Abstract
The front desk section of a hotel is of utmost
importance because it is the first point of contact with any customer. This is
why the service encountered by the customer at this section of the hotel goes a
long way in determining if such customer will subsequently check back at such
hotel or not. Tourists have different experiences based on their encounters and
interactions with the hotel front desk officers. Therefore, this study focused
on the impact of the front desk services on the increased revenue generation of
some selected hotels in Ibadan North. Purposive random sampling method was used
in carefully selecting the respondents. Questionnaires were administered to
sixty front desk officers and sixty hotel customers of these selected hotels.
The primary data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential (chi square)
statistics. The findings of this
research shows that most of the tourists passed satisfactory and impressive
remarks about the services that they got from the customer service sections of
these hotels. It also reveals that there is significant relationship between
customer satisfaction and increased revenue generation of the hotels. Therefore
useful recommendations were drawn from the result of the findings.
Keywords:
front desk, service, and tourists
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Background of the Study
1.1 Hospitality Industry
1.2
Statement of Problem
1.3
Aim
And Objective Of The Study
1.4 Research Questions
1.5
Significance
of study
1.6 Scope
of study
1.7 Definition
of term
CHAPTER
TWO
LITERATURE
REVIEW
2.1 Hospitality industry
2.2 Quality in the hospitality services
2.3 What is a Hotel?
2.3.1 Types of Hotel
2.4 Resort Hotels and Resort Destinations
2.5 Tourists experience in Hospitality
industry
2.6 Concept of Customer care
2.7 Justification for quality customer
service.
2.8 Relationship between customer care and
customer satisfaction
2.8.1 Fostering customer opinions as a means of
customer Satisfaction
2.8.3 Customer care as a means of business
survival.
2.9
Service Delivery in the
Hospitality Industry
2.10
Tourist satisfaction in relation to
hospitality industry
2.11
Customer expectation from a
hospitality industry
CHAPTER
THREE
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Research
Design and sampling technique
3.2 Selection
of study area
3.3 Population of study
3.4 Sample
and sampling techniques
3.5 Research
Instrument
3.6 Procedures for Data Analysis
CHAPTER
FOUR
DATA
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
4.1
Responses from front desk workers
4.1.1
Demographic Characteristics of the front
desk staff
4.2
Responses from tourists
4.2.1
Demographics of tourists
CHAPTER
FIVE
5.0
Conclusion and Recommendation
5.1
Conclusion
5.2
Recommendations
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Background of the Study
1.1 Hospitality Industry
Hospitality is the relationship between guest and
host, or the act or practice of being hospitable. Hospitality is also known as
the act of generously providing care and kindness to whoever is in need.
According to Dictionary.com hospitality means ‘the friendly reception and
treatment of guests or strangers’. Specifically, this includes the welcome,
reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers in a warm,
friendly and generous way. Globally, the hospitality industry is an industry to
reckon with because it is employing a lot of resources (human, capital and
infrastructure) and causing a lot of development to occur around anywhere it is
cited.Hotel
industry is a big business worldwide. Olawuyi and Adedara (2015) opined that in
Africa, hotels spring up in large numbers, although many are not up to global
standards but the staff strength of these hotels increased and that helped to
provide job opportunities. The specific recent growth of the
hospitality industry in Nigeria is apparent and remarkable. More private and
public investors are hugely investing in the hospitality industry in Nigeria.Ayeni
and Ebohon (2013) opined that the tourism sector is a magnet for
foreign direct investments and affords developing countries the opportunities
to attract inward direct investments both for soft and hard tourism
infrastructures. International investors are also handsomely investing in
tourism (most especially hotel and hospitality industry) in economically viable
areas of the world. It is
among the world‘s top creators of jobs, requiring varying degrees of skills and
allows for quick entry into the workforce for youth, women and migrant workers.
Hospitality industry centresaround the
provision of accommodation, food services, relaxation and party services for
residents, tourist’s and travelers over a short period of time. Mackenzie and
Chan (2009) reiterates that broadly speaking, Hospitality is the act of
kindness in welcoming andlooking after the basic needs of guests or strangers,
mainly in relation to food, drink andaccommodation. Hospitality industry can
thus be broken down into the following sections:
v front office
v food and beverage
v managerial
v housekeeping sections respectively.
All these sections are found
in a hotel. The front office section of a hospitality industry houses the
customer care representative of the hotel. The front desk is a section of front
office. This is the first point of call/contact for any prospective customer
and it is this section that this research focuses on. The primary function of the front office is
that of a facilitator between the guest and other departments. The number of
interactions and transactions between the guest and the hotel during a guest
stay determines the type and nature of front office operations. The stages of
guest stay are:
v pre-arrival,
v arrival,
v occupancy,
and
v departure.
Various transactions between
the guest and the hotel, therefore, depend upon the stage of the gueststay.
Another job of Front office desk is also to support and help in providing
services to theRegardless of the class or type of the hotel, front office is
the most visible and essential focal-point ofa hotel. The focal point of
activity within the front office is the reception desk, which is located in
thefront lobby of a hotel and dispenses all front-of-the-house activities of
the hotel. It is thecommunication centre of the hotel with great amount of
guest contact. Guests interact with the hotelfor the first time by interacting
with the staff of the front office, and they form the first impressionabout the
hotel based on the efficiency, competency and behaviour of the front office
staff.Stated below are the functions of the front office;
Front
Office:
ü Sell
guestrooms, reservation, register guests and assign guestrooms
ü Coordinate
guest services
ü Provide
in-house and external information to guests
ü Maintain
accurate room statistics and room key inventories
ü Maintain
accurate room status information
ü Maintain
guest accounts and settle their bills
To fulfill these basic responsibilities
the front office is broken into different sections each with distinct roles.
These sections are:
Front
desk
Reception:
this
section receives and welcomes the guest. The reception registers guests and
assigns room to them.
Information:
this
section is used for providing various information to in-house guest.
Cashier
desk: this section is used for checkout process of the guest. The cashier
maintains the guest’s accounts during their stay.
Guest
relation desk: this section is used for collecting guest
feedback and maintenance of guest history. The guest relation executive ensures
that all guests, especially the VIPs, are kept comfortable during their stay.
Bell
desk: this section is used for assistance of guest during check-in and
checkout process.
Travel
desk: this section is used for assistance of guest for arranging vehicles
for guest movements and for making train/ airplane reservation.
Lobby
manager: The lobby manager coordinates all guest services. He is the
representative of the General Manager at all times during the day and night. He
/she oversee the bell desk, concierge, transportation and valet services.
The food and beverage section
of the hotel is the section where various types of foods and drinks are
prepared based on the customers demand. The personnel that work under this
section are the chefs and the waiters. The managerial section of a hospitality industry
houses personnel that are the decision makers of the respective industry. The
managerial section is usually based on specialization for standard hotel and
they could be Human resource manager, marketing manager, general manager and
managing director. Meanwhile, some cheap and low standard hotels in Nigeria
usually have one manager. The house keeping section of the hotel involve
individuals that are involved in the prompt changing of bed sheets, toiletries
and cleaning of the room before the room is being allocated to another
customer.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie and Chan
(2009) opined that there are two main business sectors in the
hospitalityindustry and they are:
· Accommodation
– To provide accommodation (and usually food and drink) topeople who for whatever
reason are away from home
· Food and
beverage – To provide food and beverage to local, commuting, transientcustomers
and tourists
It is noteworthy that not all
hospitality industries are meant for profit making. For instance, some small
hostels and private lodge for churches and schools are usually not meant for
money making but rather for their staffs and members.
Table 1 reveals that
hospitality section of tourism is divided into feeding and accommodation
sections. Nordic council members (2012) while studying the overview of
hospitality sector in Norway buttressed this point by breaking the sections of
hospitality industry into feeding, accommodation and food and beverage
operations while stating the subset under each category.
|
Accommodation
|
Food and beverage operations
|
|
Hotels
|
Restaurants
|
|
hostels
etc
|
restaurants
and cafes
|
|
camping,
tourist cabins
|
fast
food/ quick service restaurants
|
|
other
accommodation
|
catering
and canteens operated as independent businesses
|
|
|
Bars
|
Table 1: Breakdown of Hospitality industry
Source:
Nordic council members (2012)
1.2
Statementof Problem
There are several hotels in Ibadan North local
government. Front desk is an important department section of hotels and it is
found in all hotels within the case study.
Research and reported interview had revealed that one
of the factor that enhance sales it the attitude display by front desk officer.
At times customers or tourist are discourage by the way the front desk officer relate with the
and as a result they might decide not to patronize such hotel.
Also, service of meal is another relevant issue that
leadtopoor revenue generation. Some of the front desk officer are show nonchalant attitude
while attending or servicing customers; some neglect the fact that customers
are always right and it is a satisfactory relation that bring the customer the
subsequent time.
However, this research work consider the impact
and effort put into job expression of
the hotels, how their customer had been so as to see if it actually enhance
revenue.
On the other hand, the study revealed the ways which
front desk officers can enhance their service which will surely promote the service and yield to high revenue
generation.
1.4 Aim And Objective Of The Study
The main aim of this study would be to know the
relationship between increased revenue generation of the hotels in Ibadan North
and customer satisfaction by the front desk section of the hotels.
Therefore the objectives of the study would be to:
- Examine the impact
of the front desk on customer satisfaction
- Examine social
impact of the front desk section of the hotels on the case study
- Examine the
perception of the front desk officers on their job role and duties
1.4Research
Questions
The
following research questions would be considered for this research work
·
What is the impact of the front desk on customer satisfaction?
·
What is the social impact of the front desk section of the hotels on the case
study?
·
What is the perception of the front desk officers on their job role and duties?
1.6 Significance of study
The study will be beneficial in the following ways, if
it is generally acceptable;
At first, the study will be useful for all developing
and newly established hotel on how to entertain or deal with the customer.
Likewise, it will consider front desk officer
satisfaction and also help to modify such bad character if there is any.
Moreso, it will help hotels to developmore strategies
in generating revenue or increasing revenue of the firm
1.6 Scope of study
The scope of this study is specifically based on
assessment of front desk services on the increased revenue generation of some
selected hotels in Ibadan north local government.
Moreso, the study also consider the influence of these
hotels in the community and the level of development in the community since
inception of the hotels which has to do
with their social life.
On the final note, the study will focus on some
selected hotels with high focus on the front desk service and customers
satisfaction, this implies that these area will be treated with separate
questionnaire.
1.7 Definition of term
Hospitality:This
is the business of providing catering, lodging and entertainment service for
people. Simply the act of welcoming guest.
Reception:
This is as section of the hotel where guests are received
Front
desk:This is a section the hotel that makes room
reservation, provide information and services to guest.
Cashier
desk: This is a section of the hotel reserved for cash
attendant of the hotel
Lobby:This
is an entryway area of the hotel
Accommodation:
This is act of lodging in a dwelling quarters afforded to travellers or tourist
in hotels or on cruise ships
Revenue:
This is the total income generated on a business transaction carried out by a
firm or an organization
Customer
satisfaction: This is the state of providing an
adequately expected pleasure to customer at the point of entertainment
Tourist:
This is a person who travels for pleasure rather than business
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