
After the rapid development of the hotel industry, a large number of employees are needed.However, many countries and regions realize that there is a shortage of qualified hotel management talents and service personnel.There are many reasons for this trend, in addition to the increasing number of hotels, there are the following reasons.

(1) Due to changes in population structure, many developed countries will experience an increasing shortage of labor, especially young people who are suitable for working in hotels.

(2) Although people's ideas have changed a lot, the hotel industry is still often listed as an unpopular industry, which is not very attractive. Some young people often list the hotel industry as a relatively low-level career choice.

(3) In order to obtain higher income or benefits, hotel personnel are highly mobile, some are diverted to other industries, and some are poached by other hotels.

(4) The hotel industry is a pioneer industry that adopts new technologies and new facilities. Therefore, the hotel industry has a great demand for people who have received advanced professional training.However, there is a lack of places to develop such specialized talent.In some developing countries, due to the increase of high-end hotels with international standards, there is not only a lack of high-level and mid-level talents who are truly competent to manage and operate such hotels, but even a shortage of general service personnel with good quality, and some positions are naturally eliminated due to age and other reasons. The higher the rate, the heavier the burden of demand for such talents.

Nine, the establishment of an expert system

The scientific management of the hotel requires "experts to manage the store" and has become a fashion in the world's hotels.In fact, the most advanced hotels in the world are already "experts run their stores", so why should we establish an expert system?

First, experts are just "specialized households".Without a universal expert, who can be proficient in everything in such a vast field as electricity, boilers, air conditioners, finance, cooking, landscaping, and commodities?This requires experts from all aspects to come to the hotel to consult and solve problems.

Second, even if the hotel managers have high theoretical level and rich experience, they will inevitably "turn a blind eye" and appear management "blind spots" after staying in the hotel for a long time.The intervention of experts is beneficial to the improvement of management and service.Bystanders are clear and can point out the problems of the hotel at a glance.

Third, the service is also inseparable from the expert system, and the service also has senior experts.

The expert system includes two aspects: one is that experts have sufficient and even unscrupulous rights to criticize and suggest, but no decision-making and commanding power; the other is that the expert system is a loose advisory group rather than a permanent institution.

[-]. The history and current situation of the development of China's hotel industry
In China, the earliest hotel facilities can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period or even more ancient times. For thousands of years, China's Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing Dynasties are considered to be the period when the hotel industry achieved greater development. At the end of the 19th century, China's hotel industry entered the stage of modern hotel industry, but its development has been slow since then.It was not until the end of the 20s, after China implemented the reform and opening up policy, that the hotel industry began to develop rapidly.China's modern hotel facilities, some of which are renovated old hotels, some are hotels, hotels and guest houses built after the founding of New China, and some are modern new hotels built in the past 70 years.These three types of facilities constitute the main reception force of China's current hotel industry.

([-]) Chinese ancient hotel facilities

The hotel facilities in ancient China were mainly government-run post stations, guest houses and private inns (hotels), which played an important role in the development history of the Chinese hotel industry.

The post station is the oldest government-run accommodation facility in Chinese history.Under the condition of underdeveloped transportation in ancient times, the issuance of government orders, the transmission of official documents, and the exchange of letters between various places were all carried by special personnel on horseback, by car, or by boat.The post station was set up for this kind of post system service, to receive messengers and business personnel and provide them with accommodation facilities for vehicles and horses.The post system began in the middle of the Shang Dynasty and ended with the establishment of the "Renqing Post" in the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. It has been inherited from generation to generation for more than [-] years.Therefore, the post station can be regarded as the oldest hotel facility in Chinese history.

During the long development process of the ancient post station, due to the change of dynasties, the change of government orders, the expansion and contraction of the territory and the lack of traffic, not only its name has changed a lot, such as Chuanshe, posthouse, posthouse, posthouse, posthouse, posthouse, etc. Postal kiosks, postal shops, shops, etc. are various titles of this kind of government-run accommodation facilities in different periods, and their functions are constantly changing.When the post station was first established, its purpose was to provide food and accommodation for those who conveyed military information and reported government orders, so the reception objects were limited to messengers and postal soldiers.After the Qin and Han Dynasties, the range of reception objects of post stations began to expand, and some past officials could also board and lodging in post kiosks or Chuanshe.By the Tang Dynasty, the post station had widely received past officials and literati.In the Yuan Dynasty, some post stations with magnificent architecture and gorgeous furnishings not only received messengers and business trips, but also received past business travelers and dignitaries.According to Marco Polo, there were ten thousand such inns across the country at that time.In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the general passing passengers were included in the board and lodging persons in the post station.It can be seen that although the post station originated from the post post system, it was originally an accommodation facility for couriers and postal soldiers, but later it gradually expanded its reception scope to provide board and lodging services for business travelers and private travelers in the past.Since government-run post stations only received public servants at the beginning, this provided opportunities for private hotels to open in large numbers along post roads and near post stations, which to a certain extent promoted the emergence and development of the private hotel industry.

The Yingbin Hotel is another type of government-run accommodation facility in ancient China, mainly providing board and lodging services for envoys from the capital or foreign envoys.The titles of the guest house vary in different dynasties. For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was called "Houguan" and "Chuanshe"; in the Han Dynasty, it was called "Manyi Mansion"; Sifang Guild Hall"; Yuan and Ming Dynasty was also called "Huitong Hall"; it was not officially called "Ying Hotel" until the end of Qing Dynasty.As an important form of ancient Chinese hotels, the Guest House is an important facility for the official reception of foreign envoys and contacts. It not only meets the objective needs of ancient Chinese foreign exchanges, but also plays a very important role in promoting ancient Chinese political, economic and cultural exchanges. effect.

The ancient Chinese folk hotel industry came into being as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. According to written records, in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there were "reverse travel" places for people to rest, board and lodging.During the Qin and Han Dynasties, due to the prosperity of commercial and trade activities, the private hotel industry developed rapidly, and there were various hotels in the suburbs of towns, markets and main road intersections.After the Han Dynasty, with the formation and development of the city, folk hotels were widely distributed in the prosperous areas of the city in various dynasties.In addition to hotels that generally provide board and lodging, in order to meet the requirements of the imperial examination system in China's feudal society, guild halls that specially received students from all over the country appeared in the provincial capitals and capitals, which became an important part of the hotel industry at that time.

([-]) The development of modern Chinese hotel industry

The hotel industry in modern China developed gradually with the invasion of foreign capital in the early 19th century.During this period, China’s hotel facilities can be roughly divided into three types: Western-style hotels, Chinese-Western restaurants, and inns and hotels.

(End of this chapter)