nn GRADUATION AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CURRENT SITUATION AND SOME SUGGESTION TO IMPROVING THE SERVICE QUALITY OF FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT AT TROPICAL HOUSE APARTMENT

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DUY TAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS TRAN THI MAI AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CURRENT SITUATION AND SOME SUGGESTION TO IMPROVING THE SERVICE QUALITY OF FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT AT TROPICAL HOUSE APARTMENT GRADUATION THESIS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES DA NANG – May 2021 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DUY TAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS TRAN THI MAI AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CURRENT SITUATION AND SOME SUGGESTION TO IMPROVING THE SERVICE QUALITY OF FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT AT TROPICAL HOUSE APARTMENT Major : English for Tourism Code : 702 SUPERVISOR: PHAN THI NHU GAM, M.A DA NANG – May 2021 Graduation Thesis Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A ACKNOWLEDGEMENT To be successful beyond learning, I have to learn so much necessary knowledge, and need the help and support from teachers and encouragement from my friends, colleagues and family First of all, I would like to thank and deeply praise to the teachers of the Faculty of English at Duy Tan University Especially, Ms Gam Without her encouragement, I can not complete the report well I'm really grateful for her helpful advices and suggestions that she gave me during the period given Secondly, I would like to thank the teachers of the Tourism Faculty for inspiring and facilitating me in the process of learning and experiencing the tourism cultures to be able to complete well this report Without their support, I am likely to not detect a lot of valuable information as well as knowledge in this study Last but not least, I would like express my deep gratitude to my family for supporting, giving me the best motivation and the favorable conditions to this case study Da Nang, May, 2021 Tran Thi Mai Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I declare that this graduation paper has been composed by myself, and described my own work, unless otherwise acknowledge in the text Except where reference is made in the text of the graduation paper, this graduation paper contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in the whole or in part from the graduation paper by which have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the graduation paper This graduation paper has not been submitted for award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Da Nang, May, 2021 Tran Thi Mai Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A ABSTRACT In this graduation paper, I would like to make an investigation in to the real situation of Front Office Department at Tropical House Apartment This thesis is carried out basing on the theoretical background and the practical data collected Firstly, the data were Tropical House are collected Then all these data were analyzed and assessed basing on the theoretical background and real experiences I also give some tables about the results of business and the number of tourists coming to the hotel to make paper more clearly At last, I give some suggestions to improving the quality service of Front Office Department at Tropical House Apartment Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 The business operation results from 2017 to 2019 at Tropical House Apartment 31 Table 4.2 The total revenue between the year 2019 and the first months in 2020 .32 Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A LIST OF CHARTS Chart 2.5 The FO department organization chart .15 Chart 3.1 Organization Structure of Tropical House Apartment .22 Chart 3.2 Organization of FO Department at Tropical House Apartment .27 Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A LIST OF PICTURES Picture 3.1 Tropical House Apartment .16 Picture 3.2 Facilities in the Apartment .18 Picture 3.3 Superior City View 19 Picture 3.4 Super Triple .19 Picture 3.5 Deluxe City View .20 Picture 3.6 Deluxe Beach View 20 Picture 3.7 Deluxe Grand View 21 Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A LIST OF MAPS Map 3.1 The location of Tropical House Apartment 16 Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Telephone Supervisor Graduation Thesis 10 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A ABBREVIATIONS FO : Front Office Sqm : Square meters Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis • 44 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A The price: Generally, the price in Tropical House Apartment is a bit higher than others because the facility here is much more modern than others That why most of the customers coming here are foreigners Namely, the Deluxe rooms or Luxury rooms have the price up to over million dong for one night The other rooms like single rooms or double rooms with the normal  view will be lower than that of with the beautiful views Receptionists The receptionist is seen as the "face" of the apartment, plays an important role in helping the apartment make the first impression on customers The receptionist or the apartment receptionist or the receptionist is the person working in the lobby department in the apartment, is responsible for answering the receiving phone and providing information, processing customer Requests, receiving and receiving / check out upon request Receptionist at the apartment with a young team, good health, welltrained and good-looking appearance The staff is always united dynamic and funny The receptionists strictly comply while working, strictly obey the uniform, neat polite and elegant hair Receptionists show enthusiasm at work, communicate with guests happily and comfortably answer guests' questions and help guests from the smallest jobs Thereby creating an impression with customers and customers appreciate the quality of service  Advantages: This is the department which directly communicate with customers They have a chance to build social relationships, improve a lot of skills such as communication skills, management skills… The staff is young, beautiful, enthusiastic, and dynamic The capacity of working is pretty high The staff is good at English, well-trained, and smart The lobby is spacious and large It is suitable for check-in and check-out process Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis  • 45 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A Disadvantages: This kind of job requires a good endurance and face lots of stress Therefore, there are many changes in receptionist department at Tropical House •  Apartment due to these reasons There isn’t generally much upward movement within the company Training Course Customers often have the first and longest impression of the apartment from the first meeting and meeting with the receptionist It is necessary to give specific requirements to the receptionist  The first is the requirement for professional knowledge and specialized  knowledge: First of all, receptionists have been trained through universities and colleges specialized in tourism and hotels Have basic knowledge of a number of operations in support of accounting, invoicing, statistics, marketing and office administration  One of the basic skills that all receptionists need to master is effective communication Therefore, they need to have communication skills in addition to that staff should have a certain understanding of the rules and regulations of the tourism industry and regulatory agencies related to tourists and business activities Rules and regulations for apartment management, regulations of staff in the apartment building, especially   the receptionist Receptionist must be fluent in two languages, of which one is English and be fluent in office computers Second is the professional ethics requirement: Reception department is the place that regularly and most contacts with guests Therefore, apartments often give quite strict requirements for employees of this department about dignity and morality In general, each receptionist must have the full convergence of the virtues: Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis • • • • •  46 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A Honestly, sincere Dynamic, agile, resourceful and flexible in handling situations Diligent, meticulousness Working according to the process is highly precise and efficient Open and hospitable, cordial, polite, respectful and willing to help guests • Enthusiastic in work and know how to persuade customers • Be patient and able to control irritation in front of guests • There is teamwork at work Finally, there are the physical and physical requirements: The receptionist's appearance and fitness are also important factors in communication with guests Obviously, when entering the apartment is greeted with a charming and seductive face, customers will feel more relieved than the cold, difficult face The receptionist's work is quite hard in many positions, they have to stand continuously, interact with many different types of customers, resolve customer complaints, receive and transmit a large amount of information every day, conduct professional manipulations, so in terms of appearance, physicality, the receptionist must meet the following requirements: Good healthy • Balanced appearance • Good-looking, charming form • Have good communication skills • The average age is not too high • Clean and neat clothes always wear the correct uniform when working The Service Style of Staff •  Regardless of the circumstances in which there are many customers or no visitors, the service skills of the receptionist must be through quick manipulation, high accuracy at work, always focus on the work, consider the service Customer is the first task shown in the skillful coordination, right process of customer service Avoid making customers wait long because of bottlenecks in the process of serving service processes Because guests who Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis 47 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A first arrive at the hotel often have to go through a long journey and they want to quickly pick up a room to have time to rest to regain strength, that is why the receptionist needs good expertise and communication ability Language proficiency to be able to perform service processes quickly  The Uniform of Receptionist The receptionist is considered the face of the apartment, the first part that welcomes customers and decides whether to stay or go Regardless of the service attitude, communication ability, affable gestures a super special aspect that the apartment managers cannot ignore or not care about is the receptionist's attire So we have come up with special requirements to impress customers that are: Choosing colors before designing uniforms of fabrics and vintage landscapes or modern styles Color is the first outstanding point to note in the receptionist's uniform To get an impression, the receptionist's attire should be simple and delicate in color but must exude a dignified and elegant quality  Solving Guest’s complaints Staff are always in a state of ready to listen and receive complaints from customers There is no indifference to guests or let the sound (on the phone) interrupt or interrupt the hearing of complaints Employees have an equal combination of hands, mouth, eyes and nod, showing their attentive listening and understanding, making customers feel excited Before receiving customer complaints, employees need to inquire and record personal information of customers During the listening process, staff will carefully record customer complaints In the event of having to contact another client the employee should seek the help of the colleague or ask the client for permission to wait a while Waiting time of customers should not exceed 10 minutes Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis  48 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A Service Quality of the Receptionist Department Quality of service in the apartment is always top priority to help customers feel when staying and using additional services, the attitude of the service staff and the beauty of the outside will help customers feel comfortable enjoy a vacation or a break after a tiring day at work After experiencing the services at the apartment, customers will appreciate the good quality and will come back  The Procedures of Registering Rooms The room registration procedures are always done in the right order and are comfortable for guests The staff are ready before arrival and based on the information about the reservation to suit the needs and requirements of the guests After the guest has booked and checked in, the staff will save the information and send it to the department in charge to track and update costs  The Bill Payment Accurately of the Receptionist The bills of customers are checked by the reception and accounting department and the statistics of the services used by the customer during the stay will then be given to the customer for checking After the customer checks, if there is nothing wrong, the staff will print the invoice and give it to the customer for the customer to pay The process will be observed by both sides until the procedure is completed 4.3 Advantages  Fully furnished of a 3-star apartment, beautifully decorated Room amenities are always preserved, cleaned, and the equipment is in good working  order High quality laminate furniture, sleek design, synchronous color with other equipment in the room to show luxury Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis 49 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A  The bed is ventilated The rooms have windows overlooking the garden The stairs are clean, shiny, and the handrails are not peeling paint Large capacity generator system, if there is a power outage, it will be used  immediately to serve business activities at the apartment The fire prevention and fighting system is equipped as prescribed There   are signboards for emergency exit and solving incidents in case of fire in  common passageways The surrounding space is well ventilated, cool, and regularly taken care of by the landscape department On the occasion of holidays, New Year, the apartment also decorated to change the landscape according to themes 4.4 Disadvantages  Because the location of Tropical House Apartment is quite close to the sea,  so sometimes it will be affected by hot winds blowing from the sea In general, the area of the Tropical House Apartment is pretty small compared to other apartments Therefore, sometimes this will be a  hindrance to the long-term development of the apartment The staff is well trained, but the staff that meet the standards required to serve the needs of foreign guests is quite small, and the level of  specialization is uneven The business of the apartment is still passive because it depends on the seasonality of tourism Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis 50 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A CHAPTER DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTIONS 5.1 Difficulties There is still poor quality, not synchronous in some rooms Because the apartment was built a long time ago, the facility at the apartment is no longer suitable, relatively out of date compared to the business situation of modern apartments According to many customers, the service’s price at Tropical is higher than other places, so they often choose places that is suitable for their requirements with their income level But if the buying season is low or the epidemic is prolonged, the investment in facilities and equipment will reduce our profits Many customers often demand good services and offers, but the price must match their requirements During the epidemic and rainy seasons, customers often ask employees to listen and what customers need The level of specialization of employees is still low, because the labor force is mainly middle-aged, the young workforce is still small, and so the foreign language skills as well as the ability to respond to services are still low Foreign language level is average so it is difficult to meet the needs of foreign guests Currently, many businesses and companies compete with each other in the service business If you want to change the environment and facilities, you must raise the cost of the service, but the cost is too high, the customer will not easily accept the rental Technology is developing more and more, the understanding between people is very low, most people use the internet to search and choose for themselves the appropriate places, so the company needs to improve the quality of advertising and advertising Promote more pictures Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis 51 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A If the company wants to develop strongly in the service industry, the company needs to invest in expanding branches in many parts of Vietnam and the world, not only in the central region 5.2 Solutions 5.2.1 The Quality of Facilities  Redecorating the reception to make it more beautiful because this is an important face of the hotel, such as: using fresh flowers to decorate the counter every day to keep it fresh and full of life It should be a folk picture bold Vietnamese culture, outstanding to create an unforgettable  impression for guests Rearranging the tables and chairs in the lobby area, more aesthetic Create  an airy, comfortable space Hanging some pictures of the beautiful scenery of Da Nang city such as Non Nuoc, My Khe beach, Ba Na to create more lively space for the hotel On the counter, it is necessary to place more urgent books of the  hotel and publications about Da Nang Always maintaining the phone line system to ensure smooth communication between departments in the hotel as well as between the hotel and the outside Because the hotel's phone line system is so often  malfunctioning that it affects the work progress of the reception Strengthening inspection and quality assurance of some equipment at least twice a week Technical department needs to be thoroughly repaired, so it  should not be repeated many times, not repair when the room has guests Improving and enhancing facilities to create a cool space, making visitors  feel like the first to come and use the facilities Investing in improving and supplementing technical facilities, purchasing new equipment to replace damaged and old items, supplementing 3-star standards facilities Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis  52 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A Synchronizing facilities in the rooms to synchronize colors, patterns, design codes, and size 5.2.2 The Quality of the Labor Force   Train a team of highly qualified and experienced staff Encourage staff to learn foreign languages to supplement other skills, to meet   the increasing needs of international visitors Recruiting young, dynamic, confident and knowledgeable employees Training employees with a sense of responsibility, observing discipline Organize training lessons for new employees to improve the working ability  and productivity of each individual Organize parties and exchanges for employees to have the opportunity to  meet and communicate more with each other to build a strong team to promote the development of the apartment 5.2.3 Boost Marketing  Regularly posting information and pictures of the apartment on the  apartment's fan page Offering some preferential policies, discounts to attract tourists after the  epidemic subsides Printing out many brochures for customers to easily visualize and understand the apartment 5.2.4 Other Solutions  Regularly taking a check of each department to monitor the customer service   process Listening to staff's comments Requesting departments in the hotel such as house keeping, restaurants… to contact and exchange information with the front desk department to regularly  update information about guests, in order to serve guests better The front desk should have a preferential regime, free of charge and attentive service for the guides in the units that bring guests to stay at the hotel Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis 53 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A  Promoting propaganda and advertising, especially through travel newspapers  and now online advertising is also very effective Opening more types of entertainment services for guests to relax during their  stay at the hotel Periodically checking the professional qualifications as well as the foreign  language proficiency of the staff Building more soundproofing system to ensure quiet space in the apartment CHAPTER CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 6.1 Conclusion In my opinion, the Tropical House Apartment should be renewed and expanded the service business to increase revenue and profit The company needs to continue to consolidate and come up with highly viable options in order to get effective results In addition, companies need to improve service quality, build a clear workflow and meet high standards It is necessary to build a comfortable environment for employees to work, and learn more In addition, the company should organize training for employees in a reasonable way and expand the company nationally and internationally In addition, the company needs to maintain regularly and repair technical facilities Regarding the quality of employees, the company should provide training on higher professional qualifications for employees and organize teamwork activities to engage the employees in the company Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis 54 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A Tropical House Apartment is a travel business company in Da Nang city Since its establishment, the company has experienced many difficulties and challenges in business, also achieved many successes Especially, the increase in the travel business market in Da Nang now creates a lot of volatility including difficulties, challenges, and opportunities After analyzing the real situation of the company in attracting tourists in the low season, I propose some solutions to attracting customers to the company I hope that investigation and some solutions could help the company to attract tourists and improve some mistakes of the company to develop more and more in the future However, due to limited time, there are inevitable short comings and mistakes I sincerely thank you for your comments and suggestions for making this work a better one Again I would like to thank many teachers of the Faculty English department of Duy Tan University, Mr Ha – a director of Ngan Ha – Da Nang Services and Investment Co., Ltd company, and all staff in the company helped me enthusiastically in order to complete this topic 6.2 Suggestions  Expanding the market Strengthening to expand the market scale wider than the past years Currently, the company has only one branch in Da Nang, so the company should expand more branches in the north and south areas or associate with other companies outside the region to support and exchange within the business process For international customers, the company needs to expand its scale to different countries such as in Asia, Europe, and Southeast Asia The company should analyze characteristics, build customer portraits, divide, and segment Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis 55 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A correctly; hence, it could adjust the price of the tour to suit for each customer type  Price policy for each type of service Making detailed and specific plans on the schedules and procedures of different types of services in the company so that employees can understand and capture information, which can advise customers in the best way to avoid confusion Make a difference and highlight separately from the promotions to ensure competition compared to current competitors Regularly proposing the design of customer appreciation programs, improving the quality of stay and services Adjusting the price to suit the low season to stimulate customer service needs  Advertising and focusing on the social network Nowadays, along with economic development, the internet is developing, which is shown that the number of people accessing the internet is very large The company should develop an advertising program, create a community website related to tourism, leading to the promotion of tourism images Optimize the company's current website, build message content and images related to the content of the stay program, including logos and images of the company so that visitors are sympathetic to the company a lot Because the first impression is important, it is a criterion to evaluate how professional your company is in the hearts of its guests  Mode of promotion The company should choose forms of promotion and marketing that can be on line or offline Or high tourist areas, sightseeing destinations, and tourist sites Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis Student: Tran Thi Mai 56 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis 57 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A REFERENCES Books: [1] National Economics University, Labor Social Publishing House (2003) [2] Reception technology in the hotel (1993) Online sources: [3] https://www.igi-global.com/ [4] https://luanvanaz.com/ [5] https://long62.com/ [6] https://vietnamhotels.net/ [7] https://dichvuvietbaocao.com/ [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/ [9] https://www.huongnghiepaau.com/ [10] https://www.invert.vn/ [11] https://vietnambiz.vn/ [12] https://123doc.net/document/ Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 Graduation Thesis 58 Supervisor: Phan Thi Nhu Gam, M.A SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS Student: Tran Thi Mai CLASS: K23NAD7 ... guidance of dedicated teachers, I decided to choose the topics ? ?An Investigation into the Current Situation and Some Suggestion to Improving the Service Quality of Front Office Department at Tropical. ..MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DUY TAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS TRAN THI MAI AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CURRENT SITUATION AND SOME SUGGESTION TO IMPROVING THE SERVICE QUALITY. .. business and the number of tourists coming to the hotel to make paper more clearly At last, I give some suggestions to improving the quality service of Front Office Department at Tropical House Apartment