No matter how excellent your hotel managers may be, their primary focus is the day-to-day management of the hotel. Providing stellar service to guests and filling rooms are high on their agenda.
But can they tell you about the finances of your hotel? Or how well workers are following quality assurance procedures?
A hotel audit can take a larger, more holistic view of your hotel. It removes the monitoring of financial transactions, among other things, from the responsibility of the general manager.
With almost 100 new hotels being built in the UAE, that's a lot of potential competition. Being able to provide the best service, and meeting the highest standards, is a good way to stand out.
Do you know if you provide that service and meet those standards? If not, then read on to discover why you should invest in a hotel audit.
Spot Risks or Errors Early
If you don't run audits, how can you know if anyone is making mistakes? Perhaps you discover a mistake but you don't know when it was made.
An audit helps you to identify errors, which in turn means you can correct them quickly. You can also put systems in place to ensure the errors aren't made again.
A thorough investigation of your policies and procedures will show up any weaknesses or points that may be exploited, intentionally or not. You'll be better placed to know if your existing controls are adequate to protect your hotel from risks. If not, work with the auditors to develop new ones.
By understanding when errors were made, you can also pinpoint why they were made. This might feed into your staff training for new starters, or provide impetus to retrain existing staff.
It's a strange principle to think of but when staff know an audit is imminent, they often put more emphasis on following the correct procedures.
Confirm Your Compliance with Regulations
Your hotel will be subject to many regulations. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is one example, responsible for credit card payments.
Any hotel that accepts credit cards must abide by these regulations. They ensure companies use secure environments when they process or transmit credit card information.
The regulations also cover the handling of such data. These policies are less well known but a hotel audit will explore how well you comply with the PCI DSS.
A Hotel Audit Also Identifies When Things Are Going Well
You don't just need an audit to tell you what needs to be fixed or improved.
An audit also means you have continual assurance when everything is going well. After all, audits don't have to simply highlight negative practices; they can also monitor positive processes.
When your audits come back with a clean bill of health for your hotel, you can maintain the standards you already have in place. You and your staff know what you're doing right.
That leads to a better experience for your guests, repeat custom, and excellent reviews.
If you'd like to enjoy the benefits of a hotel audit, we would love to work with you.
