RECENT TRENDS IN THE HOTEL BUSINESS - I

During the 1980s, hotels around the world treated their guests so lavishly that
people joked that the next treat would be a BMW on your pillow.
By the early 1990s, hotel executives had stopped smiling and so had their
guests. The Gulf War was followed by recession in the US and Europe. Hotel room
rates fell, managers in many businesses lost their jobs, others feared they would do
so, and everyone started cutting their travel expenses.
Hotel business has now picked up in North America, London, and in much of
Asia, where the downturn had not been so severe. The question hotel executives
are asking is whether their guests will return to the free-spending habits of the
1980s, or whether their behaviour has changed for good.
Mr Peter George, chief executive, of the Ladbroke Group of the UK, which
owns the Hilton International chain, believes that hoteliers should not lose sight of
the principles of supply and demand. Hotel rates have been depressed because
rooms have been empty. When rooms are full again, rates will rise, he says.
Mr Darryl Hartley-Leonard, British-born president of Hyatt Hotels, believes,
however, that hoteliers need to be aware of a more fundamental change. It is not
just that hotel guests have been unable to afford additional luxuries over the past
few years. Even when they have more money in their pocket, they will not want
those luxuries, he believes.
Mr Michael Stajdel, senior vice-president for marketing at Inter-Continental
Hotels believes hotel guests will pay for services, if they believe they are worth
having.
So what services do hotel guests value? Hyatt’s research shows that while
hotel guests want choice, they do not need an excessive amount of it. They expect
hotel restaurants to have enough staff to ensure they can be served promptly.
Indeed, they want to spend less time in the restaurant than in the past. Offered a
choice between a wine list with 100 bottles of wine on it and one with 30, Hyatt
says its guests opt for the smaller list.
Guests are not necessarily looking for the cheapest offer but they are
considering things more carefully at present.

QUESTIONS
1. What was the effect of the recession after the Gulf War on tourism?
A. Hotel executives were unwilling to smile.
B. Everyone economised on travel expenses.
C. Managers lost their staff.
2. The question hotel executives are asking is whether
A. their guests still want the lavish gifts of the 80s.
 B. their guests will be ready to spend so much money as in the 80s or they will
never do so again.
C. their guests’ behaviour will be as good as in the 80s or it will change for the
better.
3. Hoteliers believe that
A. hotel rooms will be more expensive if there is less demand.
B. additional luxuries will increase the demand for hotel rooms.
C. luxuries will not be demanded even by people who can afford them.
4. The hotel guests of the 90s
A. think that waste and extreme luxury are unacceptable.
B. don’t accept anything in excess of what they have demanded.
C. are conservative in their choice of hotels.
5. What does Hyatt’s research show?
A. Hotel guests’ demands are simple but should be satisfied promptly.
B. Guests should be offered a wine list of at least 100 bottles of wine.
C. Guests prefer a small wine list but enough staff to serve the wine.

RECENT TRENDS IN THE HOTEL BUSINESS - II

The message of the past few years is clear: hotel guests are demanding better
service for less money.
There are some new services that hotels need to introduce because guests
constantly ask for them. Because 63% of calls to its housekeeping department were
for an iron and ironing board, Hyatt Hotels decided it was simpler to put these
items in every room.
Hotels in North America, Europe and Asia agree that hotel guests want less
hassle and more time in which to work. Business travellers are expected to do more
work on their trips than ever before and they are even prepared to pay extra for an
environment which enables them to work more efficiently. This has led to the
appearance in hotels of a service which airlines have been selling for years: special
business sections for those prepared to pay for them.
Business floors in hotels appeared in Asia some years back. Mandarin
Oriental, the Hong Kong - based hotel group, has such floors at its establishments
in Singapore, Manila and Jakarta, where guests have their own check-in and check-
out facilities and lounges, as well as facsimile machines in every bedroom.
Inter-Continental, which also has business floors in Asia, has now begun to
introduce them in Europe. The first was in Frankfurt, and the second is in London.
Mr Stajdel, senior vice-president for marketing at Inter-Continental, describes the
floors as having ‘the ambience of a private club. It’s intimate and clubby. There’s a
complimentary continental breakfast, a business centre, and a library with
reference books and magazines.’ Guests pay $25-$30 a night extra for the
privilege.
If hotels are to deliver these services while still achieving acceptable levels of
profits, they need to turn to technology. At Hyatt’s Hotels at O’Hare airport in
Chicago and in Atlanta, the company has been testing automated check-in
machines which, if successful, will be introduced throughout North America.
The device looks like a bank’s automated teller machine. A guest with a
reservation inserts a credit card. Check-in information appears on the screen, the
guest taps a series of Yes or No buttons, and the machine dispenses a room key.
Guests can also check out of the hotel by inserting a credit card into the machine,
which shows the expenses they have incurred during their stay and prints out a
copy of the bill.
Some people might regard the hotel checking-in machine as providing too
impersonal a welcome after a long trip. Mr Hartley-Leonard, the British-born
president of Hyatt Hotels, argues that the same was thought about automatic cash
dispensers. In time, these caught on.

QUESTIONS
1. What do hotel guests demand?
A. More services for less money.
B. New services that hotels need to introduce.
C. Traditional services with higher quality.
2. Business travellers need
A. irons and ironing boards.
B. time and extra money to work efficiently on their trips.
C. business sections in hotels.
3. The business floors of Inter-Continental have the facilities typical of
A. a business centre.
B. a private club and a business centre.
C. a public library and a hotel lounge.
4. Technology helps hotels to
A. achieve the desired revenue.
B. accept profits that should be unacceptable.
C. raise profits to a reasonable level.
5. Hyatt’s new automated check-in machines
A. substitute a receptionist by doing check-in and check-out procedures.
B. provide cash for the expenses guests incur on their bills.
C. give information about hotel keys.
 THE GLOBALIZATION OF CUISINE

Cross- 1)………. cuisine has infiltrated every country imaginable. 2)……… the
trend is preceded by the emergence of fast-food restaurants or large franchise
operations. Branded concepts have made 3) ………. way across continents. A
Cuban bodega, El Bodeguita del Medio, originating in Havana, now 4) …………
customers to franchise in Paris, Madrid and Dubai. Diners 5)………. the Palm
steakhouse in New York, Mexico City and San Juan, Puerto Rico. But the subtler
6)…………of regional cuisine also influence flavours across oceans. It’s a process
that 7) ………. time, but has accelerated in 8) ……… years. It will 9) ………. to
do so as technology and affordable travel dissolve physical boundaries.
Asian flair will permeate the global culinary marketplace, as traditional Asian
cuisine will accommodate customers’ accelerated taste buds and health concerns.
‘Guests will prefer spicy and tangy food to bland foods,” 10) ……… Sunil Taneja,
Food and 11) ………. manager of 12)……… Taj Hotel, India. “There will be a 13)
…..…. of preference from fatty foods, creamy soups and sauces to 14) ….…….
food, lighter in nature. Guests will prefer grills and barbecues to deep-15)………
foods. A lot of non-vegetarians will move toward 16) ………… vegetarians.”
These new preferences find their natural realization in Asian-influenced foods,
long renowned 17) ………. fragrant spices and innovative 18) ……… of grains,
vegetables and low-fat 19)………. Taneja’s menu of the future 20)……… such
entrees as tandoori chicken with a bouquet of vegetables, spicy chicken breasts on
a bed of sautéed vegetables and flambéed tandoori lobster.