Reservation Department

Reservation is defined as holding of a specific type of guest room, for a specific guest, for a specificamount of time. People are travelling to different cities in greater numbers as a result of Globalization,advancement in transportation and increase in disposable income. This increase in traveler traffic hasresulted in an increase in demand for tourist accommodation at a variety of destinations. They makeadvance reservations in hotel and other types of accommodation to ensure a safe and secure place tostay during a visit to another town. All hotels accept advance bookings of their room to achieve highoccupancy and to maximize their revenue. Hotels accepts reservation for their rooms and suites onlyafter considering a number of variables including room availability, sales forecast, room rates, profileof guest and relevance to hotel.?Only by mutual agreement can either the hotel or the guest change or?cancel the reservation. If a guest fails to notify the hotel of a cancellation, the hotel has the right topenalize the guest for lost revenue or keep any deposit paid. Alternatively, if a hotel cancels areservation without prior warning to the guest, the hotel must provide identical lodging at another hoteland pay for any discrepancies in room rates and additional expenses the guest may have to lay onself. The reservation made by guest could be tentative, confirmed or waitlisted.

The reservation section of a hotel's front office department is incharge of recurring and processing reservation inquiries. The role of reservation department is notlimited to making a reservation. It maintains record of the hotel occupancy, which helps in planningsales and marketing strategies etc. They are salesperson of the hotel and practice their skills of?salesmanship by suggesting higher room categories and also selling other hotel services such as spaor specialty restaurant to guest at the time of receiving the reservation request. The reservationsection generates the maximum revenue for the hotel. The placement of the reservation section isdetermined by the hotel's size and volume of business. In small hotels, the front desk serves as thereservation section, however in large hotels, a distinct part is necessary, which is usually located rightbehind the reception counter.

Managing reservation: Accepting Reservation of Accommodation - If the specified type of?accommodation is available for sale in the hotel, the reservation will be accepted. If it is not availableduring peak season or if the guest needs immediate assistance, the staff member recommends anearly identical alternative lodging by describing its amenities and services.

Denying Reservation of Accommodation - Failure of a reservation directly results in a loss of revenue.However, there are times when the reservation staff declines the booking for the guests or?representatives. The following are possible reasons for denying a reservation: all accommodation inthe hotel is reserved, desired type of accommodation is not available.

Cancelling a Reservation of Accommodation - It is just another instance in which the hotel loses aguest. Despite the fact that there is an obvious drop in sales, the front office personnel must respondpolitely and gracefully to it. The team member must also inform the guest of any cancellation fees thatmust be paid when cancelling the reservation.Modes and sources of reservation are the primary requirement for functioning of any room reservationsection of a hotel. Mode of reservation is the method used to process the reservation. Source of?reservation is the channel through which the department receives the reservation.

Modes of?reservation – there are two major modes of reservation written and verbal. They are further subclassified into various types. Written Mode: written modes of reservation are those where writtencommunication is the mode of getting the room reservation done. It includes Email, text messaging,letter, fax. Verbal Mode: verbal mode of communication is those where verbal communication is modeof getting the room reservation done. It includes telephone, in-person. A hotel receives reservationrequests from different sources such as direct guests, central reservation or global distribution system, travel agencies, and companies. Processing reservation request received from all means onthe hotel property management system (PMS).

There are various sources from whom the requests of reservation pour in – 1. Direct request fromguest: When it comes to single or family tourists, potential guests can approach the hotel separatelyto make a reservation for lodging. 2. Request from travel agent: They contact the hotel to makereservations for a group of visitors. 3. Request from corporate agent: A company might ask a hotel tobook rooms for its employees, clients, or visitors. 4. Request from airlines: The airlines can reserveaccommodations for their working staff for routine stay as well as in case of flight cancellations.5.Request from institutions: Various SMERF or NGO institutions request to reserve hotels for sportspeople, delegations of embassies, or performing-art program groups, workshop groups, and alike whotravel to different location. Activities associated with reservation process includes- conducting thereservation inquiry, determining the room and rate availabilities, create the reservation record,confirming the reservation record, maintaining the reservation record, researching, planning andmonitoring reservation. Process of reservation involves matching room requests with roomavailabilities and rates, recording, confirming and maintaining reservation, finally producingmanagement reports.

Reservation with other departments -For dinner reservations, tour and transport arrangements, and getting tickets for unique events in thecity, the reservation department works closely with the concierge. Sales department is a primarysource reservation for the hotel. (Group sales manager or representatives create group reservationsthese are the most commonly corporations). The sales department is usually responsible for saleswith other markets as well as groups. The sale department may have a specialist assigned tocorporations for business traveler and travel agencies. Sales objectives and incentives includingpromotions are tied to total revenue. Reservation and sales: the ability of reservation department tosells room, maximize revenue, inventory control and improve guest satisfaction. Properties can moreaccurately forecast and better react to business volumes with emphasis on sales and marketingtechniques. Gathering forecasted sales information and using it to determine pricing of rooms.

The hotel's reservation department is crucial for both the business and the guests. For the hotel, thereservation department is critical to boosting the property's efficiency. The data generated during thereservation process can be utilized to accelerate the facilitation of guest services and planning theactivities of the sales and marketing department. The reservation process is a vital importance to thehotel as – it gives the first impression of the hotel to the guests, it sells the main product of ahotel(accommodation), it generates customers for other departments, it provides importantmanagement information to other departments. The reservation department improves the efficiency of?the hotel operations by providing services such as: updating the room availability record and thusmaximizing the revenue generated from room bookings; preparing the housekeeping and front deskfor arrivals planning by communicating the arrival details taken at the time of reservation; andassisting in the planning of staff distribution at the front desk- the roster for the staff can be preparedaccording to. It provides the reservation data to the finance department, which forecasts the volume of?business on the basis of confirmed reservations. The sales forecast is compared to the expenditurebudget (e.g., money available for staff wages and purchases) on the basis of which cost is cut onmaterials, labor, and overheads. It generates customers for the hotel- first time customers as well asrepeat customers by handling reservation queries and request politely.

For the Guest: When visiting another city, a person prefers to acquire a room in a hotel of his or her?choosing ahead of time. This is to ensure that you have no trouble finding a suitable location to stayonce you arrive in the city. The following are the benefits of a confirmed reservation for the guest:?Assurance of lodging — the guest knows he or she will have a place to stay when they arrive at their?destination. Choice of accommodation- the guest can make a reservation based on his or her?preferences, such as the type of room or suite, floor preference, view, and personal preference.Budget of the guest-hotels offer a choice of rooms at various prices; the guest can choose a room thatfits his or her budget.

The reservation department handles all hotel reservations, interacts with customers, and keeps trackof room and reservation status. For a hotel, reservation can enable a better management of guestexperience during usual as well as peak seasons. The reservation department's responsibilities donot end with making a reservation. It keeps track of hotel occupancy, which aids in the development of?sales and marketing plans, among other things. It ensures room on arrival, other facilities – the guestis ensured of certain facilities offered by hotel which can be confirmed by making the reservation e.g.,iron and ironing board on loan basis, laundry service in hotel, Wi-Fi, tea and coffee maker, kids’ zone,etc. A business traveler is also able to give the hotel address to his associates for any meetings,correspondence transfer to and from the hotel. Reservation department generates the maximumrevenue for the hotel.?