The Importance of Hotels and Accommodation in Promoting Tourism - Essay Example

Small Business Name of student: Course name: Instructor’s name: Date of submission: Tourism is considered a social, economic and cultural phenomenon that involves people’s movement to places or countries outside their usual environment. People who travel outside from their home-base environment are known as tourists and aim to spend time visiting different environments in leisure or business capacity. They can also be known as residents, non residents, and even excursionists (Cooper et al., 2008). Those in business and vacationers trips are all considered tourists and may be domestic or international tourists. As a result, a tourism venture is any business that caters for the needs of these tourists. Therefore, it is important to identify the tourism venture that the business is going to focus on. For this case, accommodations are an area that needs to be exploited more by business men because its purpose is to be able to give service to their customers. Within the tourism economy, the largest and most ubiquitous sub-sector falls under lodging or accommodation. In this option, the business will look at caravan parks, hotels, bed and breakfast, camp sites, condos, motels, rental or guest houses, and hostels that are conducive for tourists to stay while travelling. In the tourism industry, accommodation is an aspect that needs to be given a lot of considerations by small business people. In the accommodation option, it is also important for any tourist travelling to another destination to feel safe and at home. The accommodation intended to be offered is serviced where a maid is made available to do the cleaning of rooms, change and make the beds, change the towels and also serve the guests or tourists with food and drink (Saxena, 2008). In the case of the accommodation option in the tourism industry, the motives identified that lead to the success of entrepreneurial activities include family members, role models, skill, economic conditions, knowledge, and support. As stated by many authors, new venture success is the outcome of reciprocal relations among relating variables to the personal characteristics of entrepreneur's background and skills, actions taken and decisions in the process of realizing the venture. Furthermore, the nature and structure of the service or organization developed by the venture, environmental and organizational variables of framework. It is also vital to consider that emphasis is laid on the role of human capital entrepreneur’s. This is in relation to age and a suggestion of a model assuming probability of the survival of a new firm is an increasing function when it concerns the age of the entrepreneur. Tourism business is becoming a fiercely competitive business due to its man-made forces. The driving forces of this industry include information, innovation, science, and technology. Other success factors for this industry include operations, demand, and development (TTF, 2003). Therefore, it is necessary to take into consideration how the resources are managed and also encompasses the extent to which these resources are complemented with the innovations that are man-made. Global change imperatives plus the ideas and concerns raised in country-wide workshops have given rise to the concept “Responsible Tourism.” Tourism ventures are bound to develop having in mind that Responsible Tourism is the key guiding principle. This concept implies the proactive approach by partners in the tourism industry to market, develop and manage the industry in a responsible manner in order to create a competitive advantage. As a result, the tourism venture is going to be responsible to the environment by promoting balanced and sustainable tourism and will give focus to the development of tourism activities that are environmentally based like diving and game-viewing. As such, it becomes the responsibility of the new entrepreneur to ensure that the government and business involve the local communities who are in close proximity to the tourism plant (). Furthermore, attractions are promoted through the development of linkages that are meaningful economically like supply of agricultural produce to lodges and laundry outsourcing among others. Thereby, the concept encompasses respect, invest in and local culture development plus protect them from over-exploitation and over-commercialization. In essence, this will involve the active participation of the local communities and will mean that they will practice development that is sustainable to ensure visitors safety and security. The company intends to offer products and services that meet the needs of all their consumers. In this case, a mix and match option will be offered to the customers. For example, some of the activities likely to benefit the business are having historical or cultural components of the community added to the package of tourist. Also, a food and beverage component can be considered, expertise on ecotourism and nature, or a water or marine sport. However, this all depends on imagination, available contacts and knowledge of what the available markets likes or appreciates as entertainment. In this new venture, the aspect that has been considered with regard to the product offered is uniqueness in terms of having forest walks and dining activities in a man-made forest. In the package, the experience of the tourist will include a night walk in the forest, which culminates to an exotic dinner service in a clearing in the forest under the stars. This is spiced up with entertainment from the local community that portrays their culture. Furthermore, a guide will be there to elaborate more on the stars in the night sky and how the community members appreciate their culture and instill them to the younger generations. From this description, it is evident that the target market for this package will be the cruise market that encompasses newly married couple. In addition, conference groups and tour groups can decide to take this because it gives them a form of relaxation after touring the country (Ahliya, 2010). This will give the tourists a feel of what the community goes through and how they are able to cope with the emerging problems facing the globe. For the meals and drinks, the focus will be on promoting the local cuisine and also exotic foods that are popular among tourists. This will bear in mind the different kinds of people and will have special meals made for each group. Furthermore, the accommodation will consider those groups with families and will ensure that the package encompasses all members to be able to give them the opportunity to enjoy their time together in a strange land. Therefore, the accommodation facilities will be at par with al tourism standards and this implies that all requirements will be made. The unique concept added to the business is the ability to make tourist interact with nature more often. For example, the showers in the rooms will be natural in that the materials used will include trees and branches that bring the feeling of being in the wild. In the rooms and cottages, the beds will be curved in a way that portrays that the customers are in the wild to give them a sense of belonging and assurance that they still conquer the world. The product and or service offered to all customers will be unique because they focus on the needs, preferences and tastes of all customers visiting the place. This implies that the feedback given by customers will be implemented in order to meet all the needs of their customers in a manner that is pocket friendly. Furthermore, the product/service incorporates the needs of all individuals in the community. This also includes the disabled people in the community who need to have a sense of belonging as pertains to extra-curricular activities. This will enable all members of the community to work together in building the economy of their country. This instance makes community members feel appreciated and will give contributions on how to improve the product/service offered to consumers. The part that will differentiate the product offered in this company from competitors is the aspect of belonging. The tourists will be made to feel at home, and all resources at their disposal are intended to meet their unique needs in one way, or another. This leaves them hungry for more and will see to it that the consumers spread the gospel concerning the new venture in town. Security will also be emphasized because they value their customers and will not want to leave them stranded or feeling lonely. Therefore, the full package offered to customers is best described as unique in terms of operations and mode of delivery. The operation objectives of the accommodation business looks into the type of business venture available and service versatility rules in this business scenario. Here, all accommodation types consider the number of stars given to customers. This is an indication of the general quality determinant of the establishment in questions in terms of décor, furnishing, and ambience (VisitBritain, 2013). The accommodation will be classified according to its standard, tangible and intangible elements. For example, quality of products and or personal service will look at the room size, room facility and service availability. The business will ensure that the facility has available staff members who are reachable at all time. Other services offered include baby sitter services and wide range of activities. Furthermore, lighting of the facility will incorporate the use of solar lighting, which is a sustainable form of development that promotes sustainability. When it comes to the intangible aspects of accommodation, issues like the atmosphere and services experienced by guests are vital. As a result, the operations objectives are environmentally, socially and culturally that leads to global ‘best practice’ under responsible tourism. The economic objectives include: a) To be able t establish tourism as a national priority b) To create an investment climate conducive for tourism activities c) To generate foreign exchange and economic growth through aggressive development and tourism promotion d) To promote domestic tourism for the Australian community e) To lengthen the season of tourism in order to minimize the negative effects associated to the tourism industry f) To curb leakages by encouraging linkages between other industries and tourism and thus, stimulate the multiplier effect The social objectives encompass: a. To be able to develop tourism with dignity – for all cultures, mutual respect is encouraged, and this means that all forms of discrimination will be eliminated on the basis of religion, language, race, culture, wealth, sex, and ability among others. b. To promote pride in the country in relation to cultural resources c. To minimize and monitor potential adverse social impacts of the tourism industry d. To promote peace and nation-building through tourism amongst people of Australia. This spills over to the international border and enables people promote greater respect for human life. e. To empower structures in the community like the involvement of communities in the marketing of practices and cultural experiences to the tourists f. To provide appropriate tourism training, education, capacity building and awareness programmes that target neglected groups of people The environmental objectives include: A. To contribute to country-wide coordinated development of environmental strategy B. To make Australia’s tourism industry a leader in responsible practices of the environment C. To encourage sustainable usage and conservation of tourism resources D. To require integrated principles of environmental management for all projects in tourism and all major economic project developments In relation to the safety and security of tourists in Australia, certain policy guidelines need to be applied and include: i. Undertake long and short term strategies and actions that will reduce violence and crime in collaboration with relevant organizations ii. Provide information that is adequate for visitors or tourists, which will help them improve on their safety and security while visiting Australia iii. Ensure that resources devoted to providing the tourists with safety and security are adequate iv. Among appropriate stakeholders, cooperation will be coordinated to ensure that they work together to ensure that tourists safety and security is enhanced v. Appropriate research will be carried out concerning security issues in the tourism industry and thereby, monitor safety and security measures effectiveness vi. Legal procedures appropriate to the security and safety of tourists will be instituted to speedy prosecution cases that involve tourists. The location of the business will be near a water body because tourists love to have an ocean view when they wake up. In addition, this specific location gives the business an added advantage because they will use the available natural resources to build and furnish the accommodation facility. The advantage of this location is in response to the needs of the consumers. Furthermore, having accommodation facilities near such scenery gives the customers the feel of belonging and gives them an opportunity to interact with nature at all levels. Moreover, the location is in proximity to other tourist attraction sites, and this means that tourists will board the facilities for longer periods. The disadvantage with the location is when disaster calamities strike the country, the first place that will be affected is the accommodation facility. The premises for the business will be purchased and built by the help of loans from the bank. The bank will offer 50% of the land amount and the owner will raise the rest of the amount. A rough estimate of the land will cost $1.2 million and the cost for building the facility will be roughly $ 3 million. Family friends, relatives and other organization will make contributions towards the building of the facility because it is something that will benefit the community at large. The inventory management system that is going to be in use is the barcode technology that increases on efficiency while saving on time and money. The system includes hardware and when it gets read at the point-of-sale (cash register that is computerized), then inventory data sales are read immediately to a system much broader and maintains usage statistics. The purchasing department of the business will use the data to make decisions of buying based on existing and sales levels of inventory. This system also manages inventory from the supplier to the receiving. Relevant regulatory requirements will be attained before commencement of the business. This will reduce the chances of having legal issues to deal with when operation of the business begins. Health permits will need to be approved before the construction of the building commences, which will speed up the architectural work to ensure that all environmental approvals have been met (Virender, 2010). It is essential for business operations to ensure that licenses pertaining to their business line are in order to minimize the chances of being on the wrong side of the law. Starting a small business requires owners to fill up so many legal issues, and regulatory and, therefore, attaining all the documents at an early stage gives the business an upper hand. The total number of employees for the business will be 100 and encompasses 50 full-time employees, 20 part-time, and 30 on a casual basis. The full time employees will represent all departments of the accommodation facility. They will then have part-time and casual employees who will give support to them in order to promote tourism activities in a high standard level that is effective and efficient. In the organization, the sources of recruitment present are divided into internal and external sources. For the internal sources, it encompasses retired or retrenched employees, employee referrals, and dependents of disabled, deceased, present and retired employees. External sources comprise of public employment exchanges, professional organizations, outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions, and e-recruitment. The kitchen staff of the accommodation facility will be paid between $1,000 and $2,500 in a week. The receptionist will be given a salary of between $2,000 and $3,000. The grounds people will be given $500 and $1,000 per week. The room attendants will be payed on an hourly basis. The casual employees in the business will be paid on a daily basis because they are not permanent workers. It is essential to ensure that all employees are given a remuneration package that meets all their needs. This will include a health, a car, electricity allowances, telephone, and meals. This package is intended to retain, attract and encourage the employees. The industry of tourism has tremendous potential to create job opportunities. The government gives recognition to appropriate experiences and skills necessary to facilitate growth opportunities in terms of employment and international competitiveness. Tourism Ministers in Australia have led and endorsed work programs under the National Long-Term Strategy and are committed to work together towards achieving the 2020 Tourism Industry Potential (Tourism Australia, 2009). There are projected staffing needs of this industry and the current lack of financial and physical capacity to deliver training and education has rendered the industry in lack of skills. The fundamental pillars of responsible tourism industry in Australia are education and training and the main principles governing the approach are as follows: The private sector is encouraged to increase its commitment to training in the tourism industry Promote awareness of the tourism industry at all societal levels The involvement of both private and public sector are encouraged to promote institutions by giving them education and training of their personnel Training is going to be made more accessible to groups of people in the society who were neglected and this considered affordability, duration, appropriateness, packaging and instruction language At the national and provincial levels of government, training will be executed as a joint responsibility In essence, training and education of the accommodation sector will be enhanced because changes in the tourism sector are evident. Therefore, the business will be in a position to promote training and education for its personnel to be able to maintain their competitive advantage in the tourism. Monthly training and education in the accommodation tourism sector will be done under the supervision of the human resource personnel who will ensure that trainers are brought to the company to ensure that the business is well equipped with skills. The training program will accommodate technological advancements that affect the tourism industry. Thereby, employees will be trained and educated to ensure that they are updated with new software’s that make business operations effective. It is also important to consider new emerging technologies to adapt for their clientele and includes use of solar heating and lighting to promote sustainability measures. References Ahliya, S. (2010). The importance of hotels and accommodation in promoting tourism. Cooper, C., Fletcher, J., Fyall, A., Gilbert, D. & Wanhill, S. (2008). 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