The Goodwood Park Hotel Economic Activities - Case Study Example

Research Project-Hospitality Industry (The Goodwood Park Hotel / Chichester) In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for Foundation Degree Hospitality Management Abstract Hospitality literally means inviting and hosting people from different places, with diverse cultural backgrounds and at the same time carrying on the business activity. Welcoming guests is all pervasive and is central to human civilisation and the lifestyle in different parts of the world. People from the world over travel to Europe to see the freewheeling lifestyle, enjoying their honeymoon trips etc. similarly, tourists going towards the Asian region are also on the lookout for the mysticism associated with these age old traditions. Such differences in cultures make the world all the more interesting, which can only be explored if the respective countries provide good hospitality to the visitors. The visitors in turn will be happy to pay a reasonable amount in return for the services. That’s how the hospitality industry functions. With the emergence of big hotel chains hospitality came into being as an industry in itself. This study is an effort to analyse how The Goodwood Park Hotel has been able to take advantage of the globalisation and increasing economic activities. Introduction In the earlier times, travel to far off places used to take months to years, and it required grit and determination on the part of the adventurers to explore the other part of the world, and if they could live longer enough to go back to their native land, they would narrate the wonderful place that they could see, which in turn would encourage others around to go and see those places. Till the time Wright brothers presented the world with a flying machine, most of such travels used to take place with the help of ships, on foot, on camelback or on horseback. During those times people used to undertake travel as a part of trade and business and the business partner used to take care of the visitors. But gradually, the task of business partner was made easier by the hospitality industry, and such visits started gaining enough momentum after the aeroplanes were pressed into service. The hotel industry prospered with the increasing economic exchanges and cooperation in trades and services. Aims and Objective of the Study Hospitality and tourism literally means carrying out the business activity by taking good care of our guests, with the help of facilities like comfortable stay, quality services, hygienic meals, better communication, transportation etc. Hospitality is all pervasive and has become central to the billion dollar industry and an upsurge in global economic activities. This study is being carried out with an aim of taking a realistic look at how the hospitality industry in general has prospered over the years and how The Goodwood Park hotel has been able to serve different segments of its customers and retain the customer base. In general the study is being undertaken to focus on the following objectives; i. Analyze the process of globalization and how it has impacted the tourism and hospitality industry. ii. Determine the extent of impact that the technology revolution has been able to bring about in the hospitality industry. iii. To identify behavioural patterns of the staff associated with the hospitality industry and how they respond to the ever increasing levels of competition. iv. Determine the factors assisting the surge in economic indicators and how different stakeholders have benefited from this scenario Research Methodology Gathering relevant data for any research decides the basic content and direction of the research. How the research is to be carried out, which are the resources available for the research and how much time will be required to carry out the research, are some of the key questions which help in deciding to go for qualitative or quantitative analysis. Both types of analysis require data and facts and figures, which can be gathered either through primary sources or secondary sources. Since the nature of this study involves a broader analysis of the hospitality sector, together with analysing the key strategies adopted by The Goodwood Park hotel, it will therefore be useful to have secondary as well as primary resources. While secondary sources will be used to have a glimpse of the industry, economic activities and levels of competition; primary data will be used to have the idea about how the services are being provided by The Goodwood Park hotel to the fullest satisfaction of its customers and how the management is able to motivate the staff for their best contribution towards optimising the resources and keeping the satisfaction levels high enough for the customers. Some of the primary sources will be the interviews and opinions that we seek to solicit from the hotel staff and service providers. The research used in this discussion comes from several sources including books, government documents, reputed websites and scholarly journals. The research also relies upon documentary evidences. Some of the main steps involved for this project are; 1. Referencing Journals and Other Research Work: This involves going through some of the latest data available in the public domain and libraries. We will extract some information about Goodwood Park from its website, the press releases from company during the last couple of months/ years and media reports about the company. Hospitality Trends (http://www.htrends.com/), British Hospitality Association (http://www.bha.org.uk/) are some of the good websites to get an update on what’s happening in the industry in general and in UK and surrounding countries in particular. This will also provide us the material to compare the performance of Goodwood Park with some of the competitors in the industry. During the course of study, we will also study, some of the reputed journals like ‘International Journal of Hospitality Management’ to gain an insight into some of the research work carried by industry analysts and experts. Market Research companies like Mintel will prove to be an important source of information while carrying out the comparisons. 2. Administering Questionnaire With the help of questionnaires, we can gain access to some first hand information from the concerned people and the organisation. For this study, we will make use of some yes/no or objective type questions and some open ended questions. Open ended Questions: Though in general the researcher is supposed to be an expert in his/ her field, but the research and the circumstances could vary to a great extent depending upon the circumstances, the societal beliefs, presumptions, geographical features of the place and a number of other things. Therefore open ended questions help the researcher in gaining good amount of information, which till now was not known. Sometimes, trivial issues, which often get neglected on account of oversight or the circumstances, prove to be of immense importance in determining a particular type of behaviour. For the purposes of this questionnaire, two open-ended questions were incorporated; these questions were designed to allow for the respondents to list all resources at their disposal. This would allow the researchers to identify any unknown or new resources that were available to professionals. Such open ended questions help in; Developing ideas, which in turn lead to further inquiry, investigation, and research in to the subject. Determining theoretical probabilities. Predicting the outcomes of the investigation and comparing the results with the hypothesis. Ethical Considerations Whilst this study required participation of human subjects, consent and confidentiality was a significant issue; this study communicated its aim and purpose to the participants through the covering letter accompanying the questionnaires. The covering letter also listed the contact information of the researchers and other details. By providing this relevant information, they were made aware about the study prior to completing or sharing any information. Acquiring informed consent is vital to a researcher. Such a consent document serves as protection both for participants and for the researchers involved. Data collection Simple frequency tables have been used to help draw out and sort the information gathered from the returned questionnaires. The number of responses reflecting each possible answer and the number of unique responses are indicated on the accompanying tables. These findings have then been pulled together into a report format with preliminary notes and comments used to explain the presented information in detail. Sample Composition: For this study we handed over the questionnaire to the 125 employees of Goodwood Park. We arrived at this figure keeping in mind that there will be some people who may not be able to return the completed questionnaire in time. Our aim is to have at least 100 completed questionnaires before we take up the analysis work. In addition possibility will also be explored to get some primary info from the customers of the hotel. This will help in ascertaining the satisfaction level of these guests and what more would they look forward to have value for their money. Determinants of Tourism and Hospitality Industry For the tourism to prosper it requires an environment of market friendly policies together with industrial development and an overall prospering economy. Tourism, having different forms is supposed to be one of the largest industries in the world, with newer vistas of growth emerging each year. Be it in the form of medical tourism, educational/ literary tourism, religious tourism, business tours etc. the industry has been prospering in good measure. Some of the countries in the developing world like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mauritius etc. have been earning their foreign exchange through tourism only, as it requires lesser amount of recurring investments. But UK is a country where, the production and manufacturing industry has a good contribution to the economy together with a large number of services industries, the IT industry etc. which has been able to attract large number of migrant population from elsewhere to the country. Increase in the number of visitors, in any form, leads to an increase in tour, travel and hospitality activities, which in turn helps in propagating good words about the potential of the country/ region. Before considering the impact of tourism, it is necessary to identify what the tourism here means. Tourism includes elements like such as the tourists, hospitality services, travel related services, government support at different levels for implementing friendly tourism policies and the support of locals. McIntosh et al defined tourism in Gartner (1996) as, “The sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the interaction of tourists, business suppliers, host governments, and host communities in the process of attracting and hosting these tourists and other visitors”. A visitor is one of the important elements in the tourism industry can be defined as “any person travelling to a place other that of his/her usual environment for less than twelve months and whose main purpose of trip is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited” (Wall and Mathieson, 2006). Such visitors prove to be the key elements in propagating the cause of the hospitality sector. The hospitality industry has become fiercely competitive in view of the globalisation and liberalisation of economy. No business can prosper without approaching the existing as well as prospective customers. Intense marketing efforts therefore happen to be the key elements of a success story. The hospitality industry includes hotels, restaurants, resorts, conference halls, travel agencies, theme parks, historical sites etc. Development of infrastructure by the government, enough efforts for maintaining natural balances, easing the travel related formalities are some of the steps that the government of the day are supposed to undertake to invite more tourists in the country. Therefore, tourism industry as such depends upon a range of factors and other industries. The Goodwood Park Hotel: Managing Quality, Customers and Performance Part of the Goodwood group, the hotel boasts of a sprawling 12,000 acres of Goodwood Estate with availability of two stunning 18 hole golf courses and The Kennels clubhouse, horse racing, health club and the motor sports. The existing accommodation strength of about 100 rooms is being upgraded towards extending its capacity and making it more spacious. Competition is one of the prime factors for not allowing the management to become lethargic in its approach. In order to take on the competition, Goodwood chain of hotels has been consistently on the lookout for improvement in services, mergers and acquisition. Quality and Customer Focus: Hospitality is one industry where the customer is consistently on the lookout for best available services at reasonable prices. Therefore, taking good care of the customer, by adhering to highest standards of quality and with the focus always on the comforts of the customer are the key elements of the industry. The Goodwood Park has the privilege of being part of a strong group having stakes in activities like motor sports, horseracing, Golf, flying, shooting, cricket etc. All such activities prove complementary in nature towards the hospitality sector. This also helps the group to segment their customers in different categories depending upon their preferences and other criteria. Therefore the group has been able to focus on customers from different segments, depending upon their taste for particular type of sporting activities and paying capacities. The purpose of a customer varies from being on a honeymoon trip to a business conference. Therefore the nature of their requirements too keeps varying. At times hospitality industry provides free Wi-Fi high speed internet access to its guests as a complementary benefit. This helps in keeping the customer in good humour and ensures customer loyalty. Hospitality industry resorts to Revenue Management (RM) which is a scientific technique combining Operations Research, Statistics and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). This technique also segments the customers, depending upon their paying capacity, usage of various services etc. Also the needs and requirements of a business traveller happen to be quite different from that of a vacation traveller. Revenue Management process also involves demand forecasting and pricing of the different market segments. For hospitality industry it is relatively easy to install a Wi-Fi network as compared to wired LAN as it requires minimum cabling. Hospitality industry has the potential of making the client feel at home. But slight aberration in understanding the client and his needs may prove to be quite costly and nightmarish experience both for the industry as well as to the customer. Hospitality industry is indeed going to benefit immensely from the judicious use of technology in general and IT in particular. Wi-Fi networking is the hottest on block at the moment with more and more hotel chains allowing their guests to make free use of the Wi-Fi networks for remaining in touch with their family and friends back home or to use the conferencing facilities with their business partners. But, at the same time the industry will have to find convincing responses to the security issues and related apprehension of the customers. Issues like breach of privacy and data security are the prime concerns for a customer. Data Analysis In order to assess the adaptability of management and the workforce of Goodwood with the changing times we designed a questionnaire and got it filled up from the worker groups. Details of the questionnaire and the sample size are as below; Sample size: 100 workers (Approx) Questionnaire distributed to 125 workers Filled up questionnaires received back: 100 The questionnaire was designed to invite input on various areas through the use of several forms of questions. Participants were invited to answer each question to the best of his or her ability and as thoroughly as possible within the allotted time-frame. The survey consisted of: Open-ended questions Checklists Read More