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UNIT - 1
Hospitality and Security Aspects

Guest needs

Identifying guest needs and providing anticipatory Service. Guests visit hotels for different reasons, The front desk
team should be smart enough to identify and categorize different types of guest and their needs. This will allow them
to provide an anticipatory service and exceed the guest’s expectations.

The Business Travelers
 Looks for steady and fast Internet connection, to access email.
 Basic business Centre service (copy, print, fax).
 Travel Adaptor, Mobile/ iPhone/iPod/iPad chargers and connectors.
 Ability to connect to multiple devices through Wi-Fi.
 Likes International Newspaper and magazines.
 Early and healthy breakfast / early bird breakfast.
 Workplace and inspiring work environment.
 Healthy and stimulating lunch, dinner, room service menus in the communicative environment.
 Efficient & speedy service, discretion, accurate invoicing.
Shopping / Leisure Guest
 Guest would be interested in information on shopping malls, outlets, galleries, City maps,
Area / Neighborhood information.
 Requires more luggage space, more hangers, bathroom amenities etc.
 Looks for Happy hour/afternoon tea etc.
 Swimming pool and other leisure activities in the hotel.
 Fancy/special restaurant recommendation.
Special Occasion Guest
 Amenities from the Hotel,  (Cake, Wine, chocolate, personalized gift)
 Special attention at Arrival/check in.
 Recommendations for nice restaurants (nice view), beach activities and other attractions in
the city
 Special touch at turn down service.
 DVD Player, DVD rental / Xbox etc.
 Prefers Room service.
 Late check out.
Family Guest
 A sofa bed, baby cot (including amenities) extra towels.
 Connecting rooms.
 Special Children menu.
 Babysitting services.
 Kid’s pool and activities for children.
 Recommendation of FUN places like an amusement park, Zoo's, city tours, beach activities.
 Extra care if travelling with old parents.

Tangible and Intangible Needs

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Products are tangible and Services are intangible in nature. Intangibility of services is derived from the fact
that you cannot see or touch a service. A service is made and delivered on spot and hence it cannot be
measured as easily as a tangible product.

Tangible services in hotels are the physical products of hotel, e.g. food and drinks in a
restaurant, hotel room are Products that are sold at a price to the guests or customers

Intangibility of services it is something which you can touch and feel and you know what the exact cost of
the product is and what it has to be priced at.

Characteristics of intangibility of services.

 Service cannot be touched

 There is no precise standardization method for services
 Services cannot be patented
 There are no inventories in services
 The consumer is part of the service process because he consumes the service. Thus, either the
service must go to the customer or the customer has to come to the service.

Hierarchy of Needs in Hospitality

Maslow cites five basic psychological needs an average person should posses

A need for: physiological, safety, love & belonging, esteem and self actualization.

The first for needs are referred to as dependent needs because they are obtained from other people. Self-
actualization comes from oneself. Hospitality operators should know and understand how these needs affect
their guests and their experience in your hospitality environment.

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A hospitality operator should realize that 2 of the needs, the physiological and the need for love most often
have been met before the guest enters your place of business.

The physiological need means that if we do not have enough money to provide food for ourselves or our
family, we will spend the greatest portion of our time trying to earn enough money or obtain food to satisfy
this need.

The need for safety can play an important part in the success or failure of a hospitality business. Guests
typically have satisfied the need for safety because they live in a community that makes them feel
comfortable and fearless. However, some hospitality environments are located in areas which may be
considered a bit more dangerous thus this need may not be satisfied.

The need for love and belonging refers to being accepted by other people and groups. Most guests have
made friends and formed associations with their peers. At times this need benefits the hospitality
environment because our guests belong to groups that patronize restaurants, bars and hotels.

The key need all hospitality operators must satisfy is the fourth need: the esteem need. This need centers on
self respect and can be also called the “ego” need. It means that you as a hospitality operator make the guest
feel important by way of the respect you bring to them. An easy way to fill this need is by addressing the
guest by their first name or even inquiring about their friends or family members.

The fifth need is the need for self actualization which comes from within the person. This is achieved when
the person develops their maximum potential. As hospitality operators, we indirectly contribute to the
development of this need because we have helped satisfy the need for self esteem

Nature of Services

The definition of service is “any intangible product, which is essentially a transaction and is transferred from the
buyer to the seller in exchange for some consideration

 Intangibility: A service is not a physical product that you can touch or see. A service can be experienced
by the buyer or the receiver. Also, you can not judge the quality of the service before consumption.

 Inconsistency: There can be no perfect standardization of services. Even if the service provider remains
the same, the quality of the service may differ from time to time.

 Inseparability: One unique characteristic of services is that the service and the service provider cannot be
separated. Unlike with goods/products the manufacturing and the consumption of services cannot be
separated by storage.

 Storage: The production and consumption of services are not inseparable because storage of services is
not possible. Being an intangible transaction there can never be an inventory of services.

Quality of Service

In the service industry, definitions of service quality tend to focus on meeting customers’ needs and
requirements and how well the service delivered meets their expectations. In order to deliver and maintain
service quality, an organization must first identify what it is that constitutes quality to those whom it serves 

The five dimensions of service quality 

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Tangibility

Since services are tangible, customers derive their perception of service quality by comparing the tangible
associated with these services provided. It is the appearance of the physical facilities, equipment, personnel
and communication materials. In this survey, on the questionnaire designed, the customers respond to the
questions about the physical layout and the facilities that FFR offers to its customers.

Reliability

It is the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Reliability means that the
company delivers on its promises-promises about delivery,sevice provision, problem resolutions and pricing.
Customers want to do business with companies that keep their promises, particularly their promises about
the service outcomes and core service attributes. All companies need to be aware of customer expectation of
reliability. Firms that do not provide the core service that customers think they are buying fail their
customers in the most direct way.

Responsiveness

It is the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. This dimension emphasizes attentiveness
and promptness in dealing with customer’s requests, questions, complaints and problems. Responsiveness is
communicated to customers by length of time they have to wait for assistance, answers to questions or
attention to problems. Responsiveness also captures the notion of flexibility and ability to customize the
service to customer needs.

Assurance

It means to inspire trust and confidence. Assurance is defined as employees’ knowledge of courtesy and the
ability of the firm and its employees to inspire trust and confidence. This dimension is likely to be
particularly important for the services that the customers perceives as involving high rising and/or about
which they feel uncertain about the ability to evaluate. Trust and confidence may be embodied in the person
who links the customer to the company, for example, the marketing department. Thus, employees are aware
of the importance to create trust and confidence from the customers to gain competitive advantage and for
customers’ loyalty.

Empathy

It means to provide caring individualized attention the firm provide its customers. In some countries, it is
essential to provide individual attention to show to the customer that the company does best to satisfy his
needs. Empathy is an additional plus that the trust and confidence of the customers and at the same time
increase the loyalty. In this competitive world, the customer’s requirements are rising day after day and it is
the companies’ duties to their maximum to meet the demands of customers, else customers who do not
receive individual attention will search elsewhere.

Service in relation to guest expectation

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Customers buy goods and services to meet specific needs. Needs are often deeply rooted in people’s
unconscious minds and may concern long-term existence and identify issues. When people feel a need, they
are motivated to take action to fulfil it. In many instances, purchase of a good or service may be seen as
offering the best solution to meeting a particular need. Subsequently, consumers may compare what they
received against what they expected, especially if it cost them money, time, effort that could have been
devoted to obtaining an alternative solution.

Customer expectations embrace several elements, including desired service, adequate service, predicted
service and a zone of tolerance that falls between the desired and adequate service levels

Gap Model of Service Quality

The gap model (also known as the "5 gaps model") of service quality is an important customer-satisfaction
framework.  In "A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research"

The model shows the five major satisfaction gaps that organizations must address when seeking to meet
customer expectations. The model was first proposed by A. Parasuraman, Valarie Zeithaml, and Leonard L.
Berry in 1985.
 
In the Gap Model of Service Quality, customer satisfaction is largely a function of perception. If the
customer perceives that the service meets their expectations then they will be satisfied. If not, they’ll be
dissatisfied. If they are dissatisfied then it will be because of one of the five customer service “gaps” shown
below.

Service Gap Model Example

As we explain the Gap Model concept we’ll use two example companies to show how each gap might manifest itself
in two very different companies. The two example companies we’ll consider are Netflix and Pizzahut.

The Gap Model of Service Quality

The diagram below shows a visual representation of the Gap Model of Service Quality.

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Gap 1: Knowledge Gap

The knowledge gap is the difference between the customer’s expectations of the service and the company’s
provision of that service.
 
Essentially, this gap arises because management doesn’t know exactly what customers expect. There are a
number of reasons this could happen, including:

 Lack of management and customer interaction.

 Lack of communication between service employees and management.

 Insufficient market research.

 Insufficient relationship focus.

 Failure to listen to customer complaints.

Gap 2: The Policy Gap

The policy gap is the difference between management’s understanding of the customer needs and the
translation of that understanding into service delivery policies and standards.
 
There are a number of reasons why this gap can occur:

 Lack of customer service standards.

 Poorly defined service levels.

 Failure to regularly update service level standards.

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Gap 3: The Delivery Gap

The delivery gap is the difference between service delivery policies and standards and the actual delivery of
the service.
 
This gap can occur for a number of reasons:

 Deficiencies in human resources policies.

 Failure to match supply to demand.

 Employee lack of knowledge of the product.

 Lack of cohesive teamwork to deliver the product or service.

Gap 4: The Communication Gap

The communication gap is the gap between what gets promised to customers through advertising and what
gets delivered.
 
Again. there are a number of reasons why this can happen:

 Overpromising.

 Viewing external communications as separate to what’s going on internally.

 Insufficient communications between the operations and advertising teams.

Communication gaps lead to customer dissatisfaction. This happens because what they receive isn’t what
they were promised. In the worst case, it may cause them to turn to an alternative supplier.
.

Gap 5: The Customer Gap

The customer gap is the difference between customer expectations and customer perceptions. This gap
occurs because customers do not always understand what the service has done for them or they misinterpret
the service quality.
 
Many organizations can be completely blind to this gap. This gap can happen because of one of the other
four gaps, or simply because the customer perceives the quality of the service incorrectly. In a worst-case
scenario, it could lead to a business losing a large proportion of their customers overnight. Although the
company thought there was no gap, the reality was that their customers were just waiting for someone to fill
their perceived gap.

 Protecting the Guest

Protection from crimes such as murder, abduction and health hazards from outsiders, hotel staff, pests, food
poisoning etc. Secure luggage store rooms and proper equipment such as luggage trolley and bell hop trolley
should be provided.

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Internal threat

 Against theft
 Fire safety
 Proper lighting
 Safeguarding assets
 Track unwanted guests

Terrorist Threat

In view of recent terrorist attacks in the top hotels of Mumbai, hotels have heightened their security levels
for the safety of their guests and staff. It is a challenge for the hotel security staff face to strike the right
balance between being hospitable and being alert to the activities of the resident and nonresident guest.
They also have to go in for extra safe measures.

Bomb threat 

 Security nets and body searches for guests not known to the staff.
 Banqueting suites and other non-public areas should be security checked and locked after use.
 Goods received and bags should be checked and kept tidy.
 If a bomb threat is received via telephone, the telephonist should note carefully what exactly is said, the
time of the call received, the accent of the caller and background noise if any. After the alert the GM
should stay put in the lobby where he can be reached easily.
 Duties and responsibility of staff during an emergency should be well-defined.
 The hotel should work closely with the police to keep them updated.
 Chamber maids and HK supervisors should be trained to conduct security checks in the guest rooms.

Safety and Security measures for women hotel guests

 Mirrored walls of the guestroom floor elevators so that you can see who is walking behind you.
 Well-lit public areas such as lobby, bars etc.
 Valet parking services to avoid the need of a woman to enter the parking lot.
 Assigning rooms closer to the elevator.
 If a woman traveler is not assigned a room on the special executive floor , hotels most often on request,
upgrade her accommodation to that floor without an increase in room rate. The floor is staffed almost 24
hours a day with a concierge.

Threat to Privacy and guest property

1. Unauthorized Visitors
It can be very hard to keep track of people in a hotel. You’ll have countless guests, and it can be difficult for each
employee to know each guest. Additionally, your guests might have visitors that you won’t recognize. If your hotel
has a restaurant or bar, those guests can add to the list of faces you’ll see in the hotel. With all of these different faces
filling your hotel, it can be difficult to tell who belongs there and who is an unauthorized visitor. It’s important to
encourage your employees to get to know as many guests as possible and to improve your security measures to keep
unauthorized guests out and ensure that they don’t cause any problems. Posting security officers at your entrances and
upgrading to the latest surveillance cameras and equipment can also help you properly monitor the building.

2. Theft

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Theft can be a problem in hotels. Guests or other visitors can sneak into others’ rooms and take items.
Additionally, it’s fairly common for guests to take items from hotels. While you might be able to spare a
towel or travel soap, you’ll want to protect more valuable items from theft. Fortunately, taking steps to
improve your hotel security can help prevent theft. Proper surveillance coupled with security guards that
serve both as deterrents and prevention can stop theft in your hotel. You should also consider updating your
security system. The latest technology will provide new solutions to help you monitor your property
effectively. When you install new security cameras, you can also consult security experts on proper
placement to ensure maximum visibility.

3. Parking Area Theft

In addition to theft within the hotel, you’ll need to consider theft in your parking areas. Parking lots and parking
garages are highly vulnerable to theft in hotels, as many people leave their cars unattended for days on end. If parking
areas are not under surveillance, people will be likely to break in to cars and commit theft. To protect your guests’ cars
and personal property, conduct proper surveillance on your parking areas. Surveillance cameras can be a great option
to protect parking areas. If your cameras are old, consider getting new ones that provide the best footage possible. You
can also consider a security risk assessment in which security professionals will help you place cameras in the right
places to maximize visibility. Vulnerable parking areas can also benefit from patrolling security officers who will
keep an eye on the area, deterring criminals from committing theft and stopping any thieves in the act.

4. Disorderly Conduct
Everyone has heard the old cliché about rock stars and hotel rooms. However, rock stars aren’t the only ones who can
potentially cause damage to your property. Unfortunately, many people look at hotel visits as an opportunity to act in
ways they never would at home. They might vandalize your property, destroy things, or get into altercations with
other guests. If your hotel has a bar, these risks only increase. For this reason, it’s important to have proper security
measures in place to handle unruly guests. Security officers can help stop any conflict or disorderly conduct as soon as
they arise to prevent any serious damage to your property or injury .

5. Safety Emergencies
In any building, there’s always the risk of a safety emergency such as severe weather or a fire. In hotels, this concern
is especially important because you will have a large number of guests that are not properly briefed on emergency
protocol. For this reason, it’s essential to have your staff not only aware of how to act in an emergency, but also aware
of how to help guests and provide clear instructions. One way to promote safety during emergencies is to hire private
security officers. They are highly trained to remain calm even in the most stressful situations and will be able to
provide instructions to employees and guests, keeping everyone calm and safe.

Threats to hotel property

Hotels have strong security policies and procedures in place, they are still vulnerable to cyber attacks, break-ins,
theft, fraud, and other crimes. That’s why it’s vital to take precautionary measures and continually evaluate
security programs

 Update locks.
Locks that can track who goes in and out of rooms can serve as a deterrent to theft. “When employees
realize there’s an audit process on door security, it makes rooms less prone to theft,” Callaghan says. Other

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upgrades include automatic deadbolts, which can better prevent external threats from thieves, or systems that
eliminate the need for master keys.
 Make time for safety meetings.
Perhaps as part of a regular meeting, schedule time to talk about guest safety. Part of this time could also be
spent watching training videos, such as those produced by Safety Source Productions. These videos,
accompanied by handouts, are a low-cost way to share information about guest safety and can train
employees about how to spot suspicious behavior.
 Monitor activity with software.
Having closed-circuit television to monitor the property doesn’t matter too much if no one is looking at the
monitors. Recent innovations in software have solved that problem. Coupled with software, video cameras
can now recognize activity in an area and provide an alert. One example: the system can alert when there is
activity in a valet parking area. Other options include using a third party to monitor the exterior of the hotel.
Some of these systems have voice command capability, where operators can see and warn off people
captured on surveillance.

 Evaluate and improve—quickly.

Darrell Clifton, director of security for the 1,572-room Circus Circus Reno Hotel and Casino in Nevada,
conducts weekly reviews of the property and even has checklists for staff to ensure areas, such as stairwells,
are clean, safe, and well lit. “We concentrate on our liability,” Clifton says. “If we know of something that’s
happened, if someone was robbed or there was an accident, that area is quickly addressed. We can’t ignore
it. We do something immediately to protect from another event happening.” Meet and greet.

One of the simplest, but most effective, ways of securing a property is to provide excellent customer service.
“Engage customers you encounter,” Clifton says. “Ask them about their stay and if there’s anything you can
do to help. You don’t have to throw more labor at security. Just make employees a little smarter.” By talking
with people on your property, staff can determine if there’s a non-guest who may intend to commit a crime.
Employees should also look out for people who don’t fit the profile of the hotel’s typical guest.

Walk-Outs, Skippers or Runners

The accidentals’ - these are guests who simply forget to pay, often their extra bills.

Opportunists’-These guests check in with the intention of paying their bill on departure, but when they
realize that they can get away with not paying their bill (or simply a transaction that should have found itself
on their bill.

‘Premeditators’. - These are guests who, from the start, have the intention of leaving the hotel without
paying. Some of these guests go into considerable lengths in order to avoid paying.

1.   A front desk agent or cashier may not have properly closed the folio at check-out. A guest may be
a skipper who left with no intention of checking out. A guest may have departed but forgotten to
check out. Situations… If the housekeeping report indicates that a room is vacant, but the front
office believes it is occupied, the auditor should search for an active room folio and registration card.
If the folio exists and has a current outstanding balance, there are several possibilities:

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2.  After verifying that the guest has left the hotel, the night auditor should process the check-out and
set the folio aside for front office management review and follow-up. If the folio has been settled, the
front office room status system should be corrected to show that the room is vacant. The night
auditor should verify the guest folio against the housekeeping and the room status reports to ensure
that all three are consistent and in balance.

3.  Always collect the personal credit card at check in. Never allow one to check in telling ' I will pay
tomorrow ..' train your staff and implement good routines . Preauthorize guests credit cards
included deposit of a set amount. Make sure you always ask guests to fill in registration cards with
all details upon check in. To prevent Skippers:

4. It's so important to keep an eye on high balance reports.If the guest does not have credit card or
deposit, simply activate a NO post on his account to stop any room charges within the complex, the
trick is to post the room transaction before the service is rendered, that is to protect all outlet's
revenue. Collect the full balance at check in. Always charge card on file for all non paid amounts.

5. SCANTY BAGGAGE: “Skippers” This is made possible because the “Skipper” comes with little
luggage to avoid bringing the attention of the bell boys to his secret checkout. The bell boys have to
be alert to notify the front office about guests with scanty baggage so that a necessary advance is
taken from them and a close watch is kept on them.

Safety and Security measures for women hotel guests

 Mirrored walls of the guestroom floor elevators so that you can see who is walking behind you.
 Well-lit public areas such as lobby, bars etc.
 Valet parking services to avoid the need of a woman to enter the parking lot.
 Assigning rooms closer to the elevator.
 If a woman traveler is not assigned a room on the special executive floor , hotels most often on request,
upgrade her accommodation to that floor without an increase in room rate. The floor is staffed almost 24
hours a day with a concierge.

Cash Fraud

There are a number of ways in which an individual can commit fraud by stealing cash from a hotel.
Since cash is essentially untraceable once stolen, someone intent on stealing assets will be particularly
focused on this type of asset. Here are several ways in which cash fraud can be committed:

 Intercept at cash register. An employee could pocket cash at the cash register and never ring up the sale
on the register. This approach can be detected after the fact by comparing actual  inventory levels to the
amount of sale transactions. If the inventory level is lower than indicated by the cash register
transactions, someone may be removing cash.
 Intercept in mailroom. Though rare, it is possible that a customer will send cash through the mail in
payment of an invoice. If so, a mailroom clerk can pocket the mailed cash and destroy the letter in
which it came. Since there is no in-house evidence that the cash ever arrived, a reasonable claim can be
made that the payment was lost in the mail. This theft can be prevented by having two people jointly
open the mail.
 Intercept at cashier. The cashier can remove cash and simply not record the associated transaction in
the accounting records. This issue can be detected after the fact by recording the amount of cash prior
to delivering it to the cashier, and then comparing the initial record to the cashier's record of cash
received.

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 Intercept in deposit pouch. The person delivering cash deposits to the bank can remove cash from the
pouch on the way to the bank. This issue can be mitigated by handing off the cash to an armored truck
for delivery. It can also be detected after-the-fact by comparing the deposit slip from the bank to the
cashier's record of cash received.
 Petty cash removal. One of the easier ways to abscond with cash is to take cash out of the petty cash
box when it is unguarded. Another option is to steal the entire box, thereby ensuring that all cash and
coins are removed. This can be prevented by switching from petty cash to the use of procurement
cards.
 Pay envelope removal. A person could remove cash from pay envelopes before they are delivered to
employees. This issue can be detected by having employees count the cash in their pay envelopes and
signing for receipt of the envelopes.

Bad Debts

The term bad debts usually refer to accounts receivable (or trade accounts receivable) that will not be
collected.

A bad debt is a monetary amount owed to a creditor that is unlikely to be paid and, for which the creditor is
not willing to take action to collect for various reasons, often due to the debtor not having the money to pay.

An entity may not be able to recover its balances outstanding in respect of certain receivables. In
accountancy we refer to such receivables as Irrecoverable Debts or Bad Debts. Bad debts could arise for a
number of reasons such as customer going bankrupt, trade dispute or fraud.

Every time an entity realizes that it unlikely to recover its debt from a receivable, it must 'write off' the bad
debt from its books. This ensures that the entity's assets (i.e. receivables) are not stated above the amount it
can reasonably expect to recover which is in line with the concept of prudence.

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