Feasibility Analysis of Tours Choice Restaurant - Case Study Example

Tours Choice Restaurant Name Institution Course Lecturer Date Executive summary Tourism industry in Australia has recently been reported to be a great contributor to the country’s overall GDP growth. This is as a result of various enticing factors in the country that encourages tourist to visit the country. Key among them is the country’s peaceful and cool weather and extensive coastal beaches surrounding the country. Wine productions another factor that attracts tourists in Australia (Australia 2006). With this in mind, Tours Choice restaurant aims at venturing into this sector in a bid to fill an existing gap. Tours Choice restaurant as discussed in this paper is targeted to be established in Darwin city, which is a fast growing city in Australia. Furthermore, the city is well endowed with highly productive industries such as energy and mining industry. Tours Choice restaurant will be providing a wide range of products and services such cultural meals, wine, accommodation, variety entertainment, among others for both local and international tourists. The company has several competitive advantages as discussed in this paper, as compared to the existing ones. The operation plan consists of activities that will be carried out towards the establishment of the company. This will include an overview of how the restaurant will be carrying out its day to day activities aiming at maximum sales, thus substantial returns. The plan shows the company’s competitive advantage in terms of its location and proximity to its inputs as well as the targeted market. Moreover, premises acquisition and the production process are also well discussed. Table of Contents Executive summary 2 Table of Contents 3 1.1 Description of the Australia tourism industry 4 1.2 Product description 5 1.3 Product differentiation and benefit 6 1.4 Operation plan 6 1.5 Facilities required 9 1.6 Maintenance of the facilities 10 1.7 Supply of the materials 11 1.8 Tours Choice Inventory management system 11 1.8.1 Dealing with seasonal demand variations 12 1.9 Regulatory and legal issues 12 1.9.1The personnel layout 12 1.9.2Training, development and performance appraisal 14 2. Technical Feasibility for Tours Choice restaurant 15 References 16 1.0 Introduction Tours Choice restaurant will be a deluxe and highly modernized restaurant that will be devised to meet the immediate needs of its customers both locally and internationally. The company will be established in Darwin city (Getz 2000). It is intended to provide a variety of foodstuffs, drinks, accommodation and other tourist associated convenienc1es. Alongside these services the restaurant will also offer a range of facilitates including showrooms, theatre auditoriums, conference rooms, sport rooms, casinos among other tourist services. The restaurant management will be bestowed on me as its sole owner with the help of other resourceful employees. Apart from involving skilled man power in its management, I will also establish mutual links with other similar minded service providers to ensure that, Tours Choice restaurant offer the best quality products and services to its customers. Moreover, I will ensure that the restaurant has a lucrative reputation among other supportive service providers such as transport providers, security and local authorities so as to enhance freedom and a fear-free stay of its customers within the premises of the restaurant. (Hall 1991) 1.1 Description of the Australia tourism industry Recently tourism industry has been rated one of the key contributor to the growth of Australian economy. According to the recent statistics tourism accounts for 3.7% GDP growth in the Australia’s economy according to 2013 TSA report. The domestic tourism accounted for approximately 70% of this growth while the international tourism was approximately 30%. This growth rate is quite encouraging as it is in the pathway towards attaining its long-term set annual growth of 4.5%. The number of tourists into the country has gradually been increasing since 1997 with only a slight hiccup in 2008-09 that resulted from the global financial crisis. The industry is able to provide employment opportunities to over 500,000 people. With high inflow of international tourists the industry has led to a major growth to the country’s foreign currency. According to Tourist Satellite Account it approximates that the industry contributes about 9% of the country foreign currency earnings. Australia has several natural historic and indigenous heritage places that attract tourists from all over the world. This includes those sites owned by the UNESCO and the common wealth though controlled by the Australian government. Other attraction sites include; the Queensland, the coastal cities of Melbourne and Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, the recent started SmartGate among others. (Crouch, Schultz and Valerio 1992) Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC 2006) of Australia research, recent results on inbound and outbound, domestic travels etc. on the economy of Australia have shown that over the past years they have greatly improved the country’s economy. The TFC forecast a 5.6% inbounds increment in the sector by 2015. This currently observed and the expected growth in the sector is associated with the country’s increased number of tourist attraction destinations as we as the country’s s political stability that has prevailed over the past. In addition the country’s spectacular weather, sunshine and the outstanding natural beauty as well as outdoor dining lifestyle attracts many all over the world. Another major contributing factor to the country’s increase in the number of tourists is the production of fresh wine flavours produced there. However it is worthy to note that these improvements have not been without the present of external factors that sometimes counteracts the industry’s efforts to improve the country’s economy. (Athanasopoulos and Hyndman 2008) These factors are such as political factors, environmental factors, and social factors etc. 1.2 Product description Tours Choice restaurant will be providing the following products and services to both local and international consumers; Beverages – Tours Choice restaurant will provide various types of drinks including soft drinks, energy drinks and quality fresh flavoured locally produced wine. Foodstuffs- this will entail global cuisines (where various cultural meals will be offered), customer tailored breakfast, lunch and dinner. Recreation – the restaurant will offer such services as swimming, boating and water sports services, casinos, variety entertainment where locally recognized artists and comedians will be staged, children tailored games Accommodation – the accommodation will consist of a wide range of suites that fits the consumers’ needs such as honeymooners, business and government officials, single and double rooms. The rooms will be well furnished with such facilities as flat screens television, internet access, garden view and bathrooms. There will be 24 hour customer assistance desk, security and other service provider attendants. 1.3 Product differentiation and benefit Tours Choice restaurant will offer services and product that are of their kind, fitted with current and modernized features so as to differ from any other similar service provider such as Palmerston restaurant (Rosen 1974). The foodstuffs offered will range from the country’s cultural meals to other international cultural meals. To the youths the restaurant will offer variety entertainment that will be inviting the locally and internationally recognized artists and comedians. The casino will be managed and supervised to ensure that no opportunists who may wish to come to take advantage of other. Gym and massaging facilities will be offered at affordable prices. In the conference rooms, projector and writing materials will be provided by the restaurant as well as internet accessibility. The restaurant will also have a modernized theatre where plays and other works of art may be performed. This will mainly be offered to capture the art students and authors of plays as well as media comedians. There will also be rental rooms for music production that will be furnished according to the music producer desires. 1.4 Operation plan This section provides an overview of how the restaurant will be carrying out its day to day activities aiming at maximum sales, thus substantial returns. The plan shows the company’s competitive advantage in terms of its location and proximity to its inputs as well as the targeted market. Moreover, premises acquisition and the production process are also well discussed. The restaurant will occupy 2500,000 square foot ground size. The buildings, including the offices, accommodation, catering area, conference and theatre halls as well as the central storage for the company, will occupy approximately 1500,000 square foot. Though the cost of acquiring the premises is deemed to be quite high there are several measures that the company has put into consideration pertaining its financing. The premise will be leased rather than purchasing due to the high cost that will later be incurred in furnishing the restaurant. The leasing, building and furnishing cost is estimated at $ 3.5 million. The service delivery path of the restaurant will be well structured to ensure that the company does not lose any customer who visits the premises. This will be achieved by establishing a logical and an enticing flow of activities starting from the point where the customer makes a book to the company. The company will encourage online booking for the services; it will have a high speed server that is able to receive as many bookings as possible at a time. For the international tourists, once they arrive at the airport the company will organize for their transportation to the company’s premises through the restaurants appointed travel operators. At the restaurant the customer will be allowed to have an ample time to rest at the reception room where they will be served with a drink of their choice as they enjoy cool music in the room. The reception will also be fitted with 100 inch screen size programed to display the various services offered in the restaurant. Afterwards the Tours Choice hotel attendants, directs the guests to the suites of their choice in the company. During the guest’s stay in the restaurant, he/she will be allowed to enjoy all the services that he/she prefers with the help of well-trained service providers at the Tours Choice restaurant. The guests are also not restricted from obtaining any service outside the company if a tall it is not available within the premises of Tours Choice restaurant. At the time of their departure from the restaurant, arrangements about their transportation to the airport are again made by the company. The flow chart below illustrates the above discussed service delivery path of Tours Choice restaurant, Customer books for the services online Arrival at airport (if from outside the Australia), domestic tourist can use other means of transport Reception at Tours Choice restaurant Customer served according to their preferences Back to the airport (for the international visitors) domestic visitors may use their means if they prefer so. 1.5 Facilities required For the running of the restaurant several factor inputs will be required to be supplied. These facilities include the following; The restaurant will require catering related facilities such as cookers, cutlery, and utensils etc. other kitchen appliances will include chairs, tables, refrigerators, ovens, coffee machines, microwaves, electric countertop fryers, beverage equipment, dispensers, dishwashers among others. These are estimated at $30,000. The company will also need transport facilities for carrying various goods that will be needed in the restaurant especially the essentials that are not supplied to the firm by the outside suppliers. Moreover for the purpose of transporting the customers especially those from outside the country to and from the airport, the company will hire three Tour van. The total cost for the vehicles is approximated at $60,000 per annum. The company will employ technological luggage checking security gadgets as well as aerial CCTV and alarm system that will ensure total security against any illegal intruder into the company. This is approximated at $10,000 per year. The internet servers are projected to spend about $500 yearly. The office gear, computers, photocopiers, printers and other supporting software will be bought by the company at an approximated cost of $10,000. The company will purchase accommodation facilities and their fittings such as beddings, foot gear, bathroom accessories, and showers among others. These are approximated at $30,000. 1.6 Maintenance of the facilities To ensure that the equipment bought last a little longer, the company will employee a routine checking for all facilities that require to be checked. For the vehicles the company will hire trained mechanics who will be ensuring their repair and maintenance. Other internal appliances that need frequent inspection such as the music system, Tours Choice restaurant will train some of the employees on basic maintenance skills so they can be checking on their functionality. The company that will supply the CCTV and alarm systems will be undertaking their inspection twice in a month. For the computers, printers and photocopiers an IT expert will be employed to ensure that the machines are in good condition. For any other repair requirements such as the piped water system and the electricity supply experts will be hired to ensure that the systems are running safely. (Hall and Macionis 1998) Tours Choice restaurant, however, expects that within the next two years of operation she will have acquired her own tour van, open a filing station and repair section for the vehicles. I also intend to ensure that all employees will be trained on fire and other calamities management to enhance the safety of the company’s equipment. 1.7 Supply of the materials As mentioned above the restaurant will heavily depend on external supply of various materials. The suppliers of these materials to Tours Choice restaurant will be reliable and trustworthy providers of the required products. The company will ensure that each line of supply is served by a specialized provider of that particular commodity (Hu, Grozev and Batten 2005). The tender for the supply of each line of commodity will be placed in the various print media in the country. A non-refundable fee of $ 50 will be charged for the application of the tender. The suppliers will be selected on a competitive bidding system (Mokyr 1999). After the submission of the tenders, the procurement experts evaluate them so as to arrive at the preferred bidder. The procurement experts will critically look at the feasibility of technical solution that the bidder proposes, whether it is deliverable, robust and whether it is based on reliable technologies. The bidder should also meet all the minimum company’s technical requirements and its financial and cost structure should be considerable and consistent with the bidder’s technical solution. The bidders who succeed will enter into a two financial year contract that will be renewable subject to supplier’s adherence to the agreed standards of product delivery as stipulated on the contract. Failure to supply quality goods or any other form of failure observed the contract renewal will not be accepted. (Banks 2002) 1.8 Tours Choice Inventory management system In consideration with the high demand for the various materials needed in the company, an order point system will be employed in servicing the company’s inventory. A perpetual inventory record will be maintained and revealed on a continuous basis so as to observe when the maximum and the minimum inventory levels are reached. The inventory management will ensure the ordering costs are minimized by setting a considerable re-order point level taking into consideration the capacity of the company’s store. This will help minimize the cases of shortages and stock-outs. 1.8.1 Dealing with seasonal demand variations Tours Choice restaurant operations will run throughout the year, both in peak and off-peak seasons. During the peak seasons the company will ensure continuous flow of customers by engaging in a vibrant advertisement of the restaurants products. The company will also ensure that the contact relationship with its customers is one that creates an experience worth capturing or winning their loyalty to the restaurant at all times. During this season the company will also offer its products and services at subsidized level as compared to other firms in bid to maximize the company’s market share and profits (Schackmuth and Sus 2006). When customers’ turn out is low as compared to other times Tours Choice will maintain its balanced cash inflow and outflow by hiring some of its workers on part time basis. It will also maximize on other income generating activities such as variety entertainment, children games, theatre art and music concerts as well as casino. Tours Choice will involve the country most influential and popular artists in its entertainments and shows. The casino will also be efficiently run to ensure customer service priority. 1.9 Regulatory and legal issues The licensing, permit and registration of the company will take place before the operations of the company begins. The company will abide by all Australia’s regulatory guidelines as stipulated in ABLIS (Australia Business licensing and Information Service). Tours Choice will ensure that it is in line with the local authority rules and regulations as well as the environmental requirements. 1.9.1The personnel layout The success of Tours Choice lies solely on its service providers, this comprises of all the workers in the company permanent, part-time and casual labourers as well as their remuneration. The table below shows the distribution of the workers in Tours Choice restaurant. (Walker et al 1998) Terms of employment Position Number of employees Recruitment source Remuneration Permanent Overall operations manager 1 formal $4000-5000 permanent Human resource manager 1 formal $350-450 Permanent Catering supervisor 2 formal $350-450 Permanent Accommodation manager 2 formal $300-400 Permanent IT manager 1 formal $330-430 Permanent Sales manager 3 formal $330-430 2permanent 1part time Customer assistant officer 3 formal $280-380 2permanent 2part time Senior chef 4 formal $2000-250 1permanent 2part time Wine specialist 3 informal $1500-2000 25permanent 10 part time Cooks 35 formal $1000-1500 5permanent 3part time Wait staffs 8 informal $1000-1500 3permanent 2part time Short order cook 5 informal $1000-1500 2permanent 2part time Baker 4 formal $1000-1500 2permanent 2part time Drivers 4 formal $500-1000 4permanent 2part time Accounting and clerical staff 6 formal $500-1000 2permanent 1part time Electricians 3 formal $500-800 3permanent 2part time Housekeepers 5 informal $500-800 3permanent 2part time Security personnel 8 formal $500-800 3permanent 2part time Grounds persons 5 informal $300-700 The employees will be recruited into various positions depending on their areas of academic specialization. As discussed above formal sources of recruitment shall be used to advertise for any available job vacancy in the company. The willing potential employees shall be required to write a formal letter of application to the company, and them a comprehensive screening of the letters will be carried out until the preferred candidates are arrived at. The candidates will then be invited for oral interview from where the final candidate best suited for the position will be arrived at. Before embarking to start working the potential employee shall undergo a medical check and the results availed to the company. 1.9.2Training, development and performance appraisal Once the employee signs the letter of acceptance for the position recruited for, they will undergo a six month training while in probation before they are fully inducted into the company as full time employees. During the training the employees will be trained on various skills pertaining health, how to handle customers so as to establish a long lasting relationship with them, various risk pandemic management skills among others. It should be noted that the remuneration indicated above is inclusive of the employees a salary allowances as well as the superannuation contributions. The terms of employment will determine the length of the time an employee will spend in the company. For instance, those under contract the contracts will be renewable within six months. The performance appraisal will be conducted by an internal auditor which will entail evaluation questions on each employee on their specific areas of operation. The rate of salary increment to the employees will be based on their performance and the results from of the performance appraisal evaluation. (Berger and Anderson1999)s 2. Technical Feasibility for Tours Choice restaurant Given that the tourism industry in Australia is increasingly growing as the country’s most productive industry, the likelihood of Tours Choice making its way into the industry is very high. Another advantage is that the company will be located on a very strategic place that has not been ventured by many. Darwin city which has currently been ranked among the most upcoming and developing capital cities in Australia and whose population has been recorded to have a growth rate of 2.6% since the 2006 census, gives the company great hopes of success (Morris et al 2005). Moreover, the mining and energy production farms have continuously led to migration of people from around the neighboring communities of Aboriginal to Darwin city (Lawton 2005). However, the greatest concern of the company is the unfavourable climatic conditions including the cyclones that may pose a problem to the development of the company. Another challenge is the competition from other already established companies such as the Skycity Entertainment group (Vaseloff and Veltrop 2006). There is also high startup cost required to commence and maintain the company in operation. Therefore it can be concluded that the company would be feasible if there would be clear channels of raising the money to start the company. References Athanasopoulos, G., & Hyndman, R. J. (2008). Modelling and forecasting Australian domestic tourism. Tourism Management, 29(1), 19-31. Australia, T. W. (2006). Tourism Western Australia. Australian Government Productivity Commission. (2009). Executive Remuneration in Australia. Banks, G. (2002). Inter-State bidding wars: calling a truce. Speech to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Brisbane, 6, 163-77. Berger, N., & Anderson, K. (1999). Consumer and Import Taxes in the World Wine Market: Australia in International Perspective. 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