A hotel is a complex operation. It includes places for people to sleep, to eat, to shop; there are often recreational facilities and areas for public gatherings. Because of its complexity, it is not possible to speak of a single career in the hotel industry, there is instead a wide variety of different careers. The top people in the hotel industry are managers. The majority of them hold management positions in individual hotels, but some work in the executive offices of the hotel chains. The principal function of management is to coordinate all the different activities that take place in a hotel. The managerial personnel must therefore have a broad range of experience in the various departments of a hotel.
One of the most important divisions of the hotel's administrative staff is the accounting department. The executive staff of a hotel includes many people with special skill experience or professional training. The promotion staff, for example, must know not only the hotel field, but also advertising and public-relations techniques. The head housekeeper runs a complex organization with man employees, she needs to know the intricacies of purchasing on a large scale, as well as how to make beds and clean carpets properly. The chefs and cooks, even though they are out of sight of the public, al important to the success of a hotel. Most of the remaining workers in the hotel world can be classified ad skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled. The carpenters and upholsterers id maintenance, the plumbers and electricians in engineering, and the gardeners ill the ground department are among the workers usually classified as skilled. Semi-skilled workers include waiters and chambermaids, who must have training for their, particular duties. Examples of unskilled workers are the helpers and dishwashers in the kitchen or the laborers.
The hotel business is a service industry, and one of the services that sells is a pleasant atmosphere. The employees of a hotel create that atmosphere.
