Why don't some hotels allow guests to bring their own drinks?

Hotels can refuse guests to bring their own drinks and food into restaurants, bars, dance halls and other places to enjoy, but they should set up refusal notices in prominent positions in relevant places.

—— Excerpted from Article 29 of Chapter 9 of China Tourist Hotel Industry Code.

The first industry standard of China's consumer industry-China Tourist Hotel Industry Standard was finally implemented in the national tourist hotels on May 6th, 2002 at 5438+0, a festival symbolizing the working people themselves.

This standard is formulated on the basis of extensive investigation and reference to the new regulations of the international hotel industry. It is a guideline to guide and standardize the self-discipline behavior of China's hotel industry, a basis to evaluate whether the hotel management behavior conforms to international practices and laws and regulations, and a positive measure for China's hotel industry to actively respond to the competition and challenges after China's entry into WTO. The main purpose of the Code is to advocate honest service and law-abiding operation in the hotel industry, strengthen the hotel's commitment to guests and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of guests and hotels; Standardize hotel business activities, maintain hotel business order, and gradually establish and improve the reputation of China's hotel industry and the standardization system in line with international standards.

The author participated in the revision of the specification document. In the process of drafting the Code, the opinions of the China Consumers Association were solicited, and the opinions of relevant legal experts such as the NPC Law Working Committee and the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences were listened to. They believe that the code is in line with Chinese laws and is widely representative and operable.

It is true that the publication of the code has aroused considerable repercussions in society. In the overwhelming approval, I also heard some different opinions. The query that "hotels can refuse guests to bring their own drinks and food into restaurants, bars, dance halls and other places to enjoy" is an example. Some media even said that the above clause (Article 29 of the Code) may be cancelled or amended. However, China Tourism News (May 2002 1) intercepted the attitude of the person in charge from the China Tourist Hotel Association: "This article is in line with China's laws and regulations, recognized by the industry and understood by consumers, and does not need to be amended." Why does the action of "the hotel can refuse guests to bring their own drinks-(perhaps there are other provisions in the code that involve the interests of customers)" cause such different reactions and responses, and what positive or negative effects will it bring on the issue of "strengthening the hotel's commitment to guests and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of guests and hotels"? Does this statement conform to the basic spirit of China's Consumer Protection Law? Why can hotels refuse to let consumers bring their own drinks and food? Wait, it seems that it is time to give a "statement" to society, industry and consumers.

If it is only literally extended, it seems that whether guests can bring their own drinks and food into the hotel premises for consumption involves the vested interests of the guests or the hotel. Obviously, it is very sensitive and practical for hotel guests to bring their own drinks and food as consumers. The actual consumption of "bring your own" and "don't bring your own" drinks and food is very different in terms of money. Moreover, if a restaurant stands up and says that it is open to all guests who bring their own drinks and food, it will definitely get the support of all consumers (whether they want to bring their own drinks and food or not). The problem is that any hotel with rational and orderly management and its operators will not stand up to protect "bring your own drinks and food" (due to the needs of market competition, the so-called "bring your own drinks at 20% of the price of similar drinks in this hotel" (the words "bring your own food" will never appear) is another matter). This gives us a "turn around and look at the hotel"-style and philosophical rational thinking or question: what is the operation of the hotel? What kind of satisfactory service should the hotel provide for its guests? How can we have a certain (not "all") understanding of the interests between hotels and guests? What should I do if the hotel and guests have differences on vested interests? Wait a minute.

Let's sort it out according to the above ideas and discuss whether guests can bring their own drinks and food. Because any mature, rational and self-aware guest or restaurant will not be interested in studying whether we can (or agree to) bring our own food, we can only discuss and reason to the extent of "whether guests can bring their own drinks", or put it another way: "Why can hotels refuse guests to bring their own drinks?"

Here is a deduction about the word "hotel". In fact, no noun can completely, vividly and accurately express the foreign word "HOTEL" which originated from French and is popular in English. At present, the corresponding "hotels" of China hotel industry are as follows:

Hotel: it is very popular in inland provinces or coastal cities with historical traditions, especially with the experience of "senior guest house"

City;

Hotel: popular in the era of reform and opening up, influenced by Hong Kong and Taiwan, based on large and medium-sized coastal cities in China,

Especially the Pearl River and Yangtze River basins;

Hotel: It appears more in theoretical books, and it is also one of the top ten classifications of hotels by the World Tourism Organization.

Species expression;

Hotel: at present, as a special term for the management of tourist hotels by the National Tourism Administration, it is also domestic, especially the Yangtze River.

A noun widely used in the domain and the northern region.

Obviously, no Chinese noun can cover the six elements of "hotel": "accommodation, food, entertainment and shopping".

Four categories in. The author thinks that the transition from ancient "inn" to modern "hotel" more or less reflects the interpretation of "hotel" at that time: in the past, guests mainly used the function of accommodation, and only used "inn" as a metaphor; Nowadays, guests have to eat and drink besides staying in bed, so the words "hotel" and "restaurant" come into being. If someone in the industry can give a brand-new name to "hotel" like the translation of "tank" and "glass" in those years, it is also an innovative move (I think the word "inn" can better explain the meaning of "hotel").

These topics are nothing more than explaining the complex nature of a "hotel" (only referring to tourist hotels and star-rated hotels). The author once summarized the basic characteristics of modern hotels into the following five attributes in the training course for general managers of national tourist hotels awarded by the National Tourism Administration and undertaken by domestic tourism colleges. Now he uses "takenism" to explain it, and takes it as the theoretical basis or practical case analysis of "why hotels can refuse guests to bring their own drinks":

First, the comprehensiveness of hotel products defines the attributes of hotel products as products with high consumption, high atmosphere and high culture. Hotels, especially tourist hotels or star-rated hotels, are different from social hotels because they not only have "tangible" products (functions, facilities and material products, etc.). ), but also highlight the "intangible" products (environmental art, cultural atmosphere, space and spiritual products. It is understandable to buy wine and drinks to take home. In order to pursue style and taste, they are willing to spend more money immersed in the hotel environment. The convergence of interests between operators and consumers is reflected in their values and value orientation: the hotel has built a characteristic business consumption space with high consumption, high atmosphere and culture with high investment; And our consuming guests have realized the transfer of the product value of this hotel again and again-the exchange theory of product value and use value in political economy has found a node here: without the hotel as a special consumption carrier, there will be no realization of guest consumption, even though the realization of this value is based on the guest's money payment. If the occasional "bring your own drinks" (for example, in order to promote the "wedding banquet", consumers can bring their own drinks) is widely publicized and promoted as a routine or even an industry regulation, then the product value composition formula of catering, a very important part of our hotel management, will be affected. In short, hotel products (tangible+intangible) can basically be composed of the following "values": product value, service value, human value, value of the image and so on. Among them, service, image and other elements are the value elements to create the "intangible product" of the hotel. Think about it. If every dining guest takes a bottle of wine or a can of drinks and grandly sits on the hotel table to order, how can our hotel recover the capital invested in creating the space, environment, culture and art that guests (perhaps not all guests) need? How to realize the value of this part of "intangible products" embodied in the value of hotel products-Political economics tells us that the realization of product value is based on "exchange". It is a refusal to "exchange" for guests to bring their own drinks, so hotel operators have every reason to make a "negative" mentality: refusing guests to bring their own drinks. It is described as a "gentleman" in the code: "The hotel can refuse (note that the word" refusal "is not used) that guests bring their own drinks ..." It is marked with the meaning of "Yes" to respect the autonomy of hotel operators: they can do things according to the code, but they can also agree that guests can bring their own drinks into the store for dinner. As for whether to increase the "corkage fee". But this is the operation behavior of individual hotels, not the general behavior of the hotel industry, and there is no need to make any special agreement. The Code is an agreement on sexual self-discipline.

Secondly, the foreign-related nature of hotel tourism inherits the rationality of hotel operation with reference to international hotel industry practices. The "hotel" we are discussing now should be defined as "tourist hotel" or "star hotel". If "tourism" opens the door for China to communicate with the world, it is likely to become a new pillar industry of China's national economy (for example, the World Tourism Organization (another WTO) predicts that by 2020, China will become the world's first tourist destination and the world's fourth tourist source exporter). The statement that tourist hotels receive "four kinds of people" (foreigners, overseas Chinese, overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) virtually reflects a historical evolution and destination. China's tourist hotel industry has gone through a completely different road from the developed countries in the world during its growth. The former is in line with the international tourism market from the beginning, while the latter focuses on the domestic tourism market first. Market integration means more concept integration. In all my years of living and working overseas, I have never heard of any restaurant publicly announcing that it welcomes guests to bring their own drinks unless it wants to close down as soon as possible. Like this, the sentence we often ask ourselves is going to be used in reverse here: Is it true that "the moon in foreign countries is rounder than that in China"? ! International practice is an internationally recognized mode of operation or rules of communication that everyone follows together. It is a highly concentrated achievement of human social civilization. Introducing more international practices is a sign that the hotel industry in China is maturing. Because our hotel's foreign-related tourism should follow the international conventions and practices-no matter developed countries in Europe and America or countries around China, hotels are not allowed to bring their own drinks to enjoy in hotels-"The moon in foreign countries is as round as that in China". As a member of the WTO family that has joined the WTO, China's hotel industry follows the international practice and expressly stipulates in the code that "guests are not allowed to bring their own drinks". In fact, this is an indisputable fact in the industry. Now it is reiterated in the Code that it is nothing more than domesticating an established "international practice" in the industry, because "the moon in foreign countries is as round as that in China"! If one day a China person refuses to consume a bottle of wine after traveling abroad and wants to sue a foreign hotel, he is likely to be counterclaimed by the hotel in the name of "reputation damage". This is not a "Arabian Nights" proposal.

Thirdly, the economy of hotel services requires hotels to act according to the laws of market economy. As an industry that essentially exists for people's living needs, the basic attribute of hotels is "service". Yes, without guests, the service of the hotel will be impossible and its operation will be greatly reduced. It is hard to imagine how a hotel can survive without people-guest consumption and staff service. Because the guests are the parents of the hotel, their needs-from material to spiritual-bring the hotel's "service economy"! It is also hard to imagine that if a hotel receives a group of guests with a bottle of wine, how can we practice the "exchange value" of service according to the theory of "service economy"! Yes, we can implement the method of "adding 20% bottle opening service fee" to avoid the trouble of "bringing your own drinks" The standard is for1.2000 tourist hotels in China (including nearly 8000 star-rated hotels), so we can only use a scale of "* * *" to measure something that can be quantified and completely refined. For example, guests can bring their own drinks, some hotels can say "no", some hotels can add "bottle opening service fee", and some hotels can say "yes" without the guidance of the code. However, no matter what the hotel does, there is an account of "service economy"-service is valuable; Service can be reflected by price; The best hotel management is to reflect the service! Perhaps in the future, the hotel will provide a theme kitchen restaurant: all food ingredients and drinks can be selected, and guests can also bring their own. The hotel only provides space. From the banquet box to the kitchen stove, you can be a "hotel owner" and be kind to your relatives and friends, while the hotel only charges you "venue rental fee", and the gross profit saved (generally 45% of the guest's "bill") will be spent sweating in the kitchen. However, service is indispensable. There must be waiters to serve, change dishes, pour drinks, etc ... Just because the "gold content" of the service has changed, the "main course" of food cooking has become less, and the money (money) collected by the hotel has now moved to your wallet. But in the end, hotels should adhere to the golden rule of "service economy": "value for money, equivalent exchange".

Fourthly, the competitiveness of hotel management regulates the benign and legal operation of hotels. On the platform of today's market economy, the problem of making profits for hotels will not be questioned again, because hotels entering the new century are no longer the concept of "internal guest houses" in the planned economy era. The crux of the matter is that the hotel's profits should be taken properly, that is, legal, reasonable and reasonable. Push it carefully:

Legitimacy-hotels are enterprises, and enterprises focus on economic benefits. Therefore, hotel management should be profitable and protected by national laws and regulations.

Rationality —— The "product comprehensiveness", "foreign tourism" and "service economy" derived from hotels should have reasonable economic benefits and conform to international practices and China's national conditions. At the beginning of reform and opening up, around the 1980s. At that time, China World Hotel and White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou were open to local people, but they became the first news in China and spread widely. Now they can only be sealed as scenes that have existed in history. Similarly, the service charge for making a long-distance call in a hotel room is 10%, and the service charge for asking a secretary to print a document in a business center is 10 yuan, including receiving a fax paper, and at least asking the guests to pay 6 yuan. It will make you feel that you have entered a real "consumption kingdom"-or it is because of the above-mentioned "three natures" causal relationship that our hotel insists on market competition. You can bring your own drinks, but the environmental cost, labor cost, service cost and potential demand benefits provided by the hotel for guests' consumption should be obtained through reasonable channels such as "bottle opening service fee". The first consideration of whether the guests finally choose "bring your own drinks" is only related to factors such as taste, interest and hobbies, and the sacrifice of related interests is related to money, but it doesn't matter.

Rationality —— Although the Code advocates that "hotels can refuse guests to bring their own drinks and food into restaurants, bars, dance halls and other places to enjoy", it still stipulates the application of the "right to know" in the Law on the Protection of Chinese Consumers' Rights and Interests: "But refusal to inform should be set up in a prominent position in the relevant places". In fact, more restaurants will make the above tips on the "menu" and "wine list" of restaurants, but the Code still adopts this suggestion from China consumer experts and legal experts, which is quite binding on hotels. In other words, if the hotel doesn't post a notice of "No Bring Your Own Drinks" in a prominent position in the business premises, as a consumer, although you haven't had a chance to steal your own drinks, you have a good chance to complain (to the consumer association) or sue (to the court) the hotel for "intentional right to know" through legal, reasonable and reasonable channels. In short, the competition of hotel market operation requires hotels to standardize the agreement of "whether guests can bring their own drinks" in a legal, reasonable and reasonable state.

Fifth, the publicity of hotel places guides the orderly operation of hotels. Because a hotel is different from a factory, it is an open building. Now that you have obtained the business license from the government, you have the obligation to perform the business responsibilities entrusted by the government (statutory or customary). For example, in the business scope of the hotel's business license, there will be written provisions on the operation of "drinks", and hotels are generally in the business role of "drinking on behalf of others". "Guests bring their own drinks" is suspected of "tax evasion", so behind the hotel's extra "bottle opening service fee", it is actually paying "consumption tax" for hotels and consumers, which is also the tax responsibility and obligation of personalized enterprises. As a public place, hotels also have their own "heart disease"-if they are not in public hotel business premises, it is difficult for hotels to bear the spread of negative consumption behaviors that both hotels and guests should abide by, but "one effect is ten, ten effects are hundred". The so-called "customers set their own prices", which was a hit a few years ago, has now disappeared without a trace. Because of the public nature of hotel premises, the consumption behavior of hotel guests, as a part of public places, will bring some judgments to the hotel: whether to accept or object-so there is a saying that "hotels can refuse guests to bring their own drinks ...", the original intention is still the public's "love me, love my dog" effect-if "one word spreads, ten words spread"

At this point, I read the re-published "China Tourist Hotels" (No.1 2002), and Mr. Xu Jingsheng, Deputy Secretary-General of China Tourist Hotels Association, wrote an article "What has been clarified in the industry norms of tourist hotels in China". There are also explanations about the hotel's refusal to bring its own drinks. The author totally disagrees with the author's point of view, that is, four reasons why hotels can refuse to bring their own drinks can be regarded as sufficient arguments for this point of view (only citing his point of view "Why hotels can refuse to bring their own drinks"):

1, which is the international practice of international hotel industry;

2. Enterprises have operational autonomy;

3. The comprehensive cost of tourist hotels is high;

The hotel should be responsible for the food hygiene and safety of the dining guests.

We can have a logical peek at the reasoning part of the above viewpoint (see this article for details). But let's take a peek at this article first-comment on the other side of the logical reasoning and deduction based on the five basic attributes of modern hotels-why do guests bring drinks into hotels for consumption? Simply put, guests like to bring their own drinks to the hotel for consumption, which actually reflects a consumption value of local society (from small cities to big countries) and local consumers, or a reflection of life values. This reminds us of a rather interesting phenomenon: Although some China people who have certain spending power often like (and "like") to build a "mini bar" in a limited living space when decorating their new houses, isn't the end result always an "extra decoration"? The emotional appeal of thirst for wine has not yet been cultivated; The atmosphere of family bars will naturally not be created.