Unit 7: Managing Accommodation Services - Industry Report Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the accommodation industry, also referred to as the hospitality industry, exploring its size, scope, and various types, including hostels, hotels, guesthouses, apartments, resorts, and motels. It delves into the crucial role of the front office department within accommodation services, outlining the responsibilities of front office managers, representatives, night auditors, cashiers, reservationists, and telephone operators. The report emphasizes the importance of these roles in handling customer inquiries, managing reservations, and ensuring guest satisfaction. The content highlights the evolution of the industry with the rise of travel and tourism, and concludes by reiterating the significance of the front office in providing excellent customer service. References from relevant sources support the information provided in this report, making it a valuable resource for students studying the accommodation industry.

THE ACCOMMODATION
INDUSTRY

Table of content
 INTRODUCTION
 Types of accommodations
 The role of the front office department within accommodation
services.
 CONCLUSION
 REFERENCES

INTRODUCTION
 The accommodation industry which is also referred to as
hospitality industry. It is a broad category which includes many
fields like luxury, hotels, cafes and restaurants, drinks and
services, traveling, and also tourism
 This report demonstrates an understanding of accommodation
industries and their size, scope and types. This report also talks
about the role of front office department within accommodation
services.

Types of accomodations
 Hostels
 Hotels
 Guesthouses
 Apartments
 Resorts
 Cottage
 Mansion
 Villa
 Tent
 Farmhouse
 Motels
 An inn

Hostels
 Hostels may provide the cheapest accommodation. They normally
offer shared rooms with bunk beds, but some also have private
rooms available. Often the amenities are shared and you don’t get
towels or toiletries included.

Hotels
 A hotel is an establishment providing paid accommodation. Hotels
used to offer basic accommodation in the past, but nowadays they
mostly provide rooms with modern facilities, en-suite bathrooms,
air-conditioning, a telephone, a TV set, an Internet connection; a
mini-bar including a small refrigerator with drinks and snacks;
often there is a facility for making hot drinks in the room (an
electric kettle, cups, spoons, instant coffee and tea bags, sugar,
milk).

Guesthouses
 A guesthouse is generally a private home which has been
converted for the dedicated and exclusive use of guest
accommodation. The public areas of the establishment are for the
exclusive use of the guests. The owner or manager either lives off-
site, or in an entirely separate area within the property

Apartments
 Apartments are especially great for longer stays or if you want to
have your own space or cook. Many accommodation apartments
come with great furnishings and facilities allowing you to settle
down for as long as you need.

Motels
 The word is an abbreviation of motor – hotel and the concept
originates from the USA. Motels differ from hotels in their
location: they are mostly situated along highways. Usually they
are in a shape of connected rooms with their doors facing the
parking lot (Erickson and Rothberg, 2017).

The role of the front office
department within
accommodation services.

Front office manager
 The basic role of a manager includes the supervision of front desk,
reservations, and telephone calls, handling customers or any sort
of queries. The managers manage the entire task which is
performed by the front office.

Representative
 The front desk staff is the representatives of the hotel. As in the
case with Holiday Inn, the front office is the representative of the
whole hotel. They handle the very customer who has just entered
into the hotel (Evans, 2015).

Role of Night Auditor
 A night auditor is a person who is allotted for performing the work
of book keeping. This position might be of part time. The work if
this person is to keep the audit about the customers which can for
queries at the front desk.

Cashier
 The front desk people work as a cashier also. They collect the
money from customers who are checking inn to their rooms. The
Front desk job is to acknowledge them about the package along
with the services they are getting within the package. Holiday Inn
hotel provides different types of rooms like luxury room, deluxe
rooms, super deluxe rooms, villas and so on and different prices
are allotted for these types of room.

Reservationist
 : The task of the front desk staff is to make reservations for the
people or guests. There are many guests who book their rooms
before so that they do not face any kind of problem about the
availability of rooms. The role of front desk staff of Holiday inn
hotel is to make the reservations along with the collection of
money and make the necessary arrangements before

Telephone operator
 The role of front desk is also to operate the telephone calls. They
have to handle all the phone calls and clear the quires which they
have (Gretzel, Sigala and Christou, 2012). The front desk staff has
to be very courteous and solves all the issues that guest feel very
satisfied and happy at the end of the call. As in the case with
Holiday inn, the hotel’s front desk operates the telephone calls
which they receive in the hotel. They handle the calls and address
the caller.

CONCLUSION
 From the report presented above, it can be conclude that the
industry is evolving with increase in the travel and tourism of
people. The accommodation industry is of various types such as
hotels, guest houses or rooms, cottages, villas and so on. All these
accommodation provides different types of services to the
customers.
 The report also considers the importance of front desk office such
as handling the quires which comes from the customers,
reservation work, and handling of phone calls and so on.

REFERENCES
 Batnitzky, A. and McDowell, L., 2013. The emergence of an
‘ethnic economy’? The spatial relationships of migrant workers in
London's health and hospitality sectors. Ethnic and Racial
Studies. 36(12). pp.1997-2015.
 Boella, M. J. and Goss-Turner, S., 2019. Human resource
management in the hospitality industry: A guide to best practice.
Routledge.
 Erickson, G. S. and Rothberg, H. N., 2017. Healthcare and
hospitality: Intangible dynamics for evaluating industry
sectors. The Service Industries Journal. 37(9-10). pp.589-606.
 Evans, N., 2015. Strategic management for tourism, hospitality
and events. Routledge.