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Файл:The Travel and Tourism Industry. Учебное пособие для студентов вузов, обучающихся по специальностям сервиса и туризма
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b) When you have decided upon the story, tell it to your partner.
Then listen to that of your partner. Ask each other as many questions as you can to learn further details or clarify some points.
13. Entitle the paragraphs beginning with the words:
The motivation for pleasure travel…
McIntosh and Charles…
Travel is likely to increase…
14. Divide the text into other logical parts and entitle each of them.
15. Give a summary of the text.
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Case study
SQUIRE HOTEL GROUP
Background:
The Squire Hotel Group’s hotel managers are constantly improving
and developing their business by getting high occupancy rates and keeping costs within budget. The Squire Hotel Oxford provides tourists visiting
Oxford with high-quality service and food both in the peak season and
off-season at an affordable price.
1. Read the supporting material and provide detailed answers
to the case questions below.
The Squire Hotel Group (SHG) runs a chain of 20 hotels, with between 40 and 120 bedrooms, in locations which include Oxford, Warwick and Southport. SHG sees itself in the three-star market with hotels that have their own personality and style, providing high-quality
food and service at an affordable price.
The Squire Hotel Oxford has 41 bedrooms and is situated close to
Magdalene College. The entrance lobby is small but pleasantly decorated. The room is dominated by a grandfather clock and an elegant
mahogany desk. ‘I do not like the traditional counter arrangement’,
explained Charles Harper, the hotel’s manager. ‘I like a simple, open
and friendly situation with a clear desk to demonstrate our uncluttered
and caring attitude. Even our computers are kept in a small room just
off the lobby, out of sight. I want my guests to feel that they are important and not just one of the 70 that we are going to deal with that evening’.
SHG’s hotel managers are totally responsible for their own operations.
They set staff levels and wages within clear guidelines set by head office.
Though pricing policy is determined centrally, there is scope for adjustment, and they can negotiate with local firms or groups in consultation
with head office. Mr Harper added: ‘Every year, each hotel manager
agrees the financial targets for his own operation with head office, and
if the manager does not reach his target without good reason, he may
well find himself out of a job. I believe that it is my job to be constantly
improving and developing this business. This is naturally reflected in the
yearly profit expectations.’ The hotel managers report performance to the
group monthly on four criteria: occupancy, profit, staff costs and food
costs. The information provided allows senior managers to drill down to
the costs of individual people and meals.
Mr Harper explained: ‘My job is to try to get and maintain 100 per
cent occupancy rates and keep costs within budget. During the tourist
season Oxford has more tourists looking for beds than it has beds, so in
the peak season, which is only two months long, we expect to achieve
100 per cent utilisation of rooms. Indeed, I am budgeted for it. This has
been a bad year so far. The high value of the pound has kept many American tourists away and our occupancy has sometimes been as low as 90 per
cent. In the off-season our occupancy drops to 60 per cent — this is still
very good and is due to our excellent location. In the peak season we
charge a premium on our rooms. This does not cause any problems but
our guests do expect a high standard of food and service’ [2, 291—292].
Vocabulary notes
to run çä. иметь в своем распоряжении (÷òî-
ëèáî), располагать (÷åì-ëèáî); возглав-
ëÿòü (÷òî-ëèáî)
chain çä. ñåòü (отелей, магазинов и т.п.)
bedroom зд. спальный номер
location населенный пункт
affordable зд. доступный, конкурентоспособный
entrance lobby вестибюль; главный холл
grandfather clock высокие напольные часы
mahogany красное дерево
uncluttered размеренный, неспешный, несуматошный
caring заботливый
to be totally responsible
(for smth.)
staff level численный состав персонала
pricing policy ценовая политика
scope for adjustment зд. диапазон, в пределах которого допус-
нести полную ответственность (çà ÷òîëèáî)
тимы отклонения и самостоятельные
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решения
to agree зд. согласовывать
to reach one’s target достигать своей цели
to be out of a job зд. лишиться работы, быть уволенным
costs (pl.) расходы, затраты
to drill down (to smth.) çä. выяснять (÷òî-ëèáî); докапываться
(äî ÷åãî-ëèáî)
occupancy rate число занятых номеров
within budget в пределах (рамках) бюджета
peak season разгар (пик) сезона
pound çä. фунт стерлингов
off-season несезонное время, мертвый сезон
to charge çä. взимать, требовать (плату)
premium çä. более высокая цена; наценка
Case questions:
1. How many hotels does the SHG’s chain consist of?
2. How does the SHG position itself in the hotel market?
3. What do the Squire Hotels provide their guests with?
4. Where is the Squire Hotel Oxford situated?
5. How many rooms does it have?
6. What counter arrangement does Charles Harper prefer?
7. What are SHG’s hotel managers totally responsible for?
8. Are hotel managers allowed to negotiate with local firms or groups?
9. What does Charles Harper believe his job to be?
10. How long does the peak season in Oxford last?
11. Why does the hotel management charge a premium on their
rooms in the peak season?
12. What kept many American tourists away from Oxford the previous
year?
Role-play:
Pretend you have just been appointed General Manager of a threestar Samara hotel. You are determined to improve the hotel’s performance and raise yearly profits in the future. To achieve this you intend to
improve and develop the business by taking some urgent measures.
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While making a final decision consider the following possible
steps:
• providing guests with high-quality food and service at an affordable price;
• all rooms will be pleasantly decorated;
• the entrance lobby dominated by a grandfather clock and an
elegant mahogany desk;
• to keep your computers in a small room just off the lobby;
• negotiating prices on foods with local firms;
• no premium on the rooms should be charged;
• to achieve 100 per cent utilisation of rooms;
• providing the hotel’s owners with a reasonable return on invest-
ment.
2. Identify key points in the text and extract information from it to
pass on to your partner.
3. Let your partner see whether key points identified by you are
the same as those covered in the text. Let him / her agree or
disagree with you.
95
___________UNIT 7___________
RESORT VACATION (part 1)
Pre-reading
1. Read and translate the following international words:
Caribbean
Europe
Mexico
city
Mexico City
exotic
clientele
rail
famous
scenery
visit
golf
public
plan
regular
formal
type
automobile
focus
major
sport
spectacular
population
family
season
convention
variety
activity
atmosphere
conference
meeting
occupy
2. Read and translate the following groups of words derived from
a common root:
1) luxuriate — luxuriant — luxuriantly — luxury — luxurious —
luxuriously;
2) develop — developer — developed — development — develop-
mental — developmentally;
3) accommodate — accommodation;
4) client — clientele;
5) picture — pictures — picturesque — picturesquely;
6) travel — traveler — traveling — travelogue — ‘Travelodge’ (a
chain of economy or budget hotels in the US).
Reading
3. Read the text and translate it. While reading try and find
answers to these questions:
1. What is à typical resort hotel?
2. How did people travel to luxury resort hotels in the late 1800s?
3. Why have Europe and Mexico become more accessible for
American tourists?
RESORT VACATION (part 1)
Resort vacation came of age with the advent of railways. Increasingly,
city dwellers and others had the urge to vacation in locations they found
appealing. Traveling to these often more-exotic locations became a part
of the pleasure experience. In the late 1800s, luxury resort hotels were
developed to accommodate the clientele that the railways brought.
Such hotels include the famous Greenbrier at White Sulphur Springs,
West Virginia, The Hotel del Coronado in Coronado (near San Diego),
California, and the Homestead at Hot Springs, Virginia. In Canada, the
Banff Springs Hotel and Chateau Lake Louise drew the rich and famous of
the day to their picturesque locations in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
The leisure and pleasure travelers of those days were drawn by resorts, beaches, or spectacular mountain scenery. At first, many of these
grand resorts were seasonal. However, as automobile and air travel made
even the remote resorts more accessible and an increasing number of
people could afford to visit, many resorts became year-round properties.
Resort communities sprang up in the sunshine belt from Palm
Springs to Palm Beach. Some resorts focused on major sporting activities
such as skiing, golf, or fishing; others offered family vacations. Further
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improvements in both air and automobile travel brought exotic locations
within the reach of the population. Europe, the Caribbean, and Mexico
became more accessible. As the years passed, some of the resorts suffered
because the public’s vacation plans changed.
The traditional family month-long resort vacation gave way to
shorter, more frequent getaways of four to seven days. The regular resort
visitors became older; in general, the younger guests preferred the mobility of the automobile and the more informal atmosphere provided by the
newer and more informal resorts.
In order to survive, the resort hotels became more astute in marketing to different types of guests. For example, some resorts allow no children in the high season because they would interfere with the quiet ambiance for guests who do not want the noise of children. Other resort hotels
go out of their way to encourage families; Camp Hyatt is a prominent
example. Hyatt Íotels have organized a program consisting of a variety of
activities for children, thereby giving the parents an opportunity to either
enjoy some free time on their own or join their children in some fun activities. Many resort hotels began to attract conventions, conferences, and
meetings. This enabled them to maintain or increase occupancy, particularly during the low and shoulder seasons [1, 96—97].
(to be continued)
Vocabulary notes
to come of age появляться
urge стремление
to accommodate принимать, поселять, размещать
to vacation отдыхать, брать отпуск
clientele клиентура
picturesque живописный
leisure досуг, свободное время
pleasure yдовольствие; приятное времяпрепровож-
дение
scenery пейзаж; живописный вид
to afford (smth.) (to do
smth.)
позволить себе (÷òî-ëèáî) в материальном
аспекте, напр., купить что-либо Ср.: I can’t
afford (to buy) this luxury car. — Я не могу
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себе позволить (купить) эту роскошную
машину. [Она мне не по карману.]
astute зд. быстро ориентирующийся в ситуации
(напр., рыночной) и приспосабливающийся
к ней
year-round круглогодичный
sunshine belt pегион, где постоянно тепло и солнечно;
äîñë. солнечный пояс
to go out of one’s way
(to do smth.)
to bring (smth.) within
the reach of (smb.)
Palm Springs,
Palm Beach
getaway зд. поездка куда-либо на отдых (далеко от
to suffer çä. страдать материально; нести убытки
ambiance окружение; обстановка, среда
thereby тем самым; таким образом
fishing рыбная ловля
fun activities веселое времяпрепровождение; развлече-
occupancy çä. заполненность отеля (клиентурой)
делать все возможноe (для достижения чеголибо)
сделать (что-либо) доступным (для коголибо)
Палм Спрингс, Палм Бич (всемирно известные дорогие курорты в США)
места своего постоянного проживания)
íèÿ, èãðû
Vocabulary focus
4. Match the equivalents:
1) offer a) курорт
2) frequent b) доступный
3) resort c) частый
4) improvement d) горожанин
5) noise e) посетитель
6) prefer f) улучшение
7) different g) предложение
8) visitor h) предпочитать
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9) city dweller i) различный
10) accessible j) øóì
5. Match each word on the left with the correct definition
on the right:
1) clientele a) interesting or exciting because of being unusual
or not familiar
2) exotic b) a young person from the time they are born un-
til they are about 14 years old
3) appealing c) one of the twelve periods a year is divided into
4) opportunity d) attractive and interesting
5) beach e) a chance to do something, or a situation in
which it is easy for you to do something
6) population f) a shore of a sea or lake covered by sand or small
stones
7) child g) customers of a shop, hotel, restaurant, etc con-
sidered as a group
8) month h) the number of people living in a particular coun-
try or area
9) parents i) one of the four parts of the year — winter,
spring, summer, and autumn
10) season j) a period of time when you do not go to work,
school, or institute, but have a rest or go somewhere
11) vacation k) father and mother of a person [16, 17]
6. Match the synonyms:
1) clientele a) scenery
2) landscape b) customers
3) informal c) familiar
4) well-known d) unofficial
5) visitor e) holiday
6) leisure f) like
7) vacation g) free time
8) enjoy h) guest
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