inglés profesional para el turismo

8/20/2019 Inglés Profesional Para El Turismo

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Inglés Profesional Para El Turismo


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UNIT 1. MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING OF TOURIST SERVICES IN ENGLISH

1. TOURIST SERVICES PRESENTATION: CHARACTERISTICS OF GOODS OR SERVICES,MEASUREMENTS, QUANTITIES, ADDED SERVICES, PAYMENT TERMS AND AFTERSALES SERVICES, AMONG OTHERS.

Tourism:

According to the World Tourism Organization, United Nations, tourism comprises the activitiesof persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for a period lessthan one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes.

Tourism itself is born in the nineteenth century as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution,with displacements for relaxing, leisure, culture, health, business and family relationships asprimary intention.

Tourist Enterprises:

Tourist Enterprises are those related to tourism. There are two main groups: Those producinggoods and services (production), and the ones distributing them (distributors). All provide touristservice.

Tourist companies need not to be purely dedicated to, say, accommodation or catering. Theboundaries are invaded, the services are mixed and a single company can offer different typesof services. Thus, a hotel may have a restaurant and a travel agency may offer transfer serviceor provide hostess for a convention.


1.1. PRODUCTS OR SERVICES CHARACTERISTICS.

Tourist services are considered those which are related to the provision of services related tothe tourism industry and they can be classified as follows:

Hosting service, when accommodation is provided to tourists, with or without provisionof other complementary services.

Catering service, when providing food for consumption in the same establishment oroutside facilities.

Brokerage service in the provision of any travel services that may be demanded byusers of travel services, including transport services.

Information service, where users are provided information on tourism services,tourism resources, with or without provision of other complementary services.

Welcome service: for congress, events, conventions or similar.


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1.1.2. CATERING SERVICE.

They are catering establishments whose principal activity is to provide, regularly and by price,meals and drinks for your consumption in or outside the spot. Although these establishmentsare considered of public use, owners may establish rules or considerations on the course oftheir services and facilities, including a law reserving admission, making exclusive services to aparticular segment.

Catering establishments are divided into two types:

COMERCIAL CATERING

Whose clientele is not captive, that is, the client chooses the type of restaurant he wants toattend for he has different alternatives available. These are divided into:

Traditional: connected with the cultural and gastronomic traditions of the area (seafoodrestaurants, taverns, grills, rice mills, tapas bars, beer houses...). Also Chineserestaurants or Pizzerias are considered traditional thanks to the way they are managed.

Neo-catering: catering establishments responding to culinary innovations (cuisine) andinnovative management methods. (Mc Donald's, vending machines...)

SOCIAL RESTORATION

is the one whose clientele, being a community, is captive, or most of it ends up being (largesupermarkets, motorways, train stations, airports, schools, canteens...). It is characterized byreducing the price diminishing supply. This type of restoration covers fixed costs with a regularclientele.

The main types are:

RESTAURANT

I it has a kitchen and dining room to provide meals and/or dinners to be consumed in the sameplace. They have a mandatory offer for the Day Menu. Like hotels, the restaurants also receivea ranking based on several concepts: facilities, services, menu, etc.., being the service of thewaiters at the tables one of the most valued criteria. They are classified as: 5,4,3,2 and 1 fork.

1 fork or fourth restaurant: o Dining room separated from the kitchen.o Stainless cutlery, crockery, simple glass, cloth or paper napkins.

o Decent bathrooms services.o Personal perfectly neat.o Simple menu list

2 forks or third category restaurant: o Dining room with an area according to its capacity.o Cordless Phone.o Appropriate furniture.o Cutlery steel, crockery, glassware, cloth or paper napkins.

o Independent health services for ladies and gentlemen.o

Kitchen with sink with hot water, cold room or refrigerator, cupboards andextractor fan.o Uniformed staff.


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o Simple menu list.

3 forks or second category restaurant: o Independent access for customers and staff.o Cloakroomo Wireless phone for customer service.o Dining room with an area according to its capacity.o Quality furniture.o Independent bathroom services for Ladies (including children) and gentlemen.o Kitchen with refrigerator, pantry, storage, sinks, vented to the outdoors.

o Menu list according to the establishment category.o Properly uniformed service staff.o Stainless steel cutlery.

4 forks or first category restaurant: o Independent entrance for customers and staffo Cloakroom. Wardrobe

o Cordless Phone.o Dining room with an area according to its capacity.o Air conditioning, heating and cooling.

o Furniture and decoration of high quality.o Independent bathrooms services for ladies and gentlemen.o Kitchen with refrigerator separated for fish and meat, oven, pantry, store, sinks

and ventilation.o Properly uniformed service staff

o Stainless steel cutlery.

5 forks restaurant or luxury:

Such establishments must have an effective organization, governed by rules and procedures,and have internal and external policies for management. The restaurants of this type are usuallydecorated with very fine wood, tables and chairs must agree to the decor, very good qualitycarpets, music (live or environmental) should be soft, lights (bulbs and lamps) should beadjustable and air conditioning must be controlled by thermostat. Food and drinks are

mandatory to be of the highest quality, hygiene must reign in all areas and, finally, the staff mustbe properly uniformed. Service personnel, in addition to being trained for each task, should betrained regularly to ensure an efficient and elegant service.

In addition they should have:

Independent entrances for customers and staff.

Cloakroom and lobby or waiting room.

Dining room with an area according to its capacity.

Telephone in isolation booths and wireless phone for customer service.

Air conditioning.

Bathrooms with luxury facilities, separate for ladies and gentlemen.

Decoration in harmony with the rank of the establishment. Cold buffet in the dining room (optional).


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Diverse accessories: tables for flaming, side tables, tops to cover dishes.

Equipped kitchen with storeroom, cellar, cold room, pantry, office, ovens, grill, grill forfish and meat dishes, sinks, extractor fans.

Menu list with variety of dishes from national and international cuisine and extensivewine list regularly amended.

Personal properly uniformed.

Stainless steel or silver cutler

There are other systems that allow clients to take a decision, such as the famous stars (3maximum) that the Michelin Guide gives, or other merits of private enterprises which have thegreatest respect in the culinary world and, as in the case of the classification of hotels,sometimes outweighs the sheer number of forks.

Those who meet specific building characteristics, age and geographical location, can use (priorauthorization) the term "eating houses". The identification placard is blue with the letters R and

number of forks in white.

CAFETERIA

Establishment with one same unit for bar and table service but no dining room, which providesthe public, at any time of the opening hours, with ice cream, soft drinks in general, hot or coldtapas, sandwiches and mixed, cold or grilled dishes. In Spain they are classified as: 3, 2 or 1cup and their requirements by category are:

Cafes with 1 cup:

o Independent bathroom services for ladies and gentlemen endowed with soapand hand dryers

o The entrance may not be used during the hours of meal service to bring ingoods

o The dining room, which need not to be independent, equipped with heatingo Furniture, linen (cloth or paper) and crockery in accordance with the local

categoryo The public service staff must dress appropriatelyo Jugs of water should be available, at customer request, even when not using

the service of dish of the day

Cafes with 2 cups: o Independent bathroom services of ladies and gentlemen endowed with soap

and hand dryerso The entrance of customers may not be used during the hours of food services,

to bring in goods.o Telephone service available to customerso Separate Dining Room equipped with heating

o Furniture, linen (cloth or paper) and crockery in accordance with the localcategory

o The public service staff must dress appropriatelyo They must offer a combination platter of the dayo Jugs of water should be available, at customer request, even when not using

the service of dish of the day


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Cafes with 3 cups: o Independent bathroom services for customers and staffo The ladies and gents toilets must be independento Services with hot water, soap and hand dryerso Independent customer entrance from the staff and goods one or, failing that,

entry only during hours outside the established for the dining service

o Cloakroom according to the category of localo Isolated phone booths

o Separate Dining Room equipped with heating and coolingo Furniture, linens and kitchenware will be adequate to the level of the localo The staff will be uniformed

o Menu dishes must be available to customers in Spanish, English and Frencho They must offer at least a combined dish of the day

BAR

Establishment with bar but no dining room, which can also have table service in the same unit inorder to provide drinks with or without small meals or sandwiches, and one dish of the day.Those who meet special features (recognized by the administration) of building, age andgeographic location, may use the name "tavern".


1.1.3. BROKERAGE SERVICE.

Tourism enterprises engaged in intermediary services may be several: from those organizing

complete package tours as the official tour operators, to those which inform the customer andsell the final package like travel agents, to the ones which provide transport, like a flight or traincompany.

Carriers are those designed to carry passengers from one point to another. They are classifiedinto:

o Aviation: There is a distinction between scheduled flights, which are governedby predetermined schedules, and charters, that are used in most packagetours, as their recruitment is more economic because, as they have a lowersupply, demand is more concentrated and the costs can be reduced for beingalmost always full.

o Ground transports: Here we find the bus, train, car, car rentals… o Shipping: Regular line such as the ferry that units the peninsula with islands

and cruises.

TRAVEL AGENCIES

These companies are distributors of goods and tourism services and they are inpossession of a diploma or license granted by the public administration. They practisetourism intermediation.

The agencies are classified into 3 groups:


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o Wholesaler or Tour operators (TTOO): they design, produce and arrange allkinds of tourist services and packages in order to sell them to other agencies(retailers) and may not offer or sell their services directly to the public. Itsproducts are marketed through own leaflets distributed to retailers. As they buy"large amounts", that is, they manage major airline seats (= charter), or hotelrooms, they can negotiate lower prices with their suppliers, apart from having

major commissions, since they have to commission their own products to theretailers who sell them. The social capital to be disbursed when forming awholesale agency is 120,000 € adding the same amount as a bail.

o Retailers: They market the products made by the wholesalers or their owndirectly to consumers but not to other agencies. It is travel agencies which areon the street where consumers usually go for information, advice and purchase.They use the wholesalers’ brochures for the sale and receive a previouslystipulated percentage of each sale as commission. They may also directlymanage a service for customers without turning to a wholesale agency, bydirectly contacting a hotel or transport company. For complete package (flight,transfer, accommodation, meals and other activities ...) it is obviously easier toturn to wholesale than deal service by service by themselves. Furthermore, thefinal price would be probably much more expensive for it would have to reflect

all management costs such as telephone calls, fax bank costs… The socialcapital to be disbursed when forming is 60,000 € and the same amount isrequired as bail.

o Wholesale-retail: These companies, having the two licenses, can make andsell tour packages to other businesses and the general public. The socialcapital to be disbursed when forming it is 180,000 € and the same amount isrequired as bail.

The law on this is known, but reality is sometimes different. The wholesalers do nothave offices at street level to connect with the customer, but on the Internet the situationis confused and sometimes on the same site you can find may direct access forcustomers and restricted ones for agencies with confidential rates.

Besides the type of agency it may be, they can also be classified as senders andreceivers.

o Outgoing agencies: the ones sending travellers to other places. The largestissuers in the case of Spain are the ones in Germany and England.

o Incoming agencies: Those who receive and welcome tourists from abroad.Spain is eminently recipient, so it brings together a substantial number ofincoming agencies that are responsible on the ground to deal with tourismbusinesses. For example: An English agency (outgoing) contacts a Spanishagency (incoming) to handle its bookings in Spain. This means lower costs

(telephone, fax …) because they just have to send one fax per day not severalones (one per Hotel) and it is easier, and again cheaper, to deal directly on theground with the providers to get even better conditions. The incoming agenciesget a commission for this service.

o Outgoing-Incoming: They perform both functions, sending and receiving. Mostagencies are working in that direction.


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1.1.3. BROKERAGE SERVICE.

Tourism enterprises engaged in intermediary services may be several: from those organizingcomplete package tours as the official tour operators, to those which inform the customer andsell the final package like travel agents, to the ones which provide transport, like a flight or traincompany.

Carriers are those designed to carry passengers from one point to another. They are classifiedinto:

o Aviation: There is a distinction between scheduled flights, which are governedby predetermined schedules, and charters, that are used in most packagetours, as their recruitment is more economic because, as they have a lowersupply, demand is more concentrated and the costs can be reduced for being

almost always full.o Ground transports: Here we find the bus, train, car, car rentals… o Shipping: Regular line such as the ferry that units the peninsula with islands

and cruises.

TRAVEL AGENCIES

These companies are distributors of goods and tourism services and they are inpossession of a diploma or license granted by the public administration. They practisetourism intermediation.

The agencies are classified into 3 groups:

o Wholesaler or Tour operators (TTOO): they design, produce and arrange allkinds of tourist services and packages in order to sell them to other agencies(retailers) and may not offer or sell their services directly to the public. Itsproducts are marketed through own leaflets distributed to retailers. As they buy"large amounts", that is, they manage major airline seats (= charter), or hotelrooms, they can negotiate lower prices with their suppliers, apart from havingmajor commissions, since they have to commission their own products to theretailers who sell them. The social capital to be disbursed when forming awholesale agency is 120,000 € adding the same amount as a bail.

o Retailers: They market the products made by the wholesalers or their owndirectly to consumers but not to other agencies. It is travel agencies which areon the street where consumers usually go for information, advice and purchase.They use the wholesalers’ brochures for the sale and receive a previouslystipulated percentage of each sale as commission. They may also directlymanage a service for customers without turning to a wholesale agency, bydirectly contacting a hotel or transport company. For complete package (flight,transfer, accommodation, meals and other activities ...) it is obviously easier toturn to wholesale than deal service by service by themselves. Furthermore, thefinal price would be probably much more expensive for it would have to reflectall management costs such as telephone calls, fax bank costs… The socialcapital to be disbursed when forming is 60,000 € and the same amount isrequired as bail.

o Wholesale-retail: These companies, having the two licenses, can make andsell tour packages to other businesses and the general public. The social


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capital to be disbursed when forming it is 180,000 € and the same amount isrequired as bail.

The law on this is known, but reality is sometimes different. The wholesalers do not

have offices at street level to connect with the customer, but on the Internet the situationis confused and sometimes on the same site you can find may direct access forcustomers and restricted ones for agencies with confidential rates.

Besides the type of agency it may be, they can also be classified as senders andreceivers.

o Outgoing agencies: the ones sending travellers to other places. The largestissuers in the case of Spain are the ones in Germany and England.

o Incoming agencies: Those who receive and welcome tourists from abroad.Spain is eminently recipient, so it brings together a substantial number ofincoming agencies that are responsible on the ground to deal with tourism

businesses. For example: An English agency (outgoing) contacts a Spanishagency (incoming) to handle its bookings in Spain. This means lower costs(telephone, fax …) because they just have to send one fax per day not severalones (one per Hotel) and it is easier, and again cheaper, to deal directly on theground with the providers to get even better conditions. The incoming agenciesget a commission for this service.

o Outgoing-Incoming: They perform both functions, sending and receiving. Mostagencies are working in that direction.


1.1.4. INFORMATION SERVICE.

A travel agency is not only an intermediary. It is also an information service since when a clientcomes to a travel agent he does not always have all the information he needs. Maybe he islooking for relax on a Caribbean beach but has no knowledge of what the weather season lookslike across the Atlantic. The task of a good travel agent is to grasp the idea of the kind of travelthe client is looking for and guide and advise him in that direction.

At destination, the tourist information is the summary of services offered to tourists in order toinform, guide, facilitate and assist him during his trip or holiday, in tourist information officesthrough informants or through tourist guides, translators or accompanying groups. The definitionincludes those services dependent on public institutions that are tasked to facilitate and inform

tourists during holiday or travel by providing free information.

The tourist information includes information about:

Resources and cultural activities: monuments, museums, rural areas, tourist attractions,fairs, conferences and festivals.

Information and guidance on tourism: cultural, recreational, sports and leisure or play.

Information and guidance on tourism: services, services of interest (transport, hospital,telephone)

Facilitating informational material: brochures, leaflets, posters, guides, maps and plans.

Developing statistics

Participating in business marketing for local enterprises

Implementing information projects, meetings, debates, and even advice for companiesin its area of management (job boards, recruitment tables, firms)


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The main aims of a Tourist Information Office are:

Providing a public service

Improving quality of Area Tourist Destinations

Making it easier for potential tourists to stay

Increasing the arrival of more tourists making it easier and more comfortable for them to

book reservations stays and tours in their scope.


1.1.5. WELCOME SERVICE.

Within this tourist service we find all those related to the proper celebration of congresses, fairs,conventions and similar. Such an event requires virtually of all tourist services provided, sinceyou need to accommodate a large number of people, you have to feed them at the hotel orrestaurant, entertain them with shows or tours, shuttle bus, taxi,... from an airport or other point

to hotels, restaurants, theatres, conference hall, etc.

They may also require other services such as the presence of attendants, guides, which in turncan be a guide-translator, simultaneous translation services, audiovisual rental, decoration ofspaces, video and photography, etc.

It is a very demanding market with high purchasing power which spares no expenses, requiringthe best services. We must consider the possibility of lots of changes throughout the planning ofsuch events, changes which sometimes occur very late so it is necessary to have a certainmargin of manoeuvre, for example booking not exact numbers, maybe more rooms than initiallyasked for, but always taking into account the time of cancellation to avoid incurring costs thatmay diminish profit margins.

The supply of tourist services also varies depending on the type of client because not allsegments demand the same service.

We distinguish between:

Individual Tourism

Individual tourism is defined as the one whose program of activities and itinerary aredecided by travellers without the intervention of operators. The opposition would begroup tourism who works mainly with standard packages.

This type of tourism is programmed by a person or a small group that organizes theirtrip by themselves or perhaps assisted by another specialist such as a travel agent. Theactivities and itineraries can either be chosen before starting the journey or be decidedat destination. In this latter case, activities and itineraries can be booked more or less inadvance. So we have a wide range of products: from fully organized trips to far moreflexible travellers seeking their services during the trip.

Experts believe that this type of tourism is replacing group tourism and in most places itis the main kind of tourism.

The most frequently given reasons for this trend are the emergence of low cost airlinesand Internet ticket purchase. To these factors others of a more structural nature must

be added, among which we find the increased supply of tourist services in thedestinations, the higher level of citizen security, the better education (especially inforeign languages), the increase of information for the trip (guides and Internet) and


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especially the impact of globalized culture that facilitates the integration of travellers atdestination.

The profile of the individual tourist is far more adventurous. He likes immersion in theculture of the country he visits. He shows special interest in cultural and ecologicaltourism, he has preference for local cuisine and a greater respect for the environment.

The higher the hotel category is the higher is the demand of more facilities and theconsume of more services (spending on a la carte restaurant service, spa treatments,minibar service...).

Mass or group Tourism:

Mass or group tourism is that which is done massively by people regardless ofeconomic level and therefore not an exclusive type of tourism. It is the mostconventional, passive, and seasonal. It is usually less demanding and specialized. Herewe find the sun and beach tourism, associations and also guided tours. They usually

book the journey in a complete package at the agency, from full board or even allinclusive, that's why they generate minimal expenses at destination. By coming ingroups they reach a better price because the hotel can play with aspects that reducecosts. Being the menus already closed from the beginning, it takes less staff (notnecessary to command, only to serve) and kitchen work can also be done in advance,for the exact service is already known. If the group goes on tour during the day, itrequires less cleaning staff or customer service, etc. Groups help to alleviate the lowseason in many small hotels that can be kept open longer each year even though theprofit margin is not high.

The reasons why a visitor goes on a journey can also be analyzed since, depending on them,tourist services are managed. Some are perfectly valid for individual as for group tourism. Wedifferentiate among others:

Cultural Tourism: It needs historical and artistic resources for its development. It ismore demanding and less seasonal.

o Urban: mainly in World Heritage Sites. Clients with a high cultural level andhigh purchasing power.

o Monumental: tied exclusively to historical and artistic monuments that may beremote from major population centres.

o Archaeological: linked to sites which can be remote from major populationcentres.

o Funeral: linked to cemeteries designed by famous architects or where

celebrities are buried.o Shopping: linked to purchases at a good price or exclusive ones. Includes

luxury items, art, crafts and common items such as footwear, electronics, etc.o Ethnographic: linked to the customs and traditions of peoples. In some cases

close to ecotourism.o Literary: motivated by places or events of a biographical nature.o Training: related to studies basically languages.o Science: tourist offer to investigate in special places such as biological or

archaeological sites.o Gastronomic: linked to traditional food at destination.o Wine: linked to local wines in the region.o Industrial: motivated by the visit to factories or large civil constructions.o Itinerant: takes place at several places along predetermined routes.o

Mystic: related to visits to energetic sites.


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Business Tourism: It refers to journeys with the purpose of trade, business orcommercial agreement between companies, to attract customers or provide services,used by entrepreneurs, executives, business and other professionals. Seasonality isinverted to holidaymakers: the maximum occupancy in a beach hotel is recorded onweekends, while this segment focuses its stays during the week, so it is a veryimportant and desirable segment for the industry. This is fundamentally an urban

tourism or looking for hotels with a certain category, with a high purchasing power andwith some very specific needs.

Worth mentioning in this type of tourism, are some sub-segments such as Meetingsand Conferences, bringing together a group or association, and usually with a scientificnature attended by professionals of the same kind of industry but not of the samecompany. The Convention brings together various professionals of a single enterprisewith the aim of raising awareness among its employees of a new product, process ofstrategic planning or of a new campaign, etc.

Incentive Tourism is also linked to Business Tourism, although the difference is that whileBusiness means work, the incentive is designed for pleasure. It is used by the Management oflarge companies to improve employees’ performance by rewarding them for achieved goals.

They are encouraged with a trip that can be individual or in a group.

Nature Tourism:

o Theme Parks: Based on tourist attractions with specific themes. It ischaracterized by active participation of the visitor. Tourism eminently familiarwith the presence of children.

o Ecotourism: Based on contact with nature. Its resources are composed ofnational parks with an interesting flora and fauna in the visited area.

o Rural: The main motivation is to know the customs and traditions of people inrural areas. Tourists are interested in gastronomy, popular culture, andhandicrafts. Public aid (state and community) helped to restore old buildingswhere they can spend the night. Very booming in recent years, it did much torevitalize degraded and forgotten regions.

o Agro tourism: Its purpose is to show and explain the production process ofagricultural farms and agribusiness. Tourists can be hosted on the same farmor elsewhere.

o Agro ecotourism: Where the visitor is staying in tourist standard rooms,participating in agricultural work, living and having food with the family.

o Ornithological: Kind of tourism focused on bird watching.

Active Tourism: It takes place in natural areas. Active tourism is closely linked to ruraltourism. This type of activity usually takes place in a natural park because of theenvironmental interest it causes. The most popular activities of active tourism are:

o Sport Fishing: tourism activity is centered in the practice of sport fishing.o Sports: The main motivation is to practice sports. It can be divided into two

groups: outdoor sports and indoor. You could also do another subdivision interms of the one practicing the sport, or the who watches it (assistance to atennis tournament, a car race, a football game)

o Adventure: To practice high-risk sports (rafting, abseiling...). The user of thistype of tourism is often of high cultural and purchasing level and very fit.

o Space: Space Travel. Only for millionaires.


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o Religious: Linked to places or events of special religious relevance. The fourmain areas of greater importance are Jerusalem, Mecca, Rome and Santiagode Compostela (this latter one could also be within sports Tourism).

o Spiritual: Its main motivation is the recollection and meditation (monasteries,oriental philosophy courses, etc.).

o Thermal or Health: Linked to spas that offer treatments for various ailments

(rheumatic, stress, skin, beauty treatments...). It usually owns thermal facilitiesindependent from hotel facilities.o Medical: Focused on the realization of surgery or related medical treatments.

In this category there is one modality which has become very popular lately: thecosmetic surgery trip which includes journey, room and board, surgery andtreatment.

o Sexual: For sexual intercourse.o Social Tourism: Dedicated to improve life conditions of the economically

weaker making them participate in different activities, etc.o Experimental Tourism: Participants take an active part on the work they are

developing. This type of tourism is part of more or less fantastic stories.Participants are immersed in a movie.


1.2. FURTHER SERVICES IN THE TOURISM SECTOR.

Customers, more and more, are seeking for experiences, keeping "something" from his travels,so the only way to differentiate themselves from competitors, in an industry as competitive asthe touristic one in Spain, is to provide added services and sell "something more than just a bed". Hence the key to the hotel industry today is offering customer service and useful informationabout the destination (cuisine, entertainment, tours, car rentals, etc.). not only at the planningstage of the journey, but also during and after it, as a loyalty tool which can make customerspronounce positive comments about our hotel that will determine our future clientele.

Typical services of a touristic company can be extended in order to capture and retain aclientele. If a hotel’s primary function is to provide accommodation and meals, includingbreakfast, lunch and dinner service through half board or full board, offering added services canbe a good way to extend range of services that also serve as a differentiator.

To promote the consumption of services in less demanded dates, special offers could help,such as:

Stays at hotel for 7 nights for the price of 6 or 4 paying 3

Discounts of 10% or 15% on the room

Free upgrades: suites at standard room price

Details in the room: Welcome Bottle, Chocolates, floral detail

Flight tickets at symbolic prices, valid for a specific date or bought on a concrete day tobe enjoyed another.

Children stay in hotels, their transport or entry for free

Recreational activities to enliven the evening; yoga or pilates classes, live performancesduring dinner, live kitchen showrooms (especially booming in exotic restaurants),cuisine according to the season (hunting, seafood, harvest time ...).

Babysitting and animal care


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Deals 2 x 1: travel 2 people for the price of 1.

Flat fees

All inclusive service for the price of Half Board or Full Board

Special discounts for early booking

Valet-parking service at a restaurant

Free Wi-Fi Connection

Design of special packages either for collective or private memorable dates: ValentinesSpecial, New Year's Eve, Love Weekend with champagne, chocolates, pre-summertreatments, Special Mother and Baby (programs focused on new mothers and theirbabies), Special Grooms and Brides, Birthday Promotion ...

Worth mentioning here, as an initiative of a novel Hotel in San Diego, California,published on 08.18.2009 in 'La Voz de Galicia' by Victoria Toro:

Luxury hotel for 13 Euros per night

Crisis racks one’s brains, and if not, look at the promotion of aluxury hotel in San Diego. The rooms you paid for 160 Euroscan now be enjoyed for 28 or even for 13. Though perhaps theword enjoy can be excessive to describe the offered “comfort”. If the customer chooses the offer of 28 Euros, he will have thesame room as for 160 but with no air conditioning, light, pillow,sheets, toilet amenities, TV or minibar. And if the customerchooses the cheapest option, he will not even have a bed. Thehotel staff will install a small tent in the same place whereformerly stood a comfortable bed. And yes, you need only topay 13 Euros for the room.The Hotel Rancho Bernardo enfaces this way the crisis.

According to them, in the first months of this year they had a15% fewer clients than in 2008 and they forecast for the thirdquarter a reduction of up to 25%. So they decided to showimagination and sense of humour. This same promotion thatbegan last weekend, was already featured in June, and seemsto work well. According to the hotel manager, John Gates, theyhad one hundred clients who took the offer, from which 24chose the option of the tent. Gates also said they wanted togive hikers, either by foot or bicycle, or those who usually haveno means to stay in a place like Rancho Bernardo, theopportunity to enjoy a luxury hotel. This promotion hidesanother intention. Most customers, though sleeping in a tentand paying 13 Euros for it, use some of the hotel facilities suchas restaurants, spa, shops ... And that's profit. Even in thecheapest option, the Hotel includes what they called “survivalbid ", these are entertainments offered by the hotel asswimming pools, golf, hiking... According to Gates, they havealready 50 bookings for the fortnight of August.


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1.3. PAYMENT TERMS AFTER ENJOYING TOURIST SERVICES:

The services a client may enjoy during his stay are not usually paid until the departure or untilthe end of booked services.

A direct client asks for his invoice and pays the concepts which appear in it: room food andextras he consumed. A possible prepaid amount will be deducted. Payment can be in cash, bycredit or debit card or if the company authorizes, by check or bank transfer. The two latteroptions are generally not accepted in most establishments because they require confirmation ofits accuracy by the administration department or the bank. A charge on a credit card requiresthe signature of the cardholder. Without that signature the client may send within the next 10days an order to his bank in order not to pay.

When the booking has been made by a travel agency, the payment for the services may bewith prepayment or on credit. If it is on credit it depends on the signed contract: invoices mustbe accompanied by the corresponding voucher and they must bear the client's name. Following

details of agreement, the payment must be done within 45 or 60 days after receiving theinvoice. In many cases there are clauses that must be taken into account, as if the wholesalerdoes not receive an invoice within 180 days since the booked services, it assumes that there isnothing to pay. Seen so, an oversight by the hotel, can be very expensive.

An agency bills in advance customer service (except large accounts and full credit vouchers)and thus provides liquidity to settle their invoices. On the contrary, a wholesaler does not havethis liquidity when giving credits to his retailers. Once they get the invoice from the provider(hotel), they in turn, send their invoice with the voucher to the retailer who proceeds to pay.Once the wholesaler gets the money from the agency, they pay. This is a very simplifiedscheme, because a wholesaler can have prepayments and credits with different deadlines aswell to pay as to recover.

Generally, retailers have prepayment unless they have a high sales volume or already a certainreputation that serves as a business card. Retail agents belonging to a chain such as HalconViajes, Viajes El Corte Inglés, Marsans, Iberia ... usually enjoy the same conditions as the TourOperator itself, so if a hotel signs contract with Tourmundial (wholesaler of Viajes El CorteInglés) and agrees a credit line, its retailers have the same conditions.

A franchised dealer would be a different thing, with franchise agreement for reasons of imageand name. These retailers sell packages from the own wholesaler's catalogue, they own thesame logo on the door, etc. but do not depend neither legally, nor financially on their "mainhouse". They are allowed to work also with other wholesalers and do not have automatically acredit line. The advantages of franchising are that the retailer does not start from scratch, hasalready a name and trademark they do not need to earn, a certain prestige and developedknow-how. The more outlets an agency owns, the higher possibilities of more turnover, detailwhich is taken into account when negotiating new contracts regarding next season.


1.4. AFTER-SALES SERVICES:

The evaluation of satisfaction level is a tool to reach it, not an end, and it would be a mistake toimagine that the fact of making such an evaluation achieves already customer's loyalty. Servicelevels do not get better by simply measuring them. Once the client's stay or service finishes, the

customer is given a questionnaire. It can also be found in the room and be filled in during thestay.


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The questionnaires can be:

to fill in

by telephone

personal or anonymous

per mailbox for complaints and suggestions

by interview to clients or potential clients

by audits (announced or unannounced), external or internal

The tests are usually attractively easy to fill in. If the design is confusing or very heavy, theclient can abandon the idea of giving us his opinion. If the customer prefers, he can stayanonymous, although this entails no answer by the establishment.

Another increasingly common modality of survey chosen, for it saves time and material, aretelephone surveys which have the advantage of obtaining precise information directly from thecustomer. Disadvantage is that the customer does not tend to like telephone survey: we do notknow if the timing is right, and that is the risk to receive information from low quality or even noresponse.

Surveys can be ordered by the producer itself or can also be designed by an agency in order tomeasure the client's satisfaction, not only regarding the service provided by themselves(information, advising, delivering of documents...) but also the one enjoyed at destination by theclient. That's very important regarding the contracts for the following campaign. If there are thesame negative comments from customers on a same establishment, the agency could takeaction on the matter even not renewing a contract. An agency usually attaches a questionnaire

to the original travel documentation which is delivered to the customer when paying the trip.They tend to be in prepaid envelopes or payable at destination and the client can answeranonymously.

Internet booking sites, according to their online work, send within few days after finishing thebooked service, an e- mail survey whose responses (anonymous or not) are posted on the webitself as customer's feedback. That's a double edged sword: a satisfied customer does notalways fill in a survey because he assumes that the provided service meets his expectations asit should. On the contrary, if the experience was not satisfactory they do tend to "spread" theiranger and publish negative critics. A customer who wants information about a facility beforemaking a reservation, does not usually read only the official website of the establishment whereinformation is obviously to sell and not always objective. Opinion sites such as Ciao.es or Travel

Advisor.com and the specific booking ones as Booking.com publish all kinds of experiencesinstead. This information is beyond the scope of the establishment itself (they cannot make itdisappear but can debate it through a press release) but it must be taken into account theextent of such action that "might make feel bad" or be considered a "tantrum". The vast majorityof people who go online to plan their travel take into account views and opinions of other userson the Web in order to make a decision. This trend is being manifested by the presentgeneration of Web users: on the one side there are the so-called "digital natives" who havebeen born with the Internet. It is a generation of users between 12 and 30. On the other side the"digital immigrants" between 30 and 50. Both generations have taken technologies to all areasof their personal and professional life (including people older than 50), and they are the currentcustomers of the hotel sector. So if the customer today is "tecnodependent” it is important inTourism to adapt business to their needs and be up to date.

Internet is a communication channel representing threats and opportunities and tourismentrepreneurs must be able to learn to know well the threats and take full advantage of the


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opportunities. Internet benefits those tourism businesses which care for their customers andoffer quality but "exposes" those who do not provide truthful information to consumers.

However, no matter how much progress there is, it is important never to leave the "traditionaltourist” aside. It is the one who does not use new technologies and therefore depends entirelyon the suggestions given by the producer or distributor.

The reasons why an evaluation does not generate changes may be several:

The company measures by requirement or fashion. When measure of theevaluation is a standard requirement (for instance ISO) or a requirement from theManagement (in case of chains), it means that there are no real interest in knowing thecustomer's satisfaction level.

Negative comments are ignored. The company wishes customer's satisfactionimmediately, discarding negative comments as hearsay and not understanding whatcaused the customer's dissatisfaction, either because the client was not specific enoughto give his opinion or because they think they know more than the client and they do notagree with him.

They do not know what to improve or change. If the survey is unclear, the answerprobably is not clarifying either. If they ask for the enjoyed service in a restaurant andthe customer only has to chose between good or bad, they really do not know if theclient liked (or not) the service itself, the taste of the food or something else entirelydifferent. So, the company could undertake changes that are not the ones the clientrelated to and the result is that there is no improvement at the end.

To improve customer satisfaction, it is not enough to ask for opinion, but the obtainedinformation must be taken into account to make decisions. Without making a decision, theevaluation has no sense and the customer's satisfaction does not increase either. It may evendecrease because an inquired client expects changes in the future and if they do not happen,the opinion gets worse even if the provided service is still the same.


1. STOCK CONTROL OF DESTINATIONS(DESTINIES) OR TOURIST SERVICES

Reservations can be direct or through an intermediary.

Direct ones are those made by the final consumer directly, whether a hotel stay, anairline ticket or a restaurant table. The customer can obtain information through multiplechannels: Internet, guidebooks and tourist brochures, tourism fairs, television programsor directly from the provider.

o Transport bookings: Transports companies can be contacted via telephonehotline or Internet. The client decides his travel dates, if one-way or round trip,number of people travelling and books. A credit card for the payment isimperative. The operator who attends it (if one chooses to book by phone)checks if there are places available and what kind of charge is to apply. Heproceeds to your booking taking note of the name of all passengers, identitycard number if they are over 14 years old, contact (telephone number) and thecredit card numeration for the payment. It is important to report the amount ofcosts in case of cancellation or modification of the reservation. In case the end

user chooses to make his reservation by Internet - today the fastest and mosteconomical way - the handling is identical. In any case, the client receives areference number to be submitted at the airline counter at the airport between


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90 and 120 minutes before departure for testing and delivery of documentationas boarding pass and return ticket if proceeds. It is also possible to get alldocuments scanned. For reservations for train, boat, bus… the system issimilar. Tickets are personal and confidential, so if the client does not arrive ontime, he loses any options of repayment.

o Booking of tickets and restaurant tables: As in the case of transports, theconsumer can directly book his tickets for theme parks, shows or restauranttables either by telephone or Internet. The requested data are similar totransport except in the case of the restaurant where they do not require thenames or ages of the people and where sometimes indicating a contacttelephone number is sufficient. If the client is not there at the agreed time, therestaurant will sell the table in order to mitigate a potential loss of income.

Not direct reservations are the ones that the final consumer manages through anintermediary, who can be a travel agent or an online reservation centre.

The customer goes to a travel agency where he collects all information needed tocomplete his purchase.

o Transports booking: Whether by plane, train, coach ... the travel agentadvises the customer seeking the best combination to get to his destinationtaking into account the wishes of the client (dates when he wants to travel, whatkind of transport he prefers, how many people ...). The travel agent gets intouch with the carrier to process the final booking. This can be through thecompanies’ telephone hotline or also via Internet. If the agency belongs to anassociation of travel agencies they may have an allotment of seats.

Another option is to book through a booking system like Amadeus, which is theworld's largest international distribution network where most reservations aremade through, more than with any other one. Amadeus was founded by analliance between Air France, Lufthansa, Iberia Airlines and Scandinavian

Airlines System. It specializes in software solutions for creating reserves forairlines, trains, cruises, car rentals, hotels and travel. Amadeus is used by67,000 travel agencies and 10,000 airline sales offices worldwide. With

Amadeus reservations can be made in: 490 airlines, representing over 95% ofthe seats of the airlines worldwide, 79.266 hotels, 22 car rental companies, 17

cruising companies, and other providers of travel (ferries, trains, insurancecompanies and tour operators). Amadeus has subscribers in over 217 countriesworldwide and offers local solutions for marketing, customer care and supportthrough a network of more than 70.

Other systems would be: SABRE centralized operating system processing inreal time (RT TPOS) developed by American Airlines and IBM; SIRE for railwayreservation…

Upon receipt of written confirmation of the booking, the agent proceeds toticketing. Most agencies have tickets and passages that become valid throughtheir seal and GAT number (reference number of a travel agency) and whichthe customer delivers directly at the check-in at the airport, train station or bus.

In case the agency lacks of these tickets, they can issue a voucher with allbooking details such as name and reference number, which the customer


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delivers at the transport company to get the final documents. The client paysthe total amount of the booked trip at the travel agency and, once they discounttheir commission, it is now the agency' responsibility to pay the final invoice tothe service provider.

o Tickets and restaurant table bookings: To make reservations for restaurants

through a travel agency or a reservation centre is not the most common unlessit is a large group of people or within the organization of a event or congress.There are associations or culinary groups which manage reservations amongtheir members in order to better prices and other attentions. This kind ofreservation, even having an intermediary, is effectively a direct booking, for theintermediary gets usually no benefit from this kind of booking. For ticketreservations it is more common to use the management through an agency.


1. TICKETING, BONDS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE MARKETING OF ATOURIST SERVICE

Today, in the information age and yet the desire to minimize costs and also taking into accountenvironmental factors, everything considered superfluous tends to be eliminated and thusreduce the amount of paper produced by issuing paper tickets and others. Until recently whenbooking trips by plane, bus, train or ship we got a ticket or passage with the correspondingcopies to be given to the service provider. They were selfcopying models with copies for theagency itself, copy for the administration department to settle bills, original for the customer andthen as many copies (=coupons) as journeys are included in the trip.

Through Internet, for the client it is sometimes difficult to discern whether the booking is made

directly to the hotel or if there is an intermediary, although there is no fundamental differenceregarding the price, since they usually match. It is true that the more intermediaries there are,the easier it is to lose information and if, for example, for a client it is important that the room islocated on the ground floor for some reason, if he has not directly contacted the establishment,that information can be lost on his way to the hotel. Seen so, the existence of an agency maynot be considered very helpful when making a reservation for a holiday product, but we cannotforget that a primary function is also to inform, not just to sell. They are the ones who guide,advice, counsel and they are there in the flesh, they are not just a voice on the telephone or acontact via e-mail. The tourism product is not a tangible asset that the client takes home afterpaying. They pay for a future service whose result they do not know yet and which they cannotreturn at the end (Unless he fills in a complaint form, wins and gets his money reimbursed).

A roundtrip ticket consists of 2 flights, the outward and back, so we had to have 2 flight couponswhich were torn at the airport in every way. In a trip that includes a roundtrip flight but somedayscale, 3 coupons would be for the flights and if on top it was a complete package with hotel stayand maybe also car rental service, also a coupon for the hotel and one for the car rental mustbe given. So, the more services, the more coupons would be necessary. That entailed a lot ofpaperwork and increased the possibility of error by the agent, if any coupon was torn out bymistake, it caused serious problems for the traveler at the airport and the hotel or car rentalcounter. This is because the coupon was the payment guarantee for the provider.

To minimize human errors, to avoid problems of loss of documents and generally to loweramounts of paper, today all this became obsolete. Just by providing a reference or bookingnumber and our name, whether the reservation was made directly with the company as if madethrough an agency. In the latter case, with the purpose of giving something physical to the

customer, the agent often prints an information sheet with flight details (departure time, flightnumber, airline, time before check-in ...) and reference number. With this document the clientmay go directly to the check-in counter or to companies counter (as they were informed). The


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same happens today with train tickets or bus. Only in hotels, the paper voucher is still presentwith personal vouchers, on site vouchers, full credit vouchers and open vouchers.



Today, in the information age and yet the desire to minimize costs and also taking into accountenvironmental factors, everything considered superfluous tends to be eliminated and thusreduce the amount of paper produced by issuing paper tickets and others. Until recently whenbooking trips by plane, bus, train or ship we got a ticket or passage with the correspondingcopies to be given to the service provider. They were selfcopying models with copies for theagency itself, copy for the administration department to settle bills, original for the customer andthen as many copies (=coupons) as journeys are included in the trip.

Through Internet, for the client it is sometimes difficult to discern whether the booking is madedirectly to the hotel or if there is an intermediary, although there is no fundamental differenceregarding the price, since they usually match. It is true that the more intermediaries there are,the easier it is to lose information and if, for example, for a client it is important that the room islocated on the ground floor for some reason, if he has not directly contacted the establishment,that information can be lost on his way to the hotel. Seen so, the existence of an agency maynot be considered very helpful when making a reservation for a holiday product, but we cannotforget that a primary function is also to inform, not just to sell. They are the ones who guide,advice, counsel and they are there in the flesh, they are not just a voice on the telephone or acontact via e-mail. The tourism product is not a tangible asset that the client takes home afterpaying. They pay for a future service whose result they do not know yet and which they cannotreturn at the end (Unless he fills in a complaint form, wins and gets his money reimbursed).

A roundtrip ticket consists of 2 flights, the outward and back, so we had to have 2 flight couponswhich were torn at the airport in every way. In a trip that includes a roundtrip flight but somedayscale, 3 coupons would be for the flights and if on top it was a complete package with hotel stayand maybe also car rental service, also a coupon for the hotel and one for the car rental mustbe given. So, the more services, the more coupons would be necessary. That entailed a lot ofpaperwork and increased the possibility of error by the agent, if any coupon was torn out bymistake, it caused serious problems for the traveler at the airport and the hotel or car rentalcounter. This is because the coupon was the payment guarantee for the provider.

To minimize human errors, to avoid problems of loss of documents and generally to loweramounts of paper, today all this became obsolete. Just by providing a reference or bookingnumber and our name, whether the reservation was made directly with the company as if madethrough an agency. In the latter case, with the purpose of giving something physical to thecustomer, the agent often prints an information sheet with flight details (departure time, flightnumber, airline, time before check-in ...) and reference number. With this document the clientmay go directly to the check-in counter or to companies counter (as they were informed). Thesame happens today with train tickets or bus. Only in hotels, the paper voucher is still presentwith personal vouchers, on site vouchers, full credit vouchers and open vouchers.


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Today, in the information age and yet the desire to minimize costs and also taking into account

environmental factors, everything considered superfluous tends to be eliminated and thusreduce the amount of paper produced by issuing paper tickets and others. Until recently whenbooking trips by plane, bus, train or ship we got a ticket or passage with the correspondingcopies to be given to the service provider. They were selfcopying models with copies for theagency itself, copy for the administration department to settle bills, original for the customer andthen as many copies (=coupons) as journeys are included in the trip.

Through Internet, for the client it is sometimes difficult to discern whether the booking is madedirectly to the hotel or if there is an intermediary, although there is no fundamental differenceregarding the price, since they usually match. It is true that the more intermediaries there are,the easier it is to lose information and if, for example, for a client it is important that the room islocated on the ground floor for some reason, if he has not directly contacted the establishment,that information can be lost on his way to the hotel. Seen so, the existence of an agency maynot be considered very helpful when making a reservation for a holiday product, but we cannotforget that a primary function is also to inform, not just to sell. They are the ones who guide,advice, counsel and they are there in the flesh, they are not just a voice on the telephone or acontact via e-mail. The tourism product is not a tangible asset that the client takes home afterpaying. They pay for a future service whose result they do not know yet and which they cannotreturn at the end (Unless he fills in a complaint form, wins and gets his money reimbursed).

A roundtrip ticket consists of 2 flights, the outward and back, so we had to have 2 flight couponswhich were torn at the airport in every way. In a trip that includes a roundtrip flight but somedayscale, 3 coupons would be for the flights and if on top it was a complete package with hotel stayand maybe also car rental service, also a coupon for the hotel and one for the car rental mustbe given. So, the more services, the more coupons would be necessary. That entailed a lot of

paperwork and increased the possibility of error by the agent, if any coupon was torn out bymistake, it caused serious problems for the traveler at the airport and the hotel or car rentalcounter. This is because the coupon was the payment guarantee for the provider.

To minimize human errors, to avoid problems of loss of documents and generally to loweramounts of paper, today all this became obsolete. Just by providing a reference or bookingnumber and our name, whether the reservation was made directly with the company as if madethrough an agency. In the latter case, with the purpose of giving something physical to thecustomer, the agent often prints an information sheet with flight details (departure time, flightnumber, airline, time before check-in ...) and reference number. With this document the clientmay go directly to the check-in counter or to companies counter (as they were informed). Thesame happens today with train tickets or bus. Only in hotels, the paper voucher is still presentwith personal vouchers, on site vouchers, full credit vouchers and open vouchers.


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1. NEGOTIATING WITH SUPPLIERS AND PROFESSIONALS IN THE PROVISION OFTOURISM SERVICES.

A contract is an agreement between two or more parties where trade relations are defined. Soare the contracts between tourism enterprises and their customers which can be direct, travelagencies, wholesalers or retailers or booking centres.

In a contract with a wholesale travel agency particular attention must be paid to:

Rates: Discounts and supplements Booking types: Allotment (number of rooms) or free sale Release Minimum requirements: stay and basis Commission Terms of payment: prepayment or credit line Overcommission: for prompt-payment or turnover Cost-free products or services


1. NEGOTIATING WITH SUPPLIERS AND PROFESSIONALS IN THE PROVISION OFTOURISM SERVICES.

1.1. RATES

The market is free, so each enterprise decides prices to convenience, not having a specific feeper category marked by the Administration. The price depends on supply and demand, sowhere no competition is given and unique service is offered, the price is probably higher than inthe case where many similar ones are present and where it is necessary to "fight" for the client.Prices are broken down into accommodation, bed and breakfast, half board and full boardaccording to the services available at the hotel.

Prices vary depending on room type and number of people (pax), regardless of the extras thatare engaged (pensions, treatment packages...) and the season.

Prices tend to be per person in double room. If the room is occupied by a single person (Doublesingle occupancy) a single supplement is to be added to reduce the loss of income by not beingthe room occupied by two people. It can be a percentage (usually 15% or similar).

If the room is occupied by 3 people the price is not multiplied by 3 but a discount for the 3rd

party is applied. This discount is for the discomfort of 3 people occupying one room (usually apercentage of 15 or 20% in the case of 3rd person over 12 years. If the 3rd party is a child, thesituation may change, being possible to have the children staying for free or with a discount ofup to 50%). Babies are usually free in only bed. It is very important to know that discount perchild is not for being a child, it is for being a 3rd person in a double room, so if the room isoccupied by an adult plus a child, no discount would be applicable. In the case of suite,supplement is usually per night not per person.


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EXAMPLE

A hotel publishes the following rates:

1. Price per pax in only bed: 60 € 2. Price for breakfast per adult: € 8 3. Single supplement: + 15%4. 3rd pax Adult Discount - 20%5. Discount child under 12 sharing room with 2 - 50%6. Half board (HB) adult: 20 € 7. Full board (FB) adult: 32 € 8. Discount for children under 12 years: -50%9. 7% VAT not included

1. Price for a double room with bed and breakfast (BB) for 2 adultswould be:

1. (60 € x 2 persons) + (8 € x 2 people) = 136 € + 7% VAT = €

145.522. In HB = 136 € + (20 € x 2 people) = 176 € + 7% VAT = €

188.323. PC: 136 € + (32 € x 2) = 200 € + 7% VAT = 214 €

2. Single with HB:1. (60 € + 15% single supplement) + 8 € + 20 € = 97 € + 7%

VAT = € 103.793. Triple with adult Triple Price FB:

1. ((60 - 20% discount) + 60 x 2) + (8 breakfast + 32 suppl. Pc)x 3 pax) = 288 € + 7% VAT = € 308.16

4. BB Triple with child:1. ((60 - 50% discount) + 60 x 2) + (8 breakfast - 50%) + 8

breakfast x 2 pax) = 170 € + 7% VAT = € 181.90

Generally and unlike the case of 3rd person adult, the discount is also onthe diet.

Offers like: Children free, generally refer to taking accommodation havingboards an extra price.


1.2. BOOKING TYPES

There are two booking types: allotment and free sale.

ALLOTMENT

Number of booked seats or rooms with no clients’ names which require final confirmation. Theycan be FIT, back to back or series. They are negotiated in free sale for a certain number ofseats or rooms and season, and from there on request.

FIT: Type of allotment for individual bookings.


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Back to back: Type of allotment where customers leave the same day as others enter,covering consecutive periods of time. Typical for resort hotels on the Canary andBalearic Islands where most of tourists arrive with a holiday package.

Series: Type of allotment where a group departs and the next one arrives but nevermeet.

Allotment is usually per room type, only double rooms or suites, being other types on request.

There is also a type of allotment called guarantee: the hotel receives payment even if theagency does not sell the room: the agency knows they have a fixed number of roomsguaranteed to sell and the hotel knows that they will receive payment for sure. It is frequent tofind that kind of allotment for groups moving a significant number of people over a year (forinstance Telefónica Social Fund). Besides the importance of knowing a guaranteed number ofrooms to sell, it is interesting from the standpoint of saving, as there is no need to spend oncommunication costs by asking the availability, through modifications of reservations etc.

FREE SALE

It means that the agency keeps on selling rooms until the hotel decides to remove availabilityand close sales, either because of being already complete or because they keep a certainnumber of rooms for its own direct sales. In some cases a security allotment is activated oncesales are closed, also with a release time to observe. The opposite of free sale is on request.


1.3. RELEASE

It is the deadline to cancel reservations of accommodation or transports without cancellationfee. Time varies depending on whether it is low season, medium or peak. The easier it is to sell(= peak season) the longer (14 to 21 days) the release time, so the hotel has time enough tosell by themselves. During the low season, with less movement, the release is much shorter(between 7 days and 48 hours) although it may exist cases of release 0 where the bookings canbe for the same moment. This is feasible when there are many rooms to sell and fewprobabilities of complete: a way to encourage sales.

EXAMPLE

A hotel with 100 rooms signs an allotment of 25 rooms with a peakseasonal release of 21 days.They can sell directly (whether direct or retail customers) a total of 75rooms. The other rooms are operated by wholesalers who have toconfirm at least 21 days before arrival of the client all reservation data(customer name, room type, number of persons, basis ...). From that dayon, all rooms that the agency has not sold are again available for thehotel to sale.

Calculation: For arrivals on the 27th of a month a release of 21 daysends on the 6th of that month so, from that day on, the allotment is lostand the hotel owns back the rooms to be sold even to the same


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wholesaler but on request.

A hotel works with a free sale until closing sales. The agencies sell without having to consult

availability. Once the hotel is booked out or decides to keep a number of rooms for their ownsales, they close sales. Some agencies have a safety allotment which gets activated in thatmoment in order to process missing bookings. A sales closing is not immediate, that isimportant in cases of powerful wholesalers who "split" their allotment among its partneragencies and therefore need some time to communicate a sales closing. It usually provides adelay time of 24 hours to make sales closing effective for all purposes. Hence the importance ofupdating daily sales and availability to avoid overbooking situations.


1.4. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OF SALE

A hotel may establish minimum conditions of sale, such as minimum stay or basis on specificdate, in order to optimize its resources.

A holiday hotel may impose during high season a minimum stay of 4 or more nights, or aminimum stay of 2 if it is including Saturday night during the low season.

Imposing at least bed and breakfast service ensures that everybody has breakfast, so that isworth setting up a buffet. If an agency does not respect the imposed minimum conditions, evenwith free sale or allotment, passes on request.

The minimum requirements are not rigid and can change over the year at the convenience of

the establishment.


1.5. COMMISION

The percentage agreed between the provider of tourist services and the agency or bookingcenter. It varies depending on whether it is a wholesaler who has to commission their productsto whom he sells, which is the retail travel agency, or it is a retail travel agency who benefits..

Usually, a wholesaler has a sales commission of between 20 and 25% of the gross price. Oncethe commission is deducted, the price is called net. Wholesalers in turn give a commission toretailer of between 10 and 14%, so that the difference is benefit to the wholesaler. The morecommission they receive and the less they give, the bigger the profit margin they obtain. Whennegotiating the commissions, several points are taken into account such as the type of agency(if retail or wholesaler), history of previous reservations (whether rising or stagnant trend setting)and the actual interest of the service provider: if it is a powerful wholesaler with which, up todate, they had no relationship, it will be interesting to grant a high commission percentage justto attract them as a customer. The more commission they get, the higher their interest in sellingthat tourist service.

A hotel can also boost sales increasing commission rates during the lower season.


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EXAMPLE

The price per night for a double room is 100 € + 7% VAT (= 107 €) If awholesaler has an agency commission of 20%, the net amount to pay thehotel is 100 - 20% + 7% tax = € 85.60. The difference (107 € - 85,60 € = 21,40 €) would be considered profit ifeverything went to the coffers of the wholesale agency, but if they turncommission to a retailer for selling them, giving for example a 12%, thebenefit would be another:

100 € - 12% + 7% VAT = € 94.16 is the amount paid by the retailer, sothe final benefit for the wholesaler would be 94.16 € - € 85.60 = 8.56 €


1.6. TERMS OF PAYMENT

The agreed per contract between the parties. We distinguish between prepayment and creditsituation:

o Prepayment: When full payment is done before the client makes use of bookedand paid tourist services. In case of a stay in a hotel, it would be the net cost ofthe booking. There are variations as a percentage prepayment before arrival ofthe client and the rest during the stay, but this is not very common because it isneither practical nor profitable.

o Credit Line: we talk about credit line when it is agreed to pay booked servicesafter being consumed. So that the payment is not delayed at the discretion ofthe wholesaler, a time limit is set of 30, 45, 60 or even 90 days after the receiptof the invoice. So if 45 days were signed, the wholesaler or reservation centerassumes to settle the bill at the latest within 45 days after receiving the invoicewith the net that covers the booked stay or services. Keep in mind that thewholesalers are not allowed to sell directly to consumers so that they have inturn to charge the intermediary (retailer). Again, it may be on credit so theyhave to wait to collect, or with prepayment. In this case they already have thenet amount so they can play with the generated interests of having a sum ofmoney in the bank. A wholesaler therefore prefers credit with a higher deadlinewithout giving credit in turn.

Another control mechanism is the limit of the credit line. Frequent values are50,000 € to 100,000 €. That amount will depend on both the tourist serviceprovider and the wholesaler or reservation centre. A small hotel may not grantcredit to 45 days from invoice date and a credit line of up to 100,000 € becauseit probably leads to ruin, which is contrary to large chain hotels. The set limitstells the maximum amount the wholesaler or reservation centre may owe to thetourism enterprise in credits, in other words, although 60-days-payment are

signed, if the credit line set at 100,000 € is exceeded, the credit will be cut untilit gets reduced to less than 100,000 €.


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first sight to do with tourism. So a coffee shop, bar or restaurant can reach exclusiveagreements with a brand of soda or beer. In exchange for these brands being exclusively soldin the establishment, they could receive special discounts. However, this won't be seen by theconsumer, thus it is common to get marketing material from the brands, such as the typicalumbrellas, chairs, clip-letters, cards, bottle-holders... In the case of hotels, they can agreespecific campaigns with, for instance, health food producers or water distributors who want to

promote their products as highly healthy. If the hotel owns a spa or wellness area, the produceror distributor can draw stay at that hotel among their customers. The producer increases theirsales among consumers who want to win that stay and the hotel promises to have theseproducts in his establishment. The accommodation price is agreed, normally below theprevailing rate.

Private media advertising can be managed through an own marketing department or through anadvertising agency. Advertisements may be timely, to promote a specific event, such as NewYears Eve Celebration, local festivals, opening new facilities or new product introductions, orcontinuously over a period of time, as the small footnotes ads in press to "refresh the memory,"specialized magazine ads (health magazines, interior decoration, stylish hotels, restaurants,sports, trip specials in women's magazines (or male’s), collective magazines: National police,army, firemen, civil...).

It is also appealing the promotion through sponsorship of sporting events at any level throughinsertion of advertising on shirts, banners, billboards or trophies. Each promotion depends onthe type of tourist service and market segment you want to attract. On a professional level,advertising reaches a broad audience. A few years ago Atletico de Madrid (a football club) boreMarbella city in their shirts so the city was promoted worldwide. This is a good example ofpromotional success. If instead of promoting the whole city, it had been a city restaurant called"Casa Pepe" it would probably have been far less successful. No one would travel only andspecifically from, say, England to visit a restaurant. On a more modest level, if a restaurant or ahotel with spa services is promoted on the shirts or signs of a small regional team, spectatorsfrom the surroundings can be potential customers and it is a fine way to reach them.

Finally, it is necessary to include the increasingly importance of promotion through socialnetworks such as Facebook, MySpace or Tuenti. This is a new form of communication whereproblems such as space, time or ubiquity disappear; an information tool for sharing knowledge,helping to find communities, to integrate them and cooperate. It has become a quick and cheapway to make promotion and communicate with past and future clients making them aware ofdevelopments. Like most things it is also a double-edged sword in the sense that others canpost their experiences both positive and negative.


1. MANAGEMENT OF ROOM BOOKINGS AND OTHER SERVICES OF THE HOTELESTABLISHMENT

Reservations can be direct or through an intermediary.

Direct ones are those that the final consumer makes directly, whether of a hotel stay,an airline ticket or a restaurant table. The customer can obtain information throughmultiple channels: Internet, guidebooks and tourist brochures, tourism fairs, televisionprograms or directly from the provider.

o Hotel Accommodation bookings: Internet and telephone are the best allieswhen booking a hotel room.

On its website the hotel advertises its rates, packages and proposals and the

client chooses based on what he prefers. Most of the websites of the hotelshave the option to on-line bookings, to check availability, rates and to receive


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confirmations immediately. The website has to be updated every time areservation enters in order to have exact and correct information; it also servesto encourage specific dates, for instance if it appears that a date has a lowoccupancy, it is possible to launch a specific tender on that date in order tominimize loss of earnings.

If the management is by phone, it's the reservations department task to closesuccessfully the booking. They must pay attention to what the client says, listento what he asks for and thus recommend the best option for the customer. Iftravelling with children, he may opt for a larger accommodation or for a packageincluding half board or some type of complementary activity. Meanwhile acustomer who is on a business travel probably does not look for much morethan a room and few facilities. Once it is known the choice of accommodationtype the customer wants, we must check the availability of date, always takinginto account any allotment or blockades made by an agency with which acontract is signed. Allotment must always be respected, so until the expirationof the release, a Hotel cannot sell any room even if they still have noconfirmation. Given this situation, a Hotel always has to offer alternatives, eitheroffering other dates or another room-type or offering a waiting list. The possible

reservation is in stand-by until the moment a cancellation occurs or the releaseexpires and so the rooms become again property of the establishment.

The booking request meets all our requirements, we do have availability ofroom type and dates and the customer accepts the provided quotation, weproceed to the reservation itself. A booking form is filled out with all pointsconcerning this booking. Essential data are the customer's name, exact date ofentry and exit, type and number of bedrooms, number of people who occupy(adults and children), chosen regimen, additional services (activities program,treatment program if it is a hotel with spa services…), special clients requests(cod, terrace, non-smoking room, upstairs...), contact telephone number, fax ormail to send written confirmation and reservations guarantee in shape of acredit card. This last step can be replaced by a bank transfer if the customerdoes not want to provide his credit card. A hotel is an enterprise that seeks togenerate profits, therefore it cannot trust - except in some isolated cases – thegood word of a client, that is why money acts as a guarantee: it can vary from athe amount of the first night up to a percentage of the final price. This amount ofmoney is on the customer's account and is deducted from the final invoice. Ifthe client does not check-in on the booked day, the hotel can keep the collateralmoney to offset the loss generated by the lost reservation. Either the clientmakes a cash deposit as a guarantee, or a bank transfer or gives a credit cardnumeration, it is important to stress the requirement of sending always a writtenconfirmation to the client indicating the amount of the guarantee and areference number, either by fax, by email, SMS, or, infrequently, postal mail.Confirmation is useful for both parties: the customer has something physical toconfirm his purchase with all its details and so does the hotel, so in case ofdoubt, everything is written (the date could be wrong and that would be a bigproblem during peak season). The customer must also be informed of possiblecharges in case of cancellation or modification, for example how much it wouldcost if he cancels out of time (usually the amount of the guarantee of booking).

A customer with a confirmed booking with check-in on day 20th of the month,contacts the hotel 1 day before wanting to delay his check-in day for 2 days. Heis not cancelling the booking, but even so the hotel could - according to theircancellation policy – charge cancellation costs because the customer iscancelling the first night just one day in advance so the hotel may have nolonger option to sell the room by itself. Never forget that a hotel sells aperishable product: an unsold room cannot be stored for sale on anotheroccasion, it is a room that cannot be sold anymore.


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Not direct reservations are the ones that the final consumer manages through anintermediary who can be a travel agent or an online reservation centre.

The customer goes to a travel agency where he collects all information needed tocomplete his purchase:

o Hotel accommodation Booking: The sale of hotel rooms through a travelagency can be of single nights or of a whole package including travel, transfersto the hotel, accommodation arrangements, excursions…

Systems as Amadeus facilitate the efforts. Another option would be directcontact with the hotel or other intermediary which would be the wholesaleagency. This last one launches a leaflet with their products, but, by law, theycannot sell directly to the customer and they must use retailers and distributors.The confirmation may be immediate if the wholesaler has an allotment, or onrequest if they do not have any allotment and have to consult with the hotelwhether there is availability or not. The amount of commission that a retailergets for selling a product from a wholesaler is essential in order to chooseworking with one or another, but this is not always the most decisive point. If awholesaler gives a commission of 14% but is never able to confirm bookingsimmediately, the retailer may seek to sell another wholesaler who maybe givesless commission but confirms at the moment, so that the sale can be closed inon the spot. A customer who wants to buy and does not get what he is lookingfor, may change his mind or seek his fortune elsewhere, so that would be a lostsale. After closing the sale and getting the written confirmation from thewholesaler, the retailer charges the consumer the full amount, issues a vouchercovering the booked services and delivers it to the client in order to be given tothe hotel.

A voucher is a document issued by a travel agency which requests the hotel (or othertouristic service) to provide the indicated services. There are different types of

vouchers:

o Personal voucher: Customer's name is written, so in case of loss nobodycould benefit from it. Also written arrival and departure dates, confirmed roomtype, number of people and rooms, basis, booking reference and stamp of theretailer agency that processed the booking. The voucher may be designed bythe own retailer, especially if the sale is directly made. If the voucher is an owndesign but the booking was confirmed by a wholesaler an indication of who isthe final payer usually appears (for instance: Payable through Ekoalfa S.A.).

Most of the wholesalers design their own vouchers which they hand out blanklyto their retailer. Another option is t

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