Working in Hospitality industry

Н.М.Падалко

Профессионально ориентированный английский для студентов, изучающих индустрию гостеприимства

English for Students Majoring in Hospitality Industry

Учебно-методическое пособие

По английскому языку

Для студентов факультета

Высшая школа туризма

Минск: БГЭУ, 2010

Рецензент: Новик Н.А. заведующая кафедрой профессионально ориентированной английской речи Учреждения образования «Белорусский государственный экономический университет».

Рекомендовано кафедрой профессионально ориентированной английской речи УО «Белорусский государственный экономический университет»

Падалко Н.М.

Профессионально ориентированный английский для студентов, изучающих индустрию гостеприимства/ Н.М.Падалко. -БГЭУ, 2010. –72c.

Данное учебно-методическое пособие направлено на развитие и совершенствование навыков говорения, чтения и перевода по профессиональной тематике факультетаВысшая школа туризма. Пособие предназначено для студентов 3-4 курсов ФВШТ очной и заочной форм обучения. Может быть использовано в качестве основного или дополнительного материала.

Contents

PART I.

Unit I. The Hotel Business…………………………………………. 4

Unit II. The Restaurant Business …………………………………… 13

Unit III. Career in Hospitality ……………………………………… 21

Self-Check Test …………………………………………………….. 31

Additional texts for Reading and Discussing ………………………. 33

PART II. WORK IN HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Unit IV. Front Office ……………………………………………….. 38

Unit V. The Back of the House …………………………………….. 49

Unit VI. Technology in Hospitality …………………………………. 59

Self-Check Test ……………………………………………………… 66

Additional texts for Reading and Discussing ……………………….. 68

PART I

UNIT I. The Hotel Industry

Read and Learn

Read the text; find in it the English equivalents of the following topical words and phrases:

Приемлемая цена; предоставление места в гостинице; не подходят под определение; конкретные потребности; целевой рынок; местоположение; право собственности; в соответствии с; вероятнее всего находятся в живописных и экзотических местах; предполагаемая продолжительность проживания; гостиница для продолжительного проживания; гостиница для проезжающих; уровень услуг; услуги общественного питания; услуга доставки питания в номер; услуги прачечной; предполагается, что гости готовят себе сами; вблизи автомагистрали; на каждую комнату одно парковочное место; частная компания; международная цепь отелей; высокая степень риска; циклический характер спроса; огромные капиталовложения; манипуляции с недвижимостью; прибыль от продаж; выгода от налогообложения,

Text 1

THE STRUCTURE OF HOTEL INDUSTRY

The Hotel Proprietor’s Act 1956 provides a clear definition of a hotel: an establishment held out by the proprietor as offering food, drink and sleeping accommodation to any traveler willing to pay a reasonable sum for the services and facilities provided.

As a consequence, while there are other types of establishments which also provide accommodation services (hospitals, university hostels), they do not come under the definition of hotels because they do not cater for the specific needs of travellers.

Hotels can be classified into different types according to their target market, size, location, facilities or ownership. One way of classifying a hotel is according to the type of guest it caters for. Hotels can be divided into commercial, tourist and resort properties. Hotels which offer drink and accommodation to travelling business people are called commercial hotels. Tourist hotels, on the other hand, offer services to people travelling for pleasure. Resort hotels also provide services to people travelling for pleasure and are more likely to be found at picturesque and exotic spots.

Hotels can also be divided into residential hotels and transient hotels on the basis of the expected length of stay of their guests. Residential hotels provide accommodation for guests staying for a long time, while transient hotels are used by guests who stay only for one or two nights.

Hotels can be classified according to where they are located – city centre hotels, suburban hotels, resort hotels.

Some hotels may be classified with respect to their size. Small hotels have fewer than 100 rooms, medium-sized hotels normally between 100 and 200 rooms, while large hotels usually have more than 200 rooms.

Hotels also differ in their standards of services and in the facilities which they offer: full-service hotels, budget hotels, and self-catering hotels.

A full-service hotel provides a wide selection of guest services in addition to accommodation, such as food and beverage service, room service, laundry services and business facilities.

Budget hotels tend to provide cheaper and more basic guest-rooms with limited food and beverage services.

Self-catering hotels provide no other service besides basic accommodation. Guests are expected to prepare their own food, clean and tidy their rooms, and do their own laundry. Such hotels may provide food shops in their foyers and microwave ovens in their guest rooms. Most of these hotels are situated close to highways and are often called motels. These hotels are sufficiently large to provide one car-parking space for every room.

Another way to classify hotels is by their ownership. Hotel ownership can be: private – an independent hotel owned by a person, a partnership, or a private company; a local group – several hotels owned by a local company; an international group – hotel which is part of an international chain of hotels.

The hotel business is characterized by a high degree of risk, which primarily is the result of two factors: the cyclical nature of demand and the high degree of capital investment. A greater proportion of profit comes from the manipulation of real estate rather than from the sale of rooms. For example, the great increase in value of the Hilton and Sheraton companies has not come from operating profit but from buying, selling, and tax advantage and in appreciation of value of the hotels with time. The name of the game is financial management and the game is complex.

Task 1. Find in the text answers to these questions

1. What is the definition of a hotel?

2. Why do other types of establishments which also provide accommodation services not come under the definition of a hotel?

3. How can hotels be classified?

4. What do hotels differ in?

5. Why is the hotel business characterized by a high degree of risk?

Task 2. Sum up what you’ve learned from the text about

a) commercial, tourist and resort properties;

b) residential hotels and transient hotels;

c) city centre hotels, suburban hotels, resort hotels;

d) full-service hotels, budget hotels, and self-catering hotels;

e) hotel forms of ownership: private, a local group, an international group.

Read and Discuss

Text 2

THE GOLDEN BAY STAR HOTEL

The Golden Bay Star Hotel was developed by a group of investors in the late 1970s to be the premier luxury property of its type in the Bay Area. The location in downtown was chosen for its proximity to the financial district and art gallery community.

In its early years of operation, the Golden Bay Star enjoyed modest success. But the ownership felt that better performance was possible. They decided that name recognition was what they lacked. By 1982 the ownership decided to affiliate the hotel with a national luxury manage­ment company. The hotel and management company signed an agreement that was renewable every five years.

For the next few years, the Star (as it is called) experienced record revenue performance. The boom in the financial markets was reflected in strong transient and group demand at high rates. The art market was experiencing strong interest from individual and institutional inventors from across the world. Auctions and other meetings were traditionally held at the Star. All parties involved were satisfied with the arrangement.

By the late 1980s, accelerated hotel construction in the vicinity of the hotel began to manifest itself. Properties of all product types and sizes began to pop up all around the Star. Newly developed hotel concepts (the extended stay and all suite) started to vie for the traditional business of the Star.

After several years of declining performance, the hotel owners began to get nervous. They needed to know why they were in this situation and how it would be remedied. The ownership sent a representative, Tom Anderson, to the hotel to monitor the situation. Tom met with the hotel's general manager, Shelly Burns. Shelly had been at the hotel for 10 years. She had been on board for the period of exceptional performance; so naturally as the leader, she had been lauded. She was not used to being in the position of having to explain poor performance.

Shelly Burns was a "hands on" general manager. She involved her­self in all aspects of operations and sales. She was so involved in sales and marketing, she saw no need for a change. They had never needed to advertise, and the sales office seemed to run itself. After all, she could make those decisions if need be, so why incur the extra salary costs?

The senior sales person at the Star, Frank Nevins, had been on staff since the opening of the property. He had long enjoyed a healthy relation­ship with the local financial community. His contacts were renowned, and he spent a great deal of time cultivating those relationships.

Tom asked Shelly to take a good look at the current state of the hotel. He needed to report back to the owners and wanted a solid plan from the hotel as to how it would improve performance. The owners were in the fifth year of their current management contract and needed to act quickly. He gave her one week to come up with a plan.

Notes

1. to vie for smth. - соперничать за что-л.

2. to remedy - исправлять (напр., положение вещей)

3. to laud - прославлять, хвалить, превозносить

4. renewable – возобновляемый

5. to pop up – неожиданно появляться

6. solid plan – основательный план

Task 1. Answer the following questions

1. Where was the Golden Bay Star Hotel located? Why was that location chosen?

2. How did the ownership decide to improve the hotel performance?

3. What was the boom in the financial markets reflected in?

4. Why did the Star face a strong competition in the late 1980s?

5. What did the hotel owners need to know?

6. How did the hotel’s general manager Shelly Burns and senior sales person Frank Nevis perform their duties?

7. What does “the sales office seems to run itself” mean?

8. What did Ton Anderson ask Shelly to do?

Task 2. Think and express your opinion

If you were Shelly, what would you do? Develop a plan for the Star.

Points to consider:

- the hotel’s age;

- its location;

- management contract;

- target markets;

- ownership;

- competition;

- management style;

- sales direction;

- advertising.

Read and Translate

Text 3

THE LODGING INDUSTRY

The most important concept of accommodations in relation to tourism is that these businesses are an essential part of the wide array of tourism suppliers. A traveller is in a particular destination area because he or she had a certain motivation, either for business or pleasure. In order to prosper, the accommodations manager must recognize the integral relationship that exists between accommodations and the volume of tourists attracted to the area. Success of the accommodations will thus depend upon the effectiveness of the tourism marketing program conducted on behalf of that destination. The extent of the lodging industry’s financial support for its local convention and visitor’s bureau, chamber of commerce, area and /or regional tourism promotion organization will determine such marketing success.

The lodging industry is made up of hotels, motels, condos, tourist courts, sporting and recreational camps, inns, etc., that is, establishments engaged primarily in providing lodging or lodging and meals to the general public.

Since the mid – 1970 the world lodging industry has been experiencing the greatest building boom in its history. It is projected that the additions to the supply of overall rooms available will level off and that occupancy rates will increase. Room rates are expected to continue to rise about 3-4 percent a year.

A dramatic marketing innovation is the introduction of “yield management” to the lodging industry. By using computerized systems similar to programs employed by airlines, hotels and motels will be able to monitor guest-room inventories and measure them against demand on a day-to-day, or even hour-by-hour, basis.

The lodging industry has practiced market segmentation in recent years. Many of the big chains offer products at almost every price level – full-service luxury hotels, luxury all-suite hotels, moderately priced full-service hotels, moderately priced all-suites, moderately priced limited service, and economy or budget motels. The two fastest growing segments of the industry are all-suites and economy segments.

Between 1960 and 1990, the trend in the lodging industry has been away from independently owned and operated properties toward chain and franchise affiliations. There are also referral groups or voluntary membership associations. The trend towards consolidation and acquisition will continue because chains have the potential for improvement in productivity and the advantages that accrue to large size. Chains can most effectively use training programs, employee selection programs, major equipment such as computers, and research. They can experiment with different layouts, prices, advertising, equipment, and so on, and what works well in one property can be employed chain wide.

One reason for the popularity of the referral groups is that members who are independent operators achieve the marketing benefits of chains of chains without chain membership.

Franchising is also well known in the lodging industry and has made a rapid penetration into the marketplace. Franchisees have the advantage that they receive the knowledge, advice, and assistance of a proven operator. Franchising also spreads the costs of promotion, advertising, and reservation systems over all outlets, making the unit cost much lower. If the franchiser has an excellent reputation and image, the franchisee benefits greatly. Most of the companies with franchise operations also operate company-owned units. Industry predictions are that as the industry grows and matures, there will be less franchising, which will give the chains more control over their properties and operations so that they can maintain the desired quality control. Increased competitiveness and improved properties will necessitate having the ability to make these improvements.

A trend in the lodging industry appears to be that more large properties will be operated under management contracts. Investors, such as insurance companies, frequently purchase hotel properties and turn them over to chains or independents to manage, a process that has advantages to both parties. The owner has the financial resources and the manager has the reputation and experience to manage the property profitably.

A discussion of the lodging industry would not be complete without mentioning the burgeoning bed and breakfast (B&B) segment. It is the fastest growing segment of the accommodations industry and provides both luxury and economy accommodations.

Notes

array – множество

volume – объём, большое количество, масштабы

extent – пределы, размер, величина

be engaged in – занятые в

chamber of commerce – торгово-промышленная палата

lodging industry – гостиничный бизнес

occupancy rate – количество гостей на единицу площади (процент занятости)

yield management – управление прибылью

monitor - контролировать

measure against demand – соразмерять с учётом спроса

all-suite hotels – апартаментный отель

acquisition – приобретение, поглощение

accrue – увеличиваться, накапливаться

layout – компоновка, схема, план

referral group – ассоциация независимых гостиниц

mature - развиваться, доводить до совершенства

profitability – прибыльность, рентабельность

burgeoning segment – растущий сегмент

UNIT II. The Restaurant Business

Read and Learn

Read the text, find in it the English equivalents of the following topical words and phrases:

Ресторан высшей категории; ресторан, специализирующийся на приготовлении одного-двух блюд; горячее блюдо; изысканный ресторан; ресторан с непринужденной обстановкой; столик на колесиках; упрощенная версия; самообслуживание; восстанавливать силы и энергию; распространение концепции; обильная пища; приправлена пикантным соусом; кулинарное мастерство; посещение ресторана; пища (кормление); позиционирование и концепция; жизнеспособность; микрорайон; конкурентоспособное преимущество.

Text 1

THE SRUCTURE OF RESTAURANT BUSINESS

Classification of restaurants may be based on two factors: menu and services offered. According to the menu, there are two main categories: full- service and specialty restaurants. Restaurants of the first type have more than a dozen main course items that are cooked to order. Specialty restaurants specialize in one dish (pizza, hamburger, chicken, steak, seafood). According to the services, the restaurants are classified into occasion (also called luxury) and casual restaurants. Two types of services are used in occasion restaurants: French service (the food arranged on plates and presented to guests, after which the preparation is completed on a trolley-like side table with a gas burner).And Russian service (the food is cooked in the kitchen, placed onto the serving dish and served to the guests individually with a serving spoon and fork). Casual dining is characterized by relaxed atmosphere, where not only Russian service is typical, but also its simplified version called American service (the food is prepared and put into individual plates in the kitchen before being carried into the dining room) and buffet-service (self-service). The first true restaurant, the Grande Tavern de Londres, was opened in Paris in 1782 by Boulanger, “the father of modern restaurant”. He called his famous soups “restoratives”, because they were believed to restore the guests’ strength and energy. By 1794, when heads were literally rolling in Paris, there were about 500 restaurants in the city. Although it really cannot be said that French Revolution was responsible for the invention of the restaurant, it was responsible for the propagation of the concept. The chefs of the best restaurants were scattered by the Revolution all over the world. They almost all went into restaurant business, bringing their culinary traditions with them... Soon the plain, hearty fare of the British and the primitive cooking of the Americans were laced with piquant sauces. Other countries, too, felt the effects of French culinary artistry and most absorbed some of the principles of French cooking into their own. Exceptions were the Italians, who had developed their own very strong culinary traditions and felt with great deal of justification, that French cooking was itself derived from the Italian.

Restaurants play an important role in society. Dining out fulfils an important social need. People need not only nourishment, but also the social interaction that takes place in a restaurant setting. But the successful operation of a restaurant is dependent on a number of factors, and the most important of them are its positioning (a distinctive place in the market) and its concept (the total impression the restaurant makes on its potential guests).

In order to determine the potential viability of a restaurant it is necessary to divide the number of the restaurants in the catchment area by the total population. Obviously, each area is different: one location may have several Italian restaurants but no Chinese restaurant. Therefore, a Chinese restaurant would be unique in the market, and, if properly positioned, may have a competitive advantage. Each year thousands of new restaurants open and thousands more close.

The restaurant business is relatively easy to enter but it is very difficult to succeed.

Task 1. Find in the text answers to these questions

1. What is the classification of the restaurants based on?

2. What are the two main categories according to the menu?

3. How are the restaurants classified according to the services?

4. What is the etymology of the word» restaurant”?

5. In what sense was the French Revolution responsible for the spread of restaurants in the world?

6. What country was least influenced by French culinary traditions?

7. What needs does a restaurant fulfill?

8. What is meant by “positioning”?

9. How is the potential viability of a restaurant calculated?

Task 2. Sum up what you’ve learned from the text about

a) full-service and specialty restaurants;

b) occasion and casual restaurants;

c) French service, Russian service, American service, buffet-service;

d) the first true restaurant;

e) French and Italian culinary traditions;

f) the successful operation of a restaurant;

g) the potential viability of a restaurant.

Read and Discuss

Text 2

Take a Break at a World Famous Restaurant - “McDonald’s”

Thinking about shopping and preparing food for the family is about the last thing mothers want to do on holidays and particularly on motoring holidays. Holidays should mean holidays from the kitchen, too. But mothers are always concerned that their family is eating the right food. McDonald’s shares that view. “Our menu is based on the selections from four to five basic food groups recommended to maintain good health” says Peter Riechie, chairman and managing director of Mc Donald’s Australia. McDonald’s doesn’t claim that its menu provides every single nutrient needed for a healthy diet. However, a sample meal of a Big Mac, French Fries and a Shake contains foods sources of riboflavin, calcium, thiamine, niacin, zinc, vitamins A, B12, C, D and protein.

The company puts a lot of work, research, money and top-level planning into producing good tasting food that is also nutritious. Its claims are backed up by research carried out at the University of New South Wales which reveals that McDonald’s menu contains an important range of nutrients at levels which make significant contributions to daily dietary requirements.

Peter Ritchie says: “Only 100 per cent pure Australian beef is used in our beef patties. They contain no additives or extenders, no preservatives and no flavor enhancers. Unlike many hamburger shops, no oil or fat is added to the grill to cook the patties and the grill is scraped clean after each batch of patties is cooked. Our Filet-O-Fish is made from whole fillets of premium fish, not shredded or minced. McDonald’s orange juice has no preservatives and no added sugar and our lettuce is farm grown and freshly chopped. We use Australian –grown wheat flavor in our buns, which are baked locally and delivered fresh several times a week.”

McDonald’s recommends variety and moderation to keep fit and healthy. It’s not only food quality about which McDonald’s has a ‘no shortcuts’ policy. Cleanliness features prominently in the company’s operations.

Surveys show that Cleanliness is the first thing customers notice when they enter a restaurant. That’s why the customers and travelers especially, can count on clean restrooms, often with nappy-changing and disabled facilities.

McDonald’s also emphasizes that its family restaurants are designed for family budgets. A family of four can eat well at less than $20. And that’s particularly important when on holiday budget.

Service is another key to the Company’s success. Friendly and fast is what everyone is all about in the Service stakes. No one wants to wait for ages to be served, particularly when they are road weary and have more kilometers to cover.

While McDonald’s places great importance on quality, service, cleanliness and value, the overall aim is to make sure the customers relax and enjoy their McDonald’s experience. For the holiday motorists McDonald’s restaurants provide many components of what might be regarded as an enjoyable experience. Many of the restaurants provide playgrounds or play areas with special safety surfaces that enable children to expend a lot of energy they’d otherwise save up until their parents were mobile again. Parking is also a plus at McDonald’s with many restaurants situated on major highways featuring coach parking and parking spaces for cars towing caravans or trailers. Its drive-through service means motorists in a hurry can simply choose order and then pick up their meal without leaving their car.

McDonald’s operates 260 stores Australia-wide with each restaurant offering the same consistent Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value.

Notes

1. nutrient – питательное вещество

2. riboflavin – витамин B2

3. be backed up by – поддерживаться, финансироваться

4. contribution – вклад

5. extenders – начинка

6. preservatives – консерванты

7. flavour enhancers – усилители цвета

8. shred – шинковать, измельчать

9. moderation – умеренность, сдержанность

10. count on – полагаться

11. service stake – сервисная стойка

12. value – ценность, стоимость

Task 1. Answer the following questions

1. What is meant by “the right food”?

2. Can McDonald’s food be recommended to maintain good health? Why?

3. What does McDonald’s place great importance on?

4. What are those enjoyable experiences provided by McDonald’s?

5. What does Peter Ritchie say about the ingredients and methods of cooking at their McDonald’s?

6. What do surveys show?

7. What can the customers and the travelers especially count on?

Task 2. Think and express your opinion

What does credit for McDonalds commercial success belong to? Points to consider:

- master the art of serving the customers;

- improve production methods in order to simplify operations;

- bring down costs;

- carefully customize its menu and service to local tastes and eating habits;

- monitor product and service quality through continuous surveys;

- educate suppliers, employees and even customers;

- give service with a smile.

Read and Translate

Text 3

THE FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY

Eating and drinking places are big business. While much of this activity is local, eating and drinking are favourite pastimes of travellers, and the food industry will face difficult times without the tourist market. Travellers contribute about $ 73 billion to food service sales each year, whether for a coffee shop breakfast, a dinner on an airline, a sandwich from a bus station vending machine, or a ten-course dinner on a cruise ship. Travellers, including foreign visitors, spend more money on food than anything else except transportation, and travellers account for about one-third of the total sales in the food service industry.

The food service industry consists of restaurants, travel food service, and vending and contract institutional food service. Local restaurants are made up of establishments that include fast-food units, coffee shops, specialty restaurants, family restaurants, cafeterias, and full-service restaurants with carefully orchestrated “atmosphere”. Travel food service consists of food operations in hotels and motels, roadside service to automobile travelers, and all food service on airplanes, trains, and ships. Institutional food service in companies, hospitals, schools and so on, is not considered part of the tourism industry.

Over the past two decades, the food and beverage business has grown at a phenomenal rate. This has been especially true for the fast-food segment, with the franchising portion in this segment becoming the dominant growth sector. This remarkable increase has been gained at the expense of other food service operations and supermarkets. Franchisees control approximately three-fourths of the fast-food outlets, whose hamburgers, chickens, steaks, and pizzas dominate the fast-food business. Advantages of franchising accrue to both sides. The franchisee gets the start-up help, advice from experienced management, buying power, advertising and low unit costs from spreading fixed costs over large numbers of units. The franchiser has the advantage of a lower capital investment, rapid growth, and royalty income.

Fast-food chains have enjoyed great success in part because they limit their menus, which give them greater purchasing power, less waste, and more portion control, and, of importance to the consumer, lower operating costs. They are leaders in labour productivity in the restaurant industry.

Although the fast-food segment is the most rapidly growing segment, the high quality segment of the restaurant industry must not be overlooked. Much of this business is based on customers seeking a special or different experience in dining out. This demand has been most effectively satisfied by local entrepreneurs who emphasize special menus, varying atmospheres, and high-quality food and service. New concepts or trends include ethnic restaurants, especially those with an oriental or Mexican flavour, increased demand for health foods, fish, local produce and regional dishes and variety in portion sizes.

The National Restaurant Association (NRA) is the most important trade association in the food service field.

Notes

vending machine – торговый автомат

a ten-course dinner – ужин из десяти блюд

account for – составлять

institutional food – организация питания в ведомственных учреждениях

at the expense of – за счет к-л

accrue to – доставаться

outlet – торговая точка

units – (зд.) точки общественного питания

purchasing power – покупательская способность

entrepreneur – предприниматель

UNIT III. Career in Hospitality

Read and Learn

Read the text; find in it the English equivalents of the following topical words and phrases:

Места отдыха и развлечений; сложность; руководство; руководящие должности; головные офисы сети гостиниц; вести счет по ежедневным статьям расходов; расходы/издержки; нести расходы; вносить на счет; услуги прачечной; доставка питания в номер; истинная доброта в общении с гостем; профессиональная подготовка; бухгалтерия; связи с общественностью; сложность/запутанность; в крупных масштабах; инженерная служба; служба технического обслуживания; компетенция/знание дела; врожденные способности; ученик/подмастерье; обширный опыт в; плотник; квалифицированный, малоквалифицированный, неквалифицированный; драпировщик; официант/ка; горничная; выполнять работы; погрузка и разгрузка товара и оборудования; существенный; нанимать на работу; дополнительный заработок; посыльный/коридорный; номер-люкс; в своем распоряжении; бармен; частые возможности.

Text 1

WORKING IN HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

A hotel is a complex operation. It includes places for people to sleep, to eat, to shop; there are often recreational facilities and areas for public gatherings. Because of its complexity, it is not possible to speak of a single career in the hotel industry; there is instead a wide variety of different careers.

The top people in the hotel industry are managers. The majority of them hold management positions in individual hotels, but some work in the executive offices of the hotel chains.

The principal function of management is to coordinate all the different activities that take place in a hotel. The managerial personnel must therefore have a broad range of experience in the various departments of a hotel.

One of the most important divisions of the hotel's administrative staff is the accounting department. Hotel accounting has many distinctive features because guests' bills must be kept up-to-date. All charges that a guest incurs must be entered, or posted, in his or her account as soon as possible. In addition to the charge for the guest's room, there may also be charges resulting from the use of telephone, the laundry service, the restaurant and room service.

Some hotel management people have worked their way to the top without formal education in the field. They combined in-the-job experience with the special talents and personal qualities that are necessary for a successful hotel career.

It should be noted that one necessary personal characteristics in hotel management, and indeed throughout the hotel world, is the desire to serve and please the guests. The hotel business is often called the hospitality industry because of the importance of genuine warmth in dealing with the guests.

The executive staff of a hotel includes many people with special skills, experience or professional training. The promotion staff, for example, must know not only the hotel field, but also advertising and public-relations techniques. The head housekeeper runs a complex organization with many employees, she needs to know the intricacies of purchasing on a large scale, as well as how to make beds and clean carpets properly.

The members of the engineering and maintenance staffs need education, expertise, and experience which in a large hotel may be very diverse. The chefs and cooks, even though they are out of sight of the public, are important to the success of a hotel. Sometimes food and beverage department in some hotels brings in more income than room rentals. Good cooking is a skill that requires natural aptitude; indeed, many people consider cooking an art. In France and Switzerland, people who wish to become chefs often begin to work as apprentices at an early age. They are trained by an experienced chef in all aspects of kitchen work, cooking and restaurant management. A head chef must be an expert not only in cooking itself, but also in planning, purchasing and supervising other kitchen personnel.

Most of the remaining workers in the hotel world can be classified as skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled. The carpenters and upholsterers in maintenance, the plumbers and electricians in engineering, and the gardeners in the ground department are among the workers usually classified as skilled. They all require special aptitudes combined with special training. Semi-skilled workers include waiters and chambermaids, who must have training for their particular duties. Examples of unskilled workers are the helpers and dishwashers in the kitchen or the laborers who perform such chores as loading or unloading shipments of supplies and equipment.

The economic benefits in hotel work can be very substantial. The top people in management, the staff in the chain headquarters, executive housekeepers, and food and beverage managers receive good salaries. Owner-managers of small hotels can make a comfortable living, combined with economic independence. Top chefs are also very well paid. There is often sharp competition in hiring them. Many hotel employees receive additional income from tips. Bellmen, waiters and waitresses, bartenders, captains, doormen and chambermaids customarily supplement their wages through tips.

Besides pay from salaries, wages and tips, some hotel employees also receive other benefits. The manager of a hotel, for instance, usually has a room or even a suite at his disposal; many managers live permanently in their hotels. Except for the executive staff, most hotel employees wear uniforms while they are working, thus saving a considerable amount of money on clothing. For employees in the hotel-chain headquarters or the promotional staff there are often frequent opportunities for travel.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-28