Hospitality Operations - Coursework Example

Hospitality Operations Task: SCHOOL OF MARKETING, TOURISM AND LANGUAGES THE MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALITY OPERATIONS TSM11106 MODULE PACK SESSION 2012/2013ROOM 4/35CRAIGLOCKHART CAMPUSTEACHING TEAM:Stephen Taylor & AHMED HASSANIEN Hospitality OperationsReport PlanIntroductionThe operations of the hospitality industry are subject to a number of distinctive challenges that render it dissimilar to other industries given its service context (Hassanien, Dale and Clarke, 2010, p. 17). The service context features a variety of characteristics including intangibility and inseparability that remains exclusive to the hospitality industry.

Ensuring an efficient operation of the hospitality industry, unlike other sectors, depends on clear and precise strategies set to tackle such characteristics and their related challenges. This includes a blend of activities that bring sustainable marketing, as well as innovative processes together. Banking on business development also aims at maximizing the quality of services provided to clients. Main discussionUnique challenges in the hospitality industrySeasonalityThe hospitality industry experiences seasonal fluctuation in client turnout.

Products in the industry also tend to be based on determinants that dictate the supply and demand trends in the sector. Tourists, for instance, may visit a region during a given period or depending on climatic conditions. The sales of various products may as well be high during a given event or occasion. This is inclusive of income from a number of tourist attractions that may have peak and off-peak periods. Tourists may visit a park to observe a given behavior of wildlife, e.g., migration, which they portray during a given season.

The seasonality in pricing is also prominent in the hospitality industry with variations in demand (Laws, 2005, p. 117). Lack of ownershipUnlike other industries, customers in the hospitality industry do not acquire physical ownership of the products offered. Being a service industry, customers own the experience that they achieve from the services offered. They do not, notably, own the services offered. Provision of quality service is vital to ensure customers get the best experience. This helps maintain customer loyalty and aids organizations to maintain competitiveness in the industry.

PerishabilityServices offered in the tourism industry are nearly perishable and challenging for the time limit available during service provision. This also creates a challenge in achieving harmony between demand and supply constraints. Achieving valuable management of yields is vital in achieving the best performance in the hospitality industry. Setting up complementary services and strategies to boost income during nonpeak demand is essential, as well. Need to Ensure Conformity to Local NeedsA strategy by hospitality business to expand operations may meet a number of challenges.

Expansion strategies to operate in different geographical areas must, for instance, ensure conformity to the cultures of the people in the new areas of expansion. Necessary adaptations, as parts of the adjustments, are recommendable and critical in ensuring high performance of the hospitality industry in the new areas of operations. Setting up a hotel in a new area, as part of the expansion strategy, would require adjustments of the menu to include local people’s preferences (Cole and Morgan, 2010, p. 148). This makes the hospitality industry, such as the hotel sector, unique in operations.

Need to Perfect Brand Names and ImagePublicity is a vital determinant of performance in the hospitality business. The hospitality industry, contrary to other sectors such as manufacturing, depends highly on improvement of brand image for high sales. Consumers need to have maximum awareness of the services provided by different firms in the hospitality industry. The need to ensure brand image improvement renders hospitality business management unique and challenging. Hotels, for instance, spend highly on constant advertisement of their brands to keep customers’ awareness.

Marketing is essential in ensuring high returns in tourism business (Bowie and Buttle, 2012, p. 10). IntangibilityThe services offered in the hospitality industry are invisible and almost unquantifiable before making purchases, contrary to goods in other industries. The unquantifiable nature of such services renders it a notable challenge to attach prices to the services. Professionals in the hospitality industry, therefore, face the challenge of utilizing evidence and measurable clues to make decisions.

The management may, at times, use personal sources of information to make decisions. These render the hospitality industry one of unique challenges, different from other industries. InseparabilityServices in the hospitality industry are inseparable in nature, contrary to those in other industries. Service provision in the hospitality industry involves the production process itself. Both production and service delivery are in combination (Chon, Kandampully, Mok and Sparks, 2001, p. 18). The experience achieved during service delivery in the hospitality industry is vital in improving productivity.

Hotels, for instance, need to have well-trained and effective employees to ensure high customer experience because of the inseparable nature of the services offered. This makes the hospitality industry unique and challenging, contrary to other industries.HeterogeneityIt is notably tricky to achieve quality control of the services provided in the hospitality industry. Different customers also have diverse expectations, which become a challenge to meet. The need to ensure customization of services to attain the satisfaction of customers becomes a notable challenge in the hospitality industry.

Hotels, for instance, need to standardize their services. ConclusionThe hospitality industry remains unique and dissimilar from other industries given the nature of clients and the challenge of achieving their satisfaction. Being a service industry, the hotel sector, for instance, has a number of challenges that render it unique in comparison to other industries. This, in turn, brings the challenge of providing services that are inclusive of the needs of all their guests.ReferencesBowie, D. and Buttle, F., 2012. Hospitality Marketing.

Burlington, MA: CRC Press.Chon, K., Kandampully, J., Mok, C., and Sparks, B., 2001. Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure. New York, NY: Routledge.Cole, S. and Morgan, N., 2010. Tourism and inequality: problems and prospects. Cambridge, MA: CABI.Hassanien, A., Dale, C. and Clarke, A., 2010. Hospitality business development. New York, NY: Routledge.Laws, E., 2005. Improving tourism and hospitality services. Cambridge, MA: CABI.