MATSEC SEC Hospitality cheat sheet

Hospitality (SEC syllabus content)

• Hospitality is the provision of food, drink and accommodation away from home; the four sectors are food and beverage, accommodation, travel and tourism, and entertainment/recreation.

• Service quality depends on the gap between customer expectation and perceived delivery; reliability (doing it right first time) is rated the most important SERVQUAL dimension.

• The service encounter is the moment of contact between guest and staff; the 'moment of truth' is any single interaction that shapes the guest's overall judgement.

• Front-of-house is guest-facing (reception, restaurant, bar); back-of-house is production and support (kitchen, laundry, stores, maintenance) and is not normally seen by guests.

• Chain of command: board/owner → general manager → departmental managers (rooms, F&B, housekeeping) → supervisors → operatives; span of control is the number of subordinates one manager directly supervises.

• Labour cost is controlled by the ratio of labour hours to covers/rooms sold, not by headcount alone; payroll percentage = total labour cost ÷ total revenue × 100.

• Food cost percentage = cost of food sold ÷ food sales × 100; a rising figure signals portion drift, waste, theft or price increases and must be investigated by cause.

• Gross profit = selling price − cost price; gross profit margin % = gross profit ÷ selling price × 100; mark-up % = gross profit ÷ cost price × 100.

• Legal duties in Malta: food handlers must be supervised, trained and medically fit; HACCP-based procedures, allergen information and temperature records are required under food hygiene law.