NN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE REAL SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT AT SEA CORNER BOUTIQUE HOTEL

FACULTY OF ENGLISHGRADUATION PAPER AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE REAL SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT AT SEA CORNER BOUTIQUE HOTEL Major : English for Tourism

FACULTY OF ENGLISH

GRADUATION PAPER

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE REAL SITUATION AND

SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING FRONT OFFICE

DEPARTMENT AT SEA CORNER BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Major : English for Tourism

SUPERVISOR : VO THI THANH TAM, M.A

STUDENT CODE : 2321320711

DA NANG, 2021

February 24th, 2021

To Teachers in Duy Tan university

To Manager and all of Staff in Sea Corner Boutique Hotel Da Nang.First, I would like to express the sincere gratitude to the teachers foryour guidance in the past 3 months I appreciate your assistance andvaluable experience, which had led me to better preparation in my careerpath

Besides, I am thankful Ms Vo Thi Thanh Tam, my tutor in this researchand thesis writing process; and Ms Pham Thi Thuy, my supervisor whooffered me a valuable internship opportunity in her hotel

Finally, I would like to thank the help from friends and other teacherswho have helped intellectually with this thesis

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I declare that except where reference is made in the text of the thesis,this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in thewhole or in part from a thesis by which have qualified for or been awardedanother degree or diploma in my university and that to the best myknowlede

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement inthe graduation paper

This graduation paper has not been submitted for award of any degree

or diploma in any other tertiary institution

Danang, May 2021

Le Quang Huy

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Facilities of Room

Table 2.2: Facilities of Restaurant

Table 3.1: Revenue profile of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel between 2019and 2020

Table 3.2: Number of guests at Sea Corner Boutique Hotel between

2019 and 2020

Table 3.3: Customer’s evaluation about Reception Department facilitiesTable 3.4: Result of customers’ evaluation about the Front OfficeDepartment staff’s attitude

Table 3.5: Guests evaluating of facilities of the Sea Corner Boutique Hotel

Table 3.6: Guests’evaluation of the Receptionist of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel

Table 3.7: Guest’s evaluation of the serving process of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel

Diagram 1: Sea Corner Boutique Hotel’s Organizational structure

Diagram 2: Organizational structure of Front Office Department in SeaCorner Boutique Hotel

Chart 3.3: Guest’s review about Reception Section facilities

Chart 3.4: Resulf of customers’s about the Front Office Departmentstaff’s attitude

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

F&B : Food and Beverage

FO : Front Office

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ii

LIST OF TABLES iii

LIST OF FIGURES iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 RATIONALE 1

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 2

1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 2

1.4 METHOD OF THE STUDY 2

1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY 2

CHAPTER 2 : THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

2.1 Tourism 4

2.1.1 Definition of tourism 4

2.1.2 Classification of tourism 4

2.2 Hotel 5

2.2.1 Definitions of hotel 5

2.2.2 Classification of hotel 6

2.3 Hotel Business 7

2.3.1 Definition of Hotel Business 7

2.3.2 Feature of Hotel Business 7

2.4 Hotel Product 9

2.4.1 Definition of Hotel Product 9

2.4.2 Hotel products classify 9

CHAPTER 3: CASE DESCRIPTION 11

3.1 Introduction to the Front Office Department of Sea Corner

Boutique Hotel Da Nang 11

3.1.1 Definition of the Front Office Department of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel Da Nang 11

3.1.2 The role and the mission of the Reception Department of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel Da Nang 11

3.1.3 The organizational structure of the Reception Department of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel Da Nang 12

3.1.4 Serving process of the Front Office Department of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel Da Nang 14

3.1.5 Requirements for the Front Office staff of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel Da Nang 15

3.2.1 Introduction and foundation 17

3.2.2 Sea Corner Boutique Hotel’s operation system 18

3.3 Sea Corner Boutique Hotel’s facilities 19

3.3.1 Hotel room 20

3.3.2 The restaurant 24

3.3.3 Additional services 26

3.4 Real status and the performance of the Front Office Department at Sea Corner Boutique Hotel 27

3.4.1 Introduction to the Front Office Department 27

3.4.2 Reception Department’s staff 27

3.4.3 Working hours 28

3.4.4 Working style 28

3.4.5 Serving process of the Receptionist at Sea Corner Boutique Hotel

28

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 30

4.1 Hotel’s bussiness in recent years 30

4.1.1 Revenue profile of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel in recent years 30

4.1.2 Number of guests at Sea Corner Boutique Hotel 31

4.2 Reception Department facilities 32

4.3 Reception Department staff’s attitudes 33

CHAPTER 5: DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTIONS 38

5.1 General evaluation to the strengths and weaknesses of the Services quality of Front Office Department at Sea Corner Boutique Hotel

38 5.1.1 Strong points 38

5.1.2 Weak points 38

5.2 Suggestions 38

5.2.1 For Front Office Department’s facilities 39

5.2.2 For Front Office Department’s staffs 39

5.2.3 Other solutions 39

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 41

6.1 Conclusion 41

6.2 Suggestions 41

6.2.1 Suggestions for the overall issues 41

6.2.2 Suggestions for the teaching and studying of English for Tourism at English Department, DTU 42

REFERENCES 43

SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS 44

APPENDIX 44

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1.1 RATIONALE

Tourism is recently known as having a slowdown due to the Covid 19pandemic, although this was one of the prosperous industries and greatlycontributes to the income of the country

By that fact, the tourism industry in general, and the hotel industry inparticular, are required to change to adapt Indeed, the current number ofhotels is increasing, which clearly means hotels need to build and improvetheir strong selling point to passengers and assert their competitive position

in the market Customers are demanding higher and higher quality ofservice, however, depends on their subjective perception Thus, satisfying allthe demand is such a difficult issue for the business

High-quality "products" building by minimizing errors in the serviceprocess from the time of arrival until the time of leaving the hotel is greatlyaffected by communication activities in the hotel, which is mainly decided

by the receptionist's department Through this department, a hotel caninform, guide, explain customer complaints or inquiries These activitiesmake it possible to find the insight of passengers

In addition, the reception department is known as the face of a hotelrepresenting from the first and the last interaction with customers, whichdetermines the customer's impression of the quality of the hotel.Contemporary, the hotel receptionist is the bridge to deploy the hotel'sbusiness strategy however still satisfies the customers

Sea Corner Boutique Hotel is a 3-star hotel, located in a great view to

My Khe beach, Da Nang In the past few years, service quality reviews arequite high, especially in the FO section However, with the request toincrease the competition of Sea Corner Boutique hotel in order to survive the

pandemic, I would like to raise the topic: "An Investigation into the RealSituation and Solutions to Improving Front Office Department at Sea CornerBoutique Hotel", at the aim to find the best solution to the above question.

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the study is to understand the status of leisure travellers

to Sea Corner Boutique Hotel, approached from the perspective of the FrontOffice Department The paper also analyze the inner points, such as servicequality, service strength All in all, the problems will be set in the dawn andsome suggestions will be revealed

1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

- Scope of the content: Improving the quality of the services of theFront Office Department at Sea Corner Boutique Hotel

- Research documents due date: Statistics and relevant documentsbetween 2019 and 2020

1.4 METHOD OF THE STUDY

Some methodology were used to support the work included:

- The collection method to get essential data by contacting the SeaCorner Boutique Hotel’s manager and accounting department

- The descriptive method to show the quality of the real services

- The analytical method to investigate the actual figures for furtherevaluation, comparison, and conclusion drawing

1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

The case study consists of six chapters:

Chapter 1: The introduction of the graduation paper including

Rationale, Aims, and Objectives, Scope of the study, Method of the studyand Study’s Organizations

Chapter 2: The presentation about the theoretical background for this

Chapter 5: The difficulties and some solutions to solve outstanding

issues and improve the Services of Front Office Department at Sea CornerBoutique Hotel

Chapter 6: Conclusion and some Suggestions

CHAPTER 2 : THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 Tourism

2.1.1 Definition of tourism

The definition of Tourism will vary depending on the source Althoughthere is no complete agreement on the keyword "Tourism", a few summarieswill be provided as below:

According to Macintosh and Goeldner (1986): "Tourism is a collection

of activities, services, and industries which deliver a travel experience comprising transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking establishments, retail shops, entertainment businesses and other hospitality services provided for individuals or groups traveling away from home."

[ CITATION Mac86 \l 1033 ]

Base on Vietnam Tourism Law 2017: “Tourism is the movement to

another place within 1 year of residence from their regular living place for purpose of satisfying the needs of sightseeing, learning, entertainment and relaxation.”[CITATION the05 \l 1033 ]

From the above definitions, it can be seen that tourism is considered anessential human need, serving their satisfaction and safety In other words,the focus of the tourism business is the customer's feelings

2.1.2 Classification of tourism

Type of tourism can classify base on the following criteria:

The purpose of the trip

Nature tourism

Cultural tourism

Social tourism

Some other criteria

Based on the tourism destination's geographical features

Based on transportation

Based on accommodation facilities

Based on travel time

Based on age

Based on the type of the tourism organization

2.2 Hotel

2.2.1 Definitions of hotel

The definition of Hotel in Vietnam Tourism Law 2017: “A hotel is for

serving domestic and international tourists, which provides their accommodation, food, entertainment and other necessary services.”

[ CITATION the05 \l 1033 ]

As well, “Hotel” definition can be interpreted in the some below ways:

- Hospitality can be defined by law as a type of business registered andlegally defended by law, for the aim of doing business and creating a profit

- The hotel is a place to create business, equipment is required full tomeet the demands of accommodation, entertainment, dining andentertainment, and many other requirements of guests

- The hotel is a construction that must have a built-in security license,fire safety standard, and services equipments for accommodation services

As such, the hotel is a popular accommodation facility for all tourists.they produce and sell to customers the services and goods that meet theirneeds for sleeping, eating, resting, treating, entertaining, etc to satisfy theiressential needs and additional needs of tourists

2.2.2 Classification of hotel

Hotels can be specify by the following categories:

+The purpose

+Major customer characteristics

 Resort hotels: Often located on the areas with natural resources

such as mountains, forests, river lakes

 Commercial hotel: Mostly locate in busy cities, commercial

centers, for guest who stays in short time

 Airport hotel: Located close to international airports, pilots,

flight attendants or guests waiting for the transit of flights with short stays

 Casino hotel: This place usually reserved for who participate in

activities, gambling tournaments This kind has optimal materials to servethe above goals

Budget hotels (Hostel): Small-scale hotels is suitable for backpackers

or who need to stay one night, with standard equipment

 An apartment hotel (Condotel): As know as dependent

apartment, for serving the needs of long-term relaxation or cooperate withthe management unit to sub-lease during the non-stay period, full of functionrooms for guests' dining activities such as dining room, living room,bedroom, kitchen

 Motel: Cheaper than hotel, for short stay customer.

 Floating hotels: In addition to room service and dining, there

are entertainment and cosmetic services available aboard boats witharchitecture comparable to that of a hotel on the mainland

2.3 Hotel Business

2.3.1 Definition of Hotel Business

The book Business Administration Curriculum Hotel quotes Hotelbusiness as a profitable operation on the basis of providing accommodation,dining and additional services to guests to meet their accommodation andentertainment needs at tourist destinations.[ CITATION DrN13 \l 1033 ]From the definition of the two experts, in addition to the main field ofresting and dining, the hotel business can also includes providing sports,health/beauty care, laundry service, telephone service, payment service,transportation service, etc

2.3.2 Feature of Hotel Business

Due to the type of hotel business attached to tourists, therefore, it hasdistinctive characteristics directly related to tourists The hotel business has

4 main characteristics:

Depends on tourism resources at tourist destinations:

The hotel business can only be successfully conducted where there aretourism resources (determined based on the parameters of tourism resources,target customer groups, potential customers attracted to the touristdestination) The reason is that the most important market of this industry istourists

Accurately finding of tourism resource will indicate the hotel'stechnical indicators when investing in construction and design The higherthe value and attractiveness of the tourism resource, the greater theinvestment required for the scale of the hotel

At the same time, the architectural planning, technical facilities of thehotel at tourist destinations also strongly affect the value of that whether

tourism resources to be enhanced or reduced

Requires large amount of investment capital capital

The desire for having competitive quality of a hotel will bring along therequisition of high-quality facilities According to a research article byUniversitat Rovira I Virgili (2018), the luxury of interior equipment is themain reason pushing up the initial investment cost of a hotel There are alsosome other factors such as initial cost for hotel infrastructure, rentingpremises, cost for an attractive location, etc [ CITATION Ant18 \l 1033 ]

Requires a relatively large amount of direct labour

The hotel business is 24-hour serving, and most of the services areperformed by hotel staff Add on, hotel workers are often required to have a

high degree of specialization Thus, the demand for the workforce whenrunning a hotel business is quite high This poses a difficult problem forhotel managers in balancing high direct labour costs with the quality of hotelservices, in addition to difficulties in recruiting use and allocation of humanresources.

Operates within regular and natural laws

The hotel business is governed by a number of such laws as natural laws, socio-economic laws, and human psychological laws For example, thedependence on tourism resources, with the cyclical fluctuations of weather, the climate creates changes according to certain laws in the value and

attractiveness of the resource to tourists calendar, thus causing a color

change in the hotel business, especially hotels in sea or mountain tourist destinations Regardless of the governing influence of the law, in business, there are both negative and positive effects

2.4 Hotel Product

2.4.1 Definition of Hotel Product

Hotel products are services and goods that hotels provide to customers from the time they book a room until payment These products are supposed to meet all the demands of customers while enjoying the time at the hotel

2.4.2 Hotel products classify

Commodity products are tangible products that the hotel provides

such as food, drinks, souvenirs, etc Souvenirs are a special kind of spiritualgoods that attract tourists from other localities Many hotel managers put thisitem into business as a way to attract customers' impressions

Service products are in the form of non-material or intangible that

customers pay for receiving their value There are 2 types of hotel serviceproducts:

+ Main service: serving the essential needs of guests when they stay atthe hotel, which are bedroom service and dining service

+ Additional services: serving the secondary needs during the guest'sstay at the hotel Mandatory and optional additional services will determinethe hotel classification criteria

CHAPTER 3: CASE DESCRIPTION

3.1 Introduction to the Front Office Department of Sea Corner

Boutique Hotel Da Nang

3.1.1 Definition of the Front Office Department of Sea Corner

Boutique Hotel Da Nang

The Front Office (FO) is usually placed at the Lobby of a hotel, whereguests are first arrive The FO will have some basic works such as receivingand checking in, solving requests, complaining during the time guests stay atthe hotel, payment, checking out procedures (may change due to thedifferences in size, organizational structure)

Although being not the largest department in a hotel, it plays animportant role in generating revenue for hotels and building positive

- As directly contact with guests, the FO staffs are supposed to knowbest about customers' taste Thus, they play a role in contributing to thedevelopment strategies for the hotel

Mission

- Advertising, selling rooms, and hotel services

- Get reservations and room layout for guests

- Directly coordinate with other departments to serve guests during their stay.

- Payment and see off guests

- Participate in the marketing of the hotel

3.1.3 The organizational structure of the Reception Department of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel Da Nang

 Front office department manager

- All reception department actions are reported to the hotel director

- Organize the implementation of the Front Desk's tasks

- Organize the implementation of the Front Desk's tasks

- Organize events

- Insist on inspecting, monitoring, and evaluating the hotel's staff'sperformance

- Become a member in order to recruit individuals

- Employees receive training and improve their receptionist abilities

- Take part in the marketing activities of the hotel

- Coordinate with other areas of the hotel

- Ensure that hotel policies and current legal papers pertaining to theFront Desk's operation are followed

 Receptionist

- The process of preparing visitor registration data was well done

- Greetings

- Determine the status of visitors' reservations - Determine the length of stay

- Be aware of the hotel's location, as well as the features and costs ofeach room type

- Use sales abilities to persuade customers to hire rooms and market thehotel's other offerings

- Divide the room to fulfill the demands of the guests

- Establishing guest room pricing and payment methods.

- Double-check that the votes in visitors' records are correct andcomprehensive

- Arrange documents and visitor information on the designated shelves,

as well as deliver letters and notes to visitors

- Provide all needed information to guests

- Keep workplace always neat and clean

- A deposit will be asked for the booking if one is necessary

- Keep track of available rooms

- Write a report on the current reservation condition

- Make a list of visitors who are anticipated to arrive each day

 Cashier (FO cashier)

- Add expenditures from guests to the account

- When visitors check out, pay and collect

- Provide money exchange services to consumers

- Customer account balance at the end of the shift

- To conduct shifts, you are responsible for the cash amount in thecashier's area

- Prepare payment paperwork in advance for guests.

- Save the money you made throughout the shift

- Keep track of sales during each shift

- Assisting guests by providing a shuttle and carrying luggage

- Inform and advise visitors on check-in processes, as well as assist

them in becoming familiar with the hotel's amenities

- Introduce the hotel's amenities to visitors, such as the spa, restaurant,

and breakfast, as well as other valuable information such as tourist sites, delectable addresses, and so on, so that they may enjoy their stay The hotel and the area were both excellent

3.1.4 Serving process of the Front Office Department of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel Da Nang

Pre-Arrival

During this phase, the FO staff's duty is to make and verify areservation according to a guest's requests Besides, the reservation staff ofthe FO department is also responsible for making the decision to choose thehotel of the guest by his persuasion In order to impress and create sympathywith guests, reservation staff need to have good communication and salesskills, and the ability to quickly handle guest booking requests Theinformation received during the booking process will help to welcome andserve guests in the most thoughtful way

Arrival

Reception staff need to prepare pre-registration documents for guests inorder to perform quick and accurate check-in procedures upon arrival

Specific tasks to serve guests during the arrival of guests at the hotelinclude welcoming, checking-in procedures and providing full informationabout services and notes on hotel regulations for guests.

After the guest has entered the room, the front desk staff completes thedocuments and completes the procedures to declare temporary residence forthe guest

The cashier opens an account for the customer For small hotels, thereceptionist will also take on the duties of the cashier

Occupancy

During this period, The receptionist will coordinate with otherdepartments to provide services upon request, encouraging guests to use thehotel's services

The receptionist is also the position responsible for receiving andhandling guest complaints, ensuring guest satisfaction

This is the stage for the hotel to "score", creating an impression ofservice quality for guests to return or recommend to friends and relatives tocreate potential guests for the hotel

3.1.5 Requirements for the Front Office staff of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel Da Nang

- Having trained in receptionist skills; have the experience, professionalreceptionist, and some other related operations

- Ability to communicate well with customers and sales skills

- Master the regulations and legal documents related to the tourismindustry in general and the hotel business in particular; master the hotelmanagement rules and regulations; understand and understand thoroughlythe goals, business directions, the ability to provide hotel services

- Know the activities of the hotel, the products, and services currentlysold, ready to provide all the most complete and accurate information tocustomers upon request

- Have basic knowledge of accounting, payment, statistics, marketing,and office administration

- Grasp some diplomatic rules, etiquette, customs, and psychology ofsome countries; have basic knowledge about politics, economics, socialsecurity,

- Fluent in foreign languages and office computer

- Have a good working attitude, responsible at work

3.2 General Information of Sea Corner Boutique Hotel.

Sea Corner Boutique Hotel is located on Tran Bach Dang street, DaNang city.

Address: 196 Tran Bach Dang streets, Ngu Hanh Son District, Da Nangcity

Phone number: +0236 3575 850

Email: seacornerboutiquehotel@gmail.com

Website: seacornerboutique.vn

3.2.1 Introduction and foundation

With a 3-star standard hotel, Sea Corner Boutique located in a primelocation, in the front of Muong Thanh Apartment and My Khe Beach, whileAsia Park is 2.6 km away 5 km from Danang International Airport SeaCorner Boutique will give a whole new experience to visitors to this touristcity

With a scale of 32 modern rooms, this hotel features a restaurant, a gymroom and an outdoor pool

Free of charge, including swimming pool, gym services, WiFi in publicareas All 32 rooms provide conveniences like bathtubs and free WiFi andpillowtop beds There are 40 air-conditioned rooms with minibars and safes

at the Sea Corner Boutique Hotel Mattresses with pillowtops are included inthe beds Premium cable channels and Netflix are available on 30-inch LCDscreens Separate bathtubs and showers, slippers, designer toiletries, and freeamenities are all available in the bathrooms Wireless Internet connection isavailable for a fee at this hotel Desks and phones are among the business-friendly features In addition, hair dryers and complementary bottled waterare provided in each room A nightly turndown service is provided, as well

as daily housekeeping On-site amenities include an outdoor pool, achildren's pool, and a jacuzzi tub A fitness club and a sauna are among theother leisure options

3.2.2 Sea Corner Boutique Hotel’s operation system

Sea Corner Boutique Hotel’s organizational diagram

Student: Le Quang Huy Class: K23NAD6 code : 232132071

General Manager

Deputy General Manager (F&B)

Diagram 1: Sea Corner Boutique Hotel’s Orgazation structure

Functions and tasks of each Department

Director manages general activities of hotel, such as checking financial

report, setting rule of staffs, checking room sold, checking restaurant, etc in order to bring the best result for the hotel

General Manager is a senior manager, responsible for managing all

activities of the hotel, as well as making decisions that directly affect theoperation of the hotel, overseas operations, and assigns work to theremaining departments

FO Department is the face of the hotel This department is in charge of

welcoming guests and taking care of and serving customers

Housekeeping has main mission of keepin hotel areas and rooms clean,

and ensure service quality of guest staying

Food and Beverage department take responsibilily for creating dishes

to serve the needs of customers At the same time, it is also a highlight forthe hotel to attract long-term customers

Human resources department is in charge of human resource

management, employee recruitment, salary management, benefits, taxes etc

Sale and marketing department is to find customer, expand the

essential market, advertise hotel, survey customer to improve hotel service

3.3 Sea Corner Boutique Hotel’s facilities

Sea Corner Boutique Hotel located in Da Nang city, 5 km from theairport, close to the beach for entertainment Guestrooms are equipped with

a range of standard amenities including; Wi-Fi Internet, satellite TV, fridge,tea and coffee