Hotel and Motel Desk Clerks

Nature of the Work
Employment
Job Outlook
Sources of Additional Information

(D.O.T. 238.367-038)

• 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. Clerks must 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.
  
  Front 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 may have a variety of additional responsibilities usually performed by specialized employees in most larger establishments. These clerks may also perform the work of a bookkeeper, advance reservation agent, cashier, laundry attendant, and telephone switchboard operator.

• Employment

  Hotel and motel desk clerks held about 144,000 jobs in 1996. This occupation is well suited to flexible work schedules, with over 1 in 4 desk clerks working part time. Because hotels and motels are found in all parts of the country, so are these jobs.

• Job Outlook

  Employment of hotel and motel desk clerks is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2006 as more hotels, motels, and other lodging establishments are built, and as occupancy rates rise. Job opportunities for hotel and motel desk clerks should be 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, because the front desk must be staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  
  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. The expansion of smaller, budget hotels and less construction of larger, luxury establishments reflects a change in the composition of the hotel and motel industry. As employment shifts from luxury hotels and the broad services they provide to more "no-frills" operations, the proportion of hotel desk clerks should increase in relation to staff such as waiters, waitresses, and recreation workers. Often the hotel desk clerk is responsible for all front office operations, information, and services in a no-frills establishment.
  
  However, the growing effort to cut labor costs while moving towards more efficient service is expected to slow the growth somewhat of desk clerk employment. The role of the front desk is changing as some of the more traditional duties are replaced by technology. New technologies automating check-in and check-out procedures now allow guests to bypass the front desk in many larger establishments, reducing staffing needs. The expansion of automating technologies, such as interactive television and computer systems to dispense information, should further impact employment in the future as such services become more widespread.
  
  Employment of desk clerks is also 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 531126, Orlando, FL 32853-1126. Homepage: http://www.ei-ahma.org
  

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