Brief History Of Lodging Industry

BRIEF HISTORY OF LODGING INDUSTRY HFT 2254 LODGING OPERATIONS Lodging is one of the most exciting and rapidly changing segments of the hospitality industry. Given the interest in lodging and its rapid growth (especially in the limited-service hotel segment), this course is intended to provide students with a basic framework and structure for understanding the inner workings of this vitally important component of the larger travel industry. Hoteliers operate hotels...and today's hoteliers face challenges unmatched in recent history. Changing consumer demands, the advent of the Internet as a major force in selling rooms, advanced operational technology at the front desk and in sales, and even the threat of global terrorism all have an impact on the day-to-day activities of those who work in and manage hotels. To understand the lodging industry we will first look at a brief history of the industry as well as its structure in Chapters 1 and 2. Because hotels also provide many services in addition to sleeping rooms, we will cover this topic in Chapter 3, followed by a discussion of management's role in Chapter 4, and the roles of supervisors and hourly staff in Chapter 5. In the remaining chapters, we will then discuss the various functions and/or departments found within hotels, beginning with Human Resources, followed by the Front Office, Sales and marketing, Accounting and Finance, Housekeeping, and Maintenance and Security. In Chapters 12 and 13 we will focus on Food and Beverage Departments in limited-service versus fullservice hotels and their unique role in a lodging facility.

FUNCTION OF HOUSEKEEPING As mentioned previously, outsourcing certain hotel functions are becoming more and more popular because of the cost-cutting aim of hotels. One function which could be considered as commonly outsourced would be housekeeping. How does outsourcing helps? Here are some of the advantages mentioned when outsourcing: -allows housekeepers to concentrate on the core competencies of their job like delivering a well-kept house and keeping the areas maintained -allows flexibility of operations in terms of utilizing and rotating the manpower -offers specialized and expert guidance for the maintenance of different areas. -reduce staff problems in recruitment, training, allocation, appraisals, increments, and dismissals. These advantages would only work if hotels have proof that outsourcing would work for them and if they are also able to draw an outsourcing contract which they approve of.

5 TRIVIA IN HOUSEKEEPING Vacuum Cleaner In 1907, James Murray Spangler, a janitor, tinkered with an old fan motor and attached it to a soap box stapled to a broom handle. Using a pillow case as a dust collector on the contraption, Spangler invented a portable electric vacuum cleaner. He later improved his design with an improved filter bag and various cleaning attachments. He, along with a relative's husband, William Hoover, founded the Hoover Company.

SOS Pads Invented by a door-to-door salesman (Edwin Cox) in 1917 as a gimmick to get people interested in his pots and pans. He repeatedly hand dipped steel wool pads into a soapy solution until they became saturated with dried soap. When he began offering to clean people's dirty pans if they would listed to his presentation, sales increased. His wife came up with the name for the pads by calling them her "Save Our Sausepans Pads". Powdered Cleansers Bon Ami, invented in 1886, was the first powdered cleanser. It was found that by adding nondissolving substances to powdered soap created a more powerful cleanser. Early abrasives used in this process were sand, chalk, pumice and even ground up quartz and petrified wood. Facial Tissue In 1914, Kimberly-Clark Co. produced a highly absorbent surgical dressing called Cellucotton that was also used in gas mask filters during the war. At war's end, there was such a surplus of the product, that Kimberly-Clark managers had to find a peacetime use for it. It was packaged and marketed as a cold-cream removal product. The marketing campaign used Hollywood and Broadway stars to promote its use. Bleach Egyptians, around 3000 BC, produced highly prized white linen from naturally brown fabric by soaking the cloth in harsh alkaline lyes. Dutch dyers, around 1600, soaked fabric in alkaline lyes for several days. They halted the deterioration of the fabric by soaking it in sour milk (an acid). This process was repeated several times until the fabric reached the desired whiteness.Swedish scientist Karl Wilhelm Scheel discovered chlorine gas in 1774. In 1785, Count Claude Louis Berthollet, who was scientific advisor to Napoleon, discovered that chlorine gas, when passed through water, created liquid bleach.