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Kristen Martinson

Hospitality Management

Internship Paper

I. MACRO overview

A) Segment of Hospitality Industry

The segment of the hospitality industry I interned was the hotel industry. It is

important to understand that the hospitality industry can be traced back to the end of the

1700s which is the Colonial Period. The concept of renting an accommodation to

visitors began in 1794. This is when the A City Hotel opened in New York City. The

brand the A City Hotel claimed to be the first building designed only for hotel operations.

The next cities to follow with the hotel operation concept were Boston, Baltimore, and

Philadelphia in 1809. The hotel industry took off in the 1950s and 60s. This is because

in the 1920s people started taking frequent vacations. (UK Essays, 2015)

Fortunately, the tourism industry has been able to generate billions of dollars for

countries worldwide. Interestingly, the tourism industry is one of the most successful in

international trade services. There are four main organizations that monitor progress

and promote/develop sustainable tourism in the hotel industry. The first one is the World

Tourism Organization (UNWTO). This is one of the United Nations agencies that is

accountable for advancement and sustainability of tourism. It is also the world leading

organization in the tourism sector. Its main job is promoting tourism as means for
economic growth and developing environmental sustainability. It also helps create

global tourism policies. The next organization is the International Hotel and Restaurant

Association (IHRA). The main members of this organization are national hotels and

restaurants that are worldwide. Included in this are 300,000 hotels and 8 million

restaurants. This means that this effects 60 million people who worked in the industry

that contributes 950 billion yearly. The third organization is the Hospitality Sales and

Marketing Association International (HSMAI). This is the largest organization for travel

sales and marketing professionals. This particular association has over 4,000 members

in 31 countries worldwide. The purpose of this organization is to improve marketing and

sales as well as educational and management skills. The fourth is the WTTC. The main

point of this organization is to collaborate with different governments while boosting

exports and bringing prosperity. (UK Essays, 2015)

With the rise in income and the standard of living came a boost in the hotel

industry. This, plus the increase in leisure time proved to be very beneficial to the hotel

industry. Also, in more recent times the advancement in technology played a large part

in the continued successful development of the hotel industry. Another helpful part of the

industry is the competition that is created because of the large success. This allows

various hotels to lower prices and be more competitive to get people to stay at their

hotels. This is where loyalty programs become very important. If you are dealing with

business travelers that often are staying in hotels they are looking for perks and

rewards. Once they find a hotel that meets their needs they will continue to book and

stay with that hotel. (UK Essays, 2015)


There are many statistics proving how successful this industry has been. For

example, in the 1950s the international tourist arrivals were 25 million. Now the

projections into 2020 is 1 billion. This number is interesting because in 2012 the global

growth percentage went from 2.8 to 2.7. Even with this minimally slight decrease the

travel and tourism figures have still been positive. An example of this is the global tourist

arrivals. This number has raised to 4.9% in 2012 just from January to June. The most

important part of the hotel industry is to remember that it is constantly creating jobs for

not only America but for the entire world. (UK Essays, 2015)

B) The Publick House Historic Inn

The hotel that I completed my internship at was The Publick House Historic Inn

as a guest services representative. This company is a full service hotel with two

restaurants, a bake shop, multiple banquet rooms, and an elite wedding venue.

Although my internship was focused on the hotel sector, I was able to learn about the

various departments. The General Manger works closely with all departments which

includes: Rooms Division, Housekeeping, Sales, Banquets, Restaurant, and Bake

Shop. Under him is the Director of Food and Beverage that oversees the restaurant and

the bake shop. Within the other departments there are managers, assistant managers,

and supervisors.

I was fortunate enough to become close with not only the rooms division

department but also restaurant, banquets, and sales. It is my understanding that the

rooms division, banquet, and sales departments combine to bring home the most

money for the company. The reason that these three departments make the most

money is because they all work together. An example of this is when the sales
department will bring in clients to have an event at the Publick House. These clients will

then need a block of rooms which brings in revenue for the rooms division. The

banquets department then carries out the event. From my observations each of these

departments need each other to contribute to their current success.

The owner of the company (Mr. Harrington) also owns two other properties.

These properties are the Colonial Inn and the Hawthorne Hotel. The Colonial Inn is in

Concord, MA, and the Hawthorne Hotel is in Salem, MA. These two other properties

also host dinning, banquets, and rooms. Mr. Harrington first bought the Publick House,

then he added the Hawthorne Hotel, and most recently the Colonial Inn. As an intern

working with various employees I learned that the Publick House paid their employees

less than the other two properties. Although that was discouraging to hear, I understood

that demographics were the main reason for this. The cost of living in Salem and

Concord is higher than that of Sturbridge.

II. MICRO Overview

As I previously stated, my position was guest service representative in the rooms

division. The main role of my positon was to promptly check guests in and out, answer a

multiline phone system, handle guest complaints, and complete weekly/monthly reports.

When I first came on I was trained in learning how to answer the phone and how to

check guests out. A reason for learning these two tasks first was because they were

used the most in the job. The computer program that the Rooms Division used is Opera,

and it was an expectation I would learn how to use it as soon as possible. This meant

checking guests in, processing payments, creating/altering reservations, and

creating/updating room blocks.


Surprisingly, there are not many employees in the rooms division department. I

worked with my manager Michelle, my supervisor Christy, and four or sometimes five

employees. Within each shift there was usually two people or sometimes three for busy

times. The work space that the guest services employees had to work with was fairly

small, so any more people than that it became too crowded. Also, we only had two

computers which meant a maximum of handling two guests needs at a time. That third

person would be there to speed up the paper work process.

As I became more experienced with the job I was able to take on more

responsibility. This included working with the sales department and banquet department.

The tasks I completed for the sales department were inputting or altering client room

blocks. This included wedding blocks, corporate client blocks, and government blocks. I

assisted the banquet department in executing their events. This meant satisfying brides

and other clients. The front desk is the point of contact, so making sure we knew the

clients needs before passing them along to the banquet department was extremely

important.

A major responsibility of mine was the weekly rooms projection of not only the

Publick House Historic Inn but also six other hotels in the area. I had to go on Expedia

and input into an Excel spreadsheet the room rates for all hotels. I then had to generate

multiple reports that I pulled certain data from to put in this spreadsheet. It was vital that

I completed this report on time and correctly because my boss would present it at the

Monday morning meeting with the General Manager, Mr. Harringtons son, and all other

department managers. My boss informed me that I was the only employee she has had
that has been able to properly complete this task on a consistent basis. This made me

feel good because I wanted her to know I was reliable.

III. Reflective Observations

I was fortunately able to learn a substantial amount of the rooms division

departments responsibilities in this hotel. From my personal experience I learned that a

front desk position can be an extremely slow job. I would complete an eight-hour shift

and be lucky if two of those hours were busy. This was the frustrating part of the job

because I like to be busy and constantly working. Although I would get busy work it

usually took me a minimal amount of time to complete.

When I first interviewed for this position Michelle informed me that I would visit

the various departments of the property. Unfortunately, I only made it up to

housekeeping for a day. This disappointed me because Michelle knew my aspirations of

event planning, and I felt that was put to the back burner because of her being short

staffed. I constantly had conversations with her about going to the sales and banquet

department, however, it never happened.

My advice for any potential interns is to be sure you want to be working with the

rooms division department. As someone who was looking for more of an event

coordinating experience it came across as slightly disappointing. I, however, try to turn

every experience into a positive one and made the best of it. My big internship project

was the Pan Mass Challenge. I was the point of contact for all riders and their teams.

This was my favorite part of the internship because it was most related to event
planning. It was most related because of the rooming lists and preparation that went into

preparing for the riders to come.

I am grateful to have Michelle as a professional reference to use for my future

endeavors. It was a great feeling for her to tell me that I am welcome to go back and

work there if I ever need a job. Although the internship did not pan out exactly how I

expected, I look at every job as a learning opportunity. This internship is only going to

make me more successful in my endeavors to land a job in the hospitality industry.


Works Cited
UK Essays. (2015, March 23). History Of The Hotel Industry Tourism Essay. Retrieved
from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/tourism/history-of-the-hotel-industry-
tourism-essay.php: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/tourism/history-of-the-
hotel-industry-tourism-essay.php

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