Hotel Management Glossary

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There are currently 120 Glossary Items in this directory beginning with the letter C.
Calibration
The adjustment of equipment to maximize its effectiveness and operational efficiency.

Call Accounting
The system within the hotel used to document and charge guests for their use of the telephone.

Call Brand Beverages
High-priced and higher-quality alcoholic beverages that are sold by name (such as Johnny Walker Red Scotch or Bombay Gin) rather than sold by type of liquor (scotch or gin) only.

Cancellation
A reservation voided at the request of the guest.

Cancellation Number
A series of numbers and/or letters that serve to identify the cancellation of a specific hotel reservation.

Cap Rate
Short for Capitalization Rate.

Capital Expenditure
The purchase of equipment, land, buildings, or other fixed assets necessary for the operation of the hotel.

Capital Intensity
The extent to which the assets of an organization are primarily associated with plants, equipment, and other fixed assets.

Capitalization Rate
A measure of investor return on investment. The computation for a cap rate is Net Income/Property Sales Price= Cap Rate %

Cardex
See under Registry Card.

Career Ladder
A plan that projects successively more responsible professional positions within an organization/industry. Career ladders also allow one to plan/schedule developmental activities judged necessary to assume more responsible positions.

Cash Advance Voucher
A voucher used to support cash flow out of the hotel, either directly to or on behalf of the guest.

Cash Bank
An amount of money given to a cashier at the start of each work shift so that he or she can handle the various transactions that occur. The cashier becomes responsible for this cash bank, and for all cash, checks, and other negotiable instruments received during the work shift.

Cash Bars
A beverage service alternative where guests desiring beverages during a banquet function pay for them personally.

Cash Voucher
A voucher used to support a cash payment transaction at the front desk.

Casino Hotel
A hotel with gambling facilities.

Catering
The process of selling and carrying out the details of a banquet event.

Central Processing Unit
The control centre of a computer system.

Central Reservation System (CRS)
A network for communicating reservations in which each property is represented in a computer system database and is required to provide room availability data to the reervations system on a timely basis.

Centralized Accounting
A financial management system that collects accounting data from an individual hotel(s), then combines and analyzes the data at a different (central) site.

Centralized Electronic Locking System
An electronic locking system which operates through a master console at the front desk which is wired to every guestroom door.

CEO
Short for Chief Executive Officer

CEO Duality
Occurs when the CEO also chairs the board of directors

Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
An individual designated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as competent in the field of accounting.

CGM
Short for Consumer Generated Media

Chamber of Commerce
An organization whose goal is the advancement of business interests within a community or larger business region.

Chambermaid
See room attendants.

Charge Back
Credit card charges refused by the credit card company for one reason or another.

Charge Voucher
A voucher used to support a charge purchase transaction, which takes place somewhere other than the front desk. Also referred to as an account receivable voucher.

Check Average
The mean amount spent per visit by each restaurant guest during a designated time period (e.g., by day part (lunch or dinner) or calendar period (daily, weekly, or monthly).

Check-Out Time
The hour by which departing guests must check out of a property.

CHHE
Short for Certified Hospitality Housekeeping Executive. Certification for executive housekeepers offered through the Education Institute of AH&LA

CIO
Short for chief information officer (CIO) A high-level manager who oversees the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information.

City Account
See non-guest account.

City Ledger
The collection of all non-guest accounts, including house accounts and unsettled departed guest accounts.

CKO
Short for chief knowledge officer (CKO) An organizational position responsible for ensuring that the organization can get maximum value from its knowledge, intangible assets, and best practices.

Closed
The status of a date for which a reservation system will not accept additional reservations.

Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV)
A camera and monitor system that displays, in real time, the activity within the camera's field of vision. A CCTV consisting of several cameras and screens showing the camera's fields of vision may be monitored in a single hotel location.

Closing
The legal process of transferring property ownership from a seller to a buyer. Used, for example, in, "The closing for our new hotel is set for May 22 at the Trans American Title Company offices on Main Street."

Coaching
A process, whose goal is helping staff members, and the hotel team, reach their highest possible levels of performance.

Code of Conduct
Principles, values, standards, or rules of behavior that guide the decisions, procedures and systems of an organization in a way that (a) contributes to the welfare of its key stakeholders, and (b) respects the rights of all constituents affected by its operations. A code of conduct for employees sets out the procedures to be used in specific ethical situations, such as conflicts of interest or the acceptance of gifts, and delineate the procedures to determine whether a violation of the code of ethics occurred and, if so, what remedies should be imposed.

Code of Ethics
Communicates the values of the corporation to employees and other stakeholders.

Codified Knowledge
Knowledge that can be communicated completely via written means.

Coding
The process of assigning incurred costs to predetermined cost centers or categories.

Cold Calling
Making a sales visit/presentation to a potential client without having previously set an appointment to do so.

Collaborative-style Leadership
The CEO works with other managers to create a strategy; participants are then responsible for implementing the strategy in their own areas.

Collusion
Secret cooperation between two or more hotel employees for the purpose of committing fraud.

Commercial Food Service Operation
Food Services offered in hotels and restaurants and other organizations whose primary purpose for existence involves generation of profits from the sale of food and beverage products.

Commercial Hotel
A property, usually located in downtown, or business district, that caters primarily to business clients. Also called transient hotel.

Commercial Rate
A special room rate agreed upon by a company and a hotel for frequent guests. Also called corporate rate.

Commission Agent Report
A summary of reservation transactions for which commissions are owed to travel agents.

Commissionable
An indication that the hotel will pay travel agents the standard fee for business placed.

Commoditization
The process by which a product (or service) reaches a point in its development where one brand has no features that differentiate it from other brands, and consumers buy on price alone.

Comp
Short for "complimentary" or "no-charge" for products or services.

Compensation
All financial and non-financial rewards given to management and non-management employees in return for the work they do for the hotel.

Compensatory Damages
Also known as actual damages, this monetary amount is intended to compensate injured parties for actual losses or damage they have incurred. This typically includes items such as medical bills and lost wages.

Competitive Dynamics
The moves and countermoves of firms and their competitors.

Competitive Edge
See Competitive Advantage

Competitive Set
The group of competing hotels to which an individual hotel's operating performance is compared.

Complaint
A statement about expectations that have not been met.

Complaint Management
Complaint management is a multi-step process of ensuring client satisfaction. It consists of data collecting, taking action, communicating feedback, refining changes, and finally following-up i.e. making sure that clients are satisfied with the resolution.

Complimentary
A room status term indicating that the room is occupied, but the guest is assessed no charge for the use.

Compressed Work Schedule
A method of working full-time hours in fewer than the traditional five days- for instance, four days per week.

Concierge
The individual(s) within a full-service hotel responsible for providing guests with detailed information regarding local dining and attractions, as well as assisting with related guest needs.

Concierge Level
A section of a hotel (usually with restricted access) reserved for special guests paying higher room rates and receiving special amenities.

Condominium Hotel
See Time-share hotel.

Conference Center
A property specifically designed to handle group meetings. Conference centers are often located outside metropolitan areas and may provide extensive leisure facilities, most offer overnight accommodations.

Confirmation Number
A series of numbers and/or letters that serve to identify a specific hotel reservation.

Conglomerate
A large, highly diversified firm.

Connecting Rooms
Rooms with individual entrance doors from the outside and connecting door between. Guests can move between rooms without going through the hallway.

ConPAR
Short for Contribution Per Available Room.

Consideration
An element in a legal contract that relates to money, property, or a promise exchanged for the promise made in a contract.

Consortia
Groups of hotel service buyers organized for the purpose of reducing their client's travel-related costs. A single such group is a consortium.

Consortia Rate
A hotel room rate given to a guest whose room is booked by selected travel agencies.

Constrained Supply
Supply may be constrained due to physical limitations (number of chairs in a barbershop, rooms in a hotel, or seats at a concert). Supply may also be constrained by the duration of use, (seat hours available in a restaurant, tee times available at a golf course or hours spent using the facilities at a water park).

Consumer Generated Media
Various online venues such as forums, blogs, wikis, and reviewer sites where those seeking to research and buy products can use information and opinions posted by other consumers before making their buying decisions.

Consumer Surplus
The difference between the amount a buyer would be willing to pay for a product or service and the amount they are charged.

Contact Alarms
A warning system that notifies (contacts) an external entity such as the fire or police department if the alarm is activated.

Continental Breakfast
A small meal, which usually includes a beverage, rolls, butter, and jam or marmalade.

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)
Ongoing efforts within the hotel to better meet (or exceed) guest expectations and define ways to perform work with better, less costly, and faster methods. See also TQM.

Contract
An agreement between two or more parties that will be enforceable in a court of law.

Contribution Margin
The amount that remains after the product (food) cost of a menu item is subtracted from its selling price.

Control Folio
An accounting document used internally by a front office computer to support all account postings by department during a system update.

Control Systems
Systems used to measure and monitor firm activities and processes, as well as motivate or encourage behaviors that are conducive to desired organizational outcomes; the tools of strategy implementation.

Controller
The individual responsible for recording, classifying, and summarizing the hotel's business transactions. In some hotels, this position is referred to as the comptroller.

Convention
Convention is a meeting of delegates for action on particular matters. Participants called delegates. These may be matters of politics, trade, science, technology, etc. Structure: General sessions and supplementary smaller meetings, either with or without exhibits.

Convention and Visitors Bureau
An organization, generally funded by taxes levied on overnight hotel guests that seek to increase the number of visitors to the area it represents. Properly utilized, non-electronic distribution channels help reduce commoditization. Also called the "CVB" for short.

Conversion
The process of changing a hotel's flag from one franchisor to another. Also known as "reflagging." For example, "We need a GM experienced in managing a hotel conversion." As a noun: The term used to describe a hotel that has changed its flag from one franchisor to another. For example, "Has this hotel always been a (brand name), or is it a conversion?"

Conversion (WEB)
The proportion of web site visitors who actually make a guest room purchase.

COO
Short for Chief Operational Officer

Core Competency
A resource or capability that meets the conditions of being valuable, unique, non-substitutable, or difficult to imitate; if it can also be applied to more than one business area, it is also called a capability.

Core Values
The underlying philosophies that guide decisions and behavior in a firm; also called organizational values.

Corporate Culture
 

What is the definition/meaning of Corporate Culture in the Hospitality Industry?

The generally accepted values and shared meanings that determine how employees within an organization will act.

Corporate Guarantee
A type of reservation guarantee in which a corporation signs a contractual agreement with the hotel to accept financial responsibility for may no-show business travelers it sponsors.

Corporate Rate
This segment represented by business travelers that make up a large portion of the traveling public. As this segment is paying among the highest rooms rates the hotel will be able to achieve, thence catering their needs is very important

Correction Voucher
A voucher used to support the correction of a posting error which is rectified

Cost Center
A hotel department that incurs costs in support of a revenue center. Two examples are the housekeeping and maintenance departments.

Cost per Occupied Room
Those rooms-related costs incurred directly as a result of selling a guest room. Examples include labor costs, room supplies, and room amenities. Also referred to as room-related occupancy cost, occupied room cost, or cost per occupied room (CPOR).

CPA
Short for Certified Public Accountant. An individual designated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as competent in the field of accounting.

CPOR
Short for cost per occupied room.

CPU
Short for Central Processing Unit.

Credit
An entry on the right side of an account.

Credit Balance
An amount owed to guests by the hotel.

Credit Card
A system by which banks loan money with interest to consumers as purchases are made. Merchants accepting the cards for payment are charged a fee by the banks for the charges made by their customers with the credit card.

Credit Card Guarantee
A type of reservation guarantee supported by credit card companies, who guarantee participating properties payment for reserved rooms that remain unoccupied.

Credit Card Imprinter
A device used to press a credit card invoice against a credit card, recording card information for use in billing and collection procedures.

Credit Card Invoice
The form designated by a credit card company to be used for imprinting a credit card and recording the amount charged. Also called credit card voucher.

Crisis Management
Processes associated with preventing, detecting, or recovering from crises.

CRM
Short for Customer Relations Management.

Cross Training
Training employees for performing multiple tasks and jobs.

Cross-Selling
Messages designed to advertise the availability of other hotel services.

CRT
Cathode Ray Tube- see Display Screen.

Cultural Intelligence
An aptitude that enables outsiders to interpret unfamiliar gestures and actions as though they were insiders; it can be acquired.

Culture
An evolving set of shared beliefs, values, and attitudes that help shape how a social group thinks, sees, acts, and reacts to various events and situations.

Curb Appeal
The term used to indicate the initial visual impression the hotel's parking areas, grounds, and external building aesthetics create for an arriving guest.

Current Data
Data related to events that are entered into the PMS but have yet to occur.

Customer Relationship Management
A system that allows hotel managers to integrate technology to support customer service techniques that provides top-notch customer service. It is a widely implemented model for managing a company's interactions with customers, clients, and sales prospects.

Customer-based Structure
Organization structures its major units around the characteristics or types of customer.

Customer-Centric Revenue Management
A revenue management philosophy that places customer gain ahead of short-term revenue maximization in revenue management decision making.

CVB
Short for Convention and Visitors Bureau