Handling Difficulties in Communicating With Foreign Guests At Grand Pasundan Convention Hotel.

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i _{Maranatha Chirstian University}

ABSTRACT

Saat menjalani masa magang sebagai bagian Front Office Department di Grand Pasundan Convention Hotel, ada beberapa hal yang harus diperhatikan, salah satunya adalah harus menghadapi tamu dengan sopan dan ramah, agar mendapatkan kesan terbaik dari tamu untuk performa hotel. Saya menemukan beberapa kesulitan menerima tamu di hotel terutama bagian front office, yang berhadapan langsung dengan tamu dari mulai check-in sampai check-out. Salah satu kesulitan yang saya alami selama kegiatan magang saya di Grand Pasundan Convention Hotel khususnya di front office department adalah saya mengalami

kesulitan dalam menangani berkomunikasi dengan tamu asing. Aksen asing yang kurang jelas dan kurangnya pengetahuan saya di bidang ini membuat saya sulit menghadapinya.

Setelah menemukan masalah ini, saya mencoba menganalisa faktor yang menyebabkan timbulnya kesulitan-kesulitan tersebut. Penyebab yang pertama adalah saya tidak mempunyai pengalaman berkomunikasi dengan tamu asing, ditambah dengan tamu asing tersebut berbicara menggunakan aksen mereka yang bervariasi. Selain itu kosa kata Bahasa Inggris saya masih terbatas dalam bidang ini. Masalah ini menyebabkan beberapa dampak yaitu banyak terjadi salah paham antara tamu-tamu dan saya. Selain itu pekerjaan saya yang telah diberikan oleh atasan saya menjadi tidak selesai tepat waktu, karena mencoba mengerti apa yang dimaksudkan oleh tamu asing karena mereka berbicara kurang jelas.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

The usage of English has become truly important and more people

speak English to communicate. English is the first language that is used to

communicate in a lot of fields. According to Riansari in her research,

English Language holds a very important role in international

communication in a lot of fields (2). One of the fields that uses English for

communication is hotel business. There are not only local but also foreign

guests in hotels; therefore, English is needed by hotel staff in order to

communicate with foreign guests. Every employee in hotels must be able

to speak English. As Fogarty wrote in his article entitled “Understanding

the New French Hotel Rating System” that, “In 5-star hotels staff must be

able to speak two foreign languages including English” (par. 6).

Additionally, in Hotel and Resort English, Yada wrote that, it is demanded

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From July 1st _{until July 25}th_{2014, I had an internship at Grand}

Pasundan Convention (henceforth: GPC) Hotel. My position during the

internship is in the Front Office Department as a receptionist. My

responsibilities were welcoming the guests who came to the hotel, filling in

the guests data, and helping the guests with their enquiries. During my

internship in the Front Office Department, there were ten foreign guests,

they came from Singapore, Arab, and Malaysia. They all spoke to me in

English three of them spoke with various accents and I found several

problems.. For example, I had difficulties in communicating, listening, and

understanding the foreign guests. In this paper I would like to analyze and

focus on one problem which is handling difficulties in communicating with

foreign guests at GPC Hotel.

Having limited English vocabulary, various English accents, and did not

have any experience caused a misunderstanding between the guests and

I. Therefore, I choose handling difficulties in communicating with foreign

guests at GPC Hotel as my topic of this term paper.

In this term paper I will also discuss the causes and the effects of my

problem. There are some causes which lead to having a hard time

communicating with the foreign guests. There are also several effects

which will be explained later. In order to help solve this problem, I will

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3 Maranatha Chirstian University

B. Identification of the Problem

When I did my internship in the Front Office Department at GPC Hotel,

I found a problem which I would like to analyze. The problem is handling

difficulties in communicating with foreign guests at GPC Hotel. While

analyzing the problem, I came up with several questions.

1. Why is it difficult for me to communicate with the foreign guests in

Front Office Department in GPC Hotel?

2. How does this problem affect my performance as a receptionist?

3. How should I communicate well with foreign guests as a

receptionist?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

The objective of writing this term paper is to analyze the cause, the

effect, and best solution. The benefit of writing this term paper is to

become the printed source of guidance of how to handle difficulties in

communicating with foreign guests.

It will be useful for the staff in GPC Hotel as the institution where I did

my internship. It will also be useful for other people who work in Front

Office Department, they may be able to use the solutions that I state in this

term paper. Furthermore, when I have the opportunity to deal with foreign

people again in the future, I will have been able to communicate better as I

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D. Description of the Institution

Based on the information attached on appendix that I got from the

Human Resource Department of GPC Hotel, GPC Hotel was built in 2002

and finished in 2003. This hotel was under the management of PT. Graha

Bandung Kencana which is a family company. The Grand opening of GPC

Hotel is on 1st_{March 2003. GPC Hotel is located at Jl. Peta 147-149}

Bandung. This hotel has 9.317 m2_{land area, 16.548 m}2_{building area, and}

has 168 rooms such as: studio, superior, deluxe, standard, junior suite

room, premier classic, grand deluxe, executive room, premier suite, royal

family suite, president suite, and driver room. This hotel has a lot of

facilites that guests can use such as: fitness center, spa, barbershop,

business center, coffee shop, cake shop, karaoke, swimming pool,

ballroom, and meeting room. This hotel is a hotel with a qualified

three-star hotel and now evolving into a four-three-star hotel. This hotel has a general

manager, her name is Ms. Rimawati. GPC Hotel also has vision and

mission statements. The vision is to make GPC Hotel the only hotel in the

most comprehensive MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conferencing, and

Exhibition) city of Bandung, and the mission is to introduce GPC Hotel’s

existence in society, especially in Bandung, and in Indonesia in general

and also in the world.

E. Method of the Study

The method that I used is library research. I took data from books,

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5 Maranatha Chirstian University on my internship at GPC Hotel from 1st_{July until 25}th_{July 2014. The data}

is used to analyze causes, effects, and potential solutions.

F. Limitation of the Study

The subjects of my research is the foreign guests at GPC Hotel and I

myself. I started to observe when I was in charge at The Front Office

Department from 08.00 a.m until 05.00 p.m. My internship started on 1st

July 2014 and finished on 25th_{July 2014.}

G. Organization of the Term Paper

This term paper starts with Abstract, Declaration of Originality,

Acknowledgements, and Table of Contents. The first chapter of this term

paper contains the description of GPC Hotel and the introduction of this

term paper. The second chapter contains causes and effects of my

problem. The third chapter consists of the potential solutions that will be

useful to solve my problem. In this chapter there are several positive and

negative effects of the potential solutions analyzed. The last chapter

consists of the conclusion and the chosen solutions to solve the problem.

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Handling Difficulties in Communicating With Foreign Guests At Grand Pasundan Convention Hotel.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A.

Background of the Study

B.

Identification of the Problem

C.

Objectives and Benefits of the Study

D.

Description of the Institution

E.

Method of the Study

F.

Limitation of the Study

G.

Organization of the Term Paper

BIBLIOGRAPHY