International hotel chains. Basic models of hotel business organization

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International hotel chains play an important role in the development of the hospitality industry and compliance with high service standards.

As has already been revealed, a hotel chain is an association of several hotel complexes to develop a unified policy and general terms of agreements with wholesale tour operator companies. The development of automation systems has led to the fact that often enterprises included in the hotel chain are connected by a single automated system for managing and distributing hotel stock.

The hotel complex is an important element of the social sphere, playing a major role in increasing the efficiency of social production and, accordingly, increasing the living standards of the population. Despite the unstable economic situation, the market hotel services Russia is gradually expanding.

Thus, since the early 90s, international hotel chains began to participate in the construction, reconstruction and management of hotels in Russia. As of 1999, the following companies are represented in Russia:

1. Marco Polo Hotels and Resorts (Austria). Unites hotels:

· “Marco Polo Presnya” (5-star), Moscow, 68 rooms/120 beds, 1992;

· “Moscow Palace Hotel” (5-star), Moscow, 221 rooms/442 beds, 1993;

· Palace Hotel Nevsky (5-star), St. Petersburg, 287 rooms/574 beds, 1993;

· “Beresta Palace Hotel” (5-star), Veliky Novgorod, 250 rooms/500 beds, 1992

2. Dusit Thani / Kempinski (Thailand), includes hotels:

· “Baltschug Kempinski” (5-star), Moscow, 234 rooms/468 places, 1992;

· “Grant Hotel Europe” (5-star), St. Petersburg, 301 rooms/560 beds, 1992

After the acquisition of Kempinski, the leading Thai chain Dusit Thani became known as Dusit Thani / Kempinski and was ranked 35th in the 1994 ranking of the world's largest companies. Both hotels of this corporation are included in the “best hotels in the world” category.

3. Accor (France) unites hotels:

· “Novotel” (4-star), Moscow, 488 rooms/976 beds, 1992;

· Sofitel (4-star), Moscow, 195 rooms/400 beds, 1991

4. Radisson / SAS (USA) unites hotels:

· “Radisson – Slavyanskaya” (5-star), Moscow, 430 rooms/860 beds, 1991;

· "Radisson - Lazurnaya" (4-star), Sochi, 300 rooms/600 beds, 1993

5. Inter – Continental Hotels (Great Britain) includes the Metropol Hotel (5 star), Moscow, 403 rooms/750 beds, 1991.

6. Forte, PLC (UK) represented by the National Hotel
(five-star), Moscow, 231 rooms / 378 seats, 1995.

7. IMP Group. Ltd. (Canada) includes the Aerostar Hotel (four-star), Moscow, 413 rooms/826 beds, 1991.

8. New World / Renaissance Hotels (Hong Kong - Hong Kong, China) oversees the Olympic Penta Renaissance Hotel (4-star), Moscow, 473 rooms/946 beds, 1991.

The presence of high-class hotels in Russia accordingly increases the overall level services provided in hotels, and allows the Russian hotel business to develop more efficiently. At the same time, the trend towards creating a hospitality system based on long-term relationships has its own history and development prospects.

8.6. Associations and unions
in the hotel industry: a look into the future

The first associations were formed in Europe in the 14th century, when the first guilds of innkeepers were organized. At the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. syndicates, corporations and joint stock companies, uniting various enterprises, the process of initial capital accumulation was carried out in hotel business.

In London in 1906, the “Union of Hotel Owners” was organized; it united 1,700 hotels in Europe. The trend towards capital consolidation has greatly contributed to the creation and, accordingly, the offering of higher quality hotel services.

Let's consider the main factors influencing the desire of hotel owners to unite; first of all, these include:

· the need for the hotel to be fully occupied;

· ensuring compliance with equipment and equipment standards;

· high competition;

· market conditions;

· improving flexible personnel policies and professional training;

· creation of investment funds.

The main goals of creating associations are:

· exchange of information through the media;

· creating an image among members of associations;

· representation at the federal (regional) level;

· preferential group insurance;

· joint price control;

· assistance in improving enterprise management;

· protection of permanent members in career advancement.

The most famous associations that are successfully developing in the hotel services market:

1. HORTEK (confederation of national associations of hotels and restaurants) - 1200 hotels and restaurants, 22 national organizations.

2. AN&MA (American Hotel and Motel Association). Organized in 1910. Unites 70 American and 33 foreign national associations, 675 related enterprises. This association contributed to the emergence of MAFO.

3. MAFO (American Association of Franchise Associations).

4. “The Leading Hotels of the World” (1927) includes 315 luxury hotels.

5. IGA (International Hotel Association).

The information provided is clear evidence that the global hotel business is undergoing a process of consolidation of hotel services in order to generate additional profits, stimulate sales of hotel products and insure possible commercial risks.

Having studied the materials in this section, you have received information that:

· a hotel, as a complex entity, requires a clear management structure;

· there are hotel chains and “independent” hotel consortia;

· the entry of a hotel into one or another hotel chain significantly increases the income of the enterprise;

Increasingly, hotel enterprises are resorting to concluding a franchise agreement;

· the role of hotel chains in the global hospitality business is constantly increasing;

· hotel chains are penetrating the Russian hotel business;

· hotel associations play a significant role in the development of the hotel business.

Test questions and assignments

1. Explain the main reasons requiring the creation of a system for organizing the hotel business.

2. What is the advantage of W. Ritz hotels?

3. How is K. Wilson’s hotel business model different?

4. What are the main requirements that the Holiday Inn hotel chain meets?

5. What are the functions of a franchisor?

6. What is the role of the hotel concept in the development of the hotel business?

7. What is the advantage of a transit hotel?

8. What are the main characteristics of a holiday hotel?

9. What are the conditions for signing a franchise agreement?

10. Name the main hotel chains in the world of hospitality.

11. How effective and justified is the introduction of hotel chains into the Russian hotel business?

12. Will there be associations and unions arising in hotel business, contribute to better delivery of hospitality services?

13. What, in your opinion, are the reasons for the consolidation of the hotel business?

14. How intensively are similar processes implemented in Russia?

Chapter 9
HOTEL BUSINESS SERVICES AND SERVICES,
THEIR IMPLEMENTERS

Service and its types

The services provided to the guest are largely determined by the extent to which the hotel will have a constant income and, accordingly, the ability to expand the hotel business.

According to their functional purpose, services provided to the population are divided into material and socio-cultural. Material service is a service to satisfy the material and everyday needs of the service consumer. A material service ensures the restoration (change, preservation) of consumer properties of products or the production of new products according to orders from citizens, as well as the movement of goods and people, and the creation of conditions for consumption. In particular, material services may include household services related to the repair and manufacture of products, housing and communal services, catering services, transport services, etc.

Social and cultural service is a service to satisfy the spiritual, intellectual needs and maintain the normal functioning of the consumer. Social and cultural services ensure the maintenance and restoration of health, spiritual and physical development of the individual, and improvement of professional skills. Socio-cultural services may include medical services, services in the field of culture, tourism, education, etc. A service differs from a product in its intangibility, the impossibility of preserving it, purchasing it for future use, as well as a high degree of dependence on who provides this service.

The issue of quality plays a vital role in the production and consumption of hotel services.

Service quality is a set of characteristics of a service that determine its ability to satisfy the established or expected needs of the consumer.

Service quality is a set of process characteristics and service conditions that ensure satisfaction of the established or expected needs of the consumer.

The most important characteristics of a service that ensure its ability to satisfy certain needs include:

· reliability;

· precaution;

· trust;

· availability;

· communication skills;

· Attentive attitude.

Reliability determined by the ability of staff to accurately deliver the promised service. The basis for reliability is the competence of the service personnel.

Courtesy– determination to help the client and provide service without delay. During service, very often emergency situations arise or clients have special desires. In such cases, the enterprise’s ability to find an innovative and effective solution is assessed. It is necessary to plan in advance options for eliminating such problems and develop your own operating principles.

Confidence– the ability of staff to inspire trust.

Availability– ease and ease of establishing connections
with service staff.

Communication skills– the ability to provide a service that eliminates misunderstandings between staff and clients by ensuring that the necessary information is provided to clients on time
and without additional request on their part.

Attentive attitude– individual service and attention that the company shows towards customers. The particular value of this service characteristic is explained by the fact that each client has special needs that differ from the needs of other people.

Quality service is influenced by many factors. There are three main factors that affect quality service (Fig. 6). They can be called the basic elements of quality service, since when assessing the quality of hotel services, the client considers the design of the hotel lobby, the room where he lives, as well as the work of the staff, their professionalism and competence.

Rice. 9. Factors affecting quality hotel services

Let us consider in more detail the factors that directly influence the quality of the services provided.

1. Professionalism and competence of service personnel. A hotel worker must have certain knowledge and skills necessary to perform the duties assigned to him.

2. Progressive service technology. Technological rules establish the order, sequence and quality of execution of necessary operations when organizing service. The main goals of technological rules are: high-quality and uniform execution of services; use of modern high technologies based on computer technology and automation of production processes when performing services.

3. Material and technical base. It's about on the satisfactory physical and technical condition of the hotel’s fixed assets, which include the building, premises, equipment, engineering and technical equipment, inventory and other means of producing services. It should be borne in mind that the hotel undergoes a constant process of depreciation and wear and tear of fixed assets. On the other hand, scientific and technological progress forces the introduction and use of new, more productive models of engineering and technical equipment. Ignoring these circumstances leads to rapid deterioration of the hotel, loss of presentation, and the creation of an unfavorable impression among clients about the service and image of the hotel.

4. Convenient layout of rooms and public spaces, high-quality finishing of the hotel premises, equipping the rooms with comfortable furniture and equipment, high-quality bedding sets, dishes, appliances, necessary accessories, decoration
and landscaping of the premises will serve to create coziness and comfort for guests.

These factors are objects of management. Without such a process as quality management of hotel services, it is impossible to improve the quality level of service.

In modern hotel enterprises, service quality management is one of the most important elements of activity. Service quality management includes the development and implementation of quality standards, personnel training, control, adjustment, improvement of service in all areas of the hotel’s activities, as well as improvement of the material and technical base.

Hotel services

Accommodation services are a product of the activities of hotels or any other enterprise intended for accommodation. In the state standard GOST R 51185-98 “Tourist services. Accommodation facilities. General requirements" provides a definition of hotel services. Accommodation services are the activities of the contractor in accommodating tourists and providing hotel, special (medical, health, sanatorium, sports, tourist, etc.) services.

The main feature of the hotel product is that the client does not have ownership of the product he uses. The characteristic features of the service are identified that determine the specifics of accommodation services.

· Inseparability of production from consumption of services. In most situations typical of the hospitality industry, the provision of a service requires the presence of both the one who provides it and the one to whom it is provided. This action takes place on the territory of the producer, not the consumer. In addition, the personnel providing the services have direct contact with the consumer. The provision process requires active participation from both the producer and the consumer. The client views the hotel staff as an inseparable part of the service itself. That is why the quality of a hotel is determined to a large extent by the behavior of employees.

· Impossibility of storage. The production of a service is fixed in time and space: if the service (hotel product) is not sold on a certain day, then potential income is lost and cannot be replenished. Services cannot be stored, because they are designed to satisfy real needs existing in this moment.

· Seasonality of demand fluctuations. The hotel market is characterized by fluctuations in demand depending on the season of the year. Most tourists vacation during the summer months.

· High fixed costs. When hotel profit and loss statements are analyzed, high fixed production costs and relatively low variable costs become apparent, which are annual, largely independent of the number of clients admitted for the year.

· Inconsistency of quality. Hospitality services are variable, meaning their quality depends on who provides them and under what conditions. There are several reasons for this variability. Firstly, services of this kind are provided and received simultaneously, which limits the ability to control their quality. Temporary fluctuations in demand make it difficult to maintain quality of service during periods when demand becomes high. Much depends on the state of the service provider at the time of its provision. The same person can serve you well today and poorly tomorrow. The reasons for this poor service can be varied. Variability and fluctuations in service quality are the main cause of customer dissatisfaction with the hospitality industry.

· Service is a process that occurs over time. The specificity of hotels is that problems related to production must be resolved quickly. In today's environment, customers demand fast service.

Services provided in hotels are divided into main
and additional. They can be free or paid.

Basic services include accommodation and food. Registration of those staying at the hotel and those leaving it must be done around the clock. In catering, communications and consumer services organizations (located in a hotel), persons staying in the hotel are served out of turn.

The following types of services can be provided to guests at no additional charge:

· call an ambulance;

· use of a first aid kit;

· delivery to the correspondence number upon receipt;

Wake up at a certain time;

· provision of boiling water, needles, threads, one set of dishes
and cutlery.

In addition to mandatory and free services, hotels provide a whole range of various additional services, which are paid additionally. The list and quality of paid additional services must meet the requirements of the category assigned to the hotel. Medium and large tourist complexes (tourist hotels, full-service hotels, etc.) with an average and high level of comfort are characterized by the presence of a huge list of additional services:

· catering services (bar, restaurant, cafe, buffet, beer bar);

· shops (souvenir, grocery), vending machines;

entertainment infrastructure (disco, casino, night club, slot machine room, billiard room);

· excursion services, guide-translator services;

· organizing the sale of tickets to theaters, circuses, concerts, etc.;

· child care, provision of tutors and nannies who speak the child’s native language;

· caring for animals that travel with their owners;

· transport services(booking tickets for all types of transport, ordering vehicles at the request of guests, calling a taxi, car rental);

· purchase and delivery of flowers;

· sale of souvenirs, postcards and other printed materials;

· consumer services (shoe repair and cleaning; repair and ironing of clothes; dry cleaning and laundry services; storage of things and valuables; unloading, loading and delivery of luggage to the room; rental of cultural and household items - televisions, dishes, sports equipment, etc.; repair of watches, household appliances, radio equipment; hairdressing, manicure and massage rooms and other household services);

· services of beauty salons and hairdressing salons;

· sauna, bathhouse, swimming pools, gym;

· rent of meeting rooms, conference halls;

· business center services;

· currency exchange;

· other services.

A system of measures that ensure a high level of comfort and satisfy the various household and economic needs of guests is called service in the hotel industry. The service must be built not only on the principle of demand (what the guest wants), but also on the principle of supply (the hotel offers new services that it can provide, and the guest chooses). But you cannot force services. The consumer has the right to refuse to pay for services not provided for in the contract. It is also prohibited to condition the performance of some services on the mandatory provision of other services.

The list of services depends on the hotel category. Not all hotels have the opportunity to organize personal services for guests and provide them with a full range of services. However, everywhere we must strive
to ensure that the range of services fully meets the needs of guests.

Businesses providing services must be located in an accessible location (most often on the ground floor). There should be information in the lobby, on the floors, in the rooms about how and where to get services, and the opening hours should be convenient for guests.

When providing services, not only their quantity is important, but also their quality. Therefore, in many hotels, upon departure, residents are asked to fill out short questionnaires, which are submitted to the reception service, and then they are studied by the advertising and marketing service.

9.3. The structure of the hotel enterprise,
providing hospitality services

Organizational structure of a hotel enterprise is determined by the purpose of the hotel, its location, the specifics of the guests and other factors. It is a reflection of the powers and responsibilities assigned to each of its employees.

As human civilization developed, the provision of hospitable services to people who found themselves, for one reason or another, outside the home (outside their “closed space”) turned into a profession for more and more people, until it turned into a genuine industry. In American studies, this industry combines all related sectors of the economy that specialize in serving traveling people through specialized enterprises: hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, National parks, parks of culture and recreation. The restaurant, tourism, and especially hotel businesses have grown in size in the United States. The study of its economic and managerial foundations has become an independent branch of economic science, and management and marketing of services began to be taught at the university level. Educational process The training of specialists in the hotel industry is associated with certain difficulties, which include an insufficient number of scientific generalizations of systematic textbooks on the organization of services and data processing in hotels. In fact, the hotel consists of several enterprises, the key to the success of each of which is a clear knowledge and execution of their job descriptions.

In the hotel structure, one can distinguish a reception and accommodation service, an administrative and economic service and a security service. Let us dwell on the characteristics of these divisions and, accordingly, on the activities of the personnel performing the main activities related to the provision of hotel services.

Hotel manager

The manager is fully responsible for the operation of the hotel as a whole
and each of its employees. He is the leader of the team, and as such is responsible to the owners for how much income the hotel entrusted to him brings.

So, to succeed as a manager, you need to have a number of personal qualities. People who have clearly succeeded in this role have leadership qualities, are attentive to detail, know how to complete every task and communicate with different people.

Another essential quality of a good manager is the ability to create a team. Management functions usually include foresight, planning, organization, implementation and evaluation. But since hotels exist to sell the use of their rooms and to ensure that guests feel comfortable in those rooms, the manager must assume the functions of a sales manager and devote up to 75% of his working time to them.

Related information.

If in the 19th century the specter of communism roamed across Europe, now the specter of a national hotel chain roams across Russia. At the end of April, another contender for the title of the first national chain hotelier made a statement to the press. The Inteko company, which has four sites for hotel construction in Moscow, an existing hotel and one under construction in Sochi and other projects, has announced its intentions to combine its facilities into a hotel chain.

Previously, other Russian and foreign companies, large and small, involved in the hotel and tourism business and those far from it, had similar plans. All of them feel the promise of new forms of management and are ready to fill the existing niche in the market, but for some reason the plans have remained mostly unrealized.

Background

The concept of an international hotel chain originated in North America at the end of the 50s. In short, its basic principle is the use of a brand image to promote a hotel product in domestic and foreign markets. This implies a qualitatively new stage in the development of the hotel offer, which arises, like any qualitative change, on the basis of significant quantitative growth. As hotels have evolved from an individual owner's life's work into an asset and commercial real estate asset, the need arose to professionally manage their associations rather than just an individual accommodation facility.

The growth of hotel construction has led to a concentration of hotels owned by individuals or companies. To successfully manage these facilities, the owner first selected the staff himself, determined the pricing policy and sales strategy. Then, as the business develops, the main management task becomes standardization of processes, allowing for the replication of the effective solutions found. As a result, the processes of managing and owning hotels began to diverge: those whose business was successful began to increase its volume, including at the expense of less fortunate colleagues, creating the first hotel chains or chains.

Main features of a hotel chain:

1. formal elements that ensure recognition of objects included in the chain and their visual unity. This is usually achieved by a common logo, color scheme, decorative elements, and name, which together is the external essence of the brand and makes it recognizable.
2. the commonality of the structural elements that make up the merged hotels, as well as the same level of comfort and service offered;
3. a unified operating strategy, which involves standardizing the main procedures for service, marketing and sales, thereby achieving the same quality level of operation of all objects in the chain. This and the previous signs are the internal essence of the brand and reinforce in the consumer mind the idea of the prestige of the brand;
4. the presence of a specific structural superstructure over the basic element, consisting of individual hotels, or a management company that provides general strategic management, monitors compliance with standards, etc. She represents a separate entity, associated with the objects managed by it through specially concluded agreements.

Forms of hotel associations

Currently, even experts have difficulty explaining the difference between the various forms that link hotel owners with the various external structures created to improve business efficiency. Many people do not understand the difference between independent Management Company from the structure governing the hotel chain, the franchising system from the voluntary hotel association and the network of information and reservation systems. This confusion arises because the goal of all associations is to improve the efficiency of hotel operations, but the techniques for achieving this in saturated markets are reduced to a set of standard actions. Without touching on the essence of the issue for now, we will try to outline the circle of actors, showing their main differences.

An independent management company usually deals with a dissimilar hotel product from different hotels that are (or are not) franchised by another company. The hotel owner pays both the management company and, separately, the franchise company for the use of its trademark. In the Moscow hotel market, an example of such relationships can be the hotels of the Marriott chain, managed by Interstar.

A hotel chain company generally deals only with branded properties, such as Ritz-Carlton. In this case, the owner pays her for managing his property and providing a number of other services, including a trademark.

The franchise system provides the rights to use its name, logo, reservation systems, service standards and other services; but does not directly manage the hotel. Most high-class hotels in the capital have franchise agreements with the company that owns the trademark.

A network of information and reservation systems allows a hotel to become part of a national or international reservation system and, at the same time, maintain its name. As a member, it pays to join them, carrying out other operations to manage and promote its services independently or with the help of special structures listed above. The largest systems of this type in the USA are Quality Courts, Best Western, Best Eastern and Master Hosts. Some of them later transformed into associations with a full range of services provided to their members, and are not much different from franchise companies.

Today there are many hotel associations around the world that offer their members the full range of services traditionally included in a franchise package, including marketing research. Independent hotels and national hotel chains are joining them to promote their brand or product in international markets. Such organizations are usually classified as voluntary hotel chains/associations. The best known on the Russian market is Leading Hotels of the World, which unites only five-star deluxe hotels in 60 countries. In addition to the above structures, there are “hybrids”, such as Hilton and Marriott, which operate under their own names or franchise their brands to individual hotels.

Hotel chains on the Russian market

Recently, this topic has been haunting real and potential owners of Russian accommodation facilities, since international practice has proven the financial effectiveness of this managerial technique.

The first experience of creating a Russian hotel chain was undertaken several years ago in Moscow. Accommodation facilities located in the VDNKh area were united into the Nord Hotel chain. However, this corporation failed to become a real hotel chain: the owner of the facilities was unable to overcome the resistance of old personnel to the introduction of new forms of management, which, moreover, were not very clearly defined.

The second contender was Best Eastern, created by the tour operator Academservice. There are more reasons to talk about positive experience here. Best Eastern advertises its member hotels in a single catalog and presents them in international booking systems. However, it would be inappropriate to call this form of hotel association a chain, and Best Eastern a management company, since it does not manage hotels, does not influence the quality of service, does not have a mechanism for influencing the pricing or image policy of its members, and does not develop marketing strategies for them. Its concept is somewhat vague - the best hotels in Russia have a wide range of star ratings, forms of ownership, and, accordingly, service standards. At its current stage of development, Best Eastern can be more classified as a voluntary hotel chain (or association), like its namesake in the United States.

In addition to those mentioned, there are structures on the Russian market that have also tried to become hotel corporations, for example, the State Unitary Enterprise Network of President Hotels and Health Resorts of Rus'. It was created on the basis of operational management of hotel property, so it has real leverage over the properties it owns. But here, too, the matter has so far been limited to the appointment of managers of individual facilities, the release of catalogs and the representation of their interests at international and national exhibitions, that is, in fact, everything has come down to marketing activities, which is typical for voluntary hotel associations, and not full-fledged chains.

An example of a structure born in the bowels of the Presidential Administration once again confirms that state property is not always used effectively. Management, appointed “from above” and not necessarily on a professional basis, sometimes has neither the proper competence in matters of hotel management nor the desire to look for new ways of development. A powerful bureaucratic apparatus slows down the decision-making process, which is especially detrimental to the multivariate hotel and tourist environment.

In this situation, it would be natural to expect that private initiative, as an alternative to the inertial state machine, will show more persistence in mastering new forms, and then this process will be crowned with success. Indeed, non-state actors of various kinds have repeatedly made attempts to create a hotel chain or hotel management company offering external management services for enterprises in this area. For example, the YuMAKO company, which manages and owns the Katerina Hotel in Moscow, in 2001-2002. managed the Moscow Iris Hotel under a contract. Now this organization, positioned as a management company, operates mainly in Sochi, although it periodically receives offers from various regions to take over this or that hotel for management. Some time ago there was information in the press about the transfer of the Moscow Baikal Hotel to YUMAKO, but apparently the deal did not take place for some reason.

In 2003-2004 in the field of external management of hotel facilities, which in our case is equivalent to the process of creating hotel chains, a real breakthrough was made.

First, Delta Capital Management announced its intention to create in Russia in the next ten years a chain of 50 three-star hotels under the Country Inn brand of the Rezidor SAS corporation. Then JSCB Trust and Investment Bank, a subsidiary of the Menatep group, in collaboration with Saber Projects, disseminated information in the press about the proposed construction in Russia of a chain of inexpensive hotels, which will be managed by the international operator Marriott. Alfa Bank and the Renaissance company had similar projects.

Against this background, the plans of the Department of Investment Programs of the Moscow Government, which was ready to invest about $70 million in the construction of ten three-star hotels in the capital and regions, looked a little more modest against this background. It was proposed to invite Russian specialists from the Intourist group to manage them.

Similar intentions (to build and manage what was built) were announced by the Bonita group (which owns two hotels in Kazakhstan) and Russian Gold.

As you can see, in all of the above cases, the hotel chain was created on the basis of facilities that had a common owner, who either combined the functions of ownership and management (YUMAKO, Bonita), or invited an external manager, for example, a Russian one (DIPS, AFK Sistema "), or foreign ("Russian Gold", "Delta Capital", Basel, etc.).

However, what looked so beautiful on paper happened very slowly in reality. Of the planned ten, DIPS built only one hotel in Yaroslavl (it came into operation in mid-2004). True, the department continues to build hotels in Uglich and Pereslavl-Zalessky, but even after the completion of these projects it will be too early to talk about a hotel chain. The same as in the case of AFK Sistema, which owns several hotels in Moscow. To manage hotel facilities, this company has created a specialized structure, Intourist Hotels Group, so the formal characteristics seem to be met here: there are hotels, there is external management. But this structure still cannot be called a full-fledged hotel chain, since it does not have the main feature - a brand, which implies the homogeneity of the united objects, the presence of its own production standards, an appropriate work protocol and a personnel reserve that allows replicating the required quality at new sites.

The comments addressed to Intourist Hotels Group are also true regarding another contender for the formation of the first Russian hotel chain, which appeared quite recently, at the beginning of 2005. This is the AMAKS group, which was actively buying hotels in the European (mostly) part of Russia last year. Today it owns and manages 14 properties of varying capacity and class, united under the AMAKS Grand-Hotel brand. Most of them are old Soviet-built hotels, positioned under the brands “Tourist”, “Sputnik” and “Intourist”, which already indicates their dissimilarity. True, the company, when acquiring problem hotels, carries out a phased reconstruction of them, as a result of which a certain unification of the overall product and production procedures can be achieved. But for now it is difficult to say anything definite regarding the hotels of the AMKAS group, the information available for analysis is too contradictory. On the one hand, despite the initial difference in the level of comfort, all these hotels are united in a chain of “Grand Hotels”, which implies a certain elitism. On the other hand, the company is talking about positioning the chain at the junction of the middle and upper segments (3-4 stars, no more), and one of the first hotels in the chain, the Perm Tourist, will enter the market after reconstruction under the Premier Hotel brand. . As is known, in international practice, middle-class properties fall into this category.

The lack of clear positioning, which manifests itself already at the stage of choosing a name, is unlikely to have a positive impact on the promotion of objects included in the chain, since this indirectly indicates that the concept of this association needs to be improved.

The above examples show that creating your own brand is more difficult than buying several hotels. Many applicants understand this and try to reduce possible risks by inviting special management companies that already have positive experience in this area. For example, such as “YUMAKO” or Heliopark Hotel Management, which, unlike those mentioned above, made a name in the recreational segment and until recently had no experience in managing city hotels. Only in May of this year, under the management of Heliopark Hotel Management, a hotel opened in Pskov. Today, the Helioparks system includes three holiday boarding houses: two in the Moscow region and one in the Tver region, as well as the Primorskaya hotel in Sochi, transferred to this group for management in 2004. Four more facilities are at the stage of reconstruction and construction - in Tula and Mikhnevo, Skobeevo and Borodino near Moscow. Despite the success of the first two hotels, this example is still only the first step towards the creation of a serious hotel corporation, although some formal signs of a chain are already appearing here - common name, product generality. At the same time, the transfer of Primorskaya to the management of HHM has not yet affected this hotel in any way. And this company will have to develop not only in breadth, increasing volumes, but also “in depth,” improving management and working on image characteristics.

In addition to the purely “national” ones, there are also Basel projects, forming a chain of “Russian Hotels”, which will be managed by the South African Protea, or “Inteko”, which has not yet decided whether to manage its hotels itself, or will invite one of the foreigners.

But just as one swallow does not make spring, the mechanical unification of several hotels under common management does not at all mean the creation of a hotel chain. So far, in the Russian context, we can only talk about the very initial stage of the “unification” process. What already exists as a reality in the Russian restaurant business or in trade is still in its infancy in the hotel industry. At the moment, contenders for the title of first in this field are trying to understand what a hotel chain is and how to act to achieve success. We hope that this article not only reflected the actual side of the merger process in the hotel business, but also highlighted some details that will help the practical implementation of this idea, which undoubtedly has a great future.

P.S. Of course, within the scope of this article it is impossible to reveal the full depth of the issue of creating a national hotel chain. The situation in the industry is changing very quickly, projects are born, die or are implemented in some other form. There is a lot of contradictory, inaccurate or incomplete information, many potential participants in the process prefer not to declare their plans, gradually preparing a breakthrough... In addition to “private owners”, the state is also interested in creating national chains, which is developing, together with the WTO, a concept for creating national hotel chains. However, it is not yet clear how and at what facilities this concept will be implemented if it is developed. In general, as has already been said, we are still only at the beginning of the path, but it is already clearly visible that it is unlikely that the “palm of championship” will be awarded to anyone alone. Most likely, the “breakthrough” will happen almost simultaneously, and several national hotel chains will appear in Russia at once, which will develop according to the laws of the market: grow, merge, be absorbed, etc. But this is the subject of a separate serious conversation.

Currently, the term “hotel chain” has long become familiar in the tourism industry. More than 90% of hotel services in the world are sold “under the flag” of hotel chains.

Combining hotels into chains with the establishment of uniform service standards and the centralized provision of a number of services by the hotel, including reservations, material and technical equipment, security, etc., significantly reduces management costs and increases the profitability of hotel enterprises. The chain, as foreign practice shows, is the most effective way of running housekeeping in the hotel business. Today there are more than 100 international hotel corporations in the world, ranging from small heavyweights with several dozen properties to thousands of hotels. Hotel management, working with people, booking technologies, reservations, training for management business and much more are an integral part of the hotel business around the world.

The theoretical basis of the study is the work of V.A. Kvartalnov, Yu.V. Volkov, N.V. Kolesnik, I.M. Korotyshka. , Lesnik A., Lukyanova L.G., Lyapina I.Yu., Medlik S., Trofimova E., Walker J., Yankevich V. and several others.

In our country, large Western management companies in the hospitality industry are gradually becoming the main players in the market. A distinctive feature of the Ukrainian hospitality market at the moment is the beginning of the formation of national hotel chains and the arrival of foreign chains. The first step towards this was the opening in 2005 of the first hotel of the international hotel chain Radisson SAS - the four-star Radisson SAS hotel in Kyiv.

1. THE CONCEPT OF HOTEL CHAINS. SPECIALIZATION AND HOTEL ASSOCIATIONS

Recently, along with traditional full-service hotels, more and more specialized enterprises have appeared with a reduced range of services.

The specialization of enterprises can be very diverse. Hotels may focus on serving representatives of a certain segment of the tourism market: for example, clients who schedule their vacations for golf, skiing, horseback riding tours, etc., traveling to conventions, exhibitions, fairs, and the like.

The deepening specialization of hospitality enterprises is interconnected with such an important trend as the creation of international chains, which are of great importance in the development and implementation of high service standards.

When we talk about a chain, we mean a group of enterprises that carry out a collective business and are under the direct control of the chain’s management. The chain may own its own homes or rent them. The management of the chain has advantages in distributing profits, but at the same time is responsible for all expenses that may occur during any (including financial) transactions.

The International Hotel Association (IHA) divides hotel chains into three categories:

The first is corporate chains—hotel corporations that own numerous businesses;

The second is a chain of independent enterprises that unite to use a common reservation system, marketing concepts, advertising and other services that are expensive for an individual enterprise;

The third is the chain providing management services.

There are many schools of thought about what made the chains successful. However, the obvious reasons are the consistency of product quality, the identity of services across different enterprises, and the affordability of prices.

Each type of hotel included in the hotel chain has its own brand. The advantage of companies that strictly adhere to their brand names is that users of the services of one hotel chain | clearly represent the quality of service and accommodation at an enterprise belonging to this chain, regardless of its location.

Of course, the most famous are those hotel chains that operate in many countries, and are not limited to controlling hotels in one country. In the early 90s, the leaders in international activity were Assog, represented in 66 countries; ITT Sheraton - in 61 countries; Holiday Inns - in 55 countries; Hilton Int., Inter-Continental, Best Western Hotels - in 47 countries. Leaders 1999 p. international operations have expanded significantly. Bass Hotels has hotels in 98 countries, Best Western Int. - in 84 countries, Assog - in 81 countries, Starwood Hotels - in 80 countries, Carlson Hospitality Worldwide - in 57 countries, Marriott Int. - in 56 countries, Hilton Int. - in 53 countries, Forte Hotel Group - in 51 countries. Many hotel chains are seeking to expand their operations geographically.

The process of growing importance of hotel chains in the management of the global hotel industry is characterized by a significant contradiction: on the one hand, the main hotel chains operating in many countries are becoming larger, on the other hand, all more countries create their own hotel chains and successfully compete with international monopolies. The headquarters of 325 hotel chains included in the Hotels magazine rating for 1999 p. are located in 39 countries. Moreover, more than 60% of them are in the USA, 17 headquarters are in the UK, 14 in Japan, 11 in Germany, 8 in Hong Kong, 6 each in France and Singapore (Table 1.2).

Thus, hotel chains manage hotels with a capacity of 5698.7 thousand rooms. The leading position is retained by the USA, which accounts for 62.5% of all numbers, and the share of the main European countries is only 27.1%. The role of hotel chains in management is constantly growing. In table 1.3 shows the quantity hotel rooms in chains in different countries world in 1999. Now hotel chains unite approximately half of all hotels existing in the world.

The Confederation of National Associations of Hotels and Restaurants of the European Economic Community (HOTREC) deals with the coordination of the functioning of hotel chains and associations of independent hotels and restaurants in Europe.

The quantitative growth of hotel chains, their mergers and consolidations create the erroneous impression of a decrease in the variety of offers and recreation. However, in practice, another trend is observed: the spread of chains cannot satisfy all the various requirements of tourists (through some impersonality, standardization of service), which creates the ground for the development of small independent hotels that rely on uniqueness and originality. Experts consider such hotels to be the prototypes of hotels of the 21st century: comfortable, without a restaurant (it is assumed that the restaurant is nearby), built in a rural style, offer services at a reasonable price and have everything necessary for work and leisure, where clients can receive exquisite personalized service. It is the uniqueness small hotel is the main instrument of market policy.

One of the relatively new domestic organizational forms in the hotel industry is the creation of hotel associations at the regional level. Such associations have common features with foreign hotel chains and corporate hotel associations. Hotel associations may include hotels of various subordination and various forms of class. The main goal of such associations is to coordinate activities in a competitive environment, create prerequisites for a stable existence and increase the profitability of hotels, and develop and improve the boiler service system.

2. DEVELOPMENT OF HOTEL CHAINS IN THE WORLD

Centralization of management remained the defining trend in the development of the global hotel industry. Almost all hotel chains in the world, regardless of their rating, experiencing fierce competition, were looking for any opportunity to increase their potential. In 1992-1996 pp. The leader of the rating was Hospitality Franchise System (HFS). During this period, he managed to absorb such large companies as Ramada Inns and Howard Johnson. But in 1997 p. Now it’s HFS’s turn: it has been absorbed by the chain and is developing dynamically.

At the end of the century, the process of centralizing management of Cendant Corp., which topped the rating of hotel chains, was clearly gaining momentum. If for 1970 -1991 pp. Holiday Inns increased control in the hotel industry by only 106 thousand rooms, but in the 90s the leader’s control increased to 214.8 thousand rooms. True, these were completely different companies. The increase was observed in all ranking positions of the rating. In 1970, the top ten rating united 4987 hotels with 502.4 thousand rooms, in 1991 - already 13813 hotels with 1847 thousand rooms, in 1999 - 25827 hotels with 3083.9 thousand rooms. Only in the 90s, the number of controlled numbers increased almost 1.7 times, or by 1236.7 thousand.

Centralization of management in small hotel chains occurs more intensively than in large ones. The so-called management companies (consortia) are less inclined to centralize. Here the leader until recently was Utell International, which was founded in 1992. Controlled 1360 thousand numbers, in 1997 -1998 pp. it was replaced by REZ Solutions Inc. (1560 thousand numbers), and in 1999 p.-Pegasus Solutions (1803 thousand numbers).

The process of consolidation of hotel chains is based primarily on the development of the franchising system (approximately 80% of hotels are part of the chain under franchise rights). In 1999 Of the 6,315 hotels operated by Cendant Corp., 6,258 were franchised by the company. Bass Hotels & Resorts (2nd place in the ranking) operates all of its 2,886 hotels only under these conditions. Since 1880 hotels of the more famous company Marriott Int. (3rd place in the ranking) 998 also have franchise agreements. And from 716 Starwood Hotels (8th place in the rating) 299 operate under this system. From 10 hotel chains that occupied first places in the 1970 rating, 9 strengthened their position in 1999.

If you compare the lists of hotel chains in the top twenty ratings in 1991 and in 1999 pp., then many are no longer there. The following brands withdrew from the game: Holiday Inns (1st place in 1991), HFS (2nd place), ITT Sheraton (7th place), Promus (12th place), Intercontinental Hotels (16th place) , Ramada Inter (18th place), Westin Hotels (19th place).

Current leaders Cedant Corp., Bass Hotels, Starwood Hotels y 1991 p. were unknown to anyone. Moreover, in 1999, relatively recently formed hotel chains announced themselves and immediately entered the rating. Among the first 100 firms, ten hotel chains were first mentioned only in 1999. Of these, the following should be noted: TUI Group (17th place) includes 172 hotels with 43.4 thousand rooms, Millennium (23rd place) - 117 hotels with 30.3 thousand rooms, Interstate Hotels Corp. (24th place) - 158 hotels with 29.4 thousand rooms.

Thus, hotel chains manage hotels with a capacity of 5698.7 thousand rooms. The leading position is retained by the USA, which accounts for 62.5% of all numbers, and the share of the main European countries is only 27.1%. The role of hotel chains in management is constantly growing. In table 1.3 shows the number of hotel rooms in chains in different countries of the world for 1999. Now hotel chains unite approximately half of all hotels existing in the world.

In addition to hotel chains, specific associations are actively functioning in the global tourism market, the main goal of which is to identify best representatives hotel business. For example, since 1928. Conducts work to determine best hotels world international corporation "Leading Hotels of the World". Every year it publishes data on the best enterprises in its special catalogue. International organization Preferred Hotels and Resorts of the World has been doing this kind of work for about 30 years. Since 1968, the international hotel association “Quiet Hotels of the World” has been operating, with its headquarters in Paris. When joining this association, three criteria are assessed: natural and pleasant environment; cozy building and hotel interior with a characteristic view; hospitality that meets all modern requirements, including excellent cuisine.

3. CURRENT STATE AND PROBLEMS OF HOTEL CHAINS

Research conducted by British experts has shown that when hotels are combined into a chain, the profitability of one room is 7 times higher than that of independent hotels.

The hotel association has two main goals:

1) ensuring competitiveness in the hospitality market through High Quality service, is supported by the condition of fixed assets (quality of buildings, interior design, equipment), qualifications of personnel, safety of the client and his property;

2) ensuring economic efficiency of activities through stable occupancy of hotels; the network allows you to reduce costs for reservations, marketing research, advertising, and personnel training.

A rational idea, which is born in one ring of the hotel chain, is quickly introduced into others, immediately bringing significant results.

But the spread of chains cannot satisfy all the varied demands of tourists through some impersonality and standardization of service.

It was this drawback that initiated the trend of expanding the typology of hotels in the chain, including hotels of different types and levels in one chain. This allows us to meet the needs of different segments of the population with different conditions.

Since the differentiation of the needs and conditions of Ukrainian citizens is too great compared to developed European countries, the creation of hotel chains in Ukraine faces certain obstacles. Some of them are unique to Ukraine, others are global in nature. There remains a large risk of possible losses associated with bureaucratic procedures.

Based on the problems and prospects for the development of national tourist chains, domestic hotels should initially set themselves the goal of creating a modern hotel chain in Ukraine, united by a single brand and a high level of quality. Over the course of several years, companies must practice the principles of the existence of hotels in a chain, taking into account the specifics of working in Ukrainian economic conditions.

Technologies also make it possible to enter global database networks and view international sites and pages on the Internet. Thanks to new technologies, access to which small owners gain largely through cooperation with large corporations within an autonomous enterprise, the ability to quickly communicate with potential clients of the global market is improved and the procedure for reserving cities in advance, processing pre-orders, etc. is simplified. And this makes it possible Send the right product to the right customer at the right time at the right price. Today, the global hotel industry numbers about 350 thousand comfortable hotels with more than 14 million rooms (26 million beds). At the same time, the number of rooms over the past 20 years has increased annually by an average of 3-4%, which indicates a significant growth dynamics in tourist accommodation facilities. Moreover, the structure of the global hotel industry adequately reflects tourist flows on a regional basis: the more domestic tourists and foreign visitors in a particular region of the world, the more accommodation facilities this region has.

Even though the numerical data in different sources do not coincide, the above approximate data speaks for itself: the enormity of the hotel industry, the stability of its position and growth over time, put this industry at one of the forefront today and in the future. Taking into account current trends in the development of international trade and tourism, it is not difficult to imagine in which direction international hotel corporations will develop. As for me, the author of this course work, I can only agree with the opinion of experts that “there are so many tastes in the world,” and each of them has its own right to exist.

Therefore, in the future we will see the development of both standard hotel chains and individual specialized hotels. Although, it seems that the specialization of hotels will be wider and more diverse, and therefore their share in the hotel services market will increase significantly. After all, there are still so many unmet customer needs for various types themed hotel complexes. These can be hotels for newlyweds, nostalgic hotels, and hotels near holy places of pilgrimage. The novelty of services is the result of creative search and, to some extent, commercial value. However, it must be remembered that the introduction of new services and the practical implementation of new ideas is always a risk, so they must be well calculated and thought out. And although today there is a tendency to build exquisite, incredibly expensive hotels, the author of this work does not believe that the future lies with them. The secret of hospitality lies not in luxury and splendor, but in responsiveness and the ability to guess the mood and desires of the client. How many cases does practice know when a person finds peace and comfort in a completely different place than where he is trying to find it? This is exactly what I would like to see worked on in the field of providing hotel services. All the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the tough world of business and other troubles and experiences fall on a person, causing stress, nervous tension and mental problems that need to be eliminated like physical disabilities.

Therefore, a hotel for a person, no matter what type he is, should become one of those few places where a person could neutralize his negative emotions, find inner peace and feel happy. To implement such a plan, a complete rethinking of the approach to clients is necessary (which is already observed in many modern hotels).

It would be ideal for service personnel who have direct contact with customers to have knowledge in the field of psychology. In the room, for example, you can place a punching bag (it’s clear why) or provide the opportunity for direct access to a helpline, or place in the room special literature about the possibility of overcoming stress, or add a qualified psychologist to the staff who would not communicate with clients in an intrusive manner. If we work hard at this, many more tools can be found to help a person gain peace of mind and understand his role in the structure of social systems. And although today there is so much talk about business and commerce in the hotel industry, the best gratitude for a hotel owner is best reviews from the client’s lips, his sincere smile and grateful eyes, which cannot be compared with any checkbook.

CONCLUSIONS

Globalization has become an important characteristic of the modern world system, one of the most influential forces determining the course of development of our planet. According to the essence of globalization, not a single action or process occurring in society (economic, political, legal, social) can be considered in isolation.

Among the world's leading industries, the hotel industry is one of the most dynamic in the world. Only during the second half of the twentieth century. dramatic changes have occurred in this area, changing the understanding of the hotel as just a place to stay overnight and bringing the hotel segment to the forefront of components of the tourism industry.

In the structure of the global hotel business, two segments can be distinguished - independent enterprises and operating chains (chains). An independent enterprise is independently owned, disposed and used by the owner, and receives profit from this property. An operating network is a group of enterprises (two or more) that carry out a collective business and are under the direct control of the network’s management.

Statistics show that integrated hotel operations are much more cost effective than independent hotel operations. The consolidation of hotels under a single management results in enormous benefits for both property owners and their operators. The main advantage that a hotel that is part of a chain receives is a reduction in overall costs, and this in turn allows the chains to penetrate more into international markets, expanding their sphere of influence. Many factors contribute to the commercial success of chain hotels: from a unified reservation system to centralized supplies of consumables.