Rel
ati
onshi
pbet
weenguestr
elat
ionsandser
viceexcel
l
ence.
I
ntr
oduct
ion
Guestr el
ati
onsof f
icerisar esponsibl
ef orcustomerservi
ceatahot eloreventspace.I n
hotel
saaguestr el
ationsof ficer,hi
s/herdutiesamongot hersl ncludegr eet
ingguest
whent heyenterthehot el,providi
ngusef uli
nformati
onaboutt hehot el
,
helpingguestt o
maket ravelarr
angement ,foll
owi ngsafetypracti
cesandadher et oheal thyst andards
whenf ulf
il
li
ngassigneddut i
es.Quali
fi
cationforthiscareerlncludepr ov
enhospi t
alit
y
experi
ences,excell
entv erbalcommuni cati
onaboutt hehotelfacili
ti
esandsur rounding
area.
Malawiasacount r
yhasv er
yi nterestingcul turaldiv ersity.Thiscul turaldiversityi s
motivatedbyr eligion, uni
quecust oms, andar townedbyeachoft het r
ibesi nMal awi .In
addit
ion,the beaut i
fullandscapepr ov i
desaspeci alattractionf ort ouri
st s,bothnat ur al
mount ain(rural),t heunder waterwor ld,aswel last hebeach.Dev elopmentoft our ism
happensnotonl yi ndev elopedcount ri
esbutal soi n dev elopingcount ri
es.Int his
connection,sev er alcount ri
esi ncludingMal awienj oyedt he i mpactoft heincr ease
tour
ism inthewor ld.Tour i
sm isnowf il
ledwi thcompet iti
on. At ouristdest i
nati
ont hati s
alwayst ry
ingt oat tractmor etouristsf rom ot herdest inat i
ons,t owi nt hecompet ition
doesnotgi v egr eatdi scount sorpr i
zedr aw,butt hei mpor t
antt hingi st opr ovi
degood
servi
ces,servicest hatcansat i
sfyt het our i
stswhoi sv i
si t
ingt hedest i
nat ion.Hoteland
tour
ism dev elopmenti nMal awihasi ncr easedsi gnifi
cant l
y.Thi scanbe seenbyt he
i
ncreasingnumberoft ouristswhoar rivalinMal awiandt hegr owt hoft our ism indust ry
i
ncludingt hegr owi ngnumberofhot elsi nMal awi .Hot elaccomodat ioncannotbe
separated byt our i
sm.Wi thoutt ourism,hot el accomodat ionwi llnotr un.Inst ead,
1
, tour i
sm wi thouthot elissomet hingt hati si mpossi ble,especi all
ywhenspeaki ngof
tour i
sm asani ndust ry.Hot eli ncludingt hepr inci palmeansoft our i
sm.Thi smeanst hat
hotelmuchdependont henumberoft our istswhoar ecomi ng. Def initi
onofhot el
accor di
ngt oChar lesE.St eadmonandMi chaelL.Kasav anai nt heirbook( Managi ng
FrontOf ficeOper ation)expl ai ni
ngt hat“ ahot el:adef inedasest abli
shment whose
primar ybusi ness i s pr ov i
di ng l odging f aci liti
es f ort he gener alpubl i
c and whi ch
furnishesoneormor eoft hef oll
owi ngser vice:f oodandbev erageser vi
ce, r
oom ser vi
ce
attendant, unifor m ser vi
ce, launder i
ngofl ines, andusef urnit
ur eandf i
xtures.”Thehot el
i
smor edev elopedi nev erypl ace,likei nabi gci tiesandsmal lci t
ies.Al thoughi nbi g
citi
es usual lyhav emor ebi ghot elsandmagni ficent.Forexampl e,suchasf i
v e star
hoteli nLilongwe t owi ncust omer si tisal sohi ghlydependenceonhow v isi
torsar e
wel comed.Tour i
sm i sthei ndust l
yt hathel psacount r
yt ogeteconomi calst abili
ty.
Tour ism gener atesbusi nessi nacount ryandpl ay sakeyr olei nachi ev i
ngt hesoci o-
economi calgoal s ofdev elopmentpl ans oft he nat i
on.Good cust omer s serv i
ces
ensur esmor eoppor tuni
tiesf orbusi nessf ort heser vi
cepr oviders.Cust omercar eist he
baseofanyi ndust r yandi tsgr owt h.Ithel psusdev elopal oy alcustomerbaseand
i
mpr over el ationshi ps wi th ourcust omer s.Tour i
sm i s such awi de i ndustry and
cust omers hav e many al t
er natives av ailabl ef ort heirr equi r
emnet .The mor den
cust omersi swel li
nf or
medandneedsf ullval uef oehi smoney .Incaseofi nconveni ence
,theydodi alTol lf
r eeNumberoft hecust omercar esuppor toft hecompanyi nr ule,
simi l
aryift het r
avel erget sgoodser vicef rom anyspeci fi
cser vicepr oviderandi nt urn
willgener at ef uturebusi nessf ort heser v ingcompani es,lncludingy at r
a.com. Thi s
essaywi llout linerelat i
onshi pbet weenguestr elationsandser vi
ceexcel lence.
Fir
st lyr espondi ng asqui cklyaspossi bl
et ocust omerneedsandwant s.Oneoft he
challengi ngf actorsi ngoodcust omerser v
icei sspeed,especi al
lywhenacl ientis
request i
ngsomet hingt hat’
st imesensi tive.Aguestr elati
onsof fi
cerneedst obeaqui ck
personi nwel comi ngandhel pi ngwhatcust omers' wantsandneeds.Pr ovidingexcel l
ent
serviceandachi ev i
ngcust omersat i
sfactionist hemost i mpor tantandchal lenging
i
ssuef acingt hecont empor ar yser vi
cei ndustry(Hungetal .
,2003) .Ser v
iceexcel l
ence
andcust omersat isf
act ion,ar econcept st hathav ebeenr ecognizedaspl ayi
ngan
i
mpor tantr oleforhot els'successi ncompet i
ti
v emar ket(OhandPar ks,1997;Nadi r
i
andHussai n,2005) .Inhospi tali
tyindust r
yser vi
ceexcel l
encei saboutdel iveri
ngt othe
cust omerexpect ati
on,andt henmeet ingandsl ight
lyexceedi ngt hatexpect ati
onand
thi
sl eadst ocust omer ssatisf act
ionandt hisresultsingoodcust omerr elati
onswhi ch
helps hot el i
ers't o cr eate a compet i
ti
ve adv antage int he industry. Cust omer
satisf acti
onandser v
iceexcel lencear econsi deredasacr ucialaspecti nbusi ness,for
the dev elopmentofahot elmar keti
ngsuccesshi ghlydependsonhow goodt hey
mai nt aint heircust omert hroughser vi
ce. Cust omersat isf
act i
oni skeyper formance
2
ati
onshi
pbet
weenguestr
elat
ionsandser
viceexcel
l
ence.
I
ntr
oduct
ion
Guestr el
ati
onsof f
icerisar esponsibl
ef orcustomerservi
ceatahot eloreventspace.I n
hotel
saaguestr el
ationsof ficer,hi
s/herdutiesamongot hersl ncludegr eet
ingguest
whent heyenterthehot el,providi
ngusef uli
nformati
onaboutt hehot el
,
helpingguestt o
maket ravelarr
angement ,foll
owi ngsafetypracti
cesandadher et oheal thyst andards
whenf ulf
il
li
ngassigneddut i
es.Quali
fi
cationforthiscareerlncludepr ov
enhospi t
alit
y
experi
ences,excell
entv erbalcommuni cati
onaboutt hehotelfacili
ti
esandsur rounding
area.
Malawiasacount r
yhasv er
yi nterestingcul turaldiv ersity.Thiscul turaldiversityi s
motivatedbyr eligion, uni
quecust oms, andar townedbyeachoft het r
ibesi nMal awi .In
addit
ion,the beaut i
fullandscapepr ov i
desaspeci alattractionf ort ouri
st s,bothnat ur al
mount ain(rural),t heunder waterwor ld,aswel last hebeach.Dev elopmentoft our ism
happensnotonl yi ndev elopedcount ri
esbutal soi n dev elopingcount ri
es.Int his
connection,sev er alcount ri
esi ncludingMal awienj oyedt he i mpactoft heincr ease
tour
ism inthewor ld.Tour i
sm isnowf il
ledwi thcompet iti
on. At ouristdest i
nati
ont hati s
alwayst ry
ingt oat tractmor etouristsf rom ot herdest inat i
ons,t owi nt hecompet ition
doesnotgi v egr eatdi scount sorpr i
zedr aw,butt hei mpor t
antt hingi st opr ovi
degood
servi
ces,servicest hatcansat i
sfyt het our i
stswhoi sv i
si t
ingt hedest i
nat ion.Hoteland
tour
ism dev elopmenti nMal awihasi ncr easedsi gnifi
cant l
y.Thi scanbe seenbyt he
i
ncreasingnumberoft ouristswhoar rivalinMal awiandt hegr owt hoft our ism indust ry
i
ncludingt hegr owi ngnumberofhot elsi nMal awi .Hot elaccomodat ioncannotbe
separated byt our i
sm.Wi thoutt ourism,hot el accomodat ionwi llnotr un.Inst ead,
1
, tour i
sm wi thouthot elissomet hingt hati si mpossi ble,especi all
ywhenspeaki ngof
tour i
sm asani ndust ry.Hot eli ncludingt hepr inci palmeansoft our i
sm.Thi smeanst hat
hotelmuchdependont henumberoft our istswhoar ecomi ng. Def initi
onofhot el
accor di
ngt oChar lesE.St eadmonandMi chaelL.Kasav anai nt heirbook( Managi ng
FrontOf ficeOper ation)expl ai ni
ngt hat“ ahot el:adef inedasest abli
shment whose
primar ybusi ness i s pr ov i
di ng l odging f aci liti
es f ort he gener alpubl i
c and whi ch
furnishesoneormor eoft hef oll
owi ngser vice:f oodandbev erageser vi
ce, r
oom ser vi
ce
attendant, unifor m ser vi
ce, launder i
ngofl ines, andusef urnit
ur eandf i
xtures.”Thehot el
i
smor edev elopedi nev erypl ace,likei nabi gci tiesandsmal lci t
ies.Al thoughi nbi g
citi
es usual lyhav emor ebi ghot elsandmagni ficent.Forexampl e,suchasf i
v e star
hoteli nLilongwe t owi ncust omer si tisal sohi ghlydependenceonhow v isi
torsar e
wel comed.Tour i
sm i sthei ndust l
yt hathel psacount r
yt ogeteconomi calst abili
ty.
Tour ism gener atesbusi nessi nacount ryandpl ay sakeyr olei nachi ev i
ngt hesoci o-
economi calgoal s ofdev elopmentpl ans oft he nat i
on.Good cust omer s serv i
ces
ensur esmor eoppor tuni
tiesf orbusi nessf ort heser vi
cepr oviders.Cust omercar eist he
baseofanyi ndust r yandi tsgr owt h.Ithel psusdev elopal oy alcustomerbaseand
i
mpr over el ationshi ps wi th ourcust omer s.Tour i
sm i s such awi de i ndustry and
cust omers hav e many al t
er natives av ailabl ef ort heirr equi r
emnet .The mor den
cust omersi swel li
nf or
medandneedsf ullval uef oehi smoney .Incaseofi nconveni ence
,theydodi alTol lf
r eeNumberoft hecust omercar esuppor toft hecompanyi nr ule,
simi l
aryift het r
avel erget sgoodser vicef rom anyspeci fi
cser vicepr oviderandi nt urn
willgener at ef uturebusi nessf ort heser v ingcompani es,lncludingy at r
a.com. Thi s
essaywi llout linerelat i
onshi pbet weenguestr elationsandser vi
ceexcel lence.
Fir
st lyr espondi ng asqui cklyaspossi bl
et ocust omerneedsandwant s.Oneoft he
challengi ngf actorsi ngoodcust omerser v
icei sspeed,especi al
lywhenacl ientis
request i
ngsomet hingt hat’
st imesensi tive.Aguestr elati
onsof fi
cerneedst obeaqui ck
personi nwel comi ngandhel pi ngwhatcust omers' wantsandneeds.Pr ovidingexcel l
ent
serviceandachi ev i
ngcust omersat i
sfactionist hemost i mpor tantandchal lenging
i
ssuef acingt hecont empor ar yser vi
cei ndustry(Hungetal .
,2003) .Ser v
iceexcel l
ence
andcust omersat isf
act ion,ar econcept st hathav ebeenr ecognizedaspl ayi
ngan
i
mpor tantr oleforhot els'successi ncompet i
ti
v emar ket(OhandPar ks,1997;Nadi r
i
andHussai n,2005) .Inhospi tali
tyindust r
yser vi
ceexcel l
encei saboutdel iveri
ngt othe
cust omerexpect ati
on,andt henmeet ingandsl ight
lyexceedi ngt hatexpect ati
onand
thi
sl eadst ocust omer ssatisf act
ionandt hisresultsingoodcust omerr elati
onswhi ch
helps hot el i
ers't o cr eate a compet i
ti
ve adv antage int he industry. Cust omer
satisf acti
onandser v
iceexcel lencear econsi deredasacr ucialaspecti nbusi ness,for
the dev elopmentofahot elmar keti
ngsuccesshi ghlydependsonhow goodt hey
mai nt aint heircust omert hroughser vi
ce. Cust omersat isf
act i
oni skeyper formance
2
