Experience at the National Multicultural Event - Case Study Example

Experience at the National Multicultural Event Name: Instructor name: Subject: Date of submission: Introduction With the increasing levels of globalization resulting from liberalization of markets, efficient flow of information, and integration of markets, the level of competition in the hospitality sector has increased tremendously. This has resulted from the entry of multinational companies which have a huge financial base to segment the market, position their products or services strategically in the market and attract customer loyalty towards their products. Therefore, for the local businesses to compete, they must understand the consumer behavior. In order to understand this concept, I will use one of the experiences from an event I attended to describe various factors that affect the consumer decision in the hospitality industry. Research Background and Conceptual Framework In order to win customer loyalty, hospitality companies must focus on customer experience not service. Hospitality requires guests to feel the host was hospitable. This is achieved through an effort to entertain guests (Jones 2002). According to Jones (2002), hospitality should be an experience rather than a service. Guests’ experiences should be attractive to both their families and friends. Guests are craving for authentic local experiences that will establish an emotional connection (Hemming ton 2007). Creating the elusive guest experiences to different customers is achievable but demanding. The expectations of guests are divergent and differ with times and seasons. My attendance to National Multicultural festival gave me an opportunity to observe various consumer behaviors. More than a quarter of a million people were in attendance. This gave an opportunity to various players in the hospitality sector to showcase their services and products. People were dancing all over and tasting different kinds of foods offered in the country (Pizam, 2012). People exhibited different cultural aspects. Diversity was the major theme that attracting a person towards the event. One of the major consumer behaviors that were noticeable was wine sharing. This was an aspect that created a close relationship between the fans. Consumer decisions on a product or service is based on past experience or reviews by other customers. According to Visser, hospitality entails sharing of security, food and shelter with a stranger within the community who has no friend or relatives. The act of providing and receiving generosity creates mutual trust. Generosity is a gracious act. The use of the word stranger in the definition of generosity tends to imply that the receiver of the generous act does not deserve it because they are not acquainted to each other. The word grace implies a respectful attitude given towards people who do not deserve or earn a worm consideration. Hospitality is also hereditary. Once an act of hospitality has been done to a person or household, the same is extended to the descendants and passed on from generation to generation. This establishes a long term bond (Kandampully & Sparks 2001). This is the reason why the event was held to try and extend this generosity to the local population. In addition, According to Selwyn, hospitality gave way to a transformation where the aggrieved regained their trust and friendship in the course of exchange of services. Hospitality is known to transform friends into closer friends. Hospitality is an act of selfless will where acceptance and trust are propagated. This causes hospitality to be a source of symbolic ties that create unique connections between people. However, in instances where strangers are put into a state of abeyance, hospitality does not represent a permanents behavior change but a behavior practice done to all strangers (Jones 2002). According to Pitt-Rivers, it is possible to incorporate a stranger in practice and not in morals. This hospitality applies only during the duration of stay of the stranger. Traditionally, hospitality was perceived to be act obligation, benevolence and an act of selfless will to uninvited guests. Modern hospitality is an obligation to quality treatment based to the price imposed on the services. According to O’Gorman, hospitality was considered to be a praiseworthy thing which was to be done without expecting a reward of earthly nature. In reality, there was rewards expected which included, giving and sharing of stories and other experiences. These leads to possible inter tribal marriages and honor. The results were always an approach of welcome and respect. O’Gorman argues that hospitality was done to fulfill obligation but ended up being a sign of welcome and genuine concern. According to Heal, historians have shown the significance of provision of hospitality throughout the study of historical societies of Greece, Rome and Indian tribes. Modern hospitality is commercial but based on respect and values like integrity and service delivery. The consumer behavior in the sector is based on services offered and the level of advertisement. The level of service and the nature of attendance by host are differentiated. Commercial hospitality is provided on the basis of Pre-determined criteria. Not commercial provision of hospitality was indiscriminate in the ancient Greece since it was viewed as a way of respect and goodwill (Jones 2002). This hospitality was entirely nonjudgmental with regard to social status. Unmodified hospitality demanded the guest to appreciate the services as a sign of welcome and goodwill. Modernization and commercialization of provision of hospitality has seen the field being transformed into a discriminate and codified act with is entirely dependent of the social status. Description of the Event The National Multicultural event was held for three days. It was characterized by various competitions and showcasing of different cultural aspects. Young people were given a chance to compete in dancing. All types of sponsors were represented with the aim of catching the interests of the target market towards their produce. All people of different ages were represented. The adults were taking traditional wine and beer. Furthermore, they were taking part in cooking competition. Various celebrities kept the audience who were watching them yearning for more. One celebrity after the other took the stage as people appreciated their performances through yelling and clapping. This made the atmosphere to be filled with excitement. Young people ceased the opportunity to interact and learn their ancestral cultural practices. Couples were seen holding each other. This indicated the continuity of generation. With many having taken time off from work, plate breaking gave an opportunity for people to relieve their stress. In adition, performances from Canberra Helenic dancers, Lykio Ellonidon Dance Group and Zorba dance lessons electrified the audience. The cultural festival also provided an opportunity for the local to taste foreign cultures. For instance, China Qing Hua School Dance Group and Neal Hardy Gong Fu Group performance was very entertaining. The event had more than three hundred stalls which gave an opportunity to the visitors to test various cultural foods some of which are prepared in expensive hotels in the city. The experience was outstanding. I was able to meet some of my old friends. In addition, I was able to interact with employees from the best hotels in the world. This gave me an opportunity for me to book some reservations in advance. Analysis and Discussion My experience in the National Multicultural Event made me understand that the commercialization of hospitality has caused the industry to move from individual attention to massive provisions of services without any regards to individual tastes and preferences of the guests. This make real authenticity impossible and consequently genuine hospitality has been lost. Most visitors meet simulated environments and people with the authentic attractions being modified to protect them from being destroyed by the people who come to see them. Visitors do not have access to authentic sites, neither to experience an individual touch in the process of interaction with these attractions (McDonough & Hill 2001). Companies have come up with, simulated sites, and fake offers are increasingly becoming acceptable in the hospitality provision. Natural attractions are closed off from the crushing numbers of guest who have to pay hefty charges. Commercialization of hospitality has been a blow to the quality being offered to visitors. Efficiency may have improved at the expense of other important aspects. The number of people in this event indicated that there is a huge untapped market. There experience made me understand that people are looking for new things in the hospitality sector. The sector has a form of simulations. This ranges from visitors getting used to the same music over and over often performed by the same dance groups. The dances may be local but since they are recited they become simulations. Staff members often project a fake friendliness to guests. The problem is that the visitor is left feeling an authenticity gap after the experience. This is the reason why majority of the Australian look forward towards the cultural events because organizers prepare something new. This aspect has been significant in breaking people’s monotony. Modern hospitality is faced with the challenged of implosion with a variety of attractions being introduced by different hospitality professionals (Chun 2007). This happens mostly in enclosed set ups where many activities are done in one setting. The effect is overkill, and guests feel overloaded. This makes them fail to get the experience they were anticipation. A compelling example is casinos, entertainment and shopping malls. Modern hospitality is delivered by people who are centrally controlled. This causes them to lack uniqueness, which the visitors look for. Many hospitality industries operate as a chain of hotels where services are centrally controlled. The term service-non-service describes services which are monotonous and ends up being a non-service to the visitors (Ford & Sturman 2011). The situation is made worse by the desire to emulate competitors in modern hospitality. This causes the services to lack authenticity in the modern provision of hospitality. Therefore, modern hospitality tends to move from the actual definition of hospitality due to regulations of commercialization of the industry. Different customers come with different expectations (Ford & Sturman 2011). Customers are motivated by the uniqueness they anticipate. Guest expects attention on their principal areas of concern. Provision of hospitality is about identifying these expectations and meeting them satisfactorily. Provision of hospitality demands prediction of some of the guest’s expectations. This is different from traditional hospitality, which was based on goodwill and respect (Jones 2002). The ability of the hospitality industry to meet a variety of the expectations determines the success of the hotel (Chun 2007). Chun argues that, this has caused hospitality to aim at offering many services under one roof. The aim is to capture the anticipated variety (Andrews 2007). However, this is also counterproductive. It kills the magical experience or the guest can become confused (Ford & Sturman 2011). The experience in the event made me conclude that business guests rate quality services based on how fast they are offered. Tourists want the luxury and experiences. The different expectations meet in the same industry. Many hotels want the business people to have an experience even when they seem to be in a hurry (McDonough & Hill 2001). Hospitality but personalizes services to meet all these expectations and give a magical appeal to the visitors. Good food is not, services must be seen as an entire package that meets a variety of expectations with the extent of precision (Andrews 2007). Different cultural backgrounds cause customers to have different expectations (Ford & Sturman 2011). Hospitality training involves multicultural exposure to meet different customer needs (Hemmington 2007). Therefore, service staff should be multilingual. It is a way of meeting different customer needs. Conclusion The consumer decision is based on the need and the pressure exerted on them by the marketers. I decided to attend the event due to intensive advertising that was conducted by the marketers. Hospitality sector is very sensitive to social and economic aspects. The guests want to experience new aspects when visiting different places. However, majority of the hotels keeps on copying from each other an aspect that makes it hard to find unique services or products in the sector. Through my experience in the event, I noted that people are eager to taste new foods and cultures. As a result, for a business in the hospitality sector to succeed, it should create unique experiences for its target market. This would be very significant in enabling the firm to market its products and services to the untapped market. References Andrews 2007 Introduction to Tourism And Hospitality Industry 1st ed. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Chun, M. 2007 Traditional and Contemporary Ways of Welcome and Hospitality 1st ed. CRDG. Conrady, R., & Buck, M. 2011, Trends and Issues in Global Tourism 2011 1st ed. springer. Ford, R., & Sturman, M. 2011, Managing Quality Service in Hospitality: How Organizations Achieve Excellence in the Guest Experience 1st ed. Cengage Learning. Hemmington, N. 2007, From Service to Experience; understanding and defining the hospitality business. The Service Industries Journal, , 27 6, 1-18. Jones, P. 2002, Introduction to Hospitality Operations: An Indispensable Guide to the Industry 2nd ed. Cengage Learning EMEA. Kandampully, J., & Sparks, B. 2001 Service Quality Management in Hospitality, Tourism, and Leisure 2nd ed. Routledg. McDonough, B., & Hill, J. 2001 Building Type Basics for Hospitality Facilities 1st ed. John Wiley & Sons. Pizam, A, 2012 In International Encyclopedia of Hospitality Management, 1st ed. Routledge. Ritzer, G. 2007 Inhospitable Hospitality. Hospitality, 1, 1, 130-138. 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