INVESTIGATION INTO THE REAL SITUATION AND SOME SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING THE SERVICE QUALITY OF THE RECEPTION DEPARTMENT AT SAIGONTOURANE HOTEL

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DUY TAN UNIVERSITY TRAN THI KHANH LINH – GRADUATION THESIS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES- DANANG 2021 FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS TRAN THI KHANH LINH INVESTIGATION INTO THE REAL SITUATION AND SOME SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING THE SERVICE QUALITY OF THE RECEPTION DEPARTMENT AT SAIGONTOURANE HOTEL 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 KHANH LINH INVESTIGATION INTO THE REAL SITUATION AND SOME SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING THE SERVICE QUALITY OF THE RECEPTION DEPARTMENT AT SAIGONTOURANE HOTEL Major : English for Tourism Code : 702 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A DA NANG – May 2021 GRADUATION PAPER i SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A AKNOWLEGMENT This graduation paper hasn’t been completed without the invaluable help, advice, and encouragement of my beloved teachers, friends, and family First of all, I would love to express my deepest gratitude to my helpful supervisor, M.A Duong Huu Phuoc, for his insight, guidance and helpful suggestions during the preparation of this thesis He helped me to improve my abilities and skills which support me in the real world Secondly, I am indebted to my teachers of Foreign Languages Department for their endless enthusiasm, valuable teaching and tremendous assistance that have enlightened my report Thirdly, I should also express many thanks to my dear friends who have shared with me a lot during my studies and my research work as well Finally, I wish to thank my family, especially my parents, for their love, understanding, and supporting while I was writing this paper Thank you so much! Da Nang, November 2020 Student implementation Tran Thi Khanh Linh STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER ii SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in the whole or in part from a thesis by which has qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Da nang, November 2020 Tran Thi Khanh Linh STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER iii SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES TABLES Table 1: Room catalogue and room rates at the hotel 13 Table 2: Reception department facilities .22 Table 3: Saigontourane Hotel bussiness (2018-2020) 27 Table 4: Revenue of Saigontourane Hotel over Years (2018-2020) 29 Table 5: The number of Guest at Saigontourane Hotel in the period of 2018 2020 .30 Table 6: Saigontourane Hotel Reception Staff 31 Table 7: Saigontourane Front Desk Facilities .33 Table 8: Customers information investigated at Saigontourane Hotel 34 Table 9: Evaluation of the Facilities in the Reception Area 35 Table 10: Guests’ Evaluation of Receptionist’s Foreign Languages .36 Table 11: Guests’ Evaluation of Receptionist’s Serving Attitude 37 Table 12: Guests’ Evaluation of Receptionist’s Uniform 38 FIGURES Figure 1: Organization Diagram at Saigontourane Hotel 14 Figure 2: Organization chart of reception department 20 Figure 3: Chart of guests stay at Saigontourane hotel (2018-2020) .30 STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER iv SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS MICE: Meeting, Incentives, Convention, Exhibitions/event M: Million Vietnam dong B: Billion Vietnam dong FO: Front Office DTU: Duy Tan University HR: Human Resource STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER v SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A TABLE OF CONTENTS AKNOWLEGMENT i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 2.1 Hotel Business 2.1.1 Concept of hotel 2.1.2 Classification of hotel 2.1.2.1 The size of the hotel 2.1.2.2 The star system .5 2.2 Concept of hotel business 2.2.1 Product of hotel business 2.2.1.2 Catering business 2.2.1.3 Additional services business 2.3 The Reception Department In Hotel Business 2.3.1 Concept of reception CHAPTER 12 CASE DESCRIPTION 12 3.1 Saigontourane Hotel 12 CHAPTER 29 ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 29 4.1 Analysis of Revanue and Number of Tourist at Saigontourane hotel .29 4.1.1 Revenue 29 4.1.2 Number of Tourist to Saigontourane Hotel .30 4.2 Analysis of Reception Service Quality at Saigontourane Hotel 31 4.2.1 Reception staffs at Saigontourane hotel 31 4.2.2 Weaknesses of staffs services 32 4.2.3 Facilities at Saigontourane hotel front desk .33 4.2.3.1 Strenghts: .33 4.2.3.2 Weaknesses: 33 4.3 Evaluation 34 4.3.2.2 Guests’ Evaluation of Receptionist’s serving attitude 36 4.3.2.3 Guests’ Evaluation of Receptionist’s Uniform .37 CHAPTER 40 DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTIONS 40 STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER vi SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A 5.1 Difficulties 40 5.2 Solutions for reception department at Saigontourane Hotel 41 5.2.1 The receptionist needs to grasp some of the requests when dealing with your complaints guest: 41 5.2.2 Improve receptionist mental life 42 CHAPTER 43 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 43 6.2 Suggestions .44 6.2.1 Upgrading technical facilities 44 6.2.2 Improving performance of reception staffs 45 6.2.2.1 Improving foreign language skills 45 6.2.2.2 Cultivate qualities and morals, especially how to deal with customer 46 QUESTIONNAIRE .48 SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS .52 STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1.Rationale Nowadays, tourism is considered to be an important non-pollution industry in many countries around the world, including Vietnam Travel becomes popular due to human needs and their spiritual life are become more and more rich Along with that developed the integration of the world economy in general and Vietnam's economy in particular has attracted many commercial visitors to Vietnam Those are the factors that make a strong influent to the development of the tourism industry at present, requires all countries and businesses to providing a high quality of service to satisfy the increasing need of customers demand The hotel business is a special tourism industry always plays an important position in the national economy cannot avoid that trend Da Nang is one of the coastal cities with favorable geographical location suitable to build and develop a unique tourism capable of edge picturesque with famous tourist centers in the area To be able to create changes for travel businesses and serve the needs of a wide range of customers, the system of restaurants and hotels developed rapidly in terms of both service quality and infrastructure The system of hotels and restaurants is diversified meet the needs of all classes of guests with different spending levels However, in reality, not all hotels meet the needs of the hotel well customers to bring them satisfaction Process of serving guests in one hotel is a fairly complicated and difficult business but it is very important because it affects the product quality of the hotel Therefore, the welcome guest of reception department are also considered an important factor to attract and convince customers They are the bridge between the hotel and customers STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A So, improving the service quality of the reception department is very necessary Moreover, the hotel business is increasingly competitive listed, requires businesses to have solutions to improve service quality to turn it into a competitive advantage Recognize the importance of welcoming, as well as upgrading service quality of the front desk department, along with the dedicated guidance of teachers as a guide, I decided to choose the topic: “An Investigation into the Real Situation and Some Solutions to Improving the Service Quality of the Reception Department at Saigontourane Hotel” 1.2.Aims and Objectives 1.2.1 Aims My study are understanding functions, duties and the importance of the reception department at Saigontourane hotel – Da Nang, and from that to propose some solutions in order to improve the service quality of the receptionist department in the guest business hotel 1.2.2.Objectives This study is intended to: •Find out some strengths, weaknesses, threats and solutions to the development of The Reception Department at Saigontourane Hotel •Suggest some strategies to overcoming those problems 1.3.Scope of the Study This study draws an analysis and evaluation of the Reception Department The study also offers some solutions to attracting tourists coming to the hotel 1.4.Method of the study In this case study, I used the below methods : STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 40 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A CHAPTER DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTIONS 5.1 Difficulties - The geographical location of the hotel is one of the criteria for evaluation and arrangement star rating A geographical location of Saigontourane hotel is attractiveness guest in the centre of Da Nang city Therefore it directly affects efficiency business hotel - With a convenient location, every year Saigontourane Hotel has welcomed very large of domestic and foreign tourists, who are mainly delegations and business guests, foreigners coming to Vietnam to live and work during their long-term work - That is the reason why reception department play an important role in the activities of Saigontourane hotel The quality of recption must be the best to bring comfortable experience for guests The main market of Saigontourane Hotel is the market of Chinese tourists, Koreans, Vietnamese, etc In 2020, because of COVID-19, the hotel reached the lowest clients rate in the hotel history, so this year, the hotel targets are as follows: - Improve the organizational structure to train and improve the professional service of the staff - Improve the quality of service in every parts of the hotel and especially in the reception department - Listen to any complaints of customers to improve the service - Maintain the hotel infrastructure - To exceed the plan of a number of targets set by the hotel compared to 2020: turnover, profit, number of days room, and reduce expenses STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 41 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A 5.2 Solutions for reception department at Saigontourane Hotel 5.2.1 The receptionist needs to grasp some of the requests when dealing with your complaints guest: -Always be calm and confident in all cases, this will help employees have the wisdom and give the right solution, promptly and flexibly -Quickly find out the most reasonable solution to solve problems situations -Receptionist should be flexible, dynamic when some situations different of common situations -If the client's complaint cannot be resolved, it must be reported again with guests If the complaint is beyond authority, it must be reported to the higher staff -Always have a positive attitude with guests because of the prestige and profitability of the hotel have the best solution for all even the smallest problems in their jurisdiction mine -Employees cannot make any promises beyond their authority with customer, must give the exact time the problem is solved Resolve complaints in steps: -Listen and record relevant details such as: visitor's name, phone number, customer complaints -Apologize to guests and show great sympathy to guests -Thoroughly research the incident, and remind the guests that the staff understands the problem -Provide solutions for customers to choose, and at the same time promise to implement thoughtful -Report to relevant department for settlement -Receptionist self-handling STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 42 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A -Report to leadership -Thank guests for their comments to the hotel -Check customer satisfaction -Record the incident in the daily book 5.2.2 Improve receptionist mental life -The reception department is the central hub of the hotel, where all activities take place and receive requests from customers It can be say that work pressure for the staff working at reception is very large Furthermore, the work of reception department is huge That is why the hotel should have policies to pay more attention to the life of staffs -There should be a specific salary increase policy for employees Holidays, working overhour, should have bonuses not only in the form of compensatory rest but also with additional salary payment These days priority is given to those who live far away, people in special circumstances leave before, take longer days off… This policy will satisfy people to actively work, voluntarily learn to improve their qualifications and development promote creativity, contribute many good ideas to improve overall efficiency for the hotel -The company leader should also pay attention to satisfying the needs of respect, promotion, fairness among employees… this will motivate them to be more productive working The management of the hotel should bring up promotion and promotion programs This is one of the important problems that many employees care especially talented young people -Because of the hotel industry that require many female workers, the same with Saigontourane hotel The percentage of female workers is quite large, the hotel needs to pay special attention to this workforce Due to the working environment at the hotel is quite complicated, and some parts have limited labor age regulations The hotel should have satisfactory policies such as regulations on degrees age, separate policies to ensure women's rights STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 43 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 6.1 Conclusion Through many years of working, Saigontourane hotel has been step by step affirmed its position in the market This is shown in total revenue of the hotel and the number of guests staying at the hotel In spite of there are still remain certain disadvantages, but to have such success is thanks the efforts of the staff in the hotel In which there are staff of the hotel reception department create great contributions After four years studying at Duy Tan University and having real time working at Saigontourane hotel and directly research at the reception I noticed that the receptionists are the ones who hold basic professional skills, mostly meeting the needs of customers, leave a good impression on guests, it is expressed through revenue, public room rates and the number of guests coming to the hotel are constantly increasing However, the reception department still faces some limitations that need to be overcome to become more and more perfect It is to improve foreign language skills and handle situations encounter with guests In my essay, I tried to state the results achieved, the exist and a number of measures to improve the efficiency of the reception department at Saigontourane hotel to bring even greater efficiency in operation of the receptionist department However, due to my own abilities, there are still many limitations and time to research in the department is not much so the article will shortcomings are unavoidable I look forward to the comments of teachers to let the article be more complete STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 44 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A I would like to sincerely thank the teachers in the Faculty of English Especially, I would like to thank Mr.Duong Huu Phuoc for helping me complete this thesis! 6.2 Suggestions - The receptionist is the first one to contact and work with the client, making sure a nice initial impression for the hotel, decisive success in introduce and promote hotel brand, attract potential customers function and keep loyal customers - Improving the quality of service at the Reception is a necessary object, bringing many benefits, positive impact on the business efficiency and longterm development of the hotel Besides strengths, there are still some inevitable shortcomings With the weakness that the Reception Department is getting, offering solutions is a leading issue Here are some solutions found through my case study: 6.2.1 Upgrading technical facilities + Facility is one of the factors affecting the quality of the services and the ability to meet the needs of guests when using services at the hotel This is the tangible, most visible part of the service In terms difference way, technical facilities are the face of the hotel, the image of the guest seen first upon arrival at the hotel Therefore, facilities is the basic factor has a great influence on the first impression of guests of the hotel + Technical facilities are an important condition for star ratings hotel The upgrade and renovation of facilities play an important role creating an imprint of nice statue for Saigontourane hotel in the mind of travelers.Moreover, It creates a premise for more effective business development STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 45 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A + Existing equipment has signs of deterioration, sometimes making it difficult for staff when serving guests such as: Broke computer screen, The guests rooms lockers and keys number is not clear, the radios communicate with other departmentsometimes not able to contact, it makes the receptionist have many difficulties in payment of customers So the hotel needs to invest in refreshing the front desk Should equip cabinets for neatly arranged stationery for staffs + The hotel needs to change the uniforms for staff because for a long time, the staff's uniform was worn out, tarnished during the dressing process services, especially the departments directly serving customers + Upgrading facilities will help employees work conveniently and also serve guests better There was not only a good impression there with customers, but also attracting more and more customers 6.2.2 Improving performance of reception staffs 6.2.2.1 Improving foreign language skills + Saigontourane Hotel is a 3-star hotel And many guest of the hotel is from Europe countries Asia is mainly Chinese and a few domestic tourists can afford to pay high Therefore, it can be said that the main language of communication of the receptionist is English and Chinese Overall, the staff of the reception department are all capable using English, especially staff directly communicating with guests, is qualified TOEIC or higher, however the hotel should encourage staff to increase knowledge because sometimes staff even hear the wrong words of the guests submitted foreign language is not really solid And in addition to the main foreign language, English, the receptionist needs to know the a second foreign language In the hotel, the number of Japanese, Korean and Chinese also have a large numbers so the receptionist should learn more language to serve customers better To improve STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 46 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A foreign language Saigontourane Hotel should be encouraged by the following forms: - Open classes right at the hotel, invite foreign language to teaching - Encourage staff to take part in foreign language classes with the policy will pay ½ of the tuition fee if the employee performs well - Facilitate time for staff to participate in learning - Encouraging staff to self-supplement knowledge through sessions group activities - There should be policies to reward and increase employees salaries for them to take the initiative and be active in improving proficiency, especially foreign language proficiency Since the receptionist can communicate fluently, it can be avoided if there are any new problem happen, the quality of service will be improved 6.2.2.2 Cultivate qualities and morals, especially how to deal with customer Reception department is the place that most contacts with guests, all questions, requests of the customer's demand is directed send to the receptionist department The type of customers are very diverse and variation Therefore, to satisfy all types of guests, receptionists need to behave skillfully with guests, must have knowledge to catch the psychology of each type of customer, must always pay attention to the needs of guests When guests complain, the receptionist should not appear ready to comment with guests, steal words, confirm more truth with guests Which is necessary and important mission is to listen, thanks and find a ways to handle the situation, overcome the shortage omitted The customer is not always right, but we should remember that they can bring to the hotel a source of profit Guest complaints are not alwasys satisfactory, but certainly the reason STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 47 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A comes from the staff in the hotel So employees have to listen to perfection and keep improving service quality with gestures, eyes, and a receptive voice complain to make guests feel that the waiter understands them, is on their side Listen to the customer's opinion and find a reasonable solution STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 48 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE Dear Madam, Sir! I wish you all the best wishes on your holiday in Da Nang city We should be deeply grateful when you answer the questions on this page Your opinion will help us with useful information to our research and to put forward some measures in upgrading Saigontourane and providing you with better service Thank you very much for your help! How many times have you been to Da Nang? time times times More than times: ………… How many times have you used the hotel services at Saigontourane Hotel? time times times More than times: ………… You know Saigontourane from? Newspaper, magazine Accquaintance, friend Guide book Traveling agencies Internet Other………… The purpose of travel STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 49 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A Business To research Travelling Other…… Your first impression when you use the service at Saigontourane? The facilities of the Front Desk Serving manners, skills, knowledge of Receptionists Other ideas……………………………… Please tick in the box that you satisfied according to the satisfaction level of the reception department 1: Very satisfied 2: Satisfied 3: Normal 4: Quite satisfied 5: Dissatisfied Satisfaction level of clients Lobby Facilities & Equipments Reception Services Foreign Languages Skill Serving Attitude Hotel Uniform What made you most satisfied during the time you used our service? To enhance the quality of the reception service , following your opinion, what should we do? If you have a chance to come back to Da Nang, will you use again STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 50 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A the service of Saigontourane Company? Sure Maybe No Please give me your individual information: Nationality : Sex : Age : Occupation : STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 51 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A REFERENCES TS Nguyễn Văn Mạnh TH.S Hoàng Thị Lan Hương (chủ biên), Giáo trình Quản trị kinh doanh khách sạn, NXB Đại học Kinh tế quốc dân Lê Huy Hòa ( chịu trách nhiệm sản xuất ) Trương Hữu Thắng ( biên tập ), Giáo trình quản lý vận hành khách sạn, NXB Lao Động GV Trịnh Thanh Thủy, Tài liệu hướng dẫn học tập học phần – Quản trị lễ tân khách sạn, Khoa du lịch Đại học Mở Hà Nội Webpages http://www.saigontourane.com.vn/ http://thuvienso.duytan.edu.vn/ STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 GRADUATION PAPER 52 SUPERVISOR: DUONG HUU PHUOC, M.A SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS STUDENT: TRAN THI KHANH LINH – K23NAD5 CODE: 23203210637 ... with the dedicated guidance of teachers as a guide, I decided to choose the topic: “An Investigation into the Real Situation and Some Solutions to Improving the Service Quality of the Reception Department. .. Evaluation To evaluate the quality of service of the Reception staff at Saigontourane hotel, I used the questionnaire survey with a total of 150 clients using the services at the hotel The period...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DUY TAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS TRAN THI KHANH LINH INVESTIGATION INTO THE REAL SITUATION AND SOME SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING THE SERVICE QUALITY