Hotel and Motel Desk Clerks

• Nature of the Work

  Hotel and motel desk clerks perform a variety of services for guests of hotels, motels, and other lodging establishments. They register arriving guests and assign them rooms, and check guests out at the end of their stay. In assigning rooms, clerks consider their guests' preferences while trying to maximize the establishment's revenues. They keep records of room assignments and other registration information on computers, and when guests check out, they prepare and explain the bill of charges, as well as process payments.

  Desk clerks are always in the public eye and, through their attitude and behavior, greatly influence the public's impressions of the establishment. They answer questions about services, checkout times, the local community, and other matters of public interest. Should guests report problems with their rooms, clerks contact members of the housekeeping or maintenance staff to correct them.

  In some smaller hotels and motels, clerks have a variety of additional responsibilities that in most larger establishments are usually performed by specialized employees. Clerks also may perform the work of a bookkeeper, advance reservation agent, cashier, laundry attendant, and telephone switchboard operator.

• Employment

  Hotel and motel desk clerks held about 136,000 jobs in 1994. This occupation is well suited to flexible work schedules, with over 1 in 4 desk clerks working part time. Since hotels and motels are found in all parts of the country, so are these jobs.

• Job Outlook

  Job opportunities for hotel and motel desk clerks should remain relatively good because turnover is very high. Each year thousands of workers transfer to other occupations offering better pay and advancement opportunities, or simply leave the workforce altogether. Opportunities for part-time work should continue to be plentiful since the front desk must be staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

  Employment of hotel and motel desk clerks is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2005 as more hotels, motels, and other lodging establishments are built and as occupancy rates rise. Employment of hotel and motel desk clerks should be favorably affected by an increase in business and leisure travel. Shifts in travel preference away from long vacations and toward long weekends and other, more frequent, short trips also should increase demand.

  However, changes within the hotel and motel industry are expected to somewhat slow the growth of desk clerk employment. Expansion of smaller budget hotels and less construction of larger, luxury establishments with big staffs should result in slower employment growth in the occupation than in the past. Also, new technology that automates guest check-in and check-out-an effort to cut labor costs while moving towards more efficient service-will require fewer desk clerks to be on duty at peak arrival and departure times.

  Employment of desk clerks is sensitive to cyclical swings in the economy. During recessions, vacation and business travel declines and hotels and motels need fewer clerks.

• Sources of Additional Information

  Information on working conditions, training requirements, and earnings appears in the Information clerks introduction to this section.

  Information on careers in the lodging industry, as well as information about professional development and training programs, may be obtained from:
  The Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Motel Association, P.O. Box 1240, East Lansing, MI 48826-1240.

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