Hospitality

Whether you’re staying in a 5-star hotel including more exclusive like  hotels  sheffield or a backpacker hostel, there are many things you can do to help keep yourself and your belongings safe. These tips are particularly helpful if you’re traveling solo as you won’t have someone to watch out for you.

1. Never leave the “Please Clean” sign on your door. This signals that your room is empty and is telltale sign for someone who might be waiting for the perfect moment to burglar your room. Instead, call the front desk and let them know your room is ready for a cleaning.

2. Ask for a room close to the elevator. While this may be noisier than one at the end of the hall, if you do find yourself in trouble, it’s more likely someone will hear you if you need help.

3. Women… NEVER let a man in your room. Even if you’ve called room service and you’re fairly certain that he’s trustworthy. Keep the door open and conduct your business near the hallway. If a service person must get in the room, in the case of having to fix the air conditioning or television, keep the door open at all times. If you haven’t called someone, yet someone’s knocking, check with the front desk to confirm it’s someone from the hotel.

4. Carry a rubber doorstop. In many developing countries, there is no deadbolt or chain lock to provide added  protection from a potential intruder. Because most doors open inward, simply slip the doorstop underneath the door so that no one can get in while you’re sleeping or in the shower.

5. Ensure your privacy. Most hotel staff are trained not to say your room number out loud. If they do say it while you’re checking in and there are others in the lobby, ask for another room. You never know who might be listening and taking note that you are traveling on your own.

6. Keep your key safe. In less modern hotels, the room key is often on a keychain that may include your hotel name and room number. Simply slip the key off and carry it in a safe place so that, in the event that you lose it or someone picks it up, they don’t know where to find you. Always make use of car hire Bilbao Airport or any other location to ease your transportation.

Hints to help your hotel stay go smoothly

Once you have your on-line hotel reservation, follow these steps to avoid problems and to have a pleasant stay.

These tips add to what you learned in Hotel Savings Strategies,  if you go vacation to whitby on the north-east coast of England you can make online book at whitby holiday cottages

• Print out your confirmation and receipt (if prepaid) and take these with you to your hotel.At some point during your travels, you may need to prove that you made a reservation that somehow became “lost” in a computer system.
• Soon after booking online, call your hotel or resort and confirm that it received your reservation and that all is well.
• Give your hotel any special requests you may have, such as a nonsmoking room or king bed. You are never absolutely guaranteed these, but it helps to request (or reconfirm) these directly with your hotel in advance of arrival.The more in advance you make these requests, the more likely they will be honored.However, wait until check in to ask for any free upgrades. (See below)
• Ask the hotel what parking costs, if traveling to a large city.Parking rates can be astronomically high, and cheaper rates may be in unsafe areas.You simply do not need a car in Manhattan or in downtown areas of cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, or Washington, DC.

The following hints may also enhance your travel experience.

• Sign up for your hotel chain’s frequent guest program, especially if you are staying at a top rated hotel.You may get a free upgrade, express check out, and other perks.
• Avoid checking in during the late evening.Hotels overbook, so you’ll want to avoid this major hassle, especially late at night. Try to show up before everyone else has.An exception is Las Vegas, where guests arrive and depart at all hours.
• When checking in at better hotels, dress appropriately for your destination and age.You do not have to wear a business suit when arriving at a top hotel in New York, but you should wear something more upscale than what you wore while camping at the Grand Canyon.Like it or not, hotel desk clerks and those who guard the doors of the best clubs and restaurants are more likely to do favors for you if they think that you belong.
• If you have an American Express or airline frequent traveler credit card, use it when you check in. This tells the hotel that you probably travel frequently, and it would be wise to treat you well.
• Especially when arriving at first-class and deluxe hotels, do not ask for free upgrades, unless you hold top status in the hotel’s frequent guest program.Check in clerks are quite jaded when it comes to these requests. After all, using Hotwire.com or Priceline.com Hotels, you are paying the rock bottom rates at these hotels.INSTEAD, politely ask how much it costs to upgrade to a “lake front,” “partial ocean view,” or whatever type of room you wish. You may be surprised at how little it costs—and how often you are upgraded for free.

  Partial ocean view rooms, by the way, are often great values with views more interesting than just staring out to sea from a full ocean view room.

• If you must travel with valuables, take advantage of hotel secure storage facilities, instead of less secure room safes. Bell captains at better hotels can put large items, such as laptops, in locked storage while you are away.

The economics of the 21^st century will be dominated by three industries: telecommunications, information technology and tourism. The travel and tourism industries have grown by 500% in the last 25 years and it is estimated that by the year 2007 tourists will spend US$884 billion in foreign countries on tourism related activities.

Travel and tourism represents a broad range of related industries. The growth of these industries has opened up many new job opportunities for graduates in areas such as:

• hotels
• restaurants
• retailing
• transportation
• travel agencies
• tour companies
• tourist attractions
• leisure, recreation and sport
• cultural industries

It is interesting to realise that in 1997 travel and tourism provides 10.5% of the total world employment, with up to 25% of all employment, in some areas, such as the Caribbean. It has been estimated that, by 2007, more than 100 million people world-wide will be employed in this sector. Because of this, tourism is now seen to be of importance to most countries of the world.

During this time, the nature of tourism has developed in scope and direction, away from traditional activities, such as the sunshine sand and sea holidays to a wide range of new activities such as cultural tourism, adventure tourism, sports and leisure activities and eco-tourism.

Given the potential for interesting and rewarding careers in these industries many young people are looking for suitable courses which will help prepare them for careers in management within the tourism and hospitality industries. The UK higher education system has a well developed range of courses, at all levels from Higher National Diploma, BA or BSc degrees and MA/MSc/MBA Masters courses and using alternative methods of studying, (including full-time, part-time and distance learning). When looking at courses in hospitality and tourism, there can seem to be a bewildering variety of course titles covering the main employment areas of travel, tourism, hotels and restaurants. Typical titles include:

For hotels and restaurant management:

• hospitality management
• international hospitality management
• hotel and catering management

For travel and tourism:

• tourism management
• tourism studies
• travel and tourism Read more…