A hotel, like any other structured enterprise, consists of various divisions - services. The first service that every guest encounters is reception and accommodation service (SPiR), sometimes called "reception". In European hotels, it is part of the Front Office - a division that also unites concierges, doormen, luggage carriers, telephone operators, guest relations managers, and often reservation service employees. The SPiR employee is practically the first hotel employee with whom the client comes into contact. The assessment of the hotel as a whole will largely depend on the impression it makes on the guest.

The staff of the service, i.e. the quantitative composition, as well as the distribution of responsibilities depend on the capacity of the hotel and its category. The greater the capacity and the higher the category, the larger the composition of the service. According to currently existing standards in European hotels of the three-four star level, the number of employees is calculated based on the fact that there should be one service employee for 50 ... 80 rooms.

When forming the SP&R staff, it is necessary to take into account that people work in shifts, have the right to regular vacation, sick leave, and may be absent for other valid reasons. At any moment, a situation may arise when two out of five employees leave and you will have to attract people from another shift. Thus, the number of employees should not be minimal, but the staff should not be inflated.

According to the Rules for the provision of hotel services in the Russian Federation, “the contractor must ensure round-the-clock registration of consumers arriving at and departing from the hotel.” This determines the shift nature of the work of the SP&R (as a rule, in two shifts: day and night). Naturally, the night shift works with a reduced staff. In Soviet times, the practice of daily duty was widespread, which reduced the quality of work, since by the end of the working day, even the most collected and efficient employee works less efficiently. Currently, the following division of shifts is accepted: from 7.00 to 15.00, from 15.00 to 23.00 and from 23.00 to 7.00. In the USA, work is organized in two shifts: the first - from 9.00 to 21.00, the second - from 21.00 to 9.00. This schedule is typical for small hotels with no more than 400 rooms.

The main functions of SPiR are:

hotel reservations;

selection and provision of rooms (beds) to those arriving at the hotel;

guest registration;

keeping records of the movement of hotel residents;

storage, issuance and receipt of room keys;

providing various background information;

issuing invoices and making payments to residents for services provided.

The service consists of a manager (chief), administrator, receptionist (duty administrator), administrator (reservation agent). Positions such as cash register operator and concierge may be introduced.

The manager belongs to the category of managers, is appointed to the position and dismissed from it by order (instruction) of the head of the hotel. He reports directly to the general manager of the hotel. The manager manages the service and provision of cultural customer service.

Job description of the manager of the hotel reservation department [name of organization, enterprise, etc.]

This job description has been developed and approved in accordance with the provisions of other regulations governing labor relations in the Russian Federation.

1. General Provisions

1.1. The manager of the reservation department belongs to the category of specialists and is directly subordinate to the head of the reception service.

1.2. A person with [level of education] education without any work experience requirements is appointed to the position of reservation department manager.

1.3. The manager of the reservation department is hired and dismissed from work by order of [position of the head of the organization].

1.4. The reservations manager must know:

Foreign languages: [in accordance with regular clientele] within the scope of the work;

Culture of interpersonal communication;

Abbreviations accepted in the international tourism/hotel industry;

Fundamentals of labor legislation;

Labor safety rules and regulations;

Rules for the use of communication means.

1.5. A reservations manager must be able to:

Use modern means of communication (telephone, fax, copier, personal computer, etc.);

Store and retrieve information from the file system;

Prepare and organize work.

2. Job responsibilities

Reservations Manager:

2.1 provides the client with oral and written information about the placement and sale of rooms in the client’s language;

2.2 answers client questions within the scope of his work;

2.3 makes preliminary hotel reservations by telephone, telex and fax;

2.4 conducts telephone conversations (incoming and outgoing calls, call forwarding, standby mode, receiving and sending telephone messages);

2.5 accurately receives and transmits information, verifies receipt of information by the addressee;

2.6 transfers cases at the end of the shift.

3. Rights

The reservation department manager has the right:

3.1 for all social guarantees provided for by law;

3.2 get acquainted with draft decisions of the enterprise’s management relating to its activities;

3.3 submit proposals for the management’s consideration to improve work related to the responsibilities provided for in these instructions;

3.4, within the limits of their competence, inform the immediate supervisor about all shortcomings identified in the process of activity and make proposals for their elimination;

3.5 receive from structural units and specialists information and documents necessary to perform his official duties;

3.6 sign and endorse documents within their competence;

3.7 involve specialists from all (individual) structural divisions of the enterprise in solving the tasks assigned to it (if this is provided for by the regulations on structural divisions, if not - with the permission of the head of the enterprise);

3.8 demand from the management of the enterprise assistance in the performance of their official duties and rights;

3.9 improve your professional qualifications;

3.10 other rights provided for by labor legislation.

4. Responsibility

The reservation department manager is responsible for:

4.1 for failure to perform or improper performance of their job duties provided for by this job description - within the limits determined by the current labor legislation of the Russian Federation;

4.2 for causing material damage to the employer - within the limits determined by the current labor and civil legislation of the Russian Federation;

4.3 for offenses committed in the course of carrying out its activities - within the limits determined by the current administrative, criminal and civil legislation of the Russian Federation.

The job description has been developed in accordance with [name, number and date of document].

Head of structural unit [initials, surname]

[signature]

[day month Year]

Agreed:

Head of Legal Department [initials, surname]

[signature]

[day month Year]

I have read the instructions: [initials, surname]

[signature]

[day month Year]

Reservation service (role, functions, characteristics)

The role of a hotel reservation service cannot be underestimated. The speed of receipt of requests from guests and their processing depends on the operational work of this department, therefore, the competitiveness of the hotel increases. The reservation service is the link between potential clients from all over the world and the hotel. It provides the opportunity to cover a huge number of regions and offer hotel services to everyone. The efficiency of this service determines the load factor and the expansion of the hotel’s customer base.

The functions of the reservation service include:

• - receiving applications and processing them;
• - drawing up the necessary documentation - check-in schedules for each day (week, month, quarter, year), maps of the movement of rooms;
• - Studying the demand for hotel services.

Service characteristics:

In a hotel, the process of serving guests begins with reservation, which means pre-ordering beds and rooms. Reservation functions are carried out either by managers of the hotel reservation department, or directly by the reception service. As a rule, a tourist or businessman who does not want to face the difficulties of hiring temporary housing will definitely contact such a service and apply to book a place or room.

The software module created to perform the function of booking hotel rooms operates in a “confirm/refusal” mode with a time reference as part of the general reservation system of a hotel chain or autonomous operation.

Applications are accepted by telephone, fax, telefax, by mail (letter or telegram), using computer reservation systems. Each application must contain the following information:

• - date and time of arrival;
• - approximate date and time of departure;
• - number of guests;
• - room category (luxury, apartment, economy class, business class);
• - in-room services (bath, shower, TV, refrigerator, safe, minibar, etc.);
• - food services (breakfast only, half board, full board);
• - price (when specifying the price, you must determine exactly what the guest pays for - for the entire stay, for one day of stay, for each resident, only for accommodation and meals, for accommodation and breakfast)
• - surname and initials of the person who will pay the bill (or name of the organization);
• - type of payment (cash, non-cash, using a credit card);
• - special requests (book a table in a restaurant in advance, transfer, the ability to keep a pet in the room, etc.)

The organization applying for a reservation also indicates its details (name, address, telephone, fax, bank account number, etc.).

In the event that the hotel can provide its accommodation services, confirmation of the application must be sent to the organization. Otherwise, she must send a refusal.

An application confirmation is a special notification that the guest will be provided with hotel accommodation. Typically, the notice includes the confirmation number, the date of the guest's expected arrival and departure, the category of the room booked, the number of guests, the number of beds and other specially specified requirements. In order to once again clarify all the details of accommodation, as well as to eliminate the emergence of controversial issues, it is advisable that upon arrival at the hotel the notice should be taken with the guest.

Each booking request and cancellation of the order must be registered. If a canceled order is not registered on time, there is a high probability that the number will remain unsold. One of the features of the hotel product as a service is the impossibility of storage. If the number remains unsold, then the potential income from such a service is lost.

In their activities, hotel companies often resort to guaranteed confirmation of applications. This means that they confirm the booking only after receiving adequate payment guarantees from the client in case the client arrives late or does not arrive at all. Such guarantees primarily include prepayment in the amount of 50 or 100% of the cost of daily accommodation or accommodation for the entire period, as well as information about the client’s credit card number.

The reservation service does not only collect applications. But it also studies the demand for hotel services at one time or another. In addition to seasonality, the level of demand can be influenced by cultural or sporting events taking place in a given region. The political situation in the region where the hotel is located is also of great importance. It is no secret that during periods of political instability, tourists’ interest in the region decreases significantly due to the inability to ensure a safe stay. Taking into account all factors, managers of the reservation department, together with the marketing department, plan the activities of the hotel.

Unified qualification directory for positions of managers, specialists and other employees (USC), 2019
Section “Qualification characteristics of positions of employees of tourism organizations”
The section was approved by Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated March 12, 2012 N 220n

Reservations and Sales Manager

Job responsibilities. Studies the conditions and trends in the development of the market for tourism products and tourism services. Studies and analyzes the demand for sold tourism products and the needs of tourists. Organizes the reception of requests from tourists and the preparation of payment documents. Organizes negotiations with tourists, agreement on the terms of the contract for the sale of a tourist product, provision of tourist services: stay program and travel routes; start and end date of the trip, its duration; the procedure for interacting with accompanying persons and receiving additional services; prices for tourism products and services provided; minimum number of tourists in a group; ways to inform tourists about the occurrence of circumstances that impede the fulfillment of obligations. Ensures the conclusion of agreements on the sale of tourism products and the provision of tourism services. Manages the booking and sale of travel tickets, hotel reservations. Maintains established documentation and prepares reports within established deadlines. Organizes control over the sale of tourism products and after-sales service, and the fulfillment by the tour operator of obligations under concluded contracts. Studies complaints and complaints from tourists regarding the quality of tourist services, conducts statistical analysis of complaints and claims, and takes measures to eliminate shortcomings in tourist services. Instructs travel agency employees on the need to ensure the quality and safety of tourism products sold and individual tourism services provided.

Must know: laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation in the field of tourism; basic concepts and organization of the tourism industry; terminology adopted in the tourism industry, market conditions for tourism products; fundamentals of the theory of statistics and analysis; reporting methods; theory and methods of marketing tourism products; tourism management; standards for organizing work with tourists; booking and service registration systems; tourist insurance rules; transport systems in tourism; geography of countries of the world; foreign language; techniques for working with databases and computer systems for booking hotels and other tourist services; procedure for concluding and executing civil contracts; schemes for working with hotels, inns, carrier companies (air, rail, bus, cruise, etc.) and other organizations; basics of psychology; theory of interpersonal communication; conflictology; basics of labor legislation; internal labor regulations; labor protection and fire safety rules.

Qualification requirements. Higher professional education in the field of tourism (tourism, socio-cultural services and tourism, tourism and excursion business, management of tourism and hotel management organizations, economics and management of tourism and hotel management enterprises) without requirements for work experience or secondary vocational education in the specialty "Tourism" and work experience in the tourism sector for at least 3 years.