Hospitality and Tourism Business - Essay Example

?Hospitality And Tourism Business Have Universally Accepted Unique Characteristics. Define These Characteristics And Use Them To Create Key Strategies That Are Suitable For A Small Hospitality Or Tourism Business. Analyse the Effectiveness of Each of Your Strategies The hospitality and the tourism industry is one of the fastest growing industries of the world. The importance of the industry has increased considerably over the years where an increasing proportion of population tends to depend on this particular sector. The industry broadly includes categories encompassing lodging, restaurants, theme parks, transportation and cruise line facilities among others. Its importance can also be considered with respect to the fact that the industry has major contributions to the world economy (Akaegbu, 2013). Moreover, the industry also performs a key role in dealing with the aspect of unemployment all over the world by employing millions of people worldwide. In the contemporary context, the industry has undergone various noteworthy changes and its significance has reached a considerable level altogether (Barrows & Powers, 2008). It is apparent that the tourism and the hospitality industry have emerged as quite crucial with its presence being quite prominent all over the world. It is worth mentioning in this context that there are certain characteristics of this particular industry, which are observably unique and different from other industries upto a marginal extent. Some of the differing characteristics of this particular sector include its predominant nature of being a service industry although imbibing the characteristics of a product oriented industry as well, the labour intensive nature of this sector and the aspect of seasonality among others. All these facets are crucial for business operating in this sector, with the purpose of devising their strategies ensuring sustainability in their operations (Tesone, 2012). Contextually, the primary intention of the discussion henceforth will be to analyse the characteristics of this particular sector in detail and recommend strategies to the small business units operating in this particular sector. It is apparent from the above analysis that hospitality and tourism industry is one of the rapidly growing industries of the world. Over the years, the industry has expanded its presence extensively and has become a major contributor towards the development of the world economy. Arguably, the current prospects of the hospitality and tourism industry of the world have been in an ever rising mode and are expected to continue the same way in the near future. However, it is important to note that there are several reasons, which have contributed towards the immense growth of this particular industry in the recent years. Among the several factors, the uniqueness of the industry is one vital domain, where it excels evidently. Correspondingly, it is often argued that the hospitality and the tourism industry of the world are quite unique as it possesses certain characteristics that are quite different from other forms of industry to say the least (Brotherton, 2013). The hospitality and tourism industry is one of the few industries of the world, where the services provided to the customers are treated as the ultimate products; therefore making an initiative to mitigate the gaps and differences between product management principles and the notion of services management (Education Bureau, n.d.). Thus, the products offered to the customers in this particular sector are considered as intangible and perishable. The companies therefore strive to ensure effectiveness in their performance with the help of delivering efficient services to the customers, further ensuring maximum satisfaction from them. The primary emphasis of the business, in this particular sector, is therefore to develop the quality of the services in order to ensure a sustainable presence in the increasingly competitive environment, over a longer period of time (Vasile, 2009). Another unique characteristic of the hospitality and tourism industry is the aspect of seasonality associated with it. Observably, the hospitality and the tourism industry are largely driven by seasonality, whereby its operations show effectiveness for a particular period of time rather than throughout the year (Brotherton, 2013). For example, the tourism and the hospitality industry in India and China usually remain in high demand during the months ranging between October-April and Chinese New Year respectively. The performance of the industry is deemed to get hampered during the monsoon season when people are reluctant to any sort of leisure activities. Hence, during these lean months, the organisations operating in this particular sector have to strategise their moves in a different manner to sustain for that particular period. This can also be regarded as one of the complexities associated with the functioning of small businesses in this particular industry (Dun & Bradstreet Information Services, 2008). It is evident that the hospitality and the tourism industry of the world is highly labour intensive and efficient performance of the overall industry is highly dependent on this particular characteristic. The success potential of the businesses operating in this sector is therefore highly influenced by the efficiency and effectiveness of the manpower (Baum, 2012). Additionally, since it is a service industry, the commitment, loyalty and dedication of the human resource are few of the decisive factors imposing severe impacts on the performance of the overall industry. Hence, proper training and development of the human becomes a crucial facet of the operations in these organisations (Dun & Bradstreet Information Services, 2008). It is deemed that the hospitality and tourism industry around the world is highly fragmented due to the presence of various small, medium and large players in the market. For example, the UK tourism and hospitality industry has large number of small and unknown players that has acquired a large number of shares of the market. It is a surprising fact that maximum percent of the market share in the hospitality industry of UK belongs to the unknown and unrecognised players in the market rather than the top players (Sufi, 2013). One of the major and the most unique characteristics of the tourism and hospitality industry is the aspect that it works throughout the year and in a 24*7 process. The employees working in this particular sector are therefore required to provide their services in shifts, which in turn make their working hours hazardous, implying high chances of limited scheduling transparency and extensive pressure on the workforce. This increases the need of a large number of people in this particular industry. Organisations operating in this particular sector also face issues related to employee retention and thus, need to work throughout the year. Hence, there is no particular concept called business hours in this particular sector; rather their operations are executed in a continuous manner (March, 2003). Another key and unique characteristic of the hospitality and tourism industry is that the organisations operating in this particular sector are quite interdependent on each other’s approaches. It is particularly owing to the fact that the degree of inter-relatedness is quite high in this particular business sector. For example, development of a resort or a hotel cannot be conducted effectively without the presence of roads and airports to bring the tourists. These show the importance of demographic development in the effective functioning of the hospitality and tourism industry (March, 2003). Environmental considerations and the subsequent sustainability obligations entrusted upon the hospitality and tourism sector is one of the most crucial aspects associated with this particular sector. The industry faces continuous challenges with regard to its environmental performance, which is again a key characteristic of the same that is different from other industry sectors. Notably, aspects such as sustainability, waste management and energy are certain environmental factors that are associated with this particular industry. Companies therefore have the need to develop effective strategies that aims to reduce the negative impacts of the business on the environment. The importance of environmental performance of businesses, in this particular sector can be understood from the fact that in 2007 the reported waste from the tourism and hospitality industry of Australia was around 43.8 million tonnes, which was further attributed to be quite harmful for the stability of the natural environment and the humankind as well (Charles Sturt University, n.d.). Apparently, this particular fact depicts the way hospitality industry impacts the environment as compared to other industry sectors. It is apparent from the above analysis that the hospitality and tourism industry of the world has certain specific and unique characteristics imposing considerable impacts on its performance and operational efficiency. Contextually, it is significant to note that small, medium or large sized companies, irrespective of their wealth status need to consider these factors in order to operate effectively in this particular industry sector (Education Bureau, n.d.). Certain strategies will need therefore to be developed, which must be in alignment with the specific characteristics of the industry mentioned in the above discussion of the paper. Observably, customer services are among the most vital activities for organisations in the hospitality and the tourism industry. Like in any other industry of the world, customers should be provided with maximum priority in this particular sector. Contextually, any small hospitality and tourism business that intends to operate effectively in this particular sector will need to develop strategies to satisfy the customers to the greatest extent. In this regard, business units will have the need to understand the nature and behaviour of the customers and their expectations from the business, which are again observed to be quite distinctive. Contextually, the business will have to design its conduct and proceed further in a systematic manner. It will be vital to mention that when the expectations of the customers do not align with the service specifications of the business; a gap arises that is quite likely to have an unfavourable impact on the performance of the business. The businesses will therefore need to emphasize of its market research and design services that would be able to meet the expectations of the customers in the most efficient manner. In this regard, small organisations must incorporate the critical incident framework and analyse the needs and demands of the customers more efficient in this sector. Since, services are the ultimate products, which companies offer to the customers in this particular sector, priority should be given in designing the same (Cook, 2004). Precisely, it can be stated that the business will need to provide extraordinary services to the customers by emphasizing more on personalised services. It is apparent from the above discussion that the hospitality and the tourism industry is highly labour intensive and its operational efficiency is largely dependent on the dedication and commitment of the workforce. Contextually, any business that aims at enhancing its operations in this particular sector needs to develop strategies with regard to maintain the staff and their conduct towards ensuring a motivated workforce. Since, they are the primary means though which services are provided to the customers; it becomes important to ensure their dedication and effectiveness towards their duties and responsibilities. This can only be assured through ensuring a motivated workforce. In this regard, strategies should be devised to update the recruitment process on a continuous basis to get the best possible individuals, providing frequent training to upgrade their skills and competencies, enhancing their attentiveness and improving relationship in the workplace among others. The business should also need to value the contribution of the employees and reward them appropriately so that they can feel motivated and conduct their activities with utmost dedication and commitment, further ensuring effective results for the overall business. Moreover, it has been noted that the industry works round the clock throughout the year without any stoppage in their operations. Hence, this develops a need for large pool of staffs that can meet the operational needs of the business. In this regard, management of the business will need to emphasize on retaining maximum number of employees in order to avoid any sort of shortage for the same in their operations (Kapiki, 2012). Apparently, employees play a key role in enhancing the operations of the business in this particular sector. It is therefore very much important that management of the businesses should be quite proactive and able to ensure proper management of the resources (especially human resources) of the business to obtain the desired goal (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010). Furthermore, managing quality of the services offered to the customers is also vital in this particular sector to gain maximum success. In this regard, the management of the any small business in the hospitality and tourism industry will need to provide special emphasis on Total Quality Management (TQM), database management, productivity management and management of employees conduct with the customers among others (Kapiki, 2012). This will make sure that the business is moving in the right direction towards maximum sustainability. It is evident that similar to any other sector, competition in this particular industry sector is quite stern. There are a large numbers of players, which include recognised and non-recognised business entities, further making the industry quite fragmented. Hence, it is crucial that any small business unit will need to implement effective pricing strategies in order to attract the customers and shift their attention from the renowned and unknown players in the market. The business should come up with special discounts, attractive packages and gift vouchers among others to capture the attention of the customers under such circumstances. It has been noted from the above discussion that this particular industry is quite strategically driven by high seasonality prospects (Kapiki, 2012). Therefore, business should also come up with pricing strategies that has special focus on the lean seasons, where business operations are deemed to be highly vulnerable. Above discussion of the paper depicts that organisations in the hospitality and the tourism industry are quite interdependent on each other, where the approach taken by one player is dependent on the approach taken by its competitors. Contextually, small business units may implement the strategy to develop alliance with other players in the value chain process, through backward or forward integration, involving airline companies (for transportation facilities), mobile companies (for better promotion) and sea and land transporters (for transportation facilities) and other hotels (to gain a monopolistic power) among others. This will ensure that the business is able to work in a collaborative manner and avoid any sort of hindrances in its operations (Kapiki, 2012; NCOA, n.d.). Apparently, one of the major issues that is associated with the hospitality and the tourism industry is its impact on the environment and the people in the society altogether. Contextually, it is crucial that organisations, operating in this particular sector will need to fulfil their responsibilities toward the environment. In this regard, small business units should initiate or participate in environmental programs like eco-labelling, green key initiatives, travel life sustainability initiatives, energy efficiency strategies and other green practices (Kapiki, 2012). These conducts will ensure that the operations of the business are executed smoothly without hampering the prosperity of the nature and the external environment. The above discussion depicts the strategies that a small business unit needs to adopt in order to operate effectively in this particular industry. However, evaluating the effectiveness of these strategies will also be crucial in order to ensure a profitable and sustainable operation for the businesses. It is worth mentioning in this context that providing quality services to the customers is always a beneficial prospect for any sort of business unit. Providing quality services to the customers will therefore ensure that customers are highly satisfied and their needs are fulfilled by the business. This will further assure profitable results for the business in the form of increased sales, gaining maximum loyalty of the customers, enhancing reputation and developing the brand image of the business among others. These aspects work favourably for any sort of business, irrespective of the type of industry they are operating in (Barrows & Powers, 2008). Hence, the strategy of enhancing services and designing the same in accordance to the needs of the customers is indeed effective and has the potential to enhance the operational efficiency of the business upto a considerable level. Employees are deemed to be backbone for any sort of business and it also corresponds to the hospitality and the tourism industry. It is evident that having an efficient and motivated workforce will do only good for the business. A set of motivated workforce will ensure better productivity, deliver better quality work, reduce absenteeism and reduce employee turnover among others. According to Barrows & Powers (2008), these are all beneficial aspects for a business in the hotel and tourism industry. Hence, the strategy of ensuring a motivated and effective workforce is deemed to be effective upto a larger extent. Furthermore, proper management is believed to be essential in the effective execution of operations in any sort of business. Arguably, management of the business is largely responsible for executing the strategies of the business in practical nature, further ensuring the accomplishment of the organisational goals (Barrows & Powers, 2008). Therefore, the strategy to develop competent management can be considered effective in this particular sector. Pricing is one the major and the most prominent activities for business in the hospitality and tourism industry that directly intends to attract the customers in a profitable manner. Attractive pricing strategies are likely to enable business units to acquire the attention of the customers towards their operations in-spite of stern competition in the market. This helps organisations to ensure loyalty of the customers, further enhancing their competitive positioning in the industry (Brotherton, 2013). Hence, the strategy of ensuring proper pricing will probably prove beneficial for business in the hospitality sector. Furthermore, the paper also recommended strategic alliance for small business that is operating in this particular sector. Through strategic alliance, companies will be able to enhance their brand image and can generate greater awareness among the customers. It will also allow business units to expand their operations into new markets with reduced number of challenges (Chon, 2012). It is in this context that the strategy of enhancing environmental operation of business is quite important in the hospitality in the tourism. Since it is a major issue in this particular sector, business units will need to emphasize more on fulfilling their responsibilities towards the environment and the people in the society altogether (Brotherton, 2013; NCOA, n.d.). Hence, this can also be considered as an effective strategy for the business unit. From the discussion of the paper, it can be summarised that hospitality and the tourism industry of the world is one of the rapid growing industries of the world. Over the years the industry has established its operations making considerable contribution towards the betterment of the global society and the world economy altogether. Observably, there are certain characteristics of this industry that are quite unique and a major reason for its growth over the years. It has been noted that the industry is quite different from other sorts of industries considering the importance of customer services in this sector. In this particular industry, service is regarded as the ultimate product that companies sales to the customers; thereby effectiveness in the same is highly required. Furthermore, the industry is deemed to be highly driven by seasonality in unlike other business industries, which affects the operations of the business to a substantial extent. Besides, another unique aspect of this particular industry is the fact that the industry is quite labour intensive. The importance of human resource is quite higher in this particular sector as compared to other sectors. It will be crucial to mention that the companies that are desired to operate smoothly in this particular sector will need to ensure consideration of the mentioned characteristics while devising their strategies. References Akaegbu, J. B., 2013. An Exploratory Study of Customers’ Perception of Pricing of Hotel Service Offerings in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State, Nigeria. International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 3, No. 13, pp. 234-240. Barrows, C. W. & Powers, T., 2008. Introduction to the Hospitality Industry. John Wiley & Sons. Baum, T., 2012. Migrant Workers in the International Hotel Industry. International Migration Branch and Sectoral Activities Department, pp. 1-49. Brotherton, B., 2013. International Hospitality Industry. Routledge. Cook, S., 2004. Measuring Customer Service Effectiveness. Gower Publishing, Ltd. Chon, K. S., 2012. The Growth Strategies of Hotel Chains: Best Business Practices by Leading Companies. Routledge. 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