Hospitality and Transport Essay Example for Free

Hospitality and Transport Essay The historical development of hospitality has been developed for more than2000 years. There are normally 3 different types of hospitality, which are: i) hostels ii) motel and iii) hotel. There is also self-camping facility for people staying and living in the campsites. The first early travelers were either warriors or traders or people who traveling for education or religious purpose. As there was no hotel at that time, so they pitched their tents for temporary accommodation. After the camping period, there were some small Inns that were the first type of commercial enterprise within Hospitality industry, this has been the first catering service in the field of hospitality where customers pay for different service while staying in the Inns. In the early days, the travelers used to stay in a large communal room with limited privacy and the places were rough and simple. All the guests were usually shared the same quarter with their houses and livestock. As time went on, some luxuries structure of hospitality was gradually introduced for the wealthy travelers with private rooms and toilets. There was little improvement had been made in the inns, the Hoshi Ryokanis the world’s oldest hotel, it is located in Komatsu, Japan. The hotel and spa have been owned by the same family since 1300 years ago. The quality assurance scheme (Star rating) is usually rated by customers who had been staying in the hotels. The star rating system allows customers to assess the standard of accommodation and rate them at their own choices. It also motivates businesses to continually improve or maintain their standards and encourages healthy competition. Nowadays, the hotel industry has equipped with a Star rating for people to review. The rating is start off with the lowest rating e.g. ‘One Star’ rating which represents clean and tidy, have basic facilities, acceptable with all basic needs in the rooms. They may even provide breakfast for the guests as well. On the other hand, the higher the hotel rating means better and more luxury the hotels are. For example the Six Stars rated hotel will normally include a 24- hours’ reception and room service, internet PC and self-care production in the room. The world highest rating hotel is ‘The Burj Al Arab hotel’ in Dubai that is widely described as a Seven-Star property. New Trends of hospitality: * Electronic check-ins, guests’ registers as preferred customers are sent key cards equipment with the latest of identification technology that uses radio frequencies. On the day of guest ‘s confirmed arrival, a text message will be sent to their mobile device carrying basic details: room number, timing and the guest do not have to go to the check in desk while arrived, they just have to simply moves to his room and uses the key card. It saves time for both the guests and the hotel. * The historical development of transportation: *   The first earth tracks were created by humans. The first ever transportation was using animals such as horses, oxen and donkeys which became an element in track-creation. Tracks were often flattened or widened to accommodate animal traffic. Few years later, the Travis was developed to use on the icy road. By the development of transport, the first modern highways were designed by John Loudon McAdam, using paving material of soil and stone. The modern history of road transport also involves into the development of transportation such as new models of horse- drawn vehicles, bicycles, motorcars, motor trucks and electric vehicles. The development in UK: * The main transportation in UK is facilitated air, rail and water networks. A radial road networks have a total of 29,145 miles of main roads, 2173 miles of motorways and 213750 miles of paved roads. The rail network consists of  two independent parts: Great Britain and Northern Ireland since 1994. The Great Britain network is the oldest network in the world. The system consists 5 speed main lines from London to the rest of country. And also there’s some airports have built within those countries and London Heathrow airport have been known as the busiest in the world. The road network is the most popular method of transportation in the UK. Which carries over 90% of motorized passenger travel and 65% of domestic traveler. Local bus services are covering over the whole country since they operated by the ‘’ Big five’’ private transport companies such as National express, First Group and Stagecoach. The other similar transport of buses is coach, which provides a long- distance links throughout the UK. The majority of coach services are provided by national express and Scottish City link is operating in Scotland. Newest development in the world * The newest development of transportation in the world is the high speed TGV, It is developed during the 1970s by GEC. And the word ‘’TGV’’ stands for Tre’s Grande Vitesse (Very high speed) which has the top speeds touching 200 mph. It is more than just a train it operates from Paris or Lille for little more than just 3 hours. And major crossing France and northern Spain. Inside will be including arm sets and individual tables. It can also reach over 150 destinations by the high- speed TGV network. Current trends of the transportation section: * The road, air and rail transport are used by the people who are able to afford extra money on transport and even a holiday (high income groups), buses are used predominately by low income groups such as pensioners and elderly people. * In 2003 85% of distance traveled was by car or taxi; with 6% being by bus and 6% by rail. Air, pedal cycle and motorcycle accounted for roughly 1% each. * Three in ten homes in Britain don’t have a car (13 million people) * Passenger transport has grown in recent years, the statistic figure shows that total passengers travel in domestic country has risen from 1970 to 1979 billion in 2004 Part B Chosen city: Barcelona, Spain = Where Barcelona located in the Map * * * Recently there is some tendency of young couples getting married in overseas, so the couple can travel together for a romantic trip as well as getting registered marriage in overseas. Also, honeymoon travel packages are getting more popular and only those leading travel operators have the resources and reputation to organize such tours. I am therefore intending to organize a package tour for couples and the destination will be Barcelona, Spain – a very romantic and artist’s city in Europe, yet the overall living standard in Span is relatively lower than other European countries and still one of the most popular destinations in Europe. Since many couples like to go to travel to other countries and cities, so I propose our company to consider promoting a package tour for couples. The name of the tour will be â€Å"Romantic Package Tour in Barcelona, Span (3 to 7 days). In order to explore the package tour in a more holistic approach, the following topics including transportation (External and Internal), accommodation and catering in the city of Barcelona will also be discussed for the package. Transportation: * By train: Firstly, you can take the Euro star to Paris and then you can choose either overnight train or daytime trains from Paris to Barcelona. London to Barcelona by train: * It is a more eco-friendly option for tourists to travel. If you are planning to go to Barcelona with a longer time staying, here’s one of the choice for you to experience more with you lover. Train hotel will be your choice to  choose. There is a restaurant and a bar in the overnight train, it gives you an opportunity to enjoy a meal with a bottle of wine in the train, the fare start at  £39 one-way or  £69return for the Euro star plus  £68 each way for train hotel. Including a bed in a 4-bed Tourist class sleeper or a  £152 each way per person in a 2-bed Gran please sleeper with private shower and toilet, dinner and breakfast next morning will be included as well. The other one is daytime trains, it operates since 2010, and It is a two double – decter TGV Duplex high-speed trains linking with Paris and Spain every day. You can firstly get into the Eurostar train from London then spend approximately 3-4 hours, you will be reach the destination. It’s a first sector of the new Perpignan-Barcelona high speed lines. There’s two different classes for you to choose in the train, the 2nd class seats on TGV is like a mix of unidirectional seating and some tables for four, the 1st class seat have a ‘club duo’ on the left and a ‘club quatre’ on the right. All seats inside are all with power sockets for laptop and mobiles. The Eurostar will cost  £39 one-way or  £69 for return, Paris to Barcelona cost starts at  £59 in 2nd class and  £73 in 1st class each way. And you can also use the train to travel to the other cities within Spain! By air: *   There are totally 3 terminals in Barcelona, A and B are for international flights and C is for domestic flight. It is the fastest way to travel to Barcelona and there are several options of budget airlines for you to choose from London to Barcelona, which include easy jet, Ryan air, and Monarch. The ticket will be around  £60-70 economy class for return. You can choose a higher class of seats which you only have to pay a little bit more for you to have more comfortable seats. After arriving at Barcelona you can get into the buses and they will take you through where your accommodation is. By sea: * * The port supports both ferries and cruises ships, this is the relax way to travel within Barcelona. There’s sun, sea and incredible views of the  city in the luxury and comfort way for you to enjoy your time being in Barcelona. The ferries hold routes to Liverpool and Portsmouth, duration from 7hours 30 minutes. So you can easily take a ferry to Barcelona. It is also a romantic way for couples to travel. Other Internal transportations within Barcelona: *   For sure, you can get to hire a taxi in the city and it should take you to wherever you like, all taxis in Barcelona are black and yellow so it is very easy for you to recognize it. It will show a green light when available for hire. Barcelona is also known as a cyclist friendly city with cycle lanes, packing facilities are many great traffic-free places to cycle such as port. You can also hire a car for self-driving to anywhere you wish! In conclusion, all of the above transportation will be one of the options for the customers in the package tour. The price of the tour is varies depends on the type of transportation they chose. The short 3 days tours are recommended to travel via air while the 7 days tours can choose either by sea or train. Accommodation: *   There are 3 main types of accommodations for customers to choose during the journey. Resort with facilities: * In Barcelona, most of these large scale resorts lie somewhere out of town and the couples are on the main coast road heading for sites. If they are enjoy themselves with their partners in the country side and they should take a more relaxing way- to stay in the city, staying in large resort is one of many types of accommodation You should be looking for. However it is not a serviced accommodation so you have to self-catering but they do provide space for you to cook. One of the best resort site near Barcelona city center is called ‘’Resort Barcelona’’ which is extremely well serviced and it operates a free daily bus to Place Cataluà ±a (the city center) from the site during a period of September to June. Travel time is about 30-60 minutes. There is also train that operates from MA taro to Barcelona city that runs every 10 minutes during the day. The resort site itself provides swimming pool, supermarket restaurant and an Internet cafà ©, so you don’t have to consider of buying food and drinks. The Internet connection within the site is very handy because they have several supermarkets inside the site and also have access of free WIFI in all of the bungalows and camping space. The site also has a beach club at the Matron Beach along with a Diving lab at the port of MA taro. It also offers bicycle rental from a reasonable price. So you can spend one of the afternoons with your love ones at the beach. Hostels: * It is the cheaper accommodation option that you have to share rooms with normally 4-8 people of bunk bed. The toilets and showers will also be shared amongst the guests as well. This type of accommodation will only aim at people who are traveling with a spotless budget of money and they prefer to have self-cater service for saving travel expenses. The other similar accommodation in Spain is family hostels, similar to Bed and Breakfast in UK, which is slightly different than hostels. It is operated by local families in Spain. Normally aiming a group of people, they will provide rooms with double bed, individual and triple beds. Some of them will have to share toilets and bathrooms but some may have their own inside the bedrooms. They will provide breakfast or you have to self-catering. Hostel Felipe II is a 2 stars serviced hostel. Welcoming, quiet and cheap accommodation right in the center of Barcelona. It is a modern, colorful and bright hostel. Which have been recently reformed. It only takes 10 minutes walking to the city center so it is one of the best choices of hostel. The facilities will include tourist information in reception open 12 hours a day, left- luggage service, bedclothes included in the price. Lift, common room and computer room, dining room, free Wi-Fi Internet connection, car park, Air condition/heating, private showers and toilet. The prices will be  £38 per night with private toilet and bathroom. Hotels: (3-4 star): * Hotels are one of the main types of accommodation which most of the tourists will choose to stay. There is star rating from 1 to 5+ but it is also the most expensive ones. But some of them have reasonable prices and it depends on which seasons you going to stay there. The three stars hotels offer small meeting rooms and business services, wirelesses Internet for guests to contact friends and family. It will serve hot and cold breakfast each mornings, additional property amenities will include multilingual staff; laundry services there will be private showers and toilets in the bedroom. It is more likely to be a basic accommodation, which is most suitable for all people. The prices are from  £40-100+. The example of it is ‘Travel Lodge’ which will provide B and B service and reception at a very low and reasonable price. Royal Ramblas is a 4 stars rating hotel that located in central Barcelona. It is connected to the airport within an easy reach and it only takes 5-10 minutes walking distance of Placa de catalunya, Las Ramblas and Barcelona cathedral There is also dining option at the hotel includes a restaurant and a coffee shop for you to relax during the day. It also contains tour assistance, airport shuttle, laundry facilities and currency exchange. The prices are from  £120 to  £200 per night (double bed). All the basic things are included in the hotel except some entertainment, so you may have to choose a higher rating hotel to reach your needs. Luxury hotel: * For those who is traveling for honeymoon or wedding I will recommended the customers can choose the higher class of hotels which is between 4 to 6 stars with luxuries service and facilities. 5 stars hotels often offer excellent access to the city center and all the main attractions in Barcelona and normally takes 10 to 15 mins to walk from the hotel to the city center. One of the popular hotel in Barcelona is ‘’hotel arts Barcelona’’ which owned by the Palace Carlton group which offers modern and high quality accommodation right on the sea front. To make your trip goes perfectly, we suggest our customers to choose the most luxury hotel in Barcelona to stay, which is Mandarin Oriental Barcelona. It contains 7 types of rooms for guests to choose from, and we have come up a choice of best three rooms for couples to choose. They are ‘’deluxe room’’ the classical room have goose down bedding, twice daily housekeeping service with complimentary water on turndown, large working desk, separate bath and walk-in showers, plush terry bathrobes. The other choice is ‘’Deluxe Terrance Room’’ with the added benefit of an outdoor Terrance overlooking views and the most impressive are the bathrooms, which feels like wonderful spa-like sanctuaries. The last one is ‘’Mandarin Terrance Room’’ which is a spacious room flooded with light and for you to enjoy a real sense of calm and space. It also contains light wood floors, white leather furnishings and sumptuous linens have been combined with white walls. All the rooms will include a fast, high quality bandwidth, both wired and wireless. A high definition LCD television including the latest movies for you to get some entertainment in the room and high quality audio system. Catering: * Self- catering: * There are five different types of catering service that the tourists can choose during their stay in Barcelona. The first one is self-catering which the tourists have to buy their own food form supermarket. But they have to  make sure that their accommodation have a kitchen or self-=catering facilities provided. These kinds of self-catering will provide for people who have the lowest budget for the trip, and for those who enjoys themselves being in the countryside because some people may go out for a picnic with their lovers to explore more about the nature. The local supermarkets are ‘’Las Ramblas’’, ‘’El Corte Ongles’’ and’’De Tot al Born’’ They are all operate from 10:00- 22:00. Some supermarkets may provide a 24 hours service as well. The budget can be flexible for self-catering and it all depends what you will buy in the market. But normally won’t be as expensive as the local restaurants . So it will cost about  £2-5 per meal and person. Medium budget traveler: * If you are aiming for a reasonable restaurant at a reasonable price but do not want to do the self-catering, I suggest these customers to go to some fast food restaurant such as ’Pizza Hats’ or some sandwiches cafà © to have their meals. Or even takeaway service from the takeaway shops near to their accommodation. The other cheaper choice for them is have a choice of good quality restaurant in cheaper price. There is one restaurant located near by the church of Santa Maria de Mar. It is called ‘’El Casal’’ the word ‘’casal’’ means a place of Encentro, exchange. The guests will enjoy a relaxing atmosphere, familiar and a quiet time with their lover in here. It Is mainly a sandwiches with premium Catalan products, fresh smoothie and a cappuccino. They can also book the restaurant for a special event for themselves and their partners. The prices are form  £2  £8 for a normal lunch. Dinner restaurant: * This is one of the most popular dinning places for couples/ families to have during their trip. It will normally present a relatively higher price from between  £8-40+ per person. It depends on the type of food and the restaurant’s location. They can enjoy the local Spanish dinner at ‘’La Rita’’ that is an Elegant and formal place with a modernist look, the  cuisine is based in the Mediterranean tradition. The prices for meal from  £7 to  £11. With a choice of vegetarian food as well. It also provides long life recipes, cooked over a low heat and with the best ingredients from the market that provides you a cozy environment with a special event. To make your trip goes more smoothly with a bottle of wine. In view of arranging package tour for couples in their wedding or honey moon trip, our company should aim at people who is willing to spend a little bit more money to make the trip most memorable, therefore I will highly recommended that the dinning in fine restaurants in the city is to the choice of this kind. Our company can also offer a pre-booking system for those most popular restaurants in the city that normally would not be possible booked by tourists. Some extra cost for this service would be added. This type of restaurant will be discussed in the next paragraph. High-class restaurant: To ensure the high class of the trip for the couples, dinning in high-class of restaurants are the way forward for the package for newly marriage couple as well as couples for honeymoon. Therefore I strongly recommend the couples to choose this type of catering service for them. One of the selling points as mentioned above was pre-booking system which is only available for local residents. Our company would offer such pre-booking for the couples joining the package. It is normally aim at people who have some special event to hold such as romantic proposal or an after wedding party. It is usually hard to book a table in the normal circumstances and should normally take a week or so. Our company would book in advance for the couples once they join the package tour with down payment made to the company. We would choose those high class restaurants with good reputation or famous rating under the Michelin of Stars, however our company does provide this service for special customers of getting married or going for honeymoon which they do not mind to spend extra money in the tour. In order to enjoy this lovely environment. Our potential customers can just simply say to us and we can manage to make the pre-booking of a table(s) for two. One of the restaurant we recommended to you is ‘’Comerc 24’’ which is a 1 Michelin star restaurant. The chef – Charles Abellan is the professional of legendary chef and 3 stars Michelin fame. ‘’Comerc 24’’ is an inspired stylish and elegant dining experience.  The menu changes constantly but the high quality of the cuisine will never change. The prices are range from  £20 to  £100. This is especially for people who would like to explore a new style of wine tasting and an enjoyable moment i n Barcelona.