Pearson New International Edition International pcl tp indd 1

FRONT OFFICE SEMANTICS
Consortia rate:
Room rate given to a guest whose room is booked by selected travel agencies.
Food and Beverage Department
The volume of business experienced by the hotel’s food and beverage department can
be affected dramatically by the number and type of guests staying at the property.
When guests are not affiliated with a group offering banquet alternatives, as the
number of guests increases, so typically does the volume of business for à la carte din-
ing operations, bars and lounges, and room service. This is especially true for break-
fast which, historically, is the meal most frequently purchased in the hotel by its
overnight guests. As the number of guests increases, more food and beverage pro-
duction and service employees are needed, and then the volume of production in
employee dining operations increases. Experienced food and beverage directors esti-
mate correlations between the hotel’s occupancy rate and volume of business from
hotel guests. Note that visitors who are not guests may also use the hotel’s à la carte
dining options and bars and lounges. However, business volume forecasts from the
PMS are used to estimate guest business, and the food and beverage director devel-
ops a separate estimate for visitor business. The sum of guest and visitor business esti-
mates drives production and service planning for these revenue centers.
Food and beverage directors are also interested in PMS information related to
guests affiliated with groups meeting at the property. Many groups will have nego-
tiated a guarantee for banquet events, which helps determine the number of meals to
be produced. This makes it relatively easy to forecast production needs. However, the
number of guests attending these meetings must be deducted from the estimated total
number of hotel guests to determine requirements for à la carte dining. Also, the
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