Study the information about the hotels below. Which hotel would you advise each family to stay at? Why?

Bergman* * *	Embassy * * (superior)	Empire **** deluxe
A small hotel of only 16 rooms. Situated in a quiet, residential area behind Vondel park, it overlooks a small canal and the park itself. The bedrooms have their own shower, TV and radio. Twin rooms with bath are available at a supplement. Although the hotel does not have a restaurant or bar, the dining room is very pleasant and drinks areserved on request. We recommend early booking because of the limited accommodation available. NO CHARGE for 1 child under 12 sharing the room with 2 adults. (Meals payable direct). Supplement per person per night: Twin with bath - £4.00 Single with shower - £8.00	Once a private house with a rich history, this hotel is highly recommended for the standard of its accommodation. Because of the nature of the building all rooms are different, each with its own character, and they are on a number of levels. There are larger, superior rooms with a view of the canal (available at a supplement). Downstairs you will find a quiet bar and a small breakfast room. The hotel has no lift and some of the stairs are quite steep so please request a downstairs room if the stairs could be a problem. All rooms have a private shower. Supplements per person per night: Superior twin with a canal view - £ 7.00 Single room - £ 11.00	An international deluxe hotel in one of Amsterdam's most fashionable areas. The Empire has 250 guest rooms and suites which either overlook the canal or the gracious tree-lined Apollolaan. All the bedrooms have a telephone, a minibar, a colour TV and a hairdrier. The hotel has 2 restaurants, "The Veranda", which serves international cuisine, and "The Santori", an elegant Japanese restaurant. The bar overlooking the canal, the discotheque, and the casino complete this wonderful hotel. NO ROOM CHARGE for 1 child under 12 sharing the room with 2 adults. (Meals payable direct). Single room supplement -£ 24.00 per night.

Word Bank 3 “Conference facilities”.

attendance	автобусная экскурсия
аудитория	афиша, плакат
auditorium	банкет
banquet	доска объявлений
bargain	зона (стойка) регистрации
to be equipped with	информационная стойка
book-display sale	книжная выствка-ярмарка
concert	комплексный тур
conventions are held	конференции проводятся
excursion	коэффициент занятости номерного фонда
exhibit	заниматься конференциями
to handle conventions	концерт
information desk	лекционный зал
lecture room	место для прессы
loading and storage facilities
museum	музей
negotiations = talks	переговоры
notice board	оборудование
occupancy rate	персонал
package tour	погрузочно-разгрузочные устройства и складские сооружения
poster	посещение, посещаемость
press booth	прибыльный, доходный
profitable	сделка
registration area	экскурсия
sightseeing coach tour	экспонат.

Special terms:

 

Convention - a large meeting of members of a political party or professional group, which usually happens once a year.

Conference - a large meeting where a lot of people discuss important matters such as business or politics, especially for several days.

Assembly - a group of people gathered together for a special purpose as worship.

Congress - a formal meeting of representatives of societies, countries to exchange information and opinions.

Symposium - a meeting between scientists or other people experienced in a particular subject, in order to talk about a certain area of interest.

Workshop - an occasion when a group of people meet and work together in order to share and develop ideas about a particular subject or activity (ex. A two-day workshop on management techniques)

TEXT. Conference facilities.

A convention is a meeting of members of a business or professional group, such as dentists, booksellers or language teachers. It is held to exchange information in the field and consider other business of the organization. A typical convention lasts three or four days and includes business sessions, workshops and seminars, professional exhibits and special events. The facilities required for the convention are extensive. A large auditorium or hall is usually necessary for group meetings and events such as banquets. In addition, smaller rooms, probably of a variety of sizes, are required for workshops and seminars. An exhibit area, with adjacent loading and storage facilities, is almost always provided as well.

Attendance at conventions runs to a thousand or more people. In fact, a figure of three or four thousand is not unusual. In some cases, the attendance is even higher and the facilities of more than one hotel are required. Attendance figures normally include only the people who actually register for the convention and do not take into account wives or other relatives or friends who may accompany the group members.

Until recently, most conventions were held in one of a few large cities that were also transportation centres. In the United States, such cities as New York, Chicago and Washington DC. were typical locations for conventions. Other popular cities for conference meeting are Paris, Tokyo, Moscow, Rome and some other European capitals. The growth of the airline industry has made the convention business a worldwide enterprise. Conventions are held every year in a greater variety of places than ever before. Nowadays many resort hotels have complete convention facilities, and most new city hotels have also been designed with the convention business in mind. Even some motels, as we have noted, have facilities for group meetings.

The convention business is very profitable for the hotel industry. A convention guarantees a good occupancy rate for the hotel over a period of at least several days. In addition, the special exhibit and meeting areas are rented by the sponsoring organization for a fee, and the people attending the convention also generate more business in the hotel’s restaurants, bars and shops. In many cases, the business and professional people who are members of the sponsoring group are accompanied by their families, and this means still more business for the hotel. For most people, in fact, a convention is a combination of business and pleasure, a chance to get away from the usual daily routine. This is one of the major reasons behind the increasing shift of conventions to resort areas.

A hotelthat handles conventions has several specialized people on the staff, perhaps the most important of whom are the salesmen who are responsible for bringing in the business. Most of them have special contacts among the groups that sponsor conventions. Negotiations for a convention may take place over a long period, particularly today, when the sponsors have numerous choices and can shop around for the best bargains. Standard arrangements include reduced room rates and the lowest possible fee for the other facilities and services that are required. The salesmen must coordinate their efforts carefully with their requirements for space in the hotel.

Many hotels also have a special manager to handle all the particular arrangements that must be made once the convention has been booked into the hotel. Conventions follow a general pattern, but they always create special problems because each one differs in detail from all the others. All of the arrangements must be coordinated with the other department of the hotel. The front desk must prepare for a surge of arriving guests, and the housekeeping department must make sure the rooms are ready when needed. The food and beverage service and the maintenance and engineering staff must also do their parts. The installation of the exhibits may require mechanical and electrical work, and loading and unloading equipment may call for additional work force. If a banquet is to be served, as it usually is, the menu must be planned; tables, napery, and table silver must be provided and set up. Experienced banquet waiters must also be on duty.

A banquet is a large formal luncheon or dinner that is customarily followed by speeches and a ceremony. A banquet is often the final eventof many conventions. Other banquets are sponsored by local groups for special purposes, such as presenting awards, honouring an individual, or raising funds for a political campaign. Hotels that are equipped to handle convent ions generally attract banquet business as well, but any hotel with a sufficiently large dining room, ballroom, or meeting room can attract banquetes. The arrangements for preparing the banquet are normally the job of the banquet manager, who is sometimes responsible for the sales effort as well.

 

III. TEXT WORK

1. Phonetic Drill - Transcribe and pronounce correctly:

Exchange, session, workshop, seminar, exhibit, required, extensive, auditorium, banquet, adjacent, storage, profitable, restaurant, pleasure! routine, negotiations, coordinate, requirement, maintenance, luncheon, syndicate room, venue, transmit.

2. Find English equivalents in the text and use them in the
sentences of your own:

(1) проводится с целью обмена информацией (2) выставочная площадь (3) примыкающие помещения (4) выгодный, доходный (5) хорошая наполняемость отеля (6) группа устроителей (7) персонал (8) вести переговоры (9) сниженные цены на проживание (10) самая низкая цена за обслуживание (11) установка экспонатов (12) дополнительная рабочая сила

3. Agree or disagree with the following statements.
Give your reasons.

USE for disagreement: Use for agreement:

- that's not quite right... -- that’s right

- Oh, no, quite on the contrary... -- exactly

- It says in the text... -- I fully agree

1. Conventions require extensive facilities, such as a large hall or auditorium, several rooms for meetings of smaller groups, and an exhibit area.

2. There are seldom more than a thousand people at a convention.

3. Conventions today are almost always held in a few large cities that are transportation centers.

4. Convention is a great deal of trouble for a hotel because it usually does not bring in an adequate return of income.

5. Hotels often give lower room rates to people attending conventions.

6. It is necessary for the convention department to inform the other departments of the hotel about its activities.

7. Only hotels that can accommodate conventions are also equipped to attract banquet business.