Welcome to the hospitality industry

History The history of the hospitality industry reveals how other forces Early travelers traded merchandise contributed to its current such as ornaments, cloth or status & will continue to animals for lodging influence it in the future
Travel developed from Long before humans could travel the need to survive, the over roads, sail in ships or soar in desire to expand trade & planes, their only practical the quest to conquer method of transportations was The driving forces behind they own legs the development of tourism were curiosity As transportations methods about the world & a desire to escape the improved, curiosity about the stresses of urban life world created a new industry based on tourism

hospitality
Hospitality means the reception & entertainment of guests, visitors or strangers with liberality & good will (Oxford Dictionary) The word hospitality derived from hospice Hospice is an old French word means to provide care or shelter for travelers

Hospice also known house of rest for travelers & pilgrims

In Latin, hospe means host or guest & hospitium means a guest chamber, inn or quarters

 Divided into 5 components: The hospitality professions are among the oldest of the human professions Part of a larger enterprise & the largest industry in the world
Food & Beverages services Lodging services (Accommodation or hotel operations) Recreation services (Tourism activities) Travel-related services (Transportation services) Products provided with personal services (Retail stores)

Five Components in Hospitality Industry

Hospitality Industry

Lodging Services

Transportation Services

Food & Beverage Services

Retail Stores

Tourism Activities

Hotels Resorts Motels Parks Chalets Etc.

Ships Airplanes Buses Trains Limousines etc.

Restaurants Coffee House Vending Machine Fast Foods Discos / Pubs Etc.

Gift Shopes Souvenir Shops Arts / Crafts Shops Shopping Malls Miscellaneous Stores Etc.

Recreation Business Entertainment Sporting Events Art / Ethnic Festivals Etc.

Goods & services are the product that offered by the hospitality industry to the customers or guests
What is goods? Goods provided in the hospitality industry are the thing that can be touched & see which provided satisfaction for the guests/customers E.g.. A & W Restaurant; customer satisfied with fried chicken & root beer

The nature of the product

What is services? A service can be defined as an activity, which has some element of intangibility, associated with, which involves some interaction with guests/customers or with property in their possession, & does not result in a transfer of ownership

services

Services are something, which provides satisfaction & enjoyment for the guest/customer, but service itself is not a physical thing
Service is both the mission & the product of the hospitality industry. The main business is the creation of memorable experiences through furnishing services

Service is not tangible & by its nature is more difficult to measure the goods

 Service characteristics: Intangibility Service cannot be seen, cannot be tested & cannot be evaluated Since it is an intangible product, not everyones perception of it is the same Guests must experienced them to know how they work unlike tangible products. E.g.. Shoes; the customer can try on merchandise for it fit & size Heterogeneity or Variability Lack of uniformity in the Quality control becomes a problem for management

standards major

 Inseparability

Services are typically produced & consumed at the same time, with guests/customers participation in the process Meaning, the purchaser (customers/guests) needs to come to the producer (hotel / restaurant / travel agency) in order to experience that particular service
Service cannot be stored for future sales E.g.. If the room guests empty for the whole day, meaning its lost forever

Restaurants & hotels have two- fold purpose:-

To satisfy the physical & psychological expectations of guests These purpose accomplish through providing good product (the meal or the room) & a good service (delivering the meal or room appropriately)

Perishability

 Good service is often equated Perception of Value with the number of amenities, the degree of personal attention/interaction, or the speed of service delivery
Value is based on the customers expectations in relation to how much they spend for the service & how much they would spend for a similar service elsewhere Good service at McDonalds is entirely different from good service at Victoria Stations; both can provide quality service

The Service Encounter

Means the period of time in which a customer directly interacts with a service
The interaction take place may either personnel or the physical facilities & other visible elements

Guest measure the quality of service by comparing the services received with what they expected to receive, given the type of establishments offering the service

Five general elements of quality service by Zeithaml et al. Tangibles: appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel & communication materials
Tangibles in a restaurant setting refers to the cleanliness of the restrooms, the personal hygiene of employees, & the ease with which the bill can be understood

Reliability: ability to perform the promised service dependably & rately

It covers such things like a table being available at the time customers was told to be available or the bill being free of errors

Responsiveness: willingness to help customers & provided prompt service

When employees correct problems immediately or when they show a willingness to answer questions about the menu, the establishments is demonstrating its responsiveness to the customers

 Assurance: knowledge & courtesy of employees & their ability to convey trust & confidence
Assurance comes from things like employees demonstrating their knowledge & competence, being polite & friendly, & offering guarantees of satisfaction

Empathy: caring, individualized attention provided customers

Empathy is shown by how approachable employees are, talking to customers in language they can understand, & making an effort to understand the needs of the customers

10 LAWS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Facilitate guests / customers decision making

Recognize your guests / customers

 Focus on the guests / customers perception

Make a positive first impression

 Fulfill your guests / customers expectations

Reduce the effort required of the guests / customers

 Avoid violating guest / customer unspoken time limits

Create memories guests / customers want to recapture

 Expect your guests / customers to remember bad experience

Put the guests / customers in your debt

MAKING CUSTOMERS WELCOME 10 GOLDEN RULES

1. Always
It does not cost you any single RM 2. Always use the guests name 3. Never blame colleagues

5. Use every opportunity to recommend the hotels facilities

4. Never imply the guest is at fault

6. Never criticize the hotel or agree with criticisms of it 7. If a guest s/ customers complains, thank him/her for drawing the matter to your attention

8. If you cant help, get help

9. If you cant give a guest / customer what he or she wants, think if you can offer a reasonable alternative 10. If a guest / customer is waiting for you and you are busy, acknowledge him or her and tell him or her youll be with him or her as soon as possible