UNIT 1

Lesson 1

INTRODUCTION & IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM INDUSTRY -

Industries related to Tourism Department
Introduction

Tourism is the act of travelling away from home, mostly for the purpose of recreation & leisure.
Tourism development provides the series to support this kind of travel. Tourist, according to
World Tourism Organization, are people who “travel to stay in places outside their usual
environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business & other purposes not
related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited”. This means that
Tourism invites visits to places other than one’s domicile for pleasure and from where one does
not receive salary.

Recreation is the use of time in a non-profitable way. It is a therapeutic revitalization of body &
mind. It is more active in a refreshing & diverting manner. Leisure, on the other hand, is a form
of passive entertainment or rest.

To enjoy these benefits, there are basically three prerequisites for a tourist:

1. Disposable income, i.e., money to spend on non-essential items like leisure.

2. Leisure time, i.e., time away from work for passive pursuits.

3. Tourism Infrastructures like transport, accommodation, amusement centers etc to support

recreation leisure activities.

In earlier times, tourism was largely for the wealthy, but today the emerging middle class has
enough disposable income, more leisure time, better education & taste, faster transport & several
lodging options making mass travel a common place. People now travel to see great monuments,
learn new languages, experience new cultures or enjoy the climatic conditions of the other states.

Tourism is classified into three categories:

1. Domestic tourism involving residence of the given country traveling within the country
only.
2. Inbound tourism involving foreigners (non- residence), travelling in to a given country.
3. Outbound tourism involving residence travelling to another country.
Importance of Tourism Industry:

The importance of tourism industry is to:

 Promote the country.

 Generate revenue.
 Provide mass employment.
 Protect flora and fauna.
 Protect and maintain Heritage spots.
 Preserve the eco-system.
 Stimulate infrastructure buildings like Tele-communications, roads, rest stops, etc.
 Promotes local arts and handicrafts.

Some of the popular reasons for travel are:

 Sight-seeing.
 Cultural tourism.
 Leisure.
 Adventure tourism.
 Business.
 Education.
 Governmental travel.
 Reunions.
 Pilgrimage.

Industries Related To Tourism Department:

Tourism depends heavily on infrastructure. The two major industries related to tourism are:

1. Hospitality Industry
2. Transportation Industry.
Hospitality Industry:

One of the major industry related to tourism is the “Hospitality Industry”. Accommodation and
Food & Beverage is under the “Hospitality Industry.”

Accommodation:
 Accommodation is an important part of hospitality industry because any traveler will
need a bed to sleep at the end of the day. The hotel industry satisfies this needs of the
traveler
 Accommodation comes in many forms:
 Hotels – They come in various categories and standards to meet every possible budget.
E.g. - Airport hotels, Boutique hotels, Budget hotels, Business hotels, Casino Hotels, etc.
  Motels – Motels are motor hotels located on highways.
 Lodges – are up country accommodation mostly sponsored by the local state. Eg forest
lodges, country lodges, ski lodges, etc.
 Guest houses –were originally meant for government officials on tours but now they are
open to the public.
 Furnished Apartments – are a modern popular alternative to hotels especially for
travelers staying longer.
 Camps – are ideal for trekkers on foot or caravans. They provide outdoor
accommodation ranging sites.
 Resorts – are for holiday makers and located at attractive natural sites like hills, beaches,
hot springs, waterfalls, lakes, etc.
Food &Beverage:

Food and Beverage is an important part of Hotel Industry. Food and Beverage facilities are
classified as follows:

 Restaurants
 Bars.
 Canteens.
 Kiosks
 Cafes
Restaurants – They are found in every street corner, roadside or at public meeting places. They
suit every budget from India “dhaba” to those on luxury hotels e.g. - coffee shops, specialty
restaurants, discotheques, night clubs, etc. Hotels are lodging places while restaurants are eating
paces.

Bars – Bars are those places where alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are served.

Canteens – It is a concept that has come from institutional catering where food is served to large
bodies of people eg – industrial complexes, hospitals, institution, etc.

Kiosk –They are viable private enterprises. A vendor can have a fixed kiosk or a mobile kiosk.
Food is a take away kind.

Cafes – These are payment enterprises. They serve simple snacks, wine, coffee and tea services.

Transport Industry:

Transportation Industry is vital to move the travelers around the world. Transportation is a broad
term which includes roadways, railways, airways and waterways.

Their terminals are: Airports, Railway stations, Bus stations, Ferry crossing and Sea ports.
The vehicles are: Aircrafts, Buses, Trains, Ships and Ferries.

As far as vehicles meant for communication are concerned, first would be the international
airline that brings people into a country, then the domestic airline connecting the different cities
of the country.

The other domestic carriers are the train services that transverse across the country. Inter-city bus
services are also efficient and comfortable for the budget – conscious tourist. Sea travels has also
become very popular with luxury cruise liners. At ski resorts and hill stations cable cars are a
popular means of transportation among leisure enthusiasts.

Public Transportation or Mass Transport is essential for tourism industry. They are transport
system in which the passengers do not travel in their own vehicles. They include rapid rail,
buses, airlines, metros, subways, tramcars, taxi services. Such transportation is vulnerable to a
traveler to move within the city or a region.

Tourism is a major source of revenue for many countries therefore they focus their resources to
make tourism popular in the world. As tourism industry is becoming popular, the hotel and
transport industries are also expanding and are a major source of income for many countries.
Thus hotels and transport industries are the back bone of tourism industry world over.

Lesson 2

THE HOTEL INDUSTRY- INTRODUCTION

Definition: Hotel or inn is defined by British law as a place where bona fide traveler can receive
food and shelter, provided he is in a position to pay for it and is in a fit condition to be received.
hence, a hotel must provide food (beverage)and lodging to travelers nonpayment and has ,in turn,
the right to refuse if the traveler is drunk, disorderly, unkempt, or is not in a position to pay for
the service.

Origin: The hotel industry is, perhaps, one of the oldest commercial Endeavour’s in the world.
The first inns go back to the sixth century B.C. and were the products of the urged travel, spurred
by the invention of the wheel. The earliest inns were ventures by husband and wife teams who
provided large halls for travelers to make their own beds and sleep on the floor. They also
provided modest wholesome food, thirst quenchers like wine, port, ale, etc and stabling facilities.
Entertainment and recreation provided by the hosts’ wife or his wench. The entire cooking
service and the recreation were provided by the husband and wife team and his family.
These conditions prevailed for several hundred years the advent of the industrial revolution in
England brought ideas and progress in the business of in keeping. The development of railways
and steam ships made traveling more prominent. The industrial revolution also changed travel
from social or government travel to business travel. There was a need for quick and clean
service.

The lead in hotel keeping was taken by the emerging nations of Europe, especially Switzerland.
It was in Europe that the birth of an organized hotel industry took place in the shape of chalets
and small hotels which provided a variety of services and were mainly patronized by the
aristocracy of the day.

In early England public houses were normally called inns or taverns .normally, the name inn was
reserved for the finer establishments catering to the nobility and clergy. The houses frequented
by the common man were known as taverns. In France, a similar distinction was made with the
finer establishments known as hotelleries and less pretentious houses called “cabarets”. The
word hostel was used after the Norman invasion derived from host; the hosteller was the lead of
the hostel whereas the same position was called the innkeeper in England. The word hotel was
used in England in about 1760 after a passage of over 80 years. In America, lodging houses were
called inn or coffee house.

The real growth of the modern hotel industry took place in the USA beginning with the opening
of city hotel in New York in 1794. This was the first building especially erected for hotel
purposes. This eventually lead to great competition between different cities and resulted in
frenzied hotel building activity. Some of the finest hotels of the USA were built in this era, but
the real boom in the hotel building came in the early twenty century. This period also saw the
beginning of chain operations under the guidance of E.M. startle. It involved big investments, big
profits and trained professionals to manage the business.

The depression in 1930 had a disastrous effect on the hotel industry. It was felt that the hotel
would never recover. But the outbreak of the World War 2 brought a tremendous up surge. This
prosperity continued through the war years into the fifties when two new concepts emerged.

1. Motels

2. International chain operations

While the growth of motels was restricted to the North American continent, international chain
operations spread into all continents. Individual entrepreneurs found themselves crushed in this
race for a multi-dimensional, multi-national industry. International chains could provide the
expertise technology and marketing trust that individual owners could not provide. Individual
owners thus merged themselves with large international chains such as Sheratons, Hiltons, Hyatt,
holiday inn, Ramada inn, etc .these international chains provided the following services to
individual owners.
 1. Partnership- sharing equity and profits
2. Franchise-providing name and association and marketing services, minimum
exchange for franchise and marketing fees.
3. Management.- expertise in management , professional managers , technicians ,
Manuals, systems etc. on the basis of management fees and share of profits as incentive
payments

4. Marketing- active selling, chain benefits, reservation tie-ups, etc. on payment for
marketing fees and incentive payment.

History of Hotels in India

Indians are known the word over for their hospitality – athithi devo bhavah (the guest is like a
god) has been our adage from time immemorial. In ancient times, travelers relied on roadside
homes for meals. Later travelers, mostly pilgrims, were cared for in temples or monasteries.
Various universities also provided accommodation to pilgrims & religious scholars.
Chandragupta Maurya built inns & guesthouses that were known as sarais and dharmashalas.
During the british rule, circuit houses & dak banglas came into existence.

Before World War II, most hotels in India were developed in locations that were frequented by
the British and Indian aristocracy. This period saw the development of hotels being undertaken
by individual British and Indian entrepreneurs, with only a few companies owning hotels in
India, such as The Taj Group--Indian Hotel Company (owned by J. R. D. Tata) and Faletti's
Hotel, East India Hoteldberoi Group. The important hotels that were built during India's British
period were: The Rugby, Matheran (1876)
The Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai (1900)
The Grand, Calcutta (1930)
The Cecil Hotels, Shimla and Muree (1935)
The Savoy, Mussoorie (1936)

In 1956, Late Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, then Prime Minister of India, recognized that tourism
could be an engine for the country's economic growth and was inspired to build quality hotels in
India for visiting foreign dignitaries. This led to the first-ever government investment in the hotel
industry with the building of the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi.

The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) was set up in 1966 as a corporation under
the Indian Companies Act of 1956. Today, ITDC provides a complete range of tourism services,
including accommodation, catering, entertainment, shopping, hotel consultancy, duty free shops,
and an in-house travel agency.

Lesson 3
CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS

Hotels may be categorized depending upon factors such as:

 1. Location
2. Number of room
3. Type of plan room rates that are quoted
4. Type of clientele
5. Length of guest stay
6. Facilities that it offers.

Categorization by location

Down Town Hotel: It is located in the heart of the city within a short distance of the business
centre, shopping areas, theatres, public buildings, etc. Rates in these hotels are normally high due
to their location advantage and also due to the fact that the rate of return on investment (ROI)
computed on this capital intensive hotels are substantially high. Normally business clientele
prefer such hotels.

Suburban Hotel: Located in the suburbs it has the advantage of quieter surroundings. Rates
quoted are moderate to low. Such hotels are ideal for budget travelers and also organization who
find the quiet setting ideal for conference, seminar, educational programs, etc.

Resort hotel: This type of hotel is located in the hills or at the beaches. It is mainly patronized
any vacationers. Basic facilities are provided and the rates offered are often on American plan,
i.e. room plus meals included.

Airport Hotels: As the name suggest , these hotels are situated at the airport and are ideal for
transit passenger who have only few hours in the city making it impossible for them to stay in a
downtown hotel. Rates are on European plan, i.e. charges for room only.

Motel: This term is derived from the phrase, “Motor hotel”, which are located principally on
highway. They provide modest board and lodging to highway travelers. The length of stay is
usually overnight, thus rates quoted are on the European plan, i.e. room only.

Inns: They are similar in size with modest board and lodging facilities. They may be located
anywhere within or outside the city. They are the forerunners of the modern motel.

Categorization by number of rooms

The capacity of a hotel in terms of the number of rooms is a yard stick for the categorization of
the hotel by “size”. Hotels with 25 rooms and less may be termed “small”, those with 25 to100
may be called “medium”, and those with 100 to 300 are called “large”. Hotels with over 300
rooms which are very common these days may be termed “very” large.

Categorization by type of Plan

Hotels are categorized according to the type of plan, they offer. We thus have hotels on European
plan, American plan or continental plan for a discussion of plans. These plans are decided by the
hotel on a variety of factors including type of clientele, length of stay and average customer
preference.

a. European Plan (EP): Room only.

b. Continental Plan (CP): room + continental breakfast.
c. American Plan (AP): room+ breakfast + lunch and dinner (3meals).
d. Modified American Plan (MAP): room + breakfast + lunch/dinner (2 meals).

Categorization by type of clientele

We often hear in hotel parlance, the terms such a group hotel, commercial hotel, family hotel,
etc. This categorization is based on the type of patronage. Group hotels cater to group and thus
their rates would be on American plan. Commercial hotels cater to mostly businessmen and are
on European Plan. A family hotel would again be on American plan. Such hotels are normally
situated in resort cities.

Categorization by length of Guest stay

This categorization of hotels further be divided into three sub-groups:

1. Transient hotels where a guest can register for a day or even less (airport hotels could be
termed thus )
2. residential hotels where guests stay for a minimum period of one month the hotel signs a
detailed lease with the customer,
3. Semi –residential hotels which incorporated the feature of both the transient and
residential hotels.

Categorization by Facilities the Hotel Offers

Facilities are offered by hotels may be the most important criteria for classifying hotels. Some
countries adopt the star rating system. Thus a five star hotel which is the highest ratings will
provide facilities such As central air conditioners, attached bathrooms with hot and cold water,
channel music, wall to wall carpeting , shopping arcade, health club, swimming pool , sports and
variety of restaurants and bars including a coffee shop , specialty restaurants, grill room, etc.

These are just some of the criteria such facilities are denied as the star rating of the hotels goes
lower and lower. They may b e excluded for a variety of reasons such as cost, level of business,
etc.

Lesson 4

DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS OF THE HOTEL

The number of departments varies from one hotel to the other. All departments may have their
own Manager, reporting to the General Manager and the Asst. General Manager. Hotel
Departments either fall under the category of REVENUE EARNING DEPARTMENTS or
SUPPORTING DEPARTMENTS. Revenue earning departments are operational departments
that sell services or products to guests, thus directly generating revenue for the hotel. Revenue
earning departments include Front Office, Food and Beverage and Hotel Operated Shops.
Support departments on the other hand, help to generate revenue indirectly by playing a
supporting role to the Revenue earning departments. Support departments include Human
Resources, Maintenance, House Keeping, Training, Security etc.

1. Rooms Division

In a large hotel the House Keeping, the Front Office and Maintenance departments come under
Rooms Division. These departments, together, are responsible for maintaining and selling the
rooms in a hotel.

The Rooms Division is headed by The Rooms Division Manager, to whom the Front Office
Manager, Executive Housekeeper and very often the Chief Engineer report.

a. Housekeeping

This department is responsible for the cleanliness and upkeep of the entire hotel, so that they
appear as fresh and eye appealing as on the first day the hotel opened for business. This
department is headed by the Executive housekeeper and incase of chains of hotels the Director of
Housekeeping.

b. Front Office

Headed by the Front Office Manager, this is an operational department that is responsible for
welcoming and registering the guests, allotting them rooms and helping guests checkout. The
Concierge bell desk and EPBAX operators are a part of the Front Office Department.

c. Maintenance

This is also known as Engineering and maintenance department and is headed by The Chief
Engineer or the Chief Maintenance Office.

The department is responsible for all kinds of maintenance, repair and engineering work on
equipment, machines, fixtures and fittings.

2. Food & Beverage

This department includes the Restaurants, Bars, Coffee Shops, Banquets, Room Service, Kitchen
and Bakery.

Normally, this department is headed by the F&B Director, to whom the F&B Manager and
Executive Chef report.
This department is classified as F&B Service headed by the F&B Manager and F&B Production
headed by the Executive Chef.

Pic: Different Departments of a Hotel

3. Human Resources

The H.R. department or Personal department, as it used to be called earlier is headed by Human
Resources Manager. Recruitments, orientation and training, welfare and compensation, labor
laws and safety norms for the hotels come under the preview of the H.R. department. The
training department is an auxiliary department under H.R. This is headed by the Training
Manager who takes on the specific task of orientation and training of new employees as well as
existing ones.

4. Sales & Marketing

This is headed by the Sales and Marketing Manager. The functions of this department are many
fold-sales. personal relations, advertising, market research etc , all these functions lead to the
common goal of selling the product of the hotel i.e. Rooms and the services of the hotel by
creating services.
5. Purchase

The Purchase Manager heads this department who in some properties may report to the Financial
Controller. The procurement of all the departmental inventories is the responsibility of the
Purchase Department.

6. Financial Control

This department is headed by the Financial Controller. The Financial Controller, along with
General Manager, is responsible for finalizing the budgets prepared by the heads of other
departments. The Hotel Accounts is also maintained by this department. Accounting activities
include making payments against invoices, billing, collecting payments, generating statements,
handling bank transactions, processing employee payroll data etc.

7. Security

This department is headed by the Chief Security Officer. They are responsible for safeguarding
the assets, guests and employees of the hotel. Their functions include conducting Fire drills,
monitoring (surveillance) equipments, patrolling the property.

Lesson 5
INTRODUCTION TO ROOMS DIVISION DEPARTMENT

Rooms division department comprises of Front Office (includes Reservations, Telephone &
Concierge) & Housekeeping. Most often the Engineering & Maintenance department also comes
under rooms division. Rooms division is involved in the sales of rooms as well as the provision
of services and facilities for the guests.

In general, hotel room sales are the largest source of hotel revenue and in many cases; more sales
are generated by the rooms than by all the other services combined. Room sales also yield the
highest profit margin as a room once made can be sold over and over again.

The Rooms Division Manager heads the Rooms Division department to whom the Front Office
Manager & Executive Housekeeper report.

Front Office Department

This department is responsible for welcoming and registering guests, allotting them rooms and
help guests check out. The concierge, bell desk, telephone operators come under the front office
department. This is department is headed by the Front Office Manager.
 Pic: Organizational Structure of Rooms Division

Housekeeping Department

This department is responsible for the cleanliness & upkeep of the hotel property, so that they
appear fresh & aesthetically appealing as on the first day the property opened for business. This
department is headed by the Executive Housekeeper.