Chapter 6The Front Office.ppt

Chapter 6:The Front Office Front Office Function Front Office Functions With Other Positions Managing Guest Reservations: Delivery Methods (Global Distribution System) Data Management: In-Room Services Figure 6.2 shows guest tracker PMS hotel management features. PMS requires its own care and maintenance; any installed back-up system (redundant hardware and/or software operated in parallel with the system it serves) hardware related to PMS should be inspected and tested on a regular basis. Do several math exercises so that students understand the formula of RevPar; another way to express RevPar is actual room revenue / number of available rooms. . Yield Management is a strategy based on room supply and guest demand for rooms, that seeks to maximize RevPar by offering discounts on days when demand is weak, and eliminating discounts on days when demand is strong. Rack rate is the price at which a hotel sells its rooms when no discounts of any kind are offered to guests. While Yield Management is a method to control room rates, “Closed to Arrival” (CTA) and “Minimum Length of Stay” (MLOS) strategies are a method of managing occupancy, depending on room occupancy. For all these methods, forecasting room demand is an important job of the Sales and Marketing manager. Use Figure 6.4 (Forecast Room Demand) to describe the concepts of “Closed to Arrival” (CTA) and “Minimum Length of Stay” (MLOS). To enhance students’ understanding of these two strategies, Question 3 in “Issues at Work” in Chapter 6 ask students: in which specific circumstances would it be best to employ CTA versus MLOS to maximize occupancy? The text also discusses the practice of “over-booking” (a situation in which the hotel has more guest reservations for rooms than it has rooms available to lodge those guests) as one method to manage occupancy; use second case study to facilitate discussion with students about ethical iss