WHAT IS RESERVATION

WHAT IS RESERVATION…?

Basically reservation means to reserve something to your name. It can be anything for what you have paid. It can be a table in restaurant, railway ticket,

match ticket or anything.

It’s actually a sub part of the hotel which comes under the front office department as a THE FRONT DESK which deals with the guest’s demand of reservation of it’s choice of room. At the time of reservation, guest can be charged so that the reservation could be confirmed. At the front office desk, the guest goes and makes registration by confirming booking/reservation.

In hotel there are various crafts upon which the reservation is processed. The main function of the reservation process is to match room requests with room availability. Below is the detailed process of reservation

1.    Conduct the reservation inquiry

2.    Determine room and rate availability

3.    Create the reservation record

4.    Confirm the reservation record

5.    Maintain the reservation record

6.    Produce reservation reports

Hotel Reservation Systems

A hotel reservation system, commonly known as a central reservation system (CRS) is a computerized system that stores and distributes information of a hotel, resort or other lodging facilities. A CRS offers assistance to hoteliers to manage all of their online marketing and sales where they can upload their rates and service availabilities to be seen by sales channels. The list of main modules that are present in a CRS are: Content, Information stored on a CRS and Reporting.

Content consists of Reservations, Profiles, Groups and Blocks, Rate and Inventory Control, Administration, Global Distribution Interface, Web-based Interface. Information commonly stored in a CRS consists of Room Types, Rate plans architecture, Room rates and conditions (guarantee, deposit, customized cancellation rules, minimum length of stay, maximum length of stay, closed to arrival, arrival not allowed, departure not allowed, …), Room inventories, Generic hotel information (address, phone number, fax number), Reservation information. The CRS Reporting module provides a number of standard reports. System reports may be generated automatically and may be run daily, weekly, monthly, yearly. It includes Expected Arrivals, Reservation, Property Forecast, Total Booking Activity, Stay Activity, Monthly Booking Activity, Daily Booking Activity and Property Detail.

The term “reservation” used in the context of a hotel, means the booking or reserving of a room (accommodation) by a guest. Reservations lead to reserving of a particular type of room for a particular guest for a given period of time. Reserving a room ensures or guarantees the guest the availability of a room on arrival at the hotel, as reservation is a commitment made by the hotel, when the hotel has accepted the reservation request. A great deal of importance is attached with the reservation system because it helps in selling the primary product of the hotel, i.e., lodging or accommodation,  building a good first impression on the prospective client, Front Office Manager N.B. The dotted line indicates that this function now tends to be performed by the concierge/porter or reception department. Assistant front office manager Assistant managers Reservations manager Reservations supervisor Reception manager Reception supervisor Mail and information supervisor Head hall porter Assistant reception supervisor Senior receptionist Receptionists Night manager Telephone supervisor Reservations clerks Mail and information clerks Business centre supervisor Cashier supervisor Doorman Pages Drivers Porters Telephone operators Senior night auditor Night auditors Guest relations officer Business centre clerks Cashiers Senior front office cashier  generating customers for the other departments of the hotel, and  generating and providing information to the other departments of the hotel. The reservation clerks takes in the reservation bookings. And they are passed on. The reservation procedure differs from hotel to hotel depending on the reservation system used by the hotel.

It is often said that reservation system is the engine of a lodging property, since everything else operates accordingly. Hotels and motels depend on the reservation system and can go out of business if the system does not work well.

TERMS of Reservation System

The reservation system comes into action once a request for reservation comes to the hotel. It can be a direct query from the guest, or from a travel agent or tour operator among others sources. An effective and efficient reservation system is essential for maximising a hotel’s profitability. Reference has already been made to the reservation systems of a hotel in MTM-4. The type of reservation system depends on the type and size of hotel. Many small hotels and motels use a booking dairy to keep track of reservation and resident guests. The front desk manager can double up as the reservation supervisor and the front desk clerk as reservation clerk. In a very small establishment (as in case of Bed and Breakfast lodges) you may see owners performing the task of reservation supervisor. The most common manual system used by hotels of any type or size is known as Whitney System, devised by Whitney Paper Corporation of New York in the 1940s. In this system each reservation is recorded on a small, multipart piece of paper mounted in a metal frame, which, in turn, is filled in date and alphabetical order on a metal rack. The slips are usually colour coded to denote the type of guest. Usually there is one rack for every day over say, the next three months, and fewer racks for future Other Travel Industry Hosts RESERVATION REQUESTS Direct Guest Contacts Contacts from Sales Agents Central Reservation System (Corporate) Forecasting System Reservation Policies Operational Procedures Room Availability RESERVATION SYSTEM Forecasts Production Scheduling Labour Scheduling Lists Room Allocation RECEPTION SYSTEM Registration periods. Copies of the slip, also on racks, may be sent to other departments such as reception or telephones when the guest arrives. This system gave rise to the expression “rack rate”, which is how hoteliers often refer to the price for rooms. Whitney System, though very efficient, generates lots of paperwork. This problem, however, is solved by computerised reservation system. The computerised system can perform all the tasks of Whitney System and organises the guest data more efficiently. The guest’s record is maintained in the hard disk of the computer. This not only helps in matching the guest information, but also provides information about the importance of the guest which can be judged from the data available on computer. This kind of information compiled on computer based reservation systems not only provides their credit standing and the reliability of the booking done through the agent but it also makes searching for data very easy. The large group/chain of hotels have Central Reservation Systems which handle the reservation of the various properties of a single group atoned to centralised reservation office. For example, a hotel may have central reservation number, i.e., 24-7-365- symbolising availability 24 hours a day 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Nowadays, many single hotels have come together to form their own Central Reservation System serving these individually owned establishments. The use of computers in reservations has simplified check-in and checkout process. The hotel does not need much information during these operations as data is fed simultaneously. Though computerised reservation systems are proved to be of a great help to hoteliers, it is up to a particular hotel to choose and use a system most suitable to their requirements. The most recent and most used way of making reservations accessible at far-flung locations is via internet. In such operations direct bookings and reservations requests can be made over the internet by just a click on the website of the hotels concerned. In some cases the reservation is directly upgraded but mostly the reservation staff reconfirms the request via e-mail or telephone before making official reservations.

Accepting or Denying Reservation

The procedure of accepting a reservation request involves, checking the availability of the requested type of room for the stated period of time as is mentioned in the request. This can be confirmed or checked through the reservation charts, forecast boards or computerised systems. If the room is available the reservation request is accepted of else shall be denied immediately. The procedure of accepting reservation is not that simple as it appears. This is a crucial decision that the reservation staff needs to make regarding accepting or rejecting it. To make this decision, the staff on duty uses information like the credit standing of the person/agency/company, the type of guest whether VIP/tourist/business traveller, the purpose of visit, length of stay, etc. In case of computerised system the staff would require few minutes to come to a decision, as the required information would be within the reach of pressing the keys. But in case of manual system, the processing for information may take longer time.

Of course, denying of reservation to guests means loss of business which means loss of revenue. At times the way a guest has been denied reservation may lead to a permanent loss of business from that particular client. Denying reservation is a decision taken in the following circumstances:

1) If the hotel is booked to its capacity:

In case the hotel is fully booked you cannot help it but can only refuse the reservation politely or gently. In such cases, if possible, alternate hotels in the area can be suggested or a different property of the same group of hotel, if not available, any other hotel of the same level can be suggested.

2) If the requested category of accommodation is not available:

In case the requested type of room is unavailable, you may suggest alternate category of room available and always try to sell upper class rooms which, however, shouldn’t seem to be unethical.

3) The guest or agent is backlisted:

At times some guests are backlisted because of their previous record of non-payment or delayed payments of bills. The same holds true for the agents. In such a situation if any doubt or complication crops up it is always advised to ask for the reservation supervisor/manager’s help.

Many a times the reception staff overbook to cover contingencies like, guest not turning up even after having confirmed reservation or at times when tour operators make reservations for more than actual number of passengers to get greater discounts on volume. Whether it’s the season or not also plays important role in making over-bookings. During the main season reservation staff would not like to take chance with over-booking. However, decisions related to the issues of over-booking, etc. depends upon the reservation policy of the hotel, i.e., the way the management of the hotel wishes to position their hotel in the market will usually determine its reservation policy. The reservation policy of many hotels also speak about of the mode and time of payment. Bulk booking of rooms or the booking of some special rooms or a room for a long period of time during main season would require some advance payments. The advance payment can either be full or partial room rent, partially or fully refundable or non-refundable at the time of cancellation, all depending upon the reservation policy.

The final job of the reservation section is to send the final list of reservation for a day to the reception desk of the front office along with the essential information like whether the guest is a repeat guest or guest has some particular liking related to the location of the room, décor of the living room, etc. The message is sent from there to the housekeeping so as to prepare rooms according to the guest needs for the day.

MODES OF RESERVATION

It mainly has two modes which further has various modes respectively:-

·       WRITTEN MODE

·       VERBAL MODE

WRITTEN MODE:-

1) Letter: A letter is a good mode of making reservation request. If the guest send their letters to the hotel several month in advance. This mode is commonly used by travel agent, tour operators and corporate houses, which send reservation request on their letter heads.

2) Fax: Fax, or facsimile transmission, uses electronic scanning techniques to send copies of document over an ordinary telephone line to a special machine that prints out an identical copy at the other end. It is much faster than sending a letter.

3) E-mail: Email is the mail sent by electronic means from one computer user to one or more recipients via a network from anywhere in the world. It is the fastest and convenient as it provides a written record for future e-mail.

VERBAL MODE:-

1) In Person: If an individual or her representative goes to the hotel to book rooms for future, it is called In-Person mode of reservation request. This is a good mode of reservation as the person is available to consider the various option and suggestion, in case the room ,or its availability, or its rate does not match the guest expectation .The hotel processes the reservation as per the details given by the guest and gives her the confirmation number and letter.

2) Telephone: It is the fast and convenient and generates immediate response or feedback and one can get the complete information and clear doubts on telephone. The disadvantage is that it does not provide a permanent record.

CHANNELS AND SOURCES OF RESERVATION:-

1. Direct Reservation: A reservation request that a hotel receives directly from an individual or a group is known as direct reservation.

2. CRS (Central Reservation System): CRS is a computer based reservation system, which enables guest to make reservation in any of the participating lodging properties at any destination in a single call. It stores and distributes information of a hotel, resort, or other lodging facilities.

· Deals directly with the guest, travel agent, corporate booker, etc. by means of toll free number.

· A CRS assists hotel managers in managing their online marketing and sales, allowing them to upload their rates and availabilities to be seen by sales channels that are using the CRS. Sales channels may include conventional travel agencies as well as online travel agencies.

· Operates 24 hrs a day, all round the year.

· It has up –to date information on room availability which is helpful for guest as they can check the availability and make reservation for more than one hotel at the CRS.

· As the room rates and room availability status are dynamic, the rates quoted and room available at the time of inquiring might have sold out by the guest would have to go through the entire process again.

· Hotels are required to provide accurate and current room availability data to the CRS office.

· CRS is of two types:

1. Affiliated System: In this all the participating hotel units belong to the same chain or group.

2. Non-Affiliated system: It is a subscription system designed to connect independent or non-chain properties.

3. GDS (Global Distribution System):

is a network operated by a company that enables automated transactions between Vendors and booking agents in order to provide travel related services to the end consumers. A GDS can link services, rates and bookings consolidating products and services across all three travel sectors: i.e., airline reservations, hotel reservations, car rentals, and activities. GDS is different from a computer reservations system which is a reservation system used by the respective vendors. Primary customers of GDS are travel agents (both online and office based). A GDS system will have real-time link to the vendor’s database. For example, when a travel agency requests a reservation on the service of a particular airline, the GDS system routes the request to the appropriate airline computer reservations system. This enables a travel agent with a connection to a single GDS to choose and book various flights, hotels, activities and associated services on all the vendors in the world who are part of that GDS.

4. Agencies:

· Reservation done through travel agents or tour operators.

· Take prepayment from the guest, send a confirmation to the hotel, and issue an Accommodation voucher on its behalf.

· Receives commission for their services from the guest and hotel.

· Hotel offers very low rate to their agent as they give bulk booking.

5. Corporate Bodies:

Hotels also receives booking from companies (FMCG, Pharmaceutical etc). Non-Governmental organisation. The companies also provide bulk reservation to hotels and get room at low rates. Hotels also receives Bookings from government sectors such as public sector undertaking, embassies and consultant.

6. Hotel Website:

It contain a link for reservation request by clicking the link, guest can make a hotel reservation as per the requirement from the comforts of their house/office/cyber cafe. Most hotels provide photo galleries description of room categories and hotel facilities.

Reservation is one of the major section of the front office department which plays the central role and is responsible for booking the hotel room. Reservation section is located back of the reception due to the location problem in the hotel. Reservation and reception are similar as they play the similar role of booking the room in the hotel. Front office manager is the boss of reservation section. There are different purpose of reservation and they are:

·       To sale the hotel products i.e. accommodation.

·       To forecast future occupancy report.

·       To sale the other hotel products i.e. swimming pool, food and beverage products, banquet hall,etc.

·       To save time and money.

·       To build good relation with the market as well as with other departments.

·       To uplift the hotel business during off season.

·       To maximize occupancy level.

·       To avoid skippers and non-prospective guest.

·       To maintain stander formation of summary function.

·       To help the sales and marketing for the promotion of the hotel.

Basic Reservation Activities:

Step 1: Receiving enquiries:-

Reservation assistance should gain all the information about the guest ant its request such as customer name, originality, no. of pax, date of arrival and departure, etc. through different sources and modes.

Step 2: Determining room availability:-

Reservation assistance should check the room availability through different checking system such as forecast board, density board, density chart and computer reservation system. Now a days, most of the hotel use C.R.S.

Step 3: Accepting and Denying:-

If the rooms are available according to the request of the guest than the reservation assistance should accept the request and book the room of the hotel. In three cases, reservation assistance will deny the request i.e. if the customer is blacklisted, if the rooms of the hotel are fully booked and if the rooms are not available according to the request of the guest.

Step 4: Documenting the reservation request:-

After accepting the reservation request, reservation assistance should fill the reservation form. Reservation form are in triplicated copies.

Step 5: Confirming the reservation request:-

There are two types of reservation request and they are guaranteed and non-guaranteed reservation. To confirm the hotel rooms the confirmation should be in written form not in the verbal way. Reservation assistance should maintain the confirmation slip and send it to the reception.

Step 6: Maintaining the reservation request:-

In the process of maintaining the reservation request, the guest can amendment and cancel the request.

Step 7: Compiling the reservation request:-

This is the last step in which all the reservation information are distributed to all different departments. Night auditor will maintain the room status report with the mode of payments, nationality, no. of pax , etc.

Factors Affecting Reservation

Walking:

Walking guest are known as chance guest. Walking guest appears to the hotel at any time and they carry scanty baggage. Walking guests are handled by receptionist. Walking guests are hard to handle because they can be black-listed, drunkard or skipper. So, receptionist should collect advance money from the guest.

Confirmation:

Without confirmation, reservation staffs will not provide the hotel room. Confirmation is handled by front office staffs. Gurranted reservation is performed for confirmation. Confirmation should be in written form. After confirmation, reservation letter will be provided by reservation assistance to the guest.

Cancellation:

Cancellation is the process of cancelling the booking rooms. For the cancellation process, guest should send the letter to the hotel and after getting the letter of the guest, reservation assistance will reply the letter. The information is sent to front office manager and general manager. Cancellation slip is maintained in triplicated copies and first copy is sent to reception.

No-Show:

No-Show is one of the situation in which the guest does not arrive at the proper time and does not provide any information to the hotel. Due to No-Show, overbooking can be occurred.

Overbooking:-

Overbooking is the result of No-Show. Skillful staffs will handle the overbooking by shifting the guest to others hotel or under the same hotel. Overbooking is handled by reservation manager.

Out of order:

The room which are under maintenance is known as out of order. Out of order rooms cannot be sale.

Modes Of Payment:-

Cash:

Cash is the simple mode of payment. There are two types of cash and they are local cash and foreign cash. Front Office Cashier plays the central role of cashier. During departure time the due amount are settled. We should follow government rules while collecting the foreign currency. Receptionist should follow the government rules and should inform front office manager and lobby manager if the customer wants to pay by its local currencycurrency of abroad country. While collecting the cash, receptionist should identify the guest and its room number. Four copies of cash bill are maintained.

Company account:

Company account is the agreement between the hotel and the company. Hotel has provided all the room rates to the company and if the company wants to send the person from company than the company should pay the money in credit. During departure time customer should sign in the bill and the first copy is sent to the company.

Traveller cheque:

Traveller cheque is issued by bank. It is not applicable into own countries. Is is valid under the travel  of different countries. Traveller cheque was discovered by Thomas Cook. Before receiving the travel cheque, we should verify the customer name and sign from the passport and tally it with traveller cheque.

Credit Card:

Credit card was established in 1930 by Thomas Cook but it was financially used from 1950. This is also an agreement between hotel and bank. Credit card is a plastic card. Three copies are maintained by different colors. First copy is provided to the guest, second copy to the bank and third copy is kept by the bank.

Voucher: 

Voucher is an important mode of payment. Voucher are maintained in printed form and are issued by travel agency or other sources.

Generating Reservation Reports

Now as you know that reservation section has a lot of information with them which needs to be properly organised. Once the required data is gathered, guests’ folio is created which is updated from time to time. Once this is done they need to generate daily/weekly reports based on this information base. These reports may include:

1) Room Availability Report: A list showing the number of rooms sold/available. It can be prepared on the daily or weekly basis.

2) Expected Arrivals and Departure Lists: A list of guests who are due to arrive or to depart on a particular day.

3) Group Status Report: A list of groups to arrive/depart in the week or month, along with information like the group size, whether a guaranteed or non-guaranteed booking, etc.

4) Special Arrivals List: A list of special guests or VIPs arriving. This should contain their special request and additional information about the preferences of the guest.

5) Turn Away Report: A report on number of reservation requests denied and if possible, some information about the one asking for reservation.

6) Revenue Forecast Report: A report on the projected revenue from the future room sales along with or regular upto date report. In most of the hotels, the front office manager supervises the final preparation of the report before it is sent to the management team. Additional guest information, related to walk -in-guests also incorporated in the report.

Managing Reservations

The major decisions by the management team would be to forecast the requirement of rooms according to the reservation reports. The forecasting can be done for a period varying from over 10 days to several months, since tour groups plan their to ur schedules 12-14 months in advance. The forecasting also depends upon the available capacity of the hotel at that point of time. The forecasting is done for short terms keeping in view important functions/festivals or sporting events in the area.

Therefore, the reservation policy formulation is the most important function of management. It focuses upon the selection of the criteria for selection of sales channels, i.e., the hotel should bank upon the travel agents, corporate clients or walk-ins for their reservations. It is sometimes at the discretion of the reservation section to adopt its own policy to run the business successfully. These all factors help in managing the reservations.

METHODS OF RESERVATIONS IN HOTEL:-

First step of reservation is registered as enquiry of reservation where reservation personnel conduct a brief question answer section with guest or customer to gain various knowledge about reservation which he/she wants to make. The point that are to be recorded are note down below:

i)        Name of the guest

ii)      Date of arrival

iii)    Date of departure

iv)    Desired room type

v)      Desired room rate

vi)    Required number of rooms

vii)  Desired room plan

viii) Number of pare.

ix)    Contact address and number (details)

x)      Special recommendation

B)     Determining the room availability:

The second most important step in reservation is determining the room availability. In this process we check the demand of guest encoded during the first step. The availability can be checked by referring to forecast chart, conventional chart or density chart. In fully automated system we can begin check in the same availability by computerized system or software.

C) Excepting or dying the request:

Now after check in the room availability in hotel we are able to expect or deny the reservation request. Expecting can be done if the request is fully validated by the availability formats and system, where as vice versa can be conducted for denying.
Exceptional: In few cases reservation personnel an up sale another room of same criteria or higher by conveying or motivate the customer or guest.

D) Documenting the reservation details:

After accepting or denying reservation next process is documentation. Documentation is conducted by reservation staff by completing undone part of reservation form with the necessary details of guest who is about to stay.

E) Confirming the reservation request:

After documenting the details of a guest we need to confirm the room to a guest confirmation are generally done by dispatching a confirmation letter to the guest by having a guaranteed reservation and may be sometime non-guarantee too.

F) Maintaining the reservation record:

After confirming a room to the guest we need to make a reservation record for each and every booking made. The records can be maintained or processed in two ways:

a) Documenting the original reservation: In this process we file and record the original reservation details and if we are working in a computerized system we will be recording a printed form of reservation done. The documentation are done in a basis of date of arrival and afterward in assurance to the surname of guest.
b) Modification of reservation: The next step in processing is changing of the details that are recorded in reservation form. In this case, we need to attach the different ammessdement/ correction form or slip with the original one.

G) Compiling the reservation report:

Now after completion of reservation record we need to prepare the report of reservation dept. on either basis of date, week, month or year.

 ADVANCE RESERVATION CHART:-

This chart is normally used in modern hotel organization to have a good control over reservation because this chart are responsible for providing the condition of room available in monthly period of time. Most of this type of chart are maintained in white board or erasable chart.

a)Conventional Booking chart: This chart is used normally for having a glance in the reservation condition of a hotel. In this the main focus is given to the room number where as room type may be random in anywhere. This type of chart have two horizontal column where one indicate room no next room type where as in the same place there are two vertical columns where one indicate date another days. This chart normally gives us a brief idea about a guest and how long they are staying in the property.

b) Density Booking Chart: This chart is normally built to overcome the draw backs of conventional chart. In this type of chart the room type are given the main importance due to which we can easily allocate a guest who requires a type of room but is not so much concern about room number. The allocation of room is easier in density chart because the particular room type rooms are summed of together.

c) Reservation Register: This is a format that is maintain by front office section to keep a good record of requested room. This register is maintain in reservation department reservation assistance or officer. This register works as a record for future forecasting and recording keeping. The point that should be maintained in it are:

• Name of the client, Nationality and address.
• Date of arrival.
• Company’s name and address.
• Type of room, rate and number desired.
• Contact address .e.g. telephone, fax, email etc.
• Credit card number.
• Name of the person/ source seeking reservation.
• Reservation received by.
• Total number of nights.
• Special services required.

TYPES OF RESERVSATION IN HOTEL:-

In hotel, there are mainly two types of reservations.

GUARANTEED/CONFIRMED

NON-GUARANTED/NON-CONFIRMED

1. GUARANTEED RESERVATION

In the guaranteed reservation the hotel assures the guest that the required rooms shall be blocked after confirmation. Under this, the hotel agrees to hold a room for a specific time of reservation following the scheduled day of arrival. Usually the guaranteed reservation, the advance deposit is sent through the various modes of payments for the anticipated charges for which the booking of the room has been requested. Thus the room revenue is secured even in the case of no show. The following variations in the advance payment for guaranteedreservation are:

• ADVANCE DEPOSIT
An advance deposit guaranteed reservation requires that the guest pay the hotel the anticipated amount of money before arrival. Advance deposit is partially large enough to cover one or two nights' room charge. This type of reservation is more common in resorts and less in city hotels.

• PRE-PAYMENT
This requires full payment prior to the guest arrival. This is normally the most desirable form of guaranteedreservation. This type of reservation is rarely used while booking rooms in any hotel industries.

• CREDIT CARD
Guaranteeing reservations through credit card are most popular method of payment in the business hotel. It is a form of guaranteed reservation and is customary in commercial hotels. Depending on the financial status and money n bank, the credit card is issued to the buyers/ clients.

• TRAVEL AGENTS
Guest pays the travel agents in advance for their tour package and the travel agent guarantees the client's reservation. In lieu, the agent provides the voucher to the guests indicating the required services that are required to be offered by the hotel. In case of no show, the hotel generally bills travel agencies for payment, and according to the agreement the travel agent must make the payment to the hotel.

• COOPERATE
This is the contractual agreement between corporation/ companies and hotel which state that the corporation will accept financial responsibility for any no show guest. Such contracts are often popular in business hotels and down town hotels.

2. NON- GUARANTEED RESERVATION
Non- guaranteed reservation is a provisional reservation. In this reservation, neither there is any legal process of confirming the room nor is any payment for the advance deposit made. When the reservation is confirmed under the non guanteed reservation, the hotel agrees to hold the room until the reservation cancellation hour (6 p.m.) on the day of arrival. After the cancellation hour, the room is released and the reservation gets automatically cancelled.

WHO HANDLES RESERVATIONS AT THE DESK…?

The person who handles the reservation desk is receptionist from the FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT. His / Her main duties are:-

Depending on the company the receptionist can be responsible for any of the following tasks:

Receive Visitors

·       greet visitors appropriately

·       determine visitor needs in a professional manner

·       maintain visitor register

·       offer refreshments to visitors where appropriate

·       direct visitors to correct person

·       ensure back up when absent from reception desk

Answer Phone Calls

·       answer and address incoming phone calls in a timely and polite manner

·       clearly determine the purpose of the call

·       deal with queries and provide correct information

·       forward calls to appropriate person

·       take and deliver messages accurately and completely

Manage Mail

·       sort and distribute incoming mail

·       prepare outgoing mail for pick-up or courier

·       organize courier deliveries

Monitor Security

·       monitor people coming and going through the reception doors

·       issue visitor passes where required

·       be aware of and report suspicious activity

Financial

·       monitor and record petty cash payments

·       balance petty cash

·       prepare travel vouchers

·       basic cashiering duties

·       basic bookkeeping duties

Clerical

·       photocopy and collate documents

·       fax documents

·       file documents accurately

·       maintain equipment and report any malfunctions

·       monitor, control and order office supplies

Organize Meetings

·       book meeting room

·       inform participants

·       set up meeting room with necessary stationary and equipment

·       organize catering for meeting

Secretarial Support

·       prepare correspondence and documents

·       update databases

·       organize mailings

·       prepare and maintain spreadsheets

·       schedule and follow up on appointments

Reception Area Maintenance

·       keep reception area clean and neat

·       maintain and organize reading material

Receptionist Skills

·       Personal Presentation

·       maintain a neat and well-groomed appearance

·       maintain an attentive posture

·       respond professionally to visitors and callers

·       Company Representation

·       maintain confidentiality and show discretion

·       adhere to company policies and procedures

·       represent organization in an ethical and professional manner

·       maintain a complete knowledge of organizational structure, personnel names and titles

·       remain calm under pressure

Communication skills

·       write well using correct grammar and spelling

·       communicate verbally with confidence and clarity

·       ask effective questions

·       listen actively and respond with empathy

·       follow instructions properly

·       understand and respond to non-verbal signals

Customer Service Orientation

·       clarify customer needs

·       provide solutions and support to the customer using in-depth knowledge of company products and services

·       deal effectively with difficult customers

Computer Skills

·       MS Word

·       Outlook

·       Excel

·       Internet/Intranet

·       accurate and fast typing skills

Work Management

·       set priorities, plan and organize tasks

·       schedule activities accurately

·       find and use resources effectively

·       pay attention to detail

·       complete tasks on time

·       Information Management

·       locate and collect information

·       organize information

·       distribute information efficiently

 CONCLUSION:-

Well,

As per the above information a one can really know about the importance of reservation and why it is that much important process towards the hotel polices and predictions towards the future work and assessments.

One can simply understand that without reservation, there will not be any future predictions and no room confirmations. This will led to the loss of estimates of rooms and hotel’s reputation.

If there won’t be any reservation, one can never know about the hotel occupancy rates and sometime guests would never know about the hotel’s room arability and bookings so there would have been rush in the fron