Quality Management Tools for Rotana Hotels in the UAE - Case Study Example

Quality Management Tools for Rotana Hotels in the UAE Institution Affiliation Date Word Count: Between 1,500 words and 2,000 words Quality Management Tools for Rotana Hotels in the UAE Tourism and hospitality industry are the main drivers of the economy of Dubai. Every year, thousands of people all over the world flock into Dubai to experience its hospitality. In 2011, over 8 million visitors were in Dubai either on leisure or for business purposes. The hospitality industry continues to generate more and more jobs to both the local and foreigners (Andrews, 2011, 23). The major attractions are the beaches, parks, museums and the various entertainments joints. The popularity of its hospitality and tourism industry has it been the best choice of destination and remains ahead of other cities like Barcelona, Rome, Hong Kong and Milan. UAE spends a lot of money in investing in world class services and hotels hence the reason as to why they are still ahead of other nations. Apart from investing in sky crappers that serves as hotels, a lot of money is also spent on various marketing activities to market the region. Some of these activities include using the various social media networks and organizing several expos. The five star hotels are performing much better when compared to four star hotels and other types of hotels. A survey that was conducted among the hotels showed that the five star hotels have experienced tremendous growth (309%) since the year 2000 and whose revenues have increased from $1.71 billion to $6.99 billion. While the growth of those from the four stars and other hotels stood at 14.2% and 13.3% since the year 2000 (Elsheshtawy, 2009, 39). The figure below gives an overall view of the comparison of the performance of the various levels of hotels in UAE. Source: www.aiu.edu Despite the economic slowdown that was experienced back in 2012, the hospitality industry in UAE grew by 3.3% and which goes on to show that despite the global economic challenges that were being experienced, the industry still remained resilient enough to weather through the storm (LLC Books, 2010, 57). It has been reported that by the year 2020, UAE will be receiving visitors totaling up to 20 million and this is because the region is preparing to hold the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. About Rotana Hotels Rotana Hotels is a private type of hotel whose headquarters is in Abu Dhabi, UAE and which operates under the hospitality and tourism industry. The areas served include Middle East, Africa, southern part of Asia and Eastern Europe. It was founded in 1992 by Nasser Al Nowais and Selim El Zyr. The hotel has a portfolio of over 100 properties which are located in 26 different cities and which are under five sub brands which are, Rotana Hotels & Resorts, Centro, Hotels by Rotana, Rayhaan Hotels & Resorts by Rotana, Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Rotana and The Residences by Rotana. The value of the hotel is based on the acronym “life” which represents, L-creating a long-term relationship with all the stakeholders, I-innovation, coming up with unique services and products to meet the customer’s needs, F-friendly, offering genuine and friendly service and E-ethical, showing outmost respect to all the stakeholders and ensuring integrity in all the activities. The vision of the hotel is to be the leading hospitality management company in offering a unique mixture of global standards with true and authentic hospitality and offering a treasured experience for all its visitors. The brand promise that the hotel premises is based on time. The hotel promises a treasured time for the visitors who come to visit the hotel. It does this through treasuring the previous time the customers have spent in the hotel. It tries its levels best to ensure the present time that the customer is spending on the hotel adds more value to them and it ensures that the future time that will be spent in the hotel will be enhanced even further. The Objective of Data Collection The main objectives of the study are to have a look at how quality plays a significant role in the operations of the Rotana hotels. The study will also have a look at the various quality processes of the hotel. Apart from looking at quality aspects of the hotel, the study will also look at the entire hospitality and tourism industry in the UAE where Rotana is based. The study will also look at why quality is so critical to this industry and the hotel in particular. Various aspects of the hotel in terms of its background and its mission regarding quality will also be looked at. The various methods that would be used to collect data for this study would be based on web content that are credible enough (Philip, 2011, 79). Some of the information will also be gotten from the website of the Hotel. The operational structure of the company provided an overview of the various processes that the company uses to serve its customers plus also ensure high quality of service delivery. This fact would form the basis for the method that would be used to collect data. Case Study: Rotana Hotel in the UAE The concepts developed in the papers were purposely developed for the processes at Rotana Hotel in the UAE. Rotana hotel has implemented some Guest Satisfaction Schemes that are focused on the importance of service quality. However, prior to this research little was done in-terms of internal quality measurement and the objective of this paper was to develop such a quality metric within the internal hotel processes (Naidu et al, 2006). The processes that were selected in the study were identified because they are likely to give reasonable results within the shortest time frame that was available for the study. The processes that were selected were as follows 1. The hotel reservation process, that was would ensure a seamless transfer of guests as they make their booking until they arrive at their hotel room. 2. The hotel function process was also identified. The organizers book the function room to the completion of the function. The initial step of the entire process was to map the processes in detailed through the use of flow charts. In addition, a meeting was held with various managers in various divisions involved in the process. This manager was believed to understand the aims of the project and would eventually buy-in to the project through their support. Lastly, interviews were conducted with the employees at every stage of the process to identify the quality metrics to be used. This helped in identifying their roles and activities, other staff whom interacted, their source of clients and their information. Having identified the clear steps that involved in each process, measurement points were developed that would allow the assessment according to the timeliness, predictability, satisfaction and integrity (Naidu et al, 2006). A number of these were studied. But, in this paper, we shall focus on the three of them. The Event Order and Luggage Survey The Event Order The Event Order is an order form containing all the information that concerns the customer requirement for a function. This serves to provide with all operational details that concerns the function. Our aim is to determine who effectively the Event Order conveys the accuracy of information to the user of the form. Additionally, it helps to see how the Event Order meets the needs of its clients. Specifically, it contains the details relating to the function, number of guests, the time of the function, costing, payment method and any other requirements for the function. The paper researched the efficacy of this function in consultation with the Catering Manager and Food and Beverage Manager. The purpose of this measure was to measure the level of satisfaction by asking the customers “if event order accurately provided the correct information for them to perform their job satisfactorily. Therefore, the lack of information may result in unclear information leading to the individual seeking more details. In addition, to this, the employees were also required to attach relevant Event Order and also return Event Orders, irrespective if they had been problematic or not. This helped in determining when there had been a problem with the Event Order or not. Meetings were also carried out to determine the trial period for collecting the data. A four week period was deemed appropriate enough to carry out the research. After data collection and analysis the information suggested that there is normal communication between departments. However, there is a need for them to meet on a regular basis to discuss the forthcoming events and sometimes get feedback of past-functions. Such information is missed (Naidu et al, 2006) and (Goetsch, Davis, & Goetsch, 2000). Additionally, even though there was a good flow of information between different departments, everyone is very busy and may simply forget to pass information that could be valuable had it been passed to the other department. Therefore, it becomes imperative the departments consider the necessity to gain through giving feedback as these channels could be most useful. Moreover, the research suggests that the Event Orders were well designed and except for minor errors in the completion of the forms, this information is useful for the needs of the users. Moreover, analysis suggests that a quick feedback has the potential to improve the entire function process if included in the Event Order form. The Luggage Survey The aim of this measurement was to determine the time delay between the guest’s arrival and the delivery of the luggage to the room. This was particularly important because it is the hotel’s policy that an individual checking into a room their luggage should be delivered no longer than 10 minutes after arriving to their room. The measure was based on definite figures and accepted practices that suggest that timely delivery of a customer’s luggage affects customer satisfaction. A number of suggested methodologies were given of how to measure and an approach that measures the timeliness of luggage delivery that recorded the time he reached the room and the time that the luggage was delivered. Furthermore, a questionnaire was designed a handed to the customers that asked the guest if the time of arrival in the room and the time luggage delivery was appropriate (Goetsch, Davis, & Goetsch, 2000) and (Uysal& Williams, 2012). The complete questionnaire was then given to the bellman delivering the luggage and then returned to the Front Desk. This information provided to help in monitoring determine the distribution delays to luggage, then give a clear picture of how the process can be improved. The data collected and analyzed suggested that no guest experienced delays that were longer than 10 minutes and the longest delay was 7 minutes. But, it was noted that the sample size was very small as compared to the number of guests that check-in into the Hotel. Additionally, the hotel mainly clientele were businessmen and women that bring very little or no luggage with them. Therefore, the conclusion that can be drawn from this is that Rotana Hotel standard to deliver there is no data to suggest that they is a problem in the time taken to deliver the luggage to the rooms. Conclusion The major problem is most service based organizations is implementing quality management metrics that provides quantifiable data. This paper has shown how, but focusing on the processes and identifying the appropriate quality metrics, it possible to get such data. Thus, a service based organization needs to measure such instruments to plot possible problems and difficulties that are invisible. However, while the techniques described will need further adaptation and development in different service environment. It is clear that such a “scientific method” cornerstone of quality improvement that is applicable to the “Rotana Hotel” as the others in the hospitality industry. References Andrews, S. (2011). Introduction to tourism and hospitality industry. New Delhi: Tata McGraw- Hill Uysal, M., & Williams, J. A. (2012). Current Issues and Development in Hospitality and Tourism Satisfaction. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Read More