Pearson New International Edition International pcl tp indd 1

FRONT OFFICE AND THE GUESTS: PLANNING FOR QUALITY SERVICE
Marketing Plan
Operating Budget
Mission Statement
Vision
Long-Range Plan
Business Plan
Vision: To be the “best” hotel for 
business travelers in the community
Mission Statement: To meet needs of 
the business travelers by providing 
desired products (sleeping and 
meeting rooms, food/beverages) and 
desired services including a business 
center.
Long-Range Plan: To obtain 60% of all 
business meeting revenues in the 
community within five years
Business Plan: To increase market 
share of all business meeting revenues 
in the community by 5% within the next 
12 months
Marketing Plan: Strategies and tactics 
to increase meeting revenues within 
the next 12 months.
Operating Budget: Expected revenue 
generated from and costs associated 
with meeting business
Note: The marketing plan and operating budget are very closely related; the marketing plan indicates 
what will be done to increase revenues, and the operating budget reflects these planned revenue 
increases and the costs that are expected to be incurred to generate the revenue.
PLANNING TOOL
EXAMPLE
FIGURE 1
Basic planning tools.
Source: Ninemeier, J., and J. Perdue. 2005. Hospitality operations: Careers in the world’s greatest industry, p. 43.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
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who are impressed with service quality at a property during earlier visits and who rec-
ommend the property as a meeting site for their business or a service organization to
which they belong. Consider also meeting attendees who receive excellent service and
suggest the property as a site for a future conference of another group with which they
are affiliated. Also, the quality of service provided by reservations staff who process
incoming calls from prospective meeting attendees will help ensure that the maximum
number of attendees will stay at the property rather than elect to look somewhere else.
To this point, our example has focused on actions the front office staff can take to
help the hotel meet its goal of increased revenues from business meetings. At the same
time these actions are implemented, FOMs will likely be involved in planning other
activities that address the needs of other business travelers. For example, FOMs might
plan ways to increase average daily rates by conducting how-to sessions and reward-
ing front desk agents who sell guestrooms at higher rates, and by advocating improve-
ments in the hotel’s business center based on feedback from business travelers.
Each department in the hotel, including the front office, must be committed to
and involved in planning for the emphasis on quality, that is, the consistent delivery of
products and services according to expected standards. Experienced managers know
that, after the basics of a room rental are addressed (e.g., clean and safe rooms in a pre-
ferred location), the level (quality) of service will be high on the list of expectations for
travelers. Guests will not likely accept a room that does not meet their cleanliness,
safety, or location concerns, so the level of anticipated service becomes an important
factor that will influence hotel selection from among the properties that a guest will
consider. The front office department is the hub through which communication and
guest service is delivered to guests.