Industry Food & beverage service Accommodation or Front Office Tourism Fig. . : Departments/Sectors in Hospitality Industry In order to have a better understanding of the different departments it is necessary to understand the concept of “Guest Cycle”. What is the Guest Cycle?
The “ Guest Cycle” starts even before the guests physically steps into a hotel and it consists of four stages (Fig. . ). .
Pre-arrival stage — The activities done in the pre-arrival stage include: (i) quoting rates for a guest (ii) reserving a room as a part of central reservation system or reservation department. . Arrival Stage — In this stage, as the title suggests, the guest actually arrives and registers or checks-in. .
Occupancy — This stage consists of providing various services as per the guest’s requirements, ensuring security of the guest and co- ordination of various guest services. Guest satisfaction is the main focus in order to ensure and encourage the guest to patronise and use the services of the establishment again; in other words, to obtain and retain ‘customer loyalty’. Arrival Departure Pre-Arrival Occupancy Fig. .
: Stages of the “Guest Cycle” . Departure — This is the final stage of the Guest Cycle where the guest is ready to leave/move out or “check-out” of the accommodation. An up-to-date record of the room occupancy of the guest is kept along with other information about the guest known as ‘guest history’ including feedback from the guest about his/her opinion about the services. Departments Involved In Hospitality Management of an Organisation Front office : The guest cycle falls largely under the domain of Front Office.
The guest arrives at the front office and comes in contact with the staff of the hospitality industry for the first time. Interaction between the guest and the staff is very critical to develop good relationship between the guest and the organisation and also in building a good image. Hence, the front office is the focal point of any hotel. The services offered by the staff here include — welcoming guests, meeting and greeting them, organising reservation