Letters

If the travel agents scratch our backs . . .

If Kevan Downing read the letter from Columbus World Wide Travel with utter disbelief, then I find his response quite astonishing and unjustifiable.

Of course travel agents do not welcome, feed and pamper guests. That is the job of the hotelier. Travel agents are a vital link in the global distribution chain.

They invest heavily in technology and, in most cases, work on very tight margins. Hoteliers, in the main, realise that 10% of £65 or £70 is not exactly going to make them rich overnight.

Having been involved in both the hotel sector and the travel trade, I had hoped that relationships had improved. Perhaps this outburst is an exception.

Most hoteliers these days recognise that dealing with the travel trade is an accepted form of distribution and that commissions are part of their marketing costs. Equally, the hotel industry has built-in systems to ensure agents are rewarded promptly.

His comment that he may find himself in an unfortunate position of having to lay off staff surely supports the view that he should think seriously before taking business from travel agents.

For a number of years, I have been campaigning for a better understanding of the needs of both hoteliers and the travel trade. Simple recognition of each others' needs and how meaningful partnerships can be implemented will present mutually rewarding benefits.

Until such understandings are established, there will be mistrust.

With both sectors fighting for every last pound of profitability, surely the time is right to have industry- accepted codes of conduct and formal, structured commission guidelines.

STEVEN PRICE, Consultant,

SMP,

Barmby Moor, East Yorkshire.

Is there a good standard menu?

Reading your article on standard menus ("Fresh Challenge", 20 October) reminds me of a conversation I had recently with a hotel manager.

I said to him I did not think that the menu he was using in his hotel restaurant, which is part of a very large chain, was really appropriate to his target market. To which he replied: "Oh yes, I agree with you sir, but we must maintain the integrity of our market concept!"

The trouble with standard menus is that they pre-suppose totally standard markets throughout the country. What about the customer? What about sales and profit?

PETER HIME

Chief Executive

Dine-a-Mite, London SW8.

Banks must learn the industry way

The debate on the methodology for hotel valuations rumbles on, with surveyors and the British Association of Hotel Accountants (BAHA) each firmly espousing the cause of their vested interests: a natural inclination, which, alas, does nothing to promote the confidence required by the industry and its financiers as the hotel market cautiously emerges from the most damaging recession experienced in my career of over 30 years.

My perception of "the truth" is that both methods have their uses, and it lies with the consumer to determine which method is best suited to their purpose.

If the hotel purchaser or financier wishes to know the market value of the asset, the surveyors' method of market comparison and sustainable profits is the more accurate.

Discounted cash flow (DCF), the method espoused by the BAHA, will only produce an accurate market value if the method is adopted by all hotel purchasers.

This imported method does, however, give a clearer view of the sensitivity of cashflow to borrowings. The danger lies in the projected element of the DCF - ask any hotelier or banker how reliable forecasts over anything other than a short period can be.

Historically, the purchasing, financing and valuation of hotels has all too often been left in the hands of the inexperienced. A determined novice purchaser is entitled to "have a go", but bankers and valuers have no such excuse.

The cyclical nature of the hotel business is, I fear, like the British weather - something we must live with. Institutional investors and lenders must learn that what goes down must come up, and not panic at the onset of troubles.

Also, in many cases, administrative receivership is often not the solution, particularly where ownership is not in default through mismanagement, but through a vicious turn of the economic screw.

A darkened room and stormy debate will not produce a magic answer or square the circle. Bankers in particular must learn to understand more of the hotel industry and its property market. I shudder on each occasion when I am asked to provide a lender with a bricks-and-mortar valuation. Invariably, this is not the basis on which hotel properties are sold, and can therefore only be a hypothetical figure. Moreover, it does not represent the value of the security held by the lender, provided they have properly charged the assets available to them.

Hopefully, in years to come, there will be surveyors and bankers in place with the right experience to help the industry into a more stable future to the good of the nation, and, in particular, those who invest their life's work and capital in it.

DOUGLAS HAYES

Hotel & Leisure Director,

York Montague Chartered Surveyors, London W1.

Get smart on smart chefs

So Alan Brooks is not in favour of the "poseur culinaire" (Letters, 20 October)?

I suggest that Mr Brooks comes alive to what is nearly the 21st century and realises that whether he likes it or not, nothing is forever, not even those ghastly chefs' trousers that have been produced since anyone can remember. Is it really necessary to look like a traditional chef to be a traditional chef?

As a matter of interest, I wonder whether the admonished trainee had been told what he could and could not wear before he reported for duty? One thing is certain: large checks and blue neck-ties constitute neither a health and safety, nor a hygiene hazard.

CHRIS BONE

Chris Bone Associates,

Spalding, Lincolnshire.

A seasonal cure for hangovers

May I ask readers for their suggestions for a hangover cure which is really effective?

The Christmas banqueting season is approaching at the Glasgow Hilton, and a proportion of our guests will no doubt slightly over-indulge.

Any helpful remedy for the next morning will surely be judged a five-star service!

Your readers may know of potions and procedures which tackle the morning after-effects in a trice, and the six best suggestions will each earn a good bottle of Scotch, with my compliments.

Could the remedies please be sent to me at the address below.

BILL PAISLEY,

General Manager,

Glasgow Hilton, William Street, Glasgow G3 8HT.

The management of minibars

I WAS interested to read Veronica Lyons' article "Add ons and Rips Offs" (13 October) with its references to the operational problems of running a successful minibar installation.

Although some hoteliers may indeed be overcharging to cover loss factors and labour costs, it should be acknowledged that the difference between an honest and dishonest guest is simple opportunity.

This opportunity factor can be effectively controlled through the implementation of proven disciplines and procedures, while on the issue of labour costs, most hoteliers misunderstand the labour requirements and incur unnecessary overheads, then reflected in higher prices which further discourage consumptions.

TONY TURNER

Sales and Marketing Director,

Minibar (UK) Ltd, Perivale, Middlesex.