GROUP RESERVATION ISSUE TOPIC 5 GROUP RESERVATION ISSUE

Although group reservation procedures are usually relatively simple, a number of problems may develop. Conventions and Conferences A close working relationship between the hotel's sales staff and the group's meeting planner is one of the critical elements of hosting a successful convention or conference. If good communication and a spirit of cooperation are established early on, many problems can be avoided.

Convention Large conventions sometimes require the use of rooms at more than one hotel to accommodate all the convention attendees. Often, room requirements at several hotels may be coordinated by a separate housing or convention bureau. Each hotel must determine the number and type of available rooms it is willing to commit for convention use. The objective of the bureau is to accommodate all attendees by coordinating hotel availabilities with reservation requests. On a daily basis, the housing/convention bureau will communicate reservation requests to the hotels involved. In return, each hotel informs the bureau of any requests or cancellations communicated directly to the property. Through such exchange of information, the bureau should be able to help each hotel manage its convention block.

Tour Groups Tour groups typically are groups of people who have had their accommodations, transportation, and related travel activities ar- ranged for them. Hotels should be especially careful to research the reliability and past performance of tour operators and travel agents. Once acquainted with a tour operator's history, reservations agents can feel more secure when blocking and booking reservations for a tour group.

Potential Reservation Problems Some steps of the reservations process are more inclined to error than others. If reservations agents are aware of these trouble spots and know how to avoid them, mistakes will be less likely. Some common problems are listed here.

Errors in the Reservation Record ·     A reservations agent records the wrong arrival or departure date, misspells the guest's name, or mistakenly reverses first and last names (e.g., Mohit Ray might be recorded as Ray Mohit). ·          A caller making a reservation for another person is mistaken for the guest and the caller's name is entered on the reservation record, or the caller inadvertently gives his or her own name.   To avoid such problems, after recording information obtained during a telephone call, the reservations agent should read it back to the caller for confirmation. Taking this basic care can be especially important to hotels catering to international travelers. Not being able to access a reservation record can prove disastrous to a hotel-guest relationship.

To avoid such problems, reservations agents should make every I effort to understand what the guest needs and to explain what various terms mean at their particular property. After accepting a reservation, agents should repeat and confirm the exact nature of reserved accommodations, in addition to stating the hotel's general reservation policies and procedures. Miscommunications with External Reservation Systems

A central reservation system serving several hotels in the same city books the guest into the wrong hotel; for instance, an airport rather than a mid-city property.  A system that handles hotels in similarly-named cities books the guest into a hotel in the wrong city. To avoid such problems, the reservations agent should furnish the guest with the name and address of the property at which a reservation has been made. When a reservation center books rooms in more than one 'I hotel in the same city, a thorough description of the hotel's location can be helpful.

Central Reservation System Failures The hotel fails to update the system on room availability and rate changes in a timely fashion. The reservation system is slow in informing the property of reservations accepted. Communications equipment, at either the reservation system or the hotel, suffers mechanical problems. The hotel closes communications with the system too early or too late. .

To avoid such problems, reservations agents must be aware of the need for accurate and timely communication between the hotel and the central reservation system. When notifying the central system to close reservations for a certain date, the hotel must try to identify any reservations accepted by the central system but not yet delivered. Faulty equipment at either end of the communication channel may cripple the entire reservations process. Attention must be given to ensuring a sound working relationship with the central reservation system

Group Reservations Conducting a reservation request for a group shall be treated differently than accommodating a reservation of individual guests (i.e. Frequent Independent Traveler). The main reason is that individual reservation requests are treated by the reservation department, while group reservations are initiated by the Sales & Marketing Division, and finalized through a careful coordination of the reservation from one hand and the marketing on the other. Below is a detailed procedure of how group reservation, in a typical hotel, is conducted

.      A group representative, a member of the travel agency or the tour operator, not individuals, shall communicate group reservations' request to the hotel's marketing department 2.      Upon availability, the hotel's reservation department shall block the requested number of rooms for this very group 3.      The Hotel shall give a deadline for the group, in order to receive their final list. That deadline is called Cut-off Date. 4.      After receiving the final list, the reservation department shall change the desired number of rooms' status from blocked to booked (or reserved) rooms, and release the remaining rooms (if any left) as vacant for sale.

5.      If the hotel did not receive the final list by the cut-off date, then the reservation department has all the right to cancel the group reservation and release all the initially booked rooms into vacant rooms. However, management shall use this right with precautions especially when it comes to groups reserving from travel agencies and tour operators of which the hotel is frequently servicing. Although group reservation procedures are usually relatively simple, a number of problems may develop.

Overbooking (occupancy management) The practice of overbooking accepting reservations for more rooms than are available by forecasting the number of no-show reservations, stay-overs, under-stays, and walk-ins, with the goal of attaining 100 percent occupancy is viewed by the general public with doubt. As a future hotelier, you should prepare for the difficult task of developing a policy on overbooking. The front office manager is responsible for administering this policy. In many instances, overbooking to overcome the problem of no-shows and late cancellations may produce advantages by way of operating efficiencies that far outweigh the occasional inconveniences to guests and travelers they have held hotel overbooking to be customary and justifiable practice for offsetting the losses from no-shows.

The financial loss due to no-shows may be substantial The financial loss due to no-shows may be substantial.  Lost revenues of this volume force the hotelier to develop an aggressive occupancy management policy. This policy is based on management of the occupancy categories into which guests are placed: those with confirmed reservations, those with guaranteed reservations, stayovers, understays, and walk-ins. However, most hoteliers require a guest guarantee his or her stay with a credit card number to ensure their intent of arrival and thus guarantee payment for product and services on the part of the guest and hotel. Confirmed reservations, prospective guests who have a reservation for accommodations that is honored until a specified time, represent the critical element in no-shows.

After that time (usually 4:00 P. M. or 6:00 P. M After that time (usually 4:00 P.M. or 6:00 P.M.), the hotel is under no obligation to hold the reservation. The front office manager must keep accurate records of no-shows in this group. Various types of travelers with confirmed reservations corporate, group, leisure have different no-show rates. Walk-in numbers are often higher if the front office manager maintains good relations with the front office managers of nearby hotels, who may refer guests to the property when their own are fully booked. Sending guests who cannot be accommodated to nearby hotels is a win-win situation for guests and hotels

When these occupancy categories are tracked, the front office manager can more accurately predict occupancy. The front office manager can obtain the data for this formula by reviewing the property management system (PMS) reservation module, which lists the groups, corporate clients, and individual guests who have made reservations for a specific period. Also, the front office manager should check tourist activity in the area, business events planned in other hotels, and other local special events.

GROUP RESERVATION SLIP