Employees of the Front Office Department often provide the first and last impression of the hotel to our guests

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King Abdu Aziz University Tourism Institute (KAUTI) With Consulting Support of Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL)

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King Abdu Aziz University

Course Description form

Preamble Information

Course Title Accommodation I- Front Office Theory

Course Number HT 231

Credits 1

Prerequisites None

Number of Hours 14 Class room hours

Professor

khursheed

^(Mr)

Last Update September 2011

Course Description

The Front Office Department comprise of the Reception, Guest Service Offices, Bell Services, Reservation, Operators, Executive Club, Health and Recreation Centre and Business Centre. The purpose of the Front Office Department is to provide guests assistance with luggage, transportation, information concerning the hotel and the city, and any other service arrangements needed during their stay.

Employees of the Front Office Department often provide the first and last impression of the hotel to our guests. It is therefore vitally important that employees display a prompt and courteous attitude to all guests and demonstrate the excellence in service.

Hospitality students and front office managers and staff members will learn how to organize, perform, and evaluate hotel front office functions. Relationships between departments, technological advances, and front office tools are explained in chapters on areas such as reservations, front office accounting,

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and human resources. Although will concentrates on many technical aspects of front office

management, it also emphasizes the importance of guest service. Touches on issues facing the industry.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to

Knowledge 1. Define the role of the rooms department and its products and services.

2. Describe the different functions of the other departments of the hotel

3. Explain the different functions in a front office department, their responsibilities, how they are linked internally and at what point in the guest cycle they intervene

3.1 Reservation 3.2 Reception 3.3 Concierge

3.4 Cashier 3.5 Night auditor

4. Explain the different designs and organizational charts in the front desk related to a hotel’s size, category and its destination

5. Describe the usefulness of a computerized network in hospitality industry

6. Identify the moments of truth in the guest cycle—reservations, arrival, welcome, occupancy and departure

7. Explain the role of reception in safety and security issues

Competencies 8. Analyze and apply different selling strategies based on 8.1 Information about the competition

8.2 Internal results and statistics 8.3 Potential impact on customers

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9. Analyze the needs of accurate service orders and a constant information flow to other departments concerning billing and management of accounts receivable.

10. Design an organizational structure for the front office department,

Considering internal communication and customer service.

Mindset 11. Evaluate the performance of a front office department 12. Link the set-up of a reception area to its effectiveness and efficiency