A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (also known as a no-frills, discount or budget carrier or airline) is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts. To make up for revenue lost in decreased ticket prices, the airline may charge for extras like food, priority boarding, seat allocating, and baggage etc.

The term originated within the airline industry referring to airlines with a lower operating cost structure than their competitors. While the term is often applied to any carrier with low ticket prices and limited services, regardless of their operating models, low-cost carriers should not be confused with regional airlines that operate short flights without service, or with full-service airlines offering some reduced fares.

Contents

[hide] 1 Business model

o 1.1 Common practices

o 1.2 Differentiation

o 1.3 Pricing policy

2 Criticism

3 History

o 3.1 No-frills long-haul flights

o 3.2 Low-cost business only carriers

4 See also

5 Notes

6 References

7 External links

[edit] Business model

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007)

Low-cost carrier business model practices vary widely. Some practices are more common in certain regions, while others are generally universal. The common theme among all low-cost carriers is the reduction of cost and reduced overall fares compared to legacy carriers.

[edit] Common practices

Some low-cost carriers operate aircraft configured with a single passenger class, and most operate just a single type of aircraft. In the past, low-cost carriers tended to operate older aircraft, such as the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and older models of the Boeing 737. Since

2000, fleets generally consist of smaller, newer, more fuel efficient aircraft, commonly the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 families, reducing training and servicing costs.

Like the major carriers, many low-cost carriers develop one or more hubs to maximize destination coverage and defend their market[1] Many, like Southwest Airlines, do not operate a traditional hub in any market. Southwest operates point-to-point service, with focus cities serving as mini-hubs for passenger connections to other cities.

Aircraft often operate with a minimum set of optional equipment, further reducing costs of acquisition and maintenance, as well as keeping the weight of the aircraft lower and thus saving fuel. Pilot conveniences may be excluded such as ACARS and autothrottle. Often, no in-flight entertainment systems are made available, though many US low-cost carriers do offer satellite television or radio in-flight. Some do not offer reserved seating, hoping to encourage passengers to board early and quickly, thus decreasing turnaround times. Some airlines even use only non-reclining seats, or operate aircraft with no window shades.

Airlines often offer a simpler fare scheme, such as charging one-way tickets half that of round-trips. Typically fares increase as the plane fills up, which rewards early reservations. Often, the low cost carriers fly to smaller, less congested secondary airports and/or fly to airports in off-peak hours to avoid air traffic delays and taking advantage of lower landing fees. The airlines tend to offload, service and re-load the aircraft (turnaround) in shorter time periods, allowing maximum utilization of aircraft.

In Europe and early in Southwest's history, luggage is not automatically transferred from one flight to another, even if both flights are with the same company. This saved costs and is thought to encourage passengers to take direct flights. Modern US-based low-cost carriers generally transfer baggage for continuing flights, as well as transferring baggage to other airlines.

In many cases, low cost carriers generate ancillary revenue from a variety of activities, such as à la carte features and commission-based products. Some airlines may charge a fee for a pillow or blanket or for carry-on baggage. In Europe, it is common for each and every convenience and service to have an additional charge. In other regions this practice is more limited.

Low-cost carriers are intended to be low-cost, so in many cases employees work multiple roles. At some airlines flight attendants also clean the aircraft or work as gate agents (limiting personnel costs). Southwest Airlines is well known for using fuel hedging programs to reduce its overall fuel costs. Some airlines eschew the use of gates that include jetways, since these generally cost more to lease.

Where permissible, some airlines have a disinclination to handle Special Service passengers, for instance by placing a higher age limit on unaccompanied minors [2] than full service carriers. Often these airlines offer no refunds or transfers to later flights in the event of missed flights; if the aircraft leaves on time without a passenger who arrived late, he will have to buy a wholly new ticket for the next flight.

[edit] Differentiation

Not every low-cost carrier implements all of the above points. For example, some try to differentiate themselves with allocated seating, while others operate more than one aircraft type, still others will have relatively high operating costs but lower fares. JetBlue for instance has in-flight entertainment (i.e. LiveTV) in every passenger seat. Other airlines are limited on what points they can implement based on local laws, such as Ryanair cannot remove window blinds from its aircraft as they are required to be fitted by the Irish Aviation Authority. As supply increases, this sort of differentiation by brand is one of the most important criteria for the future success of low-cost-carriers, since price-competition alone is not believed by many experts to be enough given the number of carriers.[3]

As the number of low-cost carriers has grown, these airlines have begun to compete with one another in addition to the traditional carriers. In the US, airlines have responded by introducing variations to the model. Frontier Airlines and JetBlue Airways advertise satellite television. Advertiser-supported Skybus Airlines launched from Columbus in 2007, but ceased operations in April, 2008. In Europe, the emphasis has remained on reducing costs and no-frills service. In 2004, Ryanair announced proposals to eliminate reclining seats, window blinds, seat headrest covers, and seat pockets from its aircraft.[4]

[edit] Pricing policy

The price policy of the low cost carriers is usually very dynamic, with discounts and tickets in promotion. Like other carriers, even if the advertised price may be very low, it often does not include charges & taxes. With some airlines, some flights are advertised as free (plus applicable taxes, fees and charges). Depending on the airline, perhaps as many (or as few) as ten percent of the seats on any flight are offered at the lowest price, and are the first to sell. The prices steadily rise thereafter to a point where they can be comparable or more expensive than a flight on a full-service carrier.

Most airlines charge additional taxes and fees on their tickets. Some low-cost airlines have been known to charge fees for the seemingly ridiculous, such as levying a credit card charge where credit card is the only payment method accepted. Many consumers and governments consider this to be fraudulent, but some still allow this and similar practices.

Traditional perceptions of the "low-cost carrier" as a stripped-down, no-frills airline, as seen on Southwest Airlines, have been changing as new entrants to the market adapt the business model in new ways. AirTran Airways and Spirit Airlines offer a premium cabin while Frontier and JetBlue offer live in-flight television, sometimes for an extra fee. AirTran has XM Satellite Radio available at every seat. Frontier, JetBlue, and AirTran all use assigned seating. Some airlines even have services not available on some legacy carriers, such as mood lighting, found in Virgin America.

[edit] Criticism

Some elements of the low-cost model have been subject to criticism by governments and regulators, and in the UK in particular the issue of "Unbundling" of ancillary charges by both low-cost carriers and other airlines (showing airport fees, taxes as separate charges rather than as part of the advertised fare) to make the "headline fare" appear lower has resulted in enforcement action. Believing that this amounts to a misleading approach to pricing, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in February 2007 gave all carriers and travel companies three months to include all fixed non-optional costs in their basic advertised prices. Although the

full service carriers had complied within the specified timescales, the low-cost carriers have been less successful in this respect, leading to the prospect of legal action[5] by the OFT.

Many low-cost carriers show a zero cost for some flights. Most charge additional fees for airport check-in, baggage check-in, 'handling charges', seat allocation and credit card processing. These charges are non-refundable even in the case of cancellation by the airline. Ryanair requires that passengers' airport purchases fit within their carry-on bag.

[edit] History

While tour and package operators have been offering lower-priced, lower frilled traveling for a large part of modern airline history, not until during the post Vietnam War era did this business model really escalate and take off. Through various ticket consolidators, charter airlines, and innovators in lower frills flying, such as Channel Airways, and Court Line, the traveling public had been conditioned to want to travel to new and increasingly further away and exotic locations on vacation, rather than short-haul junkets to nearby beach resorts.

The first low-cost airline was Southwest Airlines which started flying in 1971.[6]

The first airline offering no-frills transatlantic service was Freddie Laker's Laker Airways, which operated its famous "Skytrain" service between London and New York City during the late 1970s. The service was suspended after Laker's competitors, British Airways and Pan Am, were able to price Skytrain out of the market.

In the United States, airline carriers like America West Airlines which commenced operations after 1978, soon realized a cost of available seat mile advantage in relation to the traditional and established, legacy airlines such as Trans World Airlines and American Airlines. Often this CASM advantage has been attributed, solely to the lower labor costs of the newly hired and lower pay grade workers of new start up carriers, such as PeopleExpress Airlines, Valuejet, Midway Airlines, and their like. However, these lower costs, can also be attributed to the less complex aircraft fleets, and less complex route networks these new carriers began operations with, as well as the vastly less costly and freshly trained labor force.

To combat the new round of low cost and start up entrants into the very competitive and deregulated United States airline industry, the mainline major carriers and network legacy carriers strategically developed no frills divisions within the main airlines brand and corporate structures. Among these were Metrojet and Continental Lite. These so called airlines within an airline however, proved to be very short lived, for the most part and a financial burden which were quickly disposed off when economic rationalization or competitive pressures subsided.

Among these low cost carrier survivors are US Airways, the product of a merger of a low-cost deregulation startup air carrier named AmericaWest and the post 9/11 reorganized through chapter 11 bankruptcy and national network carrier US Air, which markets itself as a low-cost airline and conducts long-haul flights. Usually though, its long-haul international fares are equal to other United States major carriers rather than offering the cost saving advantages of what are normally thought to be of a lower cost carriers offerings and services.

[edit] No-frills long-haul flights

It has been suggested that the Airbus A380, able to hold up to 853 passengers in an all Economy layout,[7] would enable true low-cost long-haul service. While the per-seat costs of such an aircraft would be lower than the competition, there are fewer cost savings possible in a long-haul operation and therefore a long-haul low-cost operator would find it harder to differentiate itself from a conventional airline. In particular, low-cost carriers typically fly their aircraft for more hours and flights each day, scheduling the first departure early in the morning and the last arrival late at night. However, long-haul aircraft scheduling is more determined by timezone constraints (e.g. leaving the US East Coast in the evening and arriving in Europe the following morning), and the longer flight times mean there is less scope to increase aircraft utilization by adding one or two more short flights each day.

In 2004 the Irish company Aer Lingus lowered its prices to compete with companies such as Ryanair on shorthaul, however they maintain a full service on transatlantic flights.[8] Late in 2004 the Canadian airline Zoom Airlines also started selling transatlantic flights between Glasgow, UK; Manchester, UK; and Canada for £89.

Australia's Jetstar has operated international flights since 2005, when they began service to Christchurch, New Zealand. In late 2006, more international services began. Departing from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, they fly to popular tourist destinations within 10 hours of Australia such as Honolulu, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and more. With the delivery of new planes, they hope to fly to the continental US and Europe.

In April 2006, the industry magazine Airline Business analysed the potential for low-cost long-haul service[9] and concluded that a number of Asian carriers, including AirAsia, were closest to making such a model work. On November 2, 2007, AirAsia X, a subsidiary of AirAsia and Virgin Group flew its inaugural flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Gold Coast, Australia. AirAsia X claims that it is the first true low-cost long-haul carrier since the end of Sir Freddie Laker era.[citation needed]

In August 2006, Zoom Airlines announced that it was to establish a UK subsidiary probably based at Gatwick Airport, to offer low-cost long-haul flights to the USA and India. The company suspended all its operations from 28 August 2008 due to financial problems related to high fuel prices.

On 26 October 2006, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines started flying from Hong Kong to London Gatwick Airport (delayed by one day because Russia suspended fly-over rights for that flight an hour before the flight's scheduled departure). The cheapest prices for flights between Hong Kong to London could be as low at £75 (approximately US$150) per leg (not including taxes and other charges) for economy class and £470 (approximately US$940) per leg for business class for the same route. From 28 June 2007, a second long-haul route to Vancouver, British Columbia was started. The company ceased operations on 9 April 2008, after over 1 billion HKD of losses.

In late 2007, Cebu Pacific, the Philippine based low cost carrier, announced intentions to launch non-stop Pacific flights from the Philippines to the United States West Coast and other US cities by around mid-2009.[10]

On March 11, 2009, AirAsia X started its first low cost long-haul service into Europe to London Stansted, England. The daily flights to Stansted are operated by two leased Airbus

A340-300 aircraft. A one way economy class ticket often costs £150 and the Premium class one way often costs £350.

[edit] Low-cost business only carriers

A trend from the mid-2000s was the formation of new low-cost carriers exclusively targeting the long-haul business market. Aircraft are generally configured for a single class of service, initially on transatlantic routings. Similarly, Midwest Express (later Midwest Airlines) operated this model for its domestic US routes until it was absorbed into Frontier Airlines in 2010.

Probably best described as "fewer frills" rather than "no frills", the initial entrants in this market utilized second-hand, mid-sized, twin jets such as Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 in an attempt to service the lucrative London-US Eastern Seaboard market:

Eos Airlines , which ceased operating on 27 April 2008[11]

Maxjet , which has ceased its scheduled business flights, but is planning to restart as a luxury charter carrier[12]

Silverjet , which ceased[13] operations on 30 May 2008

Complaint letter from business to business.

Dear Mr Thompsen,

I recently received a letter from a Mr Robinson, a valued customer of ours. He purchased an Italian coffee table and four French dining-room chairs from us which your company delivered to his residence.

He has written to complain that the purchases arrived damaged. We pride ourselves in the quality of our products and would like an explanation as to how this mishap occurred. Even though the items are insured, our reputation is at stake.

I would be most grateful if you would reply as soon as possible so that this matter can be resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

Sincerely

Jackie Middleton

Customer Services Manager

Complaint letter from a business customer to a telephone company

Dear Sir,

I am writing this letter to complain in the strongest terms about the poor service that I have received from your company.

We signed up to your telephone and internet service package two months ago because your advertising suggests that you are better than Telco. In addition, you promise to deal with problems quickly and efficiently, something that Telco were unable or unwilling to do. However, in the first month of service you managed to cause me to lose two days worth of business because of poor administration. The main problem was that you failed to provide me with the correct telephone number, 9818 8747, that you had promised when I completed the contract. This phone number was an established business line which I had been using for the last three years. Obviously this meant that my clients were unable to contact me and it cost me many hours of phone calls to resolve the matter with your support centre.

I would appreciate it if this situation could be resolved and a substantial rebate offered on my first three month's account.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours Faithfully

Charlie Williams

A letter to a magazine expressing an opinion about tourism

Dear Sir-As someone who has travelled throughout Asia on business and holiday I would like to give my opinion on its environmental impact. Having visited Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia I understand that tourism can bring money to developing countries. However, this money often goes into the pockets of foreign investors, and only rarely benefits local people. Multinational hotel chains also have little regard for the surrounding wildlife when they build new resorts. This can cause many problems.In view of these facts we, as tourists, can directly affect these countries in a positive way if we are thoughtful. When we visit these countries we can visit restaurants, bars and even hotels that are owned by local people. In addition, we can refuse to give luxury resorts our patronage and therefore prevent them from becoming even larger. Most importantly we should check that any tours or excursions we take have minimal effect on the natural surroundings. Finally, we can even attempt to change the behaviour of other tourists by sharing our opinions.If we follow these simple steps we can be sure that our pleasure is not causing any harm to people or places that we visit.

A letter in application for a job

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing this letter to apply for the position of student assistant that I saw advertised on your website. I am interested in working in the teachers' resource library, or in the accommodation department.

I have recently graduated from the WSB Business School in Warsaw and received high grades in both my English and Business Courses. In addition, we had to use all of the Microsoft Office programs in the preparation of our finished assignments, so I am able to do most things with computers.

Since I was 15 years old I have helped my father to run his small import-export business. I have been involved in helping a variety of clients and also the general administration of the business. In the past 2 years I have worked in the WSB library, helping teachers and students to find and use the resources there. This experience has given me the ability to deal with the needs of all types of people.

I have an outgoing, diligent personality and find that I enjoy the challenges of working in busy environments. In addition, my studies and experience have taught me to be accurate and efficient in organising my work so I would be a valuable addition to your school.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

Pawel Minescz

;

Informal Letter

Hi Leo,It's been a while since we wrote, so I thought I'd drop you a line to bring you up to date with what's been happening here.I suppose the most important thing is that Jane's job is more secure than we thought. At the beginning of the year, when she got the job, we thought it might only be for one semester, but we just found that she has a permanent contract of sorts. Obviously this is great, as it means we can relax a little. I still don't have what I really want work wise, but it will happen soon. You have to stay positive, don't you?My parents are both fine, and I think they are really happy that we've moved back. For us, it's great to be so close to family again, an extra sense of comfort and security. We see my sister quite often as she's in London, although we're not that bothered about going into the city.So, what about you these days? Are you still stuck in that old job? Since I've been having so much trouble getting a job I understand your reluctance to change. There's nothing worse than filling in endless application forms, with no idea of what it will lead to.Anyway, I've got another form to fill in so I'll love you and leave you.RegardsJohn

An informal letter asking for a favour

Hi Jen,I'm writing this letter because I really need your help. You're the only person who knows me well enough to give me a reference for a course I want to do.I saw an advert in a paper recently offering a free journalism course to successful applicants. I sent in an article I wrote for the student newspaper, you know, the one about legalising drugs? Anyway, they really liked it, but as there are only five places they want a reference as well. I haven't given them your name yet, as I expect this would be the first reference you've been asked to give. Is it OK if I send them your phone number? I think they want to phone so they can have a proper conversation with you and really check me out.I know it's been a while but if you could do it it'd really help me out. I've got a new phone number, 09957 234 563, so you can get me on that, and my address is still the same.

Hope to hear from you soon.RegardsPatrick

A semi-formal e-mail in the form of a report

Hi Doug,Just getting back to you with a preliminary report on what we need to set up the multimedia suite in the library.Firstly I looked at cameras and other hardware that students will be borrowing.As you know we're dealing with about 600 students on this site. In addition, there have been 6 tutors who have already been asking about digital cameras and digital video cameras, and they hadn't even heard about this project. Judging by the interest I don't think we should buy less than 4 of each, that way we can let a class take three at a time and still have one left over. We'll also need to ensure that the cameras are only lent out for a day at a time. I'm going to try to get some advice from other colleges about equipment which is both rugged and reliable enough to be borrowed by our students. We'll probably need to get a mini disc recorder as well, so students can record high quality sound.The second area I looked at was the computer hardware we need.Obviously, as we'll be dealing with video, image and audio files, we'll need as fast a processor as we can get, Mac or PC. We'll also need at least 512MB of RAM, but 1GB would actually be much better. For capturing video we'll need a 10,000 rpm hard drive as well, they're much faster than the old 7,200 rpm drives. They also need to be as large as we can afford. If we can get a deal it is probably better to get Macs, even if it'll take a little while for everyone to get used to them. I suppose that depends upon our preferred suppliers though. With a discount we should be able to get at least 3 workstations.Finally we need to consider software.We need to have a full range of media software, from print to video on at least one computer, preferably all three. It would be great if students had the opportunity to use whatever media was best for their particular project. I think it could be very interesting to help them use the internet as a vehicle for their opinions, and for demonstrating their skills.So that's it for now. We're really looking at a budget of £8,000 for the hardware. We'll have to look at the licenses we already have for software to see if we'll need to spend much on that.I'll get back to you when I have more info on the cameras.CheersCharlie

PART A BUSINESS LETTERS IN TOURISM

UNIT Ⅰ Essential Parts of a Business Letter

UNIT Ⅱ Forms of a Business Letter

UNIT Ⅲ More on the Parts of a Business Letter

UNIT Ⅳ Essential Qualities of a Business Letter

UNIT Ⅴ Circulars, Memos and Form Letters

UNIT Ⅵ Additional Information on Letter Writing

BACK

PART A BUSINESS LETTERS IN TOURISM

In the latest and unprecedented growth of telecommunication especially the extensive

use of the Internet, the author was advised to delete or to reduce the importance of the chapter

on letter! writing in the new edition of this book. Nevertheless, I have kept this chapter and

continue to precede this book on business letter writing for various reasons.

A business letter is still the most reliable and the most respectful form of business

communication and shall remain so in the foreseeable future. A neatly typed and properly

worded official letter signed by the CEO* of a travel entity is usually regarded as a most

polite and legally reliable form of document. Such letters are usually accorded great and

prompt attention and could well go into permanent files.

On the part of beginners in written business communication, letter writing is the most

fundamental and basic skill of all forms of business writing. It is the most practical of all the

divisions of composition, hence the most important. It is also the most natural kind

composition in that it is less formal and does not require rhetorical embellishments* such as

are found on other compositions. One can hardly imagine a poor writer of business letters

who excels in drafting a contract or turning out an attractive publicity piece.

The apparent tendency of overlooking the need of acquiring the basic skills of business

letter writing in the travel industry has hurt many young people. They can work on the

computer freely but find it hard to draft a business letter that fits professional standards. This

in many cases was a great setback or loss in their career pursuits, professional advancement,

and academic appraisal.

With the above in view the author wishes to begin this book with a chapter on business

letter writing. It is the author's firm belief of stressing the study and practice of business letter

writing as a basic training in improving business English in general.

Before preparing for a business letter, it is advisable to use the best quality of paper that

is available. Single sheets of white and bond paper, unruled, are most desirable, with the

letterhead printed or engraved in black or other dark colours. The most convenient size in the

international travel industry and the size most generally used is 8 1/2 x 11 inches in North

America and 21 cm x 291/2 cm in European and the South Pacific countries. They fit nicely

into their appropriate envelopes.

Part A is made up with six units. The first three units deal with the forms and parts of

business correspondence, i. e. the appearance or outlook, while Unit IV discusses its essence.

The fifth unit presents three derived forms of business correspondence - circulars, memos, and

form letters, which people in the travel industry come across quite often these days. A final

unit is devoted to additional information on letter writing, which includes a brief summary of

the differences between American and British business correspondence and notes of

addressing the envelope.

To distinguish business correspondence in tourism from other businesses, we have given

a few slightly altered sample letters taken from tourism practice in the real world. Initial

results of teaching experience of these materials in the Beijing Institute of Tourism and other

schools have encouraged us to pursue this still further for the benefit of our students and

readership in general.

UNIT Ⅰ

Essential Parts of a Business Letter

Every well-constructed business letter is made up of six essential parts, namely the

heading, the inside address, salutation, the body of the letter, the complimentary close, and the

signature. See the example below:

(1) Excelsior Travel September 10, 2000

1088—1090 East Georgia Avenue

Vancouver, B.C.

Canada V6E 3K5*

Tel. (604)688—8341*

(2) Mr. Yang Minghua

Deputy Director

Dept. of North America and South Pacific

China International Travel Service

103 Fuxingmennei Ave.

Beijing 100800, China.

(3) Dear Mr. Yang:

(4) It was a pleasure to meet you and your colleagues in Beijing during my visit last

August with the CP Air* personnel and travel agents from Vancouver, Canada.

I would like to thank you, for the hospitality you rendered* us during our stay, which

made our visit most enjoyable and memorable.

Since our return to Vancouver, our agency has been negotiating with CP Air for a joint

promotion* to China in 2001 and they have committed themselves to giving us the best

support across Canada.

We would appreciate* it, if you could supply quotations* for the following itineraries.

Tour 1 Shanghai (air) 2 nights Beijing (air)3 nights Guilin (air) 2 nights Guangzhou

(train) 1 night Hong Kong

Tour 2 Beijing (air) 3 nights Xian (air) 2 nights Guilin (air) 2 nights Hongkong

We are looking at* a group size of 20 for each departure from Canada and the majority

of the members will be Canadian citizens.

If you have any suggestions or modification in regards to* the above itineraries, we

would appreciate your comments.

Please supple quotations which include single occupancy*, double occupancy* and

triple occupancy and for children who are 12 years of age. You can communicate with

us by fax (604) 688~8341

Our tentative* departure dates from Canada in 2001 will be March 24, May 5, July 15,

September 8, November 17.

We will be using CP Air from Vancouver to Shanghai which leaves every Tuesday and

arrives in Shanghai on Wednesdays.

Thank you for your attention and we await your earliest reply.

(5) Yours truly,

(6) Steven Chu

Manager

NOTES:

* In the original foreword, "Uranus" (天王星) refers to the planet 7th in order from the

sun. And "Neptune"(海王星) is another planet 8th in order from the sun.

* "Briticisms" (英国用语), "Americanisms" (美国用语), and "Australianism" (澳大

利亚用语) refer to the regional specialties of the English language in Britain, the United

States, and Australia.

* In the foreword to the new edition, "qianliyan (千里眼) and shunfeng' er" (顺风耳)

are legendary fatasies in China from ancient times.

* "WTO" (World Trade Organization 世界贸易组织) and WTO (世界旅游组织)

happen to have the same acronym.

* "CEO" is the initials for Chief Executive Officer (执事、首席执行官、主要负责

人)。

* "Rhetorical embellisbments" (华美的辞藻) refers to details added in a speech or

writing with an intention to be grand and impressive.

* "V6E 3K5" here is the Zone Improvement Plan or zip code (邮政编码) comparable to

the postal code in China. For accurate and prompt delivery of your mail, it is advisable to use

the correct zip code.

* "(604)-688-8341" is the office phone number of the travel agency. (604) is in quotes

to mean the area code, which must be left out in case of a local call.

* "Tentative schedule" (暂时的日程) means the schedule is still uncertain and may and

may not happen as planned. See other examples: tentative program, tentative itinerary, and

tentative dates.

* "CP Air" stands for the Canadian Pacific Airlines (加拿大太平洋航空公司)。Try to

remember similar acronyms such as UA, NW, JAL, SAS, BA, AF, QA, etc.

* The word "render" in the sample letter body is a transitive verb meaning "to deliver"

or "furnish" in this context. It is not advisable to use "render" in colloquial English.

* "Promotion" (宣传、促销) in the travel industry refers to efforts of a company or

destination area to create favourable public image; also called "promo".

* "Appreciate" (感谢、赞赏) is very frequently used in both written and oral English.

Compare the sentences below:

We would appreciate it if you could reply soonest possible.

It would be appreciated if you could reply soonest possible.

We would be appreciative of your replying soonest possible.

If you could reply soonest possible, we would appreciate.

* "Quotation" (or inclusive rates, package rates 包价、综合服务费) usually includes

room and board, admissions, transportation, guides, etc. Occasional spending such as

shopping, hairdressing, medical expenses, tipping are excluded.

* The sentence "We are looking at a group size of 20 for each departure." (我们正在

考虑组团，每批 20人) is very English. Try to model it and avoid Chinese English such as

"We are considering to organize some groups, which will have 20 members in each group."

We all come across with such sentences too often.

* "In regards to" (关于、涉及、有关) is quite useful. Compare "concerning",

"pertaining to", "with reference to", and "with regard to", etc.

* "Single occupancy" (单人房、单人住一间房), "double occupancy" (双人房、两

人合住一间房), "Triple occupancy" (三人合住一房). In China and some other countries,

hotel guests are usually charged by the room, irrespective of the status of occupancy.

However, in other countries, single occupancy or double occupancy are charged at different

rates.

EXERCISES:

1. Draft a business letter using contents that you are most familiar with. Be sure you have

all the six essential parts. Save the letter for future use.

2.Translate the following sentences into English:

● 如蒙贵社以电传告知包价，敝社将深为感激。

● 邮政编码系用于邮件，而地区代号系用于电话通讯。

● 中国境内的饭店按房间计收，两人合住或单人住均一样收费。

● 我社正作明年旅行团准备，暂以 16人一批进行组团。

UNIT Ⅱ

Forms of a Business Letter

Every proper and attractive letter has to take a proper and an appropriate form. The form

to be used in a given letter has to he consistent throughout the letter, i.e. one should not switch

from one form to the other in the same letter.

Letter forms must conform with the preference of the organization, the industry and

sometimes the country. For beginners of business letter writing, it is safe to follow die form

used in the in-coming letter.

There are three different forms for one to choose from:

1. Indented Form (缩头式、斜列式) is the most traditional form. The first word of

each line in the address or of each paragraph should be typed or written several spaces to the

right of the left margin, e.g.

───────

───────

───────

───────

───────

───────

────────────────

───────────────────────

────────────────

────────

Sample Letter 1:

January 14, 2000

Dr. Zhu Baochen

Apt. 609 - Building 18

Xuanwunien, Xidajie

Beijing, CHINA 100053

Fax: 011-86-10-6302 5566

Dear Dr. Zhu:

I am pleased to send you greetings from Ramapo College of New Jersey. Happy New Year!

At long last, I am planning to visit you and Beijing. My tentative schedule, as of this

writing, is to arrive the evening of Sunday, April 16 and depart the morning of Thursday,

April 20. Are these dates convenient for you? I would be available to give lectures on

American social issues, higher education, and globalization.

Thank you.

Sincerely.

Robert A. Scott

President

/cb

505 Ramapo Valley Road·Mahwah, New Jersey 07430-1680

 PHONE (201) 684-7607-FAX(201)684-7960-E-MAIL* rscott @ ramapo.edu

NEW JERSEY'S PUBLIC LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE

2. Block Form(齐头式、并列式) is a relatively new format for letters, but is becoming

more common following the ever-increasing popularity of electronic typing machinery,

especially in the U.S.A. Every line without exception is typed or written from the left hand

margin, as in a block, e.g.

─────── ───────

─────── ───────

───────────

────────────────────

────────────────────

Sample Letter 1:

INTERNATIONAL

HOTEL & RESTAURANT

ASSOCIATION

Formerly IHA-AIH

IH&RA Board

President

Dr. Osmane Aidi

inter-Arab Union of Holds &

Tourism

Vice President

Alain-Philippe Feutré

Syndicat Francais de

I'Hôtellerie

Immediate Past President

Eric E. Pfeffer

Cendant Corporation

Mr. Yuan Zongtang

Secretary General

CHINA TOURIST HOTELS

ASSOCIATION

9A Jian Guo Men Nei Avenue

BEIJING 100740

CHINA

6 August, 1999

Fax: 00 86 10 65122096

Original sent by mail

Dear Sir,

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to attend

the 37th Annual Congress of the International Hotel &

Restaurant Association, taking place from 17 - 21 October 1999

Treasurer

George Dommering

Royal Horeca Nederland

Secretary

Jφrgen Kφnigshφfer

HORESTA

Regional Vice Presidents

·Europe

Niels Nygaard

HOTREC

North America

Lic. Alfredo Tinajero

Hoteles Fontan, Mexico

·Caribbean Islands

John Jefferis

Caribbean Hotel Association

Latin America

Oscar Alberto Ghezzi

F. E. H. G. R. A., Argentina

Asia-Pacific

Ichigo Umehara

Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts

·Middle East

Fakhri Twal

Jordan Hotels Association

National Hotel Associations

John Bell

Caribbean Hotel Association

Anthony Pollard

Hotel Association of Canada

International Hotel Chains

John Shingler

Bass Hotels & Resorts

Rajiv Gujral

in the International Convention Centre*, Durban, South Africa.

The programme this year, entitled "Creating Value Through

People and Partnerships," promises to be extremely interesting

and educational, concentrating on Human Resource*

Management. To compliment* this programme, we invite you

to discover the rich cultural and natural heritage of the

KwaZulu-Natal province through our diverse social events.

Should you require any further information, please do not

hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely yours.

Martyn Richards

Customer Service Coordinator

The Taj Group of Hotels

Independent Hoteliers

Mynra Bustani

Hotel Al Bustan, Lebanon

Ejnar Söder

Star Hotels, Sweden

Allied Representative

Peter Feig

DiverseyLever. USA

Dries de Vaal

Deloitte & Touche

Consulting Group, UK

National Restaurant

Associations

Dr. Florian Hew

Gastrosuisse, Switzerland

Restaurant Chains

Takeshi' Shin' Okawara

Kentucky Fried Chicken

Japan. Ltd.

Independent Restaurants

Dr. F. J. Feichtenberger

Verband der

Konzertlokalbesitzer

und aller Veranstalter

Osterreichs, Austris

Sample Letter 2:

UNIVERSITY of WISCONSIN

La Crosse

January 24, 2000

Baochen Zhu

Building. 18, Suite 609

Xuanwumen Xidajie

Beijing, PRC 100053

Dear Baochen,

I finally got my pictures sorted and put in scrapbooks. * I had these made for you as a

remembrance. I will treasure them. What an absolutely wonderful trip - thanks to you. The

students are back, and it is getting very busy again. However, we are just enjoying our new

home so much.

We love having our Chinese visiting professors here.

All the best,

Judith L. Kuipers, Ph.D.

Chancellor*

JLK/cb

Enclosures

office of the Chancellor

135 Main Hall, University of Wisconsim-La Crosse, 1725 Sate Street, La Crosse, WI 54601

Phone: (608)785-8004, Fax: (608)785-6907, E-mails kuipers@mail.uwlax.edu

An affirmative action/equal opportunity employer

3. Modified Block Form (混合式) Derived from the block form and similiar to the

indented is the modified block form, in which block form is used for the heading and inside

address, whereas the body of the letter is still in the usual indented form, e.g.

───────

───────

───────

─────────────

───────────────

───────────────

───────

───────

Sample Letter 3:

18 November 1999

China Tianma International Travel Service

85 Gongmenkou Xicha

Fuchengmen

Beijing, 100024

People Republic of China

Attn: Mr Baochen Zhu(Senior Advisor, Professor)

RE: New Zealand Tour(Postals, Videos, Confidential Hotel Tariff *)

It was a great pleasure to meet you and your group in Auckland and an honour to have this

opportunity to provide our services to your group. Trust they have all enjoyed themselves

bringing back with them happy and fond memories of New Zealand.

We are very pleased to forward the attached information as discussed in order for your office

to promote New Zealand more effectively.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require further assistance, information or

clarification.*

We would like to thank you for using Prestige Pacific in New Zealand and we look forward to

serving you and your groups in the near future.

Let us assure you of our very best service and attention at all times.

Yours sincerely

Steven T K Hoon

Managing Director

Prestige Pacific (NZ) Ltd

Sample Letter 4:

SCHOOL OF HOTEL ADMINISTRATION

CORNELL UNIVERSITY* STATLER HALL

ITHACA, NY 14853 - 6901 FAX (201): 6713054

December 12, 1999

Mr. Jianhua Zhu

China National Tourism Administration

9 Jianguomennei Avenue

Beijing 100740 CHINA

Dear Mr. Zhu:

In our effort to keep pace with* the increasing sophistication* of the industry, you will note

the following highlights* for our sixty-first session of the Center for Professional

Development Program:

- a revised admissions policy requiring at least three years of industry experience

- renovated school facilities - classrooms, laboratories, library and lounges

- thirteen new seminars * - see enclosed schedule

- a new catalog format *

We are pleased to again reflect the school's commitment to serving the continuing-education

needs of the hospitality industry*. Your comments are always welcome, and you'll receive the

2000 catalog next month.

Best wishes for the holiday season.

Sincerely,

Maureen C. McKenna

Director

Continuing Education

MCM/mt

End.

NOTES:

* Sample letter 1 has the inside address and heading to the left of the letterhead at the

right margin lists the members of the board of International Hotel and Restaurant Association

or IHRA (国际酒店与餐厅协会) for short. It is useful to note the different responsibilities of

the board members, e.g. immediate past president (上届会长), treasurer (司库), hotel chains

(连锁饭店), and hoteliers (饭店业主).

* "Convention centre" (会议中心) refers to a place or building where large gatherings

of people meet to discuss the business of their organization or political group. Compare such

synonyms as convention, conference, and assembly.

* "Human resource management" (人力/人才资源管理). Human means relating to or

concerning people. In management terminology, human or people are referred to as resources

or assents in contrast to material and financial resources.

* "To complement" (为…增色、补充) used as a verb to mean enhance or to add

desirable qualities in each other or to reduce the weakness in each other. Try to distinguish

complement from supplement, and complement from compliment.

* "Please do not hesitate to contact us (直径直与我方联系) is a useful expression

commonly found in business correspondence.

* In sample letter 2, a "scrap book" (集锦、像册、剪报本) is a book with blank pages

into which you stick pictures, newspaper articles, etc. in order to make a collection.

* "Chancellor" (校长) here means the president of the university. Most university heads

in the U.S. are referred as presidents. Chancellor in Britain may be the official head of a

university, a honorary position, so the chancellor may not actually run the university.

* In sample letter 3, "confidential tariff" (内部价目表). Tariff is a list of fixed prices

for services, especially the prices of rooms, meals, etc. in a hotel or travel agency.

* In sample letter 4, "Cornell University" (康乃尔大学) is well known for its school of

hotel administration.

* "Keep pace with" (与…保持同步) is a useful expression. Example: Tourism

education should keep pace with the growth of tourism.

* "Increasing sophistication" (日趋复杂/精深). "Sophistication" is the state of

advanced and complicated mechanism to do something.

* "Hospitality industry" (服务业) is a general term for hotel industry, tourist industry

to mean that the industry is dedicated to welcoming guests in a welcoming and friendly

manner.

* At the bottom left corner of sample 4, "MCM/mt" are initials of the names of the

writer of the letter and that of the typist of the letter.

EXERCISES:

1. List the features of each of four different forms of a business letter.

2. Draft a business letter addressed to the general manager of a local five-star hotel, using

the Modified Block Form.

UNIT Ⅲ

More on the Parts of a Business Letter

THE HEADING (信头)

The heading in a business letter refers to the address and the date of writing the letter on

the part of the sender. As most business entities in the travel industry already have their

addresses printed in the letterhead, the heading therefore contains the date only, which can

appear on the date line or at the upper right corner. In the case of typing a business letter on

plain sheets of paper without printed address, the address could be added by using either the

block form or the inclined form:

BLOCK FORM INDENT FORM

1 Jianguo Road 1 Jianguo Road

Chao Yang Men Wai Chao Yang Men Wai

Beijing, China 100020 Beijing, China 100020

As the purpose of having the heading is to enable the receiver to identify at one glance

information concerning the sender and to facilitate replying, some letter headings also include

a reference number (Ref., Our Ref., Your Ref.).

Alternative ways of typing the date:

July 1, 2000 July 1st, 2000

1 July, 2000 1st July, 2000

Dating a letter with an ordinal number is relatively an old style, but still used, especially

on formal occasions.

Usages in dating the letter differ from country to country and from company to company.

The easy and perhaps the safest way is to follow the practice of the sender.

Some agencies place the date at the very bottom of the letter sheet (e.g.Dated:5th

September 2000), especially when it comes to statements of accounts, although not a rule.

Don'ts in typing the date of the letter;

Don't shorten the year (e. g. 89 for 2000).

Don't substitute the month with arabic letters (e. g. 2/15/2000 for February 15, 2000.)

Don't shorten the names of months with few letters, such as March, April, May, June,

July.

Don't separate the date and the month with a comma, (e. g. 5, January, 2000).

However, the year should always be separated from the month or date with a comma (e. g.

July 1st, 2000).

THE INSIDE ADDRESS (信内地址)

The inside address refers to the name and address of the person to whom the letter is

written, It usually appears on the upper left corner of the first letter sheet. The purpose of

having an inside address in addition to the address on the envelope is twofold: For the sender,

it helps to avoid misplacement of a letter in the wrong envelope and to facilitate easier

identification and subsequent filing. For the receiver, it also facilitates quick identification as

to whether the letter is indeed addressed to the receiver and it keeps the letter complete even

without the envelope, which usually is not kept in the file after receipt.

The inside address is almost without exception identical to the recepient's address on the

envelope.

C/O (care of) is used in between the actual recepient of the letter and the name of the

person or institution that is asked to pass on the letter. Special caution should be observed

before opening a letter with "c/o". It could be most annoying and cause a great deal of

misunderstanding.

Sometimes, the word ATTENTION (or "attention of", "for the attention of") is added on

the inside address or envelope for prompt delivery of the mail to the exact person or section

that handles the issue, e. g.

China Swan International Tours, Inc.

Rm 2021, Beijing Hotel

East Changan Avenue

Beijing, China

Attention: Mr. YUE Daiheng, Chairman

In the case of a business entity named after a real person or real people, Messrs (plural

for Mr.) is sometimes used before the company name and for the sake of politeness, e.g.

Messrs. Bales Tours Limited

Bales House, Barrington Road

Dorking, Surrey RH4 3EJ

England.

In the case where the addresses is in the same country where the letter is sent, the inside

address and the outside address on the envelope do not call for the name of the country, e. g.

Maureen C. Mckenna

Director

Executive Education

Cornell University

School of Hotel Administration

Statler Hall

Ithaca, New York 14853—6901

(If mailed ourtside the U.S.A., the country name, U.S.A. should be added below the city

and state line.)

When a title or academic degree abbreviation is used, it usually follows the personal

name as below:

Paul Peterson, Jr. (junior)

David Wall, Sr. (senior)

Xiyan Zhu, Esq. (Esquire)

Frank Kretschmer, Ph. D. (doctor of philosophy)

Myron Joseph, M. D. (doctor of medicine)

When writing or typing the inside address and indeed the outside address, it is safe to

copy the address given in the incoming letter, avoiding abbreviations unless they appear in the

incoming one. In most cases, the address follows the order of house number first, then street,

town, state, postal code and finally the country name.

If one Sine in the address, say the name of the firm, is too long in comparison with the

other lines, divide the long line into two by indenting the second line two spaces, e. g.

Mr. Kefei Zhao

Vice President

Beijing Institute of

Tourism

Rm 312 Main Building

1 Jianguo Road

Third Floor

Chao Yang Men Wai

Beijing, China 100020

(Note here the floor number and/or the apartment number are below the line for the

building or the street number.)

THE SALUTAT1ON(称呼、抬头)

The salutation, which is the complimentary greeting right before the body of the letter,

runs parallel to the letter body. We frequently find the following salutations in business

letters:

Dear Mr. X (usually when the sender is familiar with the person, or in answer to a letter

received)

My dear Mr. X (Do not capitalize the letter "d" in the word dear)

Dear Sirs (This is the most frequently used salutation in business letters, while Dear Sir

is usually used to address the executive officer of an institution, and Sir is used to address a

high ranking government official.)

Dear Madam or Madam (used to address a female business person.)

"Dear Sir", "Dear Madam" are commonly used salutations to unintimate addressees,

showing respect rather than affection. "Madam" can be used for either the married or the

unmarried woman, whereas "Madame" is a French word, and is applied only to a married

woman.

"Dear Sirs", "Sirs", and "Gentlemen" can be used to address a business firm or an

organization, when you have no idea whether the executives of the unit are made up of males

or females. If you are aware that the executives are females, the corresponding salutation is

"Ladies".

Do not use the adjective "dearest" in the salutation even if the person addressed is a near

relative or a very intimate friend. "Dearest" belongs to personal letters.

Mr. and Esq. should not be used to a person at the same time. And Dr. should not

preceed a person's name if the name is followed by the title; e. g., the following are badforms:

Mr. George N. Bales, Esq.

Dr. Myron E. Joseph, M. D.

Salutations are in most cases followed by a comma ( , ) but colon ( : ) is quite commonly

used in North America. Sometimes no punctuation is used at all. Never use semicolon

( ; )after the salutation.

THE BODY OF THE LETTER (正文、本文)

The body of the letter, which is the subject and the message, constitutes the substance

and essence of the business communication.

A business letter is always written for a specific purpose. Before you start writing the

body of the letter, ask yourself: "What is my objective?" And then keep the purpose clearly in

mind from A to Z and avoid anything that may obscure this basic objective.

Plan your letter properly so that it flows from the first paragraph to the last logically as in

a speech. Keep unrelated or personal matters out of the letter because they will only clutter up

your letter and make the main purpose of the letter less understandable to the reader.

Bear in mind that business letters are often read by assistants or a replacement, and are

read under pressure, when people are busy or overloaded with other interests which compete

for their attention. So streamline your letters to make them more effective.

Success or failure in good business letter writing depends upon one's linguistic ability as

well as on sustained development and practice. The following hints may be useful to business

letter writers:

1. Business letters are often made more formal by using big words in stead of small

words, e.g.

particulars instead of details

acknowledge receipt of to receive

as per according to

prior to before

at the present time now

furnish information give information

Try not to use too many big words, which may clutter up the letter and make it very dull

and unreadable.

2. Be consistent in the style of the letter rather than wander between one style to the

other in the same letter, otherwise the letter may sound most messy. See the example below:

We acknowledge receipt of your kind letter of February 10th and wish to say hello

to the people we met in NYC. As a sign of appreciation, we shall host a banquet in

your honour upon arrival of your delegation in Beijing. Let's swap ideas when we

come across with each other. Your reply at your earliest convenience would be

apprecated.

Yours sincerely,

You will notice that it is not clear what is to be replied to. Better: We acknowledge

receipt of your letter of February 10th, confirming your arrival here on March

20th. As a sign of appreciation for your kindness towards us in NYC, we

would like to host a banquet for your delegation in Beijing. Please inform us as

soon as possible of the size of your delegation and of the evenings you will be

free.

Yours sincerely, or

Yours cordially,

3. Stay away with the outdated stereotypes and cliches in commercial English, such as

"Re" or "In Re" for "concerning" or "with reference to", "your esteemed favour" for "your

letter", "your goodself" for "you", "ult." or "ultimo" for "last month", "inst." or "instant" for

"this month", "prox." or "proximo" for "next month".

4.Generally speaking, contemporary commercial letters tend to be more colloquial and

less "stylish" or formal.

Some books of business correspondence subdivide the first few sentences and the last

ones of a letter body into OPENING SENTENCES and CLOSING SENTENCE: both of

course are very important.

The opening sentences usully make up a separate paragraph, indicating the subject or

reason for the letter. Greetings or complementary remarks, acknowledgement of the receipt of

a previous letter, etc. , are mentioned, in case it is a letter in reply to an earlier letter from the

recipient. If it is a letter initiating something that has not had any previous correspondence

before, then some remarks by way of self-introduction are necessary in the opening sentences.

Examples:

In our effort to keep pace with the increasing sophistication of the industry, we will note

the following highlights of our summer program.

We wish to write to congratulate you upon the completion of your academic building and

the library. Thank you for your kind letter of 17th June.

The closing sentences should leave the reader with a single clear-cut thought or idea, and

should inspire whatever action or response is desired. Complementary remarks are often part

of the closing statement.

Closing sentences follow one of the following formats:

a. Begin the statement with a present participle: e. g.,

Looking forward to receiving confirmation for 2001,

Awaiting your reply at your earliest convenience,

Trusting you will find our payment in good order, we remain,

b. Begin the statement with a complete sentence e.g.

Please observe the above instructions and address the tour leader report to me personally,

Please advise soonest,

Thank you very much for your attention.

c. Begin the statement with a phrase or incomplete sentence:

e. g., With kind personal regards,

I am, (but now regarded as a stereotype and outdated)

We remain, (stereotype and outdated)

Best regards,

THE COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE (结束语、结尾套语)

Traditionally, the complimentary close is placed two spaces below the body of the letter,

to the right of the page, in line with the date block at the top. The growing tendency, however,

is to place the complimentary close to the left side of the last page, especially when the block

system is used in formatting the letter.

Varying in degree of intimacy and formality between the writer and the receiver, there

are a number of closings one can choose, e. g.

Yours truly is the form most frequently used in general business correspondence, and is

the best form to use when in doubt. Derived from it are "Truly yours" "Very truly yours".

Yours faithfully is generally used in business correspondence and on more formal

occasions, especially in British business circles. It is considered more acceptable when

writing to church dignitaries and high public officials. Its derived forms are "Faithfully

yours", "Very faithfully yours", and "Yours very faithfully".

Respectfully yours is used, as a rule, only by a tradesman writing to a customer, or by an

employee writing to any employer. It is also frequently used when addressing high

government officials and church VIPs. Never use "Respectfully yours" or "Yours

respectfully" to a clerk or a casual business acquaintance.

Sincerely yours is generally used in semi-commercial and semi-personal letters,

especially when the writer has a certain degree of intimacy with the receiver other than in a

purely business relationship. "Yours sincerely", "Very sincerely yours", and "Always

sincerely yours" show closer intimacy between the writer and the reader.

If the salutation is formal, such as Prof. or Dr. X, use "Yours respectfully", in the

complimentary close instead of "Yours sincerely". But many people do not follow this.

Cordially yours and its derived forms of "Yours cordially", "Very cordially yours",

"Most cordially yours" have to be used whenever appropriate. They imply a greater degree of

friendliness and openness. A dissatisfied visitor would never write a letter of complaint to the

hotel manager or travel agency director using the complimentary close "Cordially yours".

Gratefully yours should be used only when the writer has cause to be grateful, for

instance when the tourist's lost purse was returned, or when a senior member of a tourist party

was saved by a heart specialist in a heart stroke.

The complimentary close is placed one double space below the letter body. It may be

blocked, centered or placed to the righthand side of the last letter sheet.

Some commonly used complimentary closings in business letters are given below in

increasing intimacy together with their corresponding salutations:

Dear Sirs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yours faithfully

Yours truly

Dear Mr. Bales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yours sincerely

Dear George. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sincerely, Yours,

Cordially,

Complimentary closings beginning with "Yours" and ending with an adverb are common

in European countries, while the reverse is the case in the U.S. Of course, there are always

exceptions to the generalization.

Don'ts in using the complimentary close:

Undesirable phrases such as "warmly yours," " Yours for better cooperation," "Yours for

a better 2001, ", etc.

Sloppy abbreviations such as "Yrs" for "Yours" and "Tly" for "Truly".

Familiar but stereotyped participial phrases such as "Hoping to hear from you soon,"

"trusting this satisfactory," "I am,", etc.

Do not use "I remain" in closing a letter to a stranger unless you have had previous

correspondence with him.

THE SIGNATURE (签字、签署)

A business letter is regarded as complete and legal when signed by the writer. A typed

signature alone is not good form; the use of a rubber stamp is a rudeness to the receiver.

Most business letters have the writer's name typed several lines below the complimentary

close, allowing space in between for the handwritten signature. See the examples below:

Yours truly Yours faithfully

(Handwritten signature) For BALES TOURS LIMITED

(Handwritten signature)

Stephen L. Lowe

Vice President J R M Elliott

Planning and Development Chief Accountant

Alternative but also correct forms:

Very truly yours, Sincerely yours,

FOR SEASONS TRAVEL (handwritten signature)

By (handwritten signature) Mary Collins, Manager

Thomas Smith Madarin Tours, Ltd.

One should be consistent in his or her signature in all business correspondence. George

Bales should remain George Bales in all business letters instead of G. Bales, except when he

addresses a personal friend and uses "George".

In addition to the six essential parts which every business letter must have without

exception, we sometimes find some other parts in a business letter.

IDENTIFYING INITIALS (备查)

If the letter is dictated by George Bales to his stenographer, Peggy Petersen, the initials

of both persons, i. e. GB and PP are placed below and to the left of the signature, in line with

the left-hand margin, e. g.

We sincerely hope that one of you wilt be able to visit us in our offices during

November.

Yours sincerely,

Bales Tours

(Handwritten signature)

Managing Director

GB/PP

Enclosures

Note GB/PP can be replaced by one of the following: GB: PP, GBPP, GB/pp or

occasionally Bales/pp. Sometimes only the initials of the typist is given in the lower left

corner of the letter.

The identifying initials are usually for identification purposes on the part of the sender,

and therefore have little or nothing to do with the receiver who will have no idea who PP is.

As cassette recorders are replacing stenographers in dictating letters for typing, most typists

now type the recorded letters from the tapes or shorthand notes rather than from the notes

taken by hand.

ENCLOSURE (附件)

In the above example, one also finds "Enclosure" (or Encl.) below the identifying

initials. This refers to the printed or other materials that have been enclosed together with the

letter and in the same envelope or wrapping. Otherwise, one should use: "Sent under separate

cover" or "Airmailed by separate mail".

OTHER USAGES

cc (抄告、抄送、抄报) which stands for carbon copy can be used below the enclosure

note to indicate that copies, now photocopies rather than carbon copies, are sent to the persons

listed, e. g.

cc. Prof. Gu Weizhou

Mr. Tsai Shudang

Post scripts (P. S. or p. s. 附件、再启、附加语) when necessary are typed one double

space below the last line of the signature. As postscript is an after thought which may indicate

lack of overall planning when drafting the letter, it is advisable to avoid using postscripts

unless justified, say the contents are foreign to the subject of the letter body.

P.P. (Per Por. or Per Procuration 代签) or "For" is sometimes used in front of the name

of the agency, indicating that the signer is officially representing the firm or signing on behalf

of an executive.

EXERCISES:

1. Write down the full word(s) for the following abbreviations:

Co. Ph.D.

cc P. S.

Enc.   Messrs.

Inc. H. E.

Ltd. Ms

Jr. Sr.

2. Tell the "dos" and "don'ts" in order to write good and effective business letters.

3. What are the most frequently used complimentary closings? How are they used

differently in different circumstances?

4.Translate the following paragraph into good Chinese:

In 2000, tourism again set new records both internationally and domestically, in the

number of trips made and in spending. The economies of tourism-generating countries were

stable and consumers were generally confident. Moreover, transportation costs were

reasonable, thanks to the continuing low cost of oil, to fare wars among major air carriers, and

to over-ca-parity among cruise lines. With no disruption or among changes anticipated in the

basic foundation of tourism, further records are forecast for 2001.

UNIT Ⅳ

Essential Qualities of a Business Letter

As business letters are forms of communication, it is essential that such letters be of good

quality. The fine quality of a business letter entails:

1. Good Taste. In addition to the appropriate paper to be used, an attractive layout of the

letter and on the envelope, good typing or, in the case of a handwritten letter, the use of ruled

paper and simple black or blue-black ink all add up to good taste, which is the first impression

on the recipient before he or she ever reads the letter itself.

2. Neatness in Writing. Neatness is to a letter what cleanliness and hygiene are to a

person. Write legibly because readers, especially business people, can not afford wasting time

deciphering hieroglyphics. What is more important is to cultivate the good habit of clear and

readable handwriting at the very beginning.

Neat handwriting on unruled paper is a delight to the reader but it calls for continued

practice. See the sample on the next page:

3. Carefulness. Punctuation, spelling and grammar are the three requisites to clear and

exact expression. In fact, no where is clearness of expression more important than in letter

writing, because any ambiguity or vagueness is likely to be misconstrued, and ultimately

result in grave misunderstanding or financial loss. Therefore, one can not be too careful with

these particulars.

4. Promptness. A letter should be promptly answered, especially when it is of business

nature. A delay may cause inconvenience on the part of the sender, and also a loss of time and

money. If your letter of response calls for time to weigh things over and/or find more

information, a letter of acknowledgement is necessary together with an explanation of the

cause of the delay.

5. Purpose. People do not write letters for nothing. In other words, every business letter

has to have a clear purpose. It should be clear and to the point, leaving out long preambles,

explanation and unrelated issues.

6. Courtesy. Writing a letter is like making a conversation. One can not win sympathy

and cooperation, if the letter should suggest rudeness or lack of concern for the reader. For

Chinese writers of English business letters, it is most important that they use polite and

courteous words and even the subjunctive mood when appropriate.

7. Caution. Letters when properly signed by the sender can be used as testimony and

proofs. Therefore, never send out a letter without first carefully reading it and asking yourself

whether you would be happy with the letter and the contents therein under all circumstances.

A Handwritten Letter:

(images P28)

Sample letter 1:

Authors' note; Several letters of complaint taken from recent tourism practice in the real

world, but somewhat modified, are given below for ready reference to the readers. These

letters of compliant from travel agents and tourists are given below to serve as a reminder

against the poor services that existed several years ago. We do not have the least intention of

implying that services in any specific place are poor in comparison with the rest of the

country.

TERRACE TRAVEL LTD. 243 Marrick Road

Oceanside, N. Y. 11572

(516)475-9834

China In Travel Dec. 18,1999

80 East 24 Street

New York, New York

Re: Dr. & Mrs. M. Boden

Sept. 23 to Oct. 9, 1999

We had clients who traveled to the Orient in September and booked with Morton at Four

Seas Tours.

They booked a deluxe tour with hotels and sightseeing and paid for a deluxe tour. They

had a terrible problem at the Hotel X, copy of the letter we sent to Morton attached.

We got no satisfaction at all from Morton. Morton totally absolved himself and said the

hotels at the cities all were in your hands. I need some answers and in desperation I am

writing to you. Would you please look into this situation and see if we can get any kind of

monetary refund for our clients. I am looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you so

much.

Ted

Terrace Travel

Sample Letter 2:

243 Marrick Road

Oceanside, NY. 11572

Phone: (516) 475─9834

Orient Tours

630 Third Avenue

New York, New York 10017

Attn: Morton

Re: Dr. & Mrs I. Boden

Sept. 23 to Oct. 9, 1999

Our clients have returned from their Orient trip. They had booked a deluxe tour and as you

will remember, there were many problems before they left, They have now returned and had

an interesting trip, but the problems have not ended. They first told us that the Hotel X was

the filthiest, dirtiest hotel they have ever stayed in. They paid for a deluxe tour with deluxe

hotels and they said when they checked into this hotel, there were two chairs in their room

that had bugs crawling all over them. The hotel had no night manager and street people would

sleep in this filthy hotel lobby at night and since they are early risers, when they came down

for breakfast in the morning, they had to crawl around these bums oto get out of the lobby.

Now this is too much when you have paid approximately $ 250 a night for a hotel and tour

guide. In fact, this is outrageous. They told me there was a hotel near the airport which would

have been much more suitable. In the next city, they also ran into much the same problem

with an old dirty hotel. This makes 4 nights out of their 9 nights in a horrendous situation.

Morton, I do not want a phone call from you telling me this is the best you had. If that was the

best you had. they should certainly not have been charged deluxe prices for this. My clients

tell me that people who were booked on Oriental Delight's standard tour were at the same

hotel in the city as they were. I would like an explanation from you with an offer of a

monetary refund at your earliest convenience.

Ted Speake

Terrace Travel

cc/United Airlines, Dr. & Mrs. Boden

Sample Letter 3:

2405 Alaska Av.

Honolulu, HI

U.S.A.

December 5, 1999

Mr. Guang He, Director

State Tourism Administration

People's Rep. of China

Dear Mr. He:

Recently, I returned from Tibet, and extended my tour subsequently into Bhutan and

India.

While in Bhutan, I read an account in the Kuensel (Bhutan), dated Sept. 1998, in which

you were quoted from the China Daily. You had commented regarding complaints made by

foreign tourists to your country, mainly on "the inefficiency of guides and interpreters".

My Sept. 1986 trip to Tibet was my sixth trip to your country. The previous five visits to

China were memorable for the fine quality of the accommodation and the food, plus the

guide's complete consideration of the tourists accompanying him.

My sixth trip, i. e., to Tibet lacked these qualities. To cite one example among many,

these are comments relative to our travel south from Lhasa to the Nepal border:

—On September 21, 1999, we were about to leave our Tibetan Guest House (Lhasa)

when Mr. X dispatched a jeep to pick us up at our hotel. The jeep could not at first make the

slope to the hotel, and when finally it reached the entrance, our guide had telephoned Mr. X

twice for a replacement jeep. Mr. X refused. We started at 8:30 a.m., and subsequently the

jeep developed engine trouble so that we were forced to stop six times. After noon (and we

had no lunch), the jeep ran out of gas, although the driver and/or the guide had placed two gas

cans in the back of the jeep with our luggage. The gas cans were empty.

At 6:30 p.m., a truck picked us up and we rode in the cabin of the truck to the river

crossing to take a ferry to the opposite side. Because of the breakdown of the jeep, we arrived

at the river at 7:00 p.m., and the last ferry had left. We had no dinner. We sat in the truck all

night until the ferry arrived at 9:30 the next morning. Therefore, we had no breakfast, after

having no lunch nor dinner the previous day, a fast of over 24 hours.

We proceeded through Xigaze, Lhasa, to Guangmyu, where we slept over night. The

following morning, our guide Mr. Y and the driver of the jeep, started to accompany us south

towards the Nepal border, A few miles from Guangmu, we encountered a landslide (not

unusual in the Himalayas). The guide had enlisted the help of some baggage carriers, and at

the landslide the guide, Y left us saying he would return to the jeep to warn the driver, and he

would return to escort us to the border. He never returned, leaving us in strange territory with

baggage carriers who could not communicate with us except through sign language. The

roads were hazardous, and with the aid of the two baggage carriers, I walked approximately

3.1/2 miles towards the Nepal border, without benefit of the assigned guide nor transportation.

To sum up my experience in Tibet, pertaining to your comments, cited in para 2, above,

and to make constructive recommendations.

(1) No traveller should be assigned a jeep, such as that let out by your representative in

Tibet Mr. X, in such poor condition that she is subjected to repeated breakdown delays, and

the lack of food and transportation because of the deterioration of the vehicle;

(2) No guide should be so insensitive to the welfare and needs of a traveller as to leave

the tourist stranded, as the guide, Y, left us in southern Tibet approaching Nepal.

These comments are sparked by your own statements in China Daily reference para 2,

above, stating your sincere attempt to improve the development of the tourist industry in your

land.

Let not travel to the People's Republic of China be marred by such avoidable negligence

as mentioned above.

Your country is rich in scenic beauty and historic sites which travellers enjoy. You can

help them to continue to enjoy your great land.

Sincerely yours,

Caren Oliver

NOTES:

* "Letters of complaint" (投诉信). Compare "letter of appreciation" "letter of thanks"

and "letter of praise".

* In sample letter 1, the statement "Re: …" below the inside address should always be

centered.

* "Book a deluxe tour" refers to the advance reservation of the tour. Compare "book a

train ticket", "book a hotel room" and "booking office", etc.

* The adjective "filthy" carries a strong suggestion of offensiveneses and, typically, of

dirt gradually accumulated over a period of time.

* A "refund" (退款、还款) is a sum of money which is returned to a person. Compare

the word" rebate".

* In the sample 3, "to pick someone up" means to fetch. Do not confuse "to pick

someone up" with "to pick up", which means something quite different.

EXERCISES:

1. What are the essential qualities of good business letter writing? Why are they

important?

2. Evaluate the three sample letters and describe the strengths and weaknesses of each of

them.

3.Translate the following from Chinese into English:

国际饭店总经理先生台鉴：

敝社谨此确认收到贵店 2000年 10月 10日来函，内称贵店将为我社团队旅游者提

供九折优惠，即双人房每天每间人民币 450元，双床房每天人民币 480元。对贵店的大

力协助谨表深切的谢意。

顺致良好的问候。

学院旅行社销售经理启

  2000年 10月 15日

UNIT Ⅴ

Circulars, Memos and Form Letters

In units Ⅰ to Ⅳ we have discussed business letter writing in its various facets. However,

due to situational change, regular business letters could take altered forms. In this unit we

shall introduce three most-commonly-used derived forms of letter writing—circulars, memos

and form letters.

Circular Letter

While most business letters are individually written for a specific purpose, we do

sometimes find examples of a letter that concerns a number of people to whom the

information is circulated. These circulars are for your information and you are not requested

to reply unless you have a further question.

As circulars are addressed to a number or group of people who are believed to have an

interest in the content of the letter, they must be written in such a way that the recipient would

feel that they are being addressed.

The circulars should also have the qualities of other business letters and entail the

essential parts except in the case of inside .address. The salutation could be singular or plural,

e. g. "Dear Sir", "Dear Tenant", "Dear Friends", "Dear Colleague", etc. as in the samples

below:

Sample Letter 1:

Hotel Bering-Toronto

September 23rd, 2000

Dear Tenant,

LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE CHARGES

We wish to draw your attention to the new charges for long distance telephone calls

effective October 1st, 1999 as directed by the Telephone Bureau of Beijing.

Please refer to the attached information sheet for a quick reference of the new charges.

Rates for domestic calls to cities within the People's Republic of China will remain

unchanged.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Hotel Beijing-Toronto

Sample Letter 2:

CORNELL

U N I V E R S I T Y

─────────────────────────────────

School of Hotel

Administration

Office of Continuing

Education

and External Programs

Statler Hall

Ithaca, New York

14853-6901

March 25, 1999

Telephone: 607-255-4919

Telex: WUI. 6713054

Facsimile: 607-255-4179

Dear Colleague:

I am very pleased to inform you and all School of Hotel Administration supporters of the

General Manager's seminar that will be offered at Cornell this summer-HOTEL Cornell USA.

The dates are July 2 - 15 and enrollment is strictly limited to general managers responsible for

operating budgets in excess of US $ 5 million. The program will be conducted in our new

Statler Hotel and J. Willard Marriott Executive Education Center.

This unique program is designed with the very specific needs of hotel general managers. The

faculty members, the program content and the style have been designed for maximum impact

within the two-week program, as you will see from the enclosed brochure. I am pleased to

include among our special guest speakers: Author Ken Blanchard of The one Minute Manager

fame, Mr. Yasuyuki Miura, President and Chief Operating Officer, Nikko Hotels and Michael

Z. Kay, President, Portman Hotel Company.

Would you like additional copies of the brochure? Please call Susan Snyder, Program

Coordinator, and let her know. Her number is (607)255-8184, or by facsimile (607) 255-4179.

Your comments are always welcome. I appreciate your past support of our programs and your

comments are very helpful to me in designing programs that meet the needs of the complex

and ever-changing hospitality industry.

Cordially yours,

Maureen C. McKenna

Director,

Executive Education

Enc1: brochure

What's New

From China's Second Great Wall

Dear Friends,

The Spring Festival is upon us, and with it a new round of activities at the Great Wall

Sheraton Hotel.

ATRIUM REOPENS

The Orchid Pavilion Court will reopen for business on Wednesday, January 28 at 11:00

a.m. . To celebrate, the Central Opera Theatre Company will sing for us in the Atrium from

9pm - 10pm on Wednesday.

SUPER BOWL SATURDAY

Come Join us in the Caravan Bar at 6pm for the Super Bowl!

Drinks, subs and peanuts galore; cheerleaders needed.

MONDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES

February 2 — Little Flower (Xiao Hua)

February 9 — Anxious to Return (Gui Xin Si Jian)

February 16 — Border Town (Bian Cheng)

February 23 — At Middle Age(Ren Dao Zhang Nian)

A series ticket for these four movies will be available for Rmb 75, beginning February 2.

Individual tickets (Rmb 30 @) will be sold at the Theatre Ticket Office during the week

preceeding each showing. Hours are from 12 noon to 8 pm. daily. Telephone reservations can

be made by calling the Great Wall Sheraton between 12 noon and 8 pm and asking for

extension 2280. All reserved tickets must be collected by 7:30 pm on the evening of

performance: any tickets remaining after 7:30 pm will be released. All seating is open, so

please come as early as possible to guarantee yourself a good seat.

Happy Chinese New Year, (Handwritten signature)

Hannah Moore

Public Relations Manager

Sample Letter 3:

WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU TOURISME

5659/ Ⅱ A3/2000

The Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization presents his compliments to

all the Members of the Organization and has the honour to inform them that, in the framework

of its tourism education and vocational training activities, the Organization will hold an

Interdisciplinary Study Cycle dealing with tourism planning, management and new technical

support methods. The Study Cycle will be held at Granada, Spain, from 1 to 23 July 2001, at

the kind invitation of the Patronate Provincial de Tourisme of Granada, an Affiliate Member

of the Organization, in conjunction with the University of Granada.

The Study Cycle is designed primarily for senior officials of national tourism

administrations or of other national, regional or international institutions of repute in the

tourism and travel sector, but teaching staff of advanced level tourism training institutions

could also be accepted. However, only one candidate may be proposed by each WTO

Member as a maximum of twenty participants is forseen for each language group i.e. English,

French and Spanish.

Scholarships will be awarded for the Study Cycle, details of which will be distributed at

a later date, together with conditions for admission, selection procedures, enrolment forms

and all other particulars relevant to the holding of the Cycle.

The Cycle is intended as an advanced level or upgrading course. Each participant will be

requested to prepare a case study on a specific subject covered by the Cycle and on tourism

development in his or her country or region which will be presented during the course and

which will be taken into account during the final grading.

As mentioned previously, further details concerning the Interdisciplinary Study Cycle

will be furnished shortly. In the meantime, the Organization to be informed will be informed

in advance of this important activity in the field of tourism education to ensure that as many

Members as possible can have the opportunity of submitting a candidate.

The Secretary-General avails himself of this opportunity to renew to all the Members of

the Organization the assurances of his highest considerations.

Madrid, 16 December, 2000

Memos (MEMORANDUMS)

While circular letters are usually used to circulate information to a large number or a

group of people outside the sending organization, there are cases when internal information

circulation by writing is necessitated, especially in large operations, hence the memorandum.

Memos can be very brief but can also take the form of a letter like the ones below:

Sample Memo 1:

Shangri-La Hotel Beijing

MEMORANDUM

August 28, 1999

Ref: PR—99—006

TO: Assistant Personnel Director

From: Deputy P. R. Manager

Subject: Proposed Letter of Thanks

Yesterday morning Ms. Zhang Mei, waitress of LaBrasserie, fainted at public bus No.

375 on her way to the hotel for morning shift. The bus driver, Mr. Zhang Sheng-min, the

conductor, Ms. Tian Fang and one of the passengers, Mr. Han Zhao-ying of Beijing Oil Pump

Factory, promptly took care of Ms. Zhang and sent her to our hotel after learning of her

identity. (Ms Zhang was cured later by our clinic doctor.)

To show our admiration for their generous behavior, I would like to suggest Personnel

Department call the bus company and the factory respectively and write a letter of thanks to

each of those good people. Any further suggestions are appreciated.

Best regards to

Li Zhen Jun

CC: Deputy General Manager, Assistant Director of F & B

Authors' note:

Disciplinary problems are commonplace in newly-built tourist operations. We appreciate

the provision of the following memos by the Hangzhou Hotel, which has made remarkable

progress in its operations in the last few years thanks to the managerial strategies of the

executives there.

Sample Memo 2:

──────────────────────────────

MEMORANDUM

──────────────────────────────

Date, MAR/26/2000 Ref,

Ta: ALL DEPARTMENT HEADS From: EXECUTIVE OFFICE

* * *

As discussed 2 days ago in our 'EARLY BIRD', it is imperative that maximum supervision is

provided for and exercised at ail times, including the earlier hours of the morning

(ie.6:30~9:30am).

As our complex is rather spread out and is and will be a difficult property to run. I urge all of

you (including your supervisors on house-rules). as otherwise, you will loose control over

your departments.

Please schedule yourself and your more senior assistants/supervisors in such a way that

operation areas in East and West Building are inspected from early morning onwards, so we

can ensure that adequate guest services are being provided at all times.

I am certain that I do not have to elaborate any further and can count on your professionalism,

as well as your commitment to maintain the good will and reputation we have been able to

establish over the past 3 years.

Sincerely,

──────────

WOLF-DIETER FLECKER

General Manager

WDF/iw

cc: Deputy Ceneral Managers

Financial Controller

F & B Manager

Executive Housekeeper

Chief Engineer

Sales Manager

Personnel Manager

Front Office Manager

Sample Memo 3:

──────────────────────────────

MEMORANDUM

──────────────────────────────

Date: MAR/06/2000 Ref:EXECUTIVE OFFICE

To: ALL DEPARTMENT HEADS From:

* * *

I am disappointed by the lack of supervision exercised by our cotlet heads with regards to the

hygiene and grooming standards of their respective staff.

Areas which seem to be extremely neglected are ROOM SERVICE (shirts of waiters more

black than white), coffeeshop waitresses aprons, F/O + F& B cashiering staff (hairstyles and

wearing of prescribed uniform).

If there is no other way, I have to insist that staff is being inspected when reporting for duty

(military style) and send to wash their hands, change their uniform (or parts thereof) , polish

their shoes, or whatever applicable.

The sloppy appearance no only ruins or damages the name/reputation of our hotel, but also

sheds doubts on the supervisory quality of the supervisor in charge( especially when an

expatriate) and his/her assistants.

I urge your immediate attention to be given to the rectification of aboveraentioned facts.

──────────

WOLF-DIETER FLECKER

General Manager

WDF/iw

cc: Deputy General Managers

Food & Beverage Manager

Front office Manager

Executive Housekeeper

Financial Controller

Personnel Manager

Chief Engineer

Sales Manager

Purchasing Manager

Shop Manager

Form Letters:

To cope with large quantities of business letter writing and to reduce the workload, we

find an increased use of FORM LETTERS where by the sender sends out letters by filling out

certain set forms, as the bulk of the letter body remains the same and only the filled out parts

change from time to time.

As form letters do not usually draw the greatest attention on the part of the receiver, do

not use form letters in cases when you are dealing with an important business matter, when

you write to a VIP or when you do need prompt attention. Therefore, most form letters used

are dealing with routine matters as the samples below:

Sample Letter 1:

CANADIAN EMBASSY

10 San Li Tun Road

Chao Yang District

Beijing, P. R. C.

January 23, 2000

Dear Sir/Madame:

The purpose of this letter is to confirm our telephone reservation of January 23, 2000 for

XXX single with bath XXX double with bath in name of Mr. /Mrs. /Ms Mr. R. Martiniuk

arriving in Beijing on February 8 flight No. CAAC 918(18: 30) and departing on February 15

flight No. JAL 782.

The settlement of all bills incurred at your establishment will be the responsibility of the

above individual.

Yours sincerely,

G. J. Ogaick

First Secretary and Consul

To

The Reservation Manager

The Jianguo Hotel, Beijing

Sample Letter 2:

DATE:

TO THE ATTENTION OF:

TITLE:

COMPANY;

NAME OF GROUP:

CONDITIONS OF AGREEMENT

COMPLIMENTARY ACCOMMODATIONS

The Hotel will provide you with one complimentary bed (1/2 twin) for every 15 paying guests

in tour, with a limit of four(4) rooms for any one tour.

ROOMING LISTS

The final rooming list must be received at The Hotel no later than 30 days prior to scheduled

group arrival.

DEPOSITS

Reservations are subject to receipt of one nights deposit being received at the Hotel 60 days

prior to the group's arrival. Complete payment of the balance is to be paid before departure of

the group from the Hotel, unless special credit arrangements have been made.

CANCELLATIONS—NO SHOWS

You may cancel up to 30 days prior to the group's arrival without penalty. Any cancellation of

the whole group within 30 days of arrival is subject to a one night's cancellation charge.

If your room requirements change, please notify us as soon as possible. Adjustment of more

than 5 rooms less than 30 days prior to arrival will also be subject to a late cancellation

charge.

FOOD & BEVERAGE MEETING REQUIREMENTS

Meal arrangements, meetings and receptions should be requested at your earliest possible

convenience to reserve the function rooms or area best suited to your needs.

─────────────── ─────────────────────────

SHERATON SALES PERSON CLIENT'S SIGNATURE AND COMPANY TITLE─────────────── ─────────────────────────

DATE DATE

We have discussed three derived forms of the normal business letter, i. e. the

CIRCULAR LETTERS, MEMOS AND FORM LETTERS. The essential elements of these

derived letter forms conform with those of the ordinary business letter.

However, with the speedy improvement in the use of electronic computers, more and

more business offices are using electronic typewriters or computers in letter writing, where by

the "base letter" could be stored and individually written letters would appear on the CRT

(Cathode-Ray-Tube) or display terminal. By changing or adding some words such as the

name and address of the receiver and rectified on the CRT, the sender could have the letter

printed out on the printer so that the letter would look as if it were written for the recipient

individually. In fact, businesses in developed countries are using such electronically printed

circular letters to residents who are potential customers in huge and sometimes annoying

numbers. This is called electronic mailing.

NOTES:

* In sample letter 2 "the Great Wall Sheration Hotel in Beijing" (北京长城饭店) is

probably China's first five-star joint venture hotel. Try to remember other such hotels with

international affiliation, e. g. Shanghai Hilton, Hyatt Tianjin, Holiday Inn City Centre

Hangzhou, etc.

* "Orchid" (兰花) is not only a famous and beautiful flower throughout China and the

West, but can also refer to a standard of excellence, or to the shade of paint used in

decorating. The Orchid Pavelion Court (兰花厅) also called the Atrium (茶园) is one of the

many examples of how hotel builders try to merge modern architecture with national

characteristics or references that also evoke pleasant cultural echoes among foreign tourists.

* "Super Bowl" is a popular annual football match in U.S.A.

* "The Caravan Bar" (商旅酒廊).

* The word "galore", an invariable single noun, informal and slightly old-fashioned,

means existing in very large numbers.

* "Cheerleader" (啦啦队员).

* "Series ticket" (联票). "Series" is both the singular and the plural form. See also

"China Tour Series", "A radio or television series,", etc. The commonly used form is "A series

of + noun in plural".

* "Reserve" (预订、留订) is a useful word in tourism. Related usuages are "to make a

reservation", "reservations office" and "Reserved seating" (留座、预订专座、对号入座),

etc.

* "All seating is open" or "open seating" (不对号入座、随意入座)。

* In 1925, the International Union of Official Travel Organization (IUOTO, 国际官方

旅游组织联合会) was created for the purpose of promoting and developing tourism in the

interest of economic, social, and cultural progress in all nations. It was a member association

of all national tourism organizations. The IUOTO no longer exists as WTO, officially ratified

in 1974, superseded it in membership and purpose. The National Tourism Administration of

the PRC became a national member in 1983.

* The phrase ". . . . . . presents his compliments to. . . . . . and has the honour to. . . . . . "is

almost a set phrase, meaning (谨向…致意并荣幸地).

* "Interdisciplinary" means (多学科的、跨学科的). Compare with inter-continental,

interpersonal, interchange, etc.

* "Affiliate member" (联系会员) means the member is just affiliated with the

organization but not yet a full member.

* "Case study" (案例研究)

* "The Secretary-General avails himself of this opportunity to renew all the

Members of the Organization the assurances of his highest consideration" (顺致最崇高

的敬意) is a set statement in official correspondence.

* In the sample memos, "grooming" (衣容不整) refers to both the clothing and the

attitudes of the staff.

* "F/O" refers to front office, and "F & B" food and beverage.

* "Expatriate" here simply refers to a foreigner. It can also be used as an adjective, e. g.

an expatriate visitor.

* "To enforce the strictest discipline based on our house rules". (根据店内规定严格

执行纪律)

* "Professionalism (职业特性)" refers to the demonstration of qualities typical or

expected of a person in one's profession.

* "VIP" (贵宾) refers to a very important person.

EXERCISES:

1. Describe the similarities and differences between circulars (memos, form letters) and

regular business correspondence. When do you use these derived forms of letter writing?

2. Write a circular letter to all staff enforcing discipline in your capacity as the general

manager of a major hotel.

3. Draft a circular to all hotel guests announcing a film series in the International Club,

supposing you are the Public Relations Officer there.

4. Translate the following circular into English:

尊敬的客人：

新春佳节好！

我们愿提醒你在客房里存放或玩鞭炮有导致发生火灾的危险，祈请给予合作，你

惹事生非有鞭炮的话，请交我店安全部代为收藏，可拨电话 7#客房部办公室办理寄存

事宜。

请不要在客房里、饭店附近、大门口或门前绿地周围燃放鞭炮。

饭店店务委员会

二○○○年二月四日

UNIT Ⅵ

Additional Information on Letter Writing

Everything changes over time, the universe and the subject of letter writing in the travel

industry alike. This trend has been excellerated by the globalization of the industry and by the

speedy extension of high tech. Therefore, while studying the usage discussed in this chapter,

one should not take them as stereotypes which will remain unchanged forever.

A second point to remember is the similarities and differences in business letter writing

in the different countries. By and large, the similarities dominate, although we do observe

some differences in American and British letter writing. e. g.

1. Americans tend to take the more direct approach in letter writing, while the British by

tradition use a much more indirect approach.

2. In the salutation, the British are used to using "Dear Sirs," (note; it is followed by a

comma) while the Americans more often use "Gentlemen:" (note: it is followed by a colon).

3. In the inside address and heading, the British used to have commas at the end of each

line, but they now can omit the commas. The Americans however tend to leave out all

commas.

4. While the British use "Yours truly,", "Yours sincerely,", etc. the Americans are used to

using them the other way round, i. e. "Very truly yours," or "Sincerely yours,", etc.

5. The British are more accustomed to using the indented form and the Americans the

block form.

6. On the question of date, the British use the order of "day + month + year" as in "15th

February, 1987"while the Americans adopt the order of "month + day + year" as in "February

15,1999".

However, the increase of business and other interactions and the predominance of the

American influence over all the English-speaking world have combined to obscure these

previously more apparent differences. We now find an increasing tendency of a merging of

the two writing customs.

It is obvious that the above differences in style and usage are not as strongly felt as the

general differences in British and American English, which is another matter, and not dealt

within this publication. However, it is interesting to note that even in these aspects, the

differences are also being narrowed down. Years ago, the British would use "inclusive rates"

while the Americans tended to say "package" or "quotation". Now quotation or package is

acceptable throughout the world of tourism.

A last point to be mentioned before we conclude this part is the difference between

business letter writing and personal ones, which are not discussed in this book. We, however,

are giving the general differences between the two for easy reference.

Differences Between Business Letters and Personal Ones

If you are a careful and thinking person, you will find some apparent differences between

business letters and personal letters. We outline a few for your quick reference:

1. With regard to the content or the purpose of the letter, business letters are about

business matters and personal letters are concerned with personal issues. Hence the style of

writing is also different accordingly.

2. Business letters are mostly prepared in duplicates or triplicates, sending the original to

the receiver and duplicate copies to other relevant parties with at least one copy kept for filing

purposes. Personal letters are generally handwritten as a token of intimacy. One may or may

not make a duplicate copy.

3. The inside address, which is a must in business letter writing, disappears in personal

letter writing, which has only the name of the city of the sender or simply the date in the

heading.

4. In the salutation of the business letter, one uses Dear Sir(s), Mesdames, or Mr., Mrs.,

or Miss depending on the situation, but you would never use initmate salutations as "Dear

Tom", "My Dearest" or "Dearest Mary" as you do in personal letters.

5. Similarly, in the complimentary close of a business letter, you would use "Yours

truly", "Yours faithfully", "Yours respectfully" or "Yours sincerely", but you should not use

"Yours", "Yours affectionately", or "Always yours" which appear only in personal letters.

6. Finally in the signature, a personal letter writer would sign his or her first name, or

maiden name (or the full name), while one must not sign a business letter with the first name

or maiden name only.

Hints on Addressing and Folding the Envelope

Most tourism entities have their business address printed on the upper left corner of the

envelope, which must accommodate easily the size of the letter sheets. In the absence of a

printed address, write or type the business address on the upper left corner of the envelope.

Always write or type the name and address of the recipient in full and clearly and place

them slightly right to the central vertical line of the envelope. Arrange the lines for the address

in such a way that all the lines on the envelope look balanced from top to bottom and from left

to right.

Paste the postage stamps at the top right corner of the envelope. But write or type the

address of the sender at the top left corner of the envelope or on the back flap of the envelope.

Put "Airmail", "Registered", "Express" "Kindness of Mrs. X" (烦XXX转交)signs at the

lower left corner of the envelope.

A standarized envelope format is given below for ready reference:

国际标准化信函封面书写规格

Stipulation for superscription

of standardized international letters

(images P48)

Also, underline such mailing notations as "Urgent" (急件), "Confidential" (密件), "photos

only" (内系照片), "Printed Matter" (印刷品), "Please do not bend (fold)" (请勿折叠),

"Personal" (私信), "Hold for Arrival" (留言), etc. which usually should also appear on the

lower left corner of the envelope.

For letters of introduction, the sender could add the underlined phrases of "Introducing

Miss X" or "introduce Miss X" at the lower or upper left side of the envelope.

Letters sent as special delivery and handed to the receiver in person should have the

word "Present" (面交) right below the receiver's address.

Be accustomed to folding your letter sheets from below and from right to left, leaving

some margin for easy opening, and fold your letter to fit the size of the envelope.

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