Creating Enjoyable Experience in the Hospitality Industry - Coursework Example

Assessment project Name: Lecturer: Course name: Course code: Date: Creating enjoyable experience This is a strategy done by hospitality industry or an in-house guest by moving away from mere services and facilities to creating a meaningful event that customer/guests will encounter personally live through or undergo. These experiences are induced by what the guests see, hear, taste, smell, touch or perceive during the visit to a hospitality industry. In order to create an enjoyable experience, the following exceptional has to be applies The quality of food- beverages and food are perhaps the greatest indicators of quality that a customer can notice. The quality of food is vital to the overall impression of the customer of the entire experience in the hospitality industry Quality atmosphere- when guests enter into a restaurant/ in-house guest, they should feel as though they are in a special place. This can be achieved through deliberate choice of lighting as to suit the choice to be portrayed to a guest. The choice of the volume of music also creates an enjoyable experience to the guests. The restaurant should also be decorated with a unique or a special theme. Room temperature should be maintained very comfortable and also hot spots from lights should be minimized as much as possible (Kusluvan, 2012). Memorable services-the services that guests experience immediately they enter into the restaurant till they are out are much better than the quality of food itself. The customer’s needs should precede that of restaurants that is to make sales. Sexualized labour Sexualized labour is a traditional norm of women in hosting hospitality industry who are willing to have sexual intercourse with visiting guests so as to offer the enjoyable experience, and exceed the satisfaction of the guest and also ensure the solidarity of the community. In the contemporary society, the intention of hospitality was not only to expected to provide ease and comfort to visiting guests, but also to facilitate hospitable relations between the house-hold males or husbands and the guests. The honour of a woman depended on how she treated her guests i.e. like in the case of early modern England where hospitality at home was majorly concerned with such values like honour, generosity and status (Tim Knowles, 2010). In the contemporary society, sexualized labour was depicted on how respectable women offered their hospitality and this was done through the following: Women would offer bed to the guest upon his arrival and also a warm bath before he dines and also make the status of the stranger to that of privileged guest. In the traditional societies, relationship amongst men was mediated by exchanging women. This was done through various mediation processes, for instance, women would intercede to bring acceptance between the male guests and male host. Other ways in which women incorporated guests into a group included sexual relations i.e. through exogamy. On the other hand, women were married to other groups so as to incorporate men from other clans into that of the woman. Furthermore, women who belonged to the hosting community were loaned on temporary basis to the guest to engage in sexual relation for the period of the stranger’s stay (Woodside, 2008). Consumption trends in Australia Changes in agricultural practices over the last few years have led to the increase in the global capacity to foods for its residents through the expansion of productivity, diversification of foods and less seasonal dependence. Availability of food in Australia has increased as a result of increase in income and the falling of food prices. This has led to considerable changes in consumption patterns over the last few years. Continuous influx of migrants from all over the world into Australia has changed the taste and acceptance of food just about every cuisine available. Food and other vegies has been almost a thing of the past in the country (Tim Knowles, 2010). In the contemporary society, consumption is a way through which a consumer’s identity is formed. With the collapse of established structures of meaning, consumers are looking for new sources of identity that can provide some security in an increasingly turbulent society. Food has become a vital factor in search for identity since people are what they eat. Food has is necessary to the politics of the body and also a means of supporting and forging identities i.e. the basic aspects of culture is include what we eat and the way we eat (Marianna Sigala, 2012). The largest part of consumption in Australia goes to cereal products as it I sin the rest part of the world. The consumption of sugar products and meat is also very high as compared to the rest of the countries. As for the hotel industry, they should identify the consumption patterns of their guests. For this case, guests from the Australian market should be served with food that will create enjoyable experience in the restaurant. As it can be seen, consumers are after their identity and what they eat depicts who they are. This is an opportunity that the hospitality industry should maximize by designing the kind of food that can the customers could like to be identified with. On the other hand, hospitality industry should understand consumer’s behaviours and perceptions. Understanding all these can help identify and come up with new products, refine existing food products, target new segment and restructure their marketing activities (Tim Knowles, 2010) Power distance: serving the customers at the place work may vary depending from class to another. In essence, power should be distributed equally, but according to cultural variability it may not be so. According to Hofstede’s values of cultural variability, cultures that have low power relations expect unequal distribution of power. This is applicable when offering hospitality services to people from various backgrounds. For instance, the power distance index for Japanese is 54 whereas for Australians is 36. This means that the Japanese guests have high consultative power and directly reflects the power of services and power they get. On the other hand, Australian guests have lower power distance index thus low consultative power. Masculinity and femininity: the disparity of the emotional roles between genders varies from one community to another. For instance, the masculinity/femininity index for Australians is 61 while that of Japanese is 95. The associated masculine culture is assertiveness, power, competitiveness and ambition whereas feminine cultures have preference on quality of life and relationships. If, for instance, Australian guest orders food in a restaurant, the way they perceive food is significantly different from the Japanese guests. Essentially, the males will take food competitively according to the class as well as their wealth. On the other hand, women will take to improve their health and improve the quality of living (Lynn Van der Wagen, 2008). Individualism: The extents to which people are integrated into certain groups vary from one culture to another. In individualistic set ups, a lot of emphasis is put on individual rights and personal achievements. Factually, people should stand up both for themselves and their families and choose their affiliations. In a hospitality set up, for example a restaurant, it is expected that guests sit together especially those who come together. This will enable uniform service and peaceful cohesion at dining tables. Nevertheless, cultural backgrounds may not allow some groups to stay together but rather everybody has his/her way of behaving. Japanese, for instance like staying together, as seen from their individualism index (46) as opposed to Australians (90). If you are offering hospitality services, Australians like individualism more than Japanese who like collectivism. Innovations that may improve customer satisfaction Embracing the technological advancements: The world is very dynamic in its advancements and coping with it is very important. Hospitality departments can make its services automated to ease customer service. They can carry out the following: Online booking of goods and services- Customers can order for their products and services at their homes without necessarily being there. These departments should be equipped with the entire internet services. When a customer wants to book, for instance accommodation services, he/she does it at his/her discretion. This will enable the hotel industry to run smoothly, avoid conflict of interest and minimize any form of favours (Kusluvan, 2012). Use of modern machines- use of machines in making foods and offering other services attract customers. For instance, using smokeless cookers improves the quality of food taste. Furthermore, it makes the work faster to meet the customer demands. Most of the restaurants may not reach all the customers at the right time, especially during rush hours. Lodges should also use heaters and coolants to promote customer service. Placing of orders for foods can be automated. The customers may sit at dining tables and place orders via auto-menu service. The world tries to reduce human labour and use machinery and equipment to cut done production costs and maximize profits. In any case, serving of foods can be done by automatic robots (Griffin, 2008). Improving customer relations- good customer relations encourage customers to come again. When customers are served with all the respect and courtesy they deserve, they will love to bring others when they come. This means that the hospitality department should employ experienced workers both in front door operations and dining places. The receptionists should be trained to handle all calibres of people without showing any withdrawal syndromes. The success of the hotels is basically on how the customers are served and the organization of the entire process. In future, the waiters should be conversant with more than one language to reach others who may not understand the native language. In fact, several waiters from different backgrounds should be recruited to serve at different levels. This will enhance good communication and customer relations. Globally, the hotel services may be advertised on the quality of service offered. Serving variety of foods: customer needs vary from time to time. In most occasions, customers want foods according to their needs and standards and not necessarily what has already been prepared. If a Chinese guest visits an Italian restaurant, he may not get exactly what he needs according to their culture. Therefore, an inclusive menu should be made to meet all the customer needs. In some occasions, customers are seen taking alternatives; not because of their wish, but since there is no any other option to do. Such customers may not come again. If this is not possible, the hotel or the restaurant should be very flexible to prepare foods and offer services outside their plan. This will ensure customers’ satisfaction. How to speak with the customers- in any food service environment, speaking with customers should involve courtesy and utmost respect. While speaking to customers, workers should follow the following guidelines: Use respectful titles, like “ma’am” and “sir” Know the menu so as to speak intelligently in order to educate guests Listen with a lot of respect and care to what the guest is saying Speak with a smile and be optimistic One has to ask questions so as to clarify the customer’s order in case there is any confusion Be straightforward and honest with customers at all times, especially if there is a problem. Reference List Griffin, R, 2008. Hospitality and Tourism. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press. Kusluvan, S, 2012. Managing Employee Attitudes and Behaviors in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Nova Publishers. Laws, E, 2009. Improving Tourism and Hospitality Services. CABI. Lynn Van der Wagen, C.D, 2008. Supervision and Leadership in Tourism and Hospitality. Manchester: Cengage Learning EMEA. Marianna Sigala, E.C.U.G, 2012. Social Media in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality. London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. McCabe, S, 2011. Marketing Communications in Tourism and Hospitality. London: Routledge. Tim Knowles, D.D, 2010. The Globalization of Tourism and Hospitality. NY: Cancage. Woodside, A.G, 2008. Advances in Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research. Emerald Group Publishing. Read More