Development of the Hospitality Industry of Athens - Research Paper Example

A critical review of training and development in the hospitality industry of Athens, 2000-2010 Introduction The hospitality industry, whether it be hotels, day spas, parks, other forms of lodging such as cottages or bed and breakfasts, event planning, catering, theme parks or cruise ship lines, is dependent on customer satisfaction. What brings someone to spend hard-earned money on enjoyment is a trust that the hospitality provided will be of a high quality. Poor customer service can scuttle major companies, while good CSRs can develop the capital and brand name of an upstart. Training is the process used for the development of knowledge and skills needed to perform the jobs, duties, and tasks found in an organization (Christine Jaszay, Paul Dunk). Education is identified as a key component in ensuring the sustainability of tourism (Chandana Jayawardena). Customer service representation is a skill that is worth billions to companies (Stella Service, 2010). Training all of the aspects of the hospitality industry, such as massage therapy, spa skills, customer service skills and interaction, entertainment abilities such as singing or dancing, cooking, and all of the other essential skills for hospitality industry success is extremely pricey but utterly important to success. The purpose of this study is to examine how many of the 4 star and 5 star hotels in Athens have training programmes for employees or or prospective employees, the way these training programmes are planned and executed, and the difference of the training in international hospitality chains and the individually owned hotels in the area of Athens. Research History and Current State of Athens Hospitality Industry The Athens hospitality industry is currently undergoing a resurgence, but hospitality has always been a key part of Greek culture. Xenia, or hospitality, was an important element of Greek culture in an era where every stranger on the road could be an imminent threat and travel was dangerous, lonely and dreadfully important (Lucas, 2007). “Zeus, the king of the gods, demanded that strangers be treated graciously. Hosts had a religious duty to welcome strangers, and guests had the responsibility to respect hosts. The tight interconnections and mutual respect in this host-guest relationship are reflected in the fact that the word zenos in ancient Greek can mean both “host” and “guest.” The relationship is often symbolized in the Odyssey by the presentation of gifts” (Lucas, 2007). The Odyssey and The Iliad indicate, in general, that “[t]he higher a society's level of hospitality, the more civilized that society is” (Tiedemann, 2009). Penelope could not simply cast out her suitors: Doing so would be grossly impolite, even though she did not wish to marry. Paris' seizing of Helen from Menelaus was an unbelievable violation of xenia, and would secure Zeus' support for the Greeks against the Trojans. And the nightmarish treatment of the Odyssey by Circe was not least a violation of xenia. Thus, there are millennia-old cultural traditions that predispose Athens to value hospitality and providing the best service to those who visit. This is an important cultural asset that should be emphasized in literature, training and promotion. The Athenian hospitality market was transformed after the Olympic games. The hospitality industry was far from weak prior to the Olympic games, but certainly political instability and the Papadopolous junta were problematic to Greece's international image as well as Greek attitudes towards foreigners, especially Americans (Karalis, 2009). Prior to the Olympic games, Athens had 252 hotels; four new hotels were created in 2005 and four closed in 2006, bringing the total back to 252, which matches the larger Hellenic Chamber trend as well (Ikkos and Pashidalis, 2007). But it wasn't so much in the number of hotels but the quality of hotels that the post-Olympic period was different from the pre-Olympic one. The number of five star hotels grew by 3 from 2003 to 2007, the number of four stars grew by three, the number of three stars grew by three, and two and one star hotels declined in number by four and eleven, respectively, over those years. While the number of two-and-one star hotels in Athens is still 64% of the offerings, high for a world-class city, the trend is clearly towards average improvement in hotel quality. Athens in the post-Olympic period is an extremely dynamic city that offers tourists amazing variety and value. Athens has all of the following assets: An increasingly strong Euro and the benefits of European Union membership A 40km coastline on the Mediterranean sea, one of the most beautiful and temperate regions on the planet Thousands of years of historical monuments and locations An extremely efficient public transit system with light rail, metro, tram, bus and taxi lines An international airport of extreme prestige One hundred sixty kilometers of roads that have been resurfaced and improved Pedestrian zones unifying the historical city centre Disability access to monuments and public transportation Development of underdeveloped areas Parks under construction Unfortunately, despite these numbers and despite the generally good health of international travel even during the recession, the Athenian hotel and visitor market suffered a major blow in 2008 (Trakas, 2009). Social unrest and political turmoil reduced visitation numbers and harmed the whole hospitality industry, hotels especially. Street riots and the death of a young man at the hands of police scarred the city's international reputation. Into 2009, a 16.3% decline in occupancy in hotels kept hotels at a mere 56.0%, reducing average rates by 12.5% (Trakas, 2009). Luckily, new luxury hotels and the increasing proportion and number of three-to-five star hotels are likely to come into play right as the international economy picks up, setting the Athens hotel and hospitality industry up for improvement. Training for this new luxury level of service needs to begin immediately. Already in 2007 and the first half of 2008, despite a generally weaker visitation climate in general, the level of visitation to upscale hotels actually grew. The Athenian hotel industry is seasonal, with May being the peak month due to climate, business and convention/congress/conference activity and factors (Trakas, 2009). Summer months see the resorts outside Athens see more attention. Upscale hotels are particularly hard hit by this seasonality. This seasonality may be a blessing in disguise, though, as after the Olympics, major travel agencies and guides like Frommer's are recommending taking advantage of discounts (Frommer's, 2011). Further, Athens tends to be a stepping stone for many travelers to Greece. Few travelers coming to Greece want to miss visiting the Temple of Zeus, the Acropolis, the Parliament Building, Hadrian's Arch, the Dionysian Theatre or archaeological sites. But research indicates that many tourists only visit Athens for a few days before continuing on, and in winter, Greece is not promoted extensively at all (Trakas, 2009). The growth in five-star and luxury hotels prompted by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels and Athenian leadership is truly remarkable. Of particular note is a 150 million euro investment into the former Olympic Sailing Centre, turning it into a 30-suite luxury hotel and multi-purpose facility (Trakas, 2009). Athens is not only a tourist destination, however. As the cultural, political, economic and trade capital of Greece, it is also part of a “dynamic network” of multinationals (Trakas, 2009). Businesses and conferences in the city are frequent. This is important because spa and luxury services are often used by business visitors on business trips. Because of these factors, despite a temporary downturn in visitation, it is likely that Athens will become a world-class luxury city. If it can capitalize on its history, monuments, and unique advantages, it can become the rival of London and Paris for international travelers. Value of Good Customer Service It is difficult to measure the value of customer service. People will tolerate bad customer service up to a point: How do you measure their degree of aversion to a location or service? Do you only count walk-outs, people leaving a business and refusing to come back? This is an indicator that is fairly objective, yet by the time that someone has walked out, undoubtedly dozens of customer service mistakes have been made. How can you separate out a bad store design or an unsatisfying product? Measuring cross-selling is an option, but cross-selling could be determined as much by the market merits of the object being sold as by the customer service skills of the cross-seller. It is relatively easy to rank CSRs vis-a-vis each other within an industry or business, but much harder to quantify the absolute value of good customer service. Nonetheless, major studies have been conducted. STELLA Service (2010), an online business firm, did a major study of the benefits of good customer service to online businesses. “[T]he value of great online customer service in 2010 is USD $17.3 billion. “The Value of Great Customer Service” survey derived the dollar impact of great customer service by consumer category (i.e. financial services, healthcare, utilities, brick and mortar retailers, online retailers, etc.). It determined that the total value of great customer service across all consumer categories is USD $268 billion per year. On average, the survey found that Americans are willing to spend approximately 9.7% more for great customer service”. Immediately, a cross-cultural question emerges: Are Americans more or less sensitive to customer service failure and success than other cultures? This is certainly important to a global hospitality industry. Nonetheless, it is not terribly likely that indicators are far below or beyond this figure: No one likes being insulted or ignored. Further, the perception of Americans as one of the largest and richest tourist groups is vital to the success of hospitality industries. Even despite the recession, Americans are spending more in 2010-2011 than they were in 2009. “Americans have spent just over $85.8 billion abroad year to date (up 4%) - resulting in a $25.7 billion trade surplus for travel and tourism through the first ten months of 2010” (Karantzavelou, 2010). Europe was no less popular a destination than any other: “Sure, air travel is a hassle. And no, the U.S. dollar doesn't go very far in Paris or London. But none of that is keeping Americans away from Europe. Nearly 13 million Americans visited Europe in 2006, a 4% increase from the previous year, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Commerce Department's Office of Travel & Tourism Industries. The European Travel Commission expects those numbers will increase another 2 or 3% this year” (Harpaz, 2007). Americans even visit UK soccer games in droves: 95,000 Americans attended one match (Di-Toro and Eastham, 2010)! The 9.7% extra value for good customer service is an average: In some industries, good customer service demands an even higher premium. “[C]onsumers in the online retail category are willing to pay an even higher premium for great service (10.7%) than they would in most other categories. Based on the average amount spent by online consumers each year, the survey found that $17.3 billion of value can be created in 2010 by Internet retailers that offer excellent customer service” (STELLA, 2010). The study argues that good customer service is especially important on the Internet, and it is true, but it seems highly unlikely that good customer service is more important on the Internet than in the hospitality industry, where most of the added value and amenities are related to the degree of customer service experience and training. Cross-cultural studies of customer service estimations and values indicate that countries as different as the USA, Korea and France have similar values and perceptions of customer service. “Evidence from diverse cultures implies that consumers perceive services in a somewhat simplistic, two-dimensional fashion rather than the complex set of classifications proposed by researchers. Although the complex classifications may be of use to service providers in organizing the delivery of services, the presentation and positioning of those services is along a much simpler framework in the minds of customers” (Cunningham et al, 2006). There are some variations, of course, especially in the hotel industry: “The purpose of this study was to examine how cultural dimension related to service quality and behavioral intention in tourist hotel industry. To investigate this issue, 761 tourists visiting Beijing were interviewed. These tourists included 195 Chinese, 189 Korean, 192 Japanese and 185 American. Results from this study suggested that there were cross-cultural differences toward service quality dimensions and the relationships between service quality and behavioral intention dimensions. Results also showed that cultural dimensions are related to service quality dimensions” (Han, 2009). The evidence indicates, then, that the additional value added from good customer service is worth billions. Elements of Good Customer Service Training There are roughly two kinds of training that hospitality representatives will need to excel at their work: Specialised training for individual tasks, and general training. Good customer service training is a complex affair, going far beyond simply smiling and asking customers how they are doing (Anderson, 2004; Higgins, 2005; Siegel, 2002; CRM Today). Most customer service trainings emphasize satisfaction, but this is problematic: “[O]rganizations are realizing that satisfying customers may not be enough. Recent studies indicate that satisfied customers are not necessarily LOYAL customers and even though customers say they are satisfied, they may still defect to a competitor” (CRM Today). Emphasizing tangibles, reliability (which needs to be managed like total quality management), reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy is essential. In addition, in the hotel industry in particular, feedback from customers needs to be viewed as an incentive and way to improve and not as an insult, and training needs to emphasize this (Higgins, 2005). Specialised training is the hallmark of the hospitality industry. While maids, clerks, bagboys, counter representatives, managers and others may not need special training or may be entry-level, massage therapists, spa specialists, cooks, and others require specialised training and are forms of human capital. Other Predictors and Factors There are other predictors of hospitality industry success and popularity than successful and well-trained customer service representatives, however. These are factors that will need to be controlled for when evaluating the success of Athenian training for hospitality CSR. Lee and Qu find that impressions of corporate social responsibility matter to customers. We will have to control for these impressions in our data. A new phenomenon deserving the attention of the Athens hospitality industry is ecotourism. Ecotourists emphasize ecologically sustainable visits and focusing on viewing natural splendour (Honey, 2008, pg. 26). Europe has been a leader in ecotourism options, but Greece is not mentioned at all in Honey's analysis of ecotourism, a bad sign (2008). At the moment, Greece Index argues that Greece is an alternate ecotourism destination from places like France: “Greece boasts an astonishing variety of ecosystems, mountain masses with magnificent mountain peaks, old forests, marshlands, fertile plains, lakes, rivers that run across picturesque landscapes, thousands of caves, thousands of islands with a mild climate and thousands of monuments and sites that contribute to its unique biodiversity and potential for attracting waves of tourists with ecological interests, and not only” (2011). Greece will have to embrace its natural splendor and provide for more options. Works Cited Anderson, P. 2004, “Customer Service Training | An Inclusive Customer Service Training Program Is The Engine Behind Stellar Customer Service And Guest Loyalty”, Hospitality.net, June 16, available at: http://customerservicezone.com/cgi- bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=6020 CRM Today. “Customer service doesn't cut it anymore”. Available at: http://customerservicezone.com/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=5542 Cunningham, LF, Young, CE, Lee, M, and Ulaga, W. 2006, “Customer perceptions of service dimensions: cross-cultural analysis and perspective”, International Marketing Review, Volume 23 Issue 2. Di-Toro, M and Eastham, P. 2010, “Foreign tourists spend £2.3 billion a year watching and playing sport”, VisitBritain, July 14. Frommer's. 2011, “Hotels”. Available at: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/athens/0044010027.html Greece Index. 2011, “Alternative Eco Tourism in Greece”, Available at: http://www.greeceindex.com/sports/ecotourism-alternative.htm Harpaz, BJ. 2007, “Travel to Europe by Americans remains strong”, USA Today, April 6. Han, ZLJ. 2009, “A cross-cultural analysis of customer perception towards hotel service quality and behavioral intention”, Service Systems and Service Management, 2009. ICSSSM '09. 6th International Conference, July 28. Higgins, SM. 2005, “Listening to feedback helps hotels improve”, Hotel & Motel Management, February 21. Honey, M. 2008,Ecotourism and sustainable development: who owns paradise?, Island Press. Ikkos, A and Pashalidis, K. 2007, “The State of Athens Hotel Industry”, GBR Consulting. Karalis, V. 2009, “The Greek dictatorship forty two years later”, Neoskosmos, April 27. Lee, S and Qu, H. 2009, “A Study of Customers' Attitudinal and Behavioral Responses toward Lodging Companies' Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives”. Lucas, G. 2007, “Xenia: A Religious Duty”, The Humanities Index, June 3. Siegel, D. 2002, “The Key To The Restaurant Business: Great Customer Service”, SalesMBA, available at: http://customerservicezone.com/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=5578 Starkov, M. 2004, “Hotel Websites Have Much to Do to Increase User Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty”, Hospitality.net, June 28, available at: http://customerservicezone.com/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=5536 STELLA. 2010, “Great Online Customer Service Is Worth USD $17.3 Billion per Year”, March 18. Available at: http://www.stellaservice.com/index.php/about-us/company-news/great- online-customer-service.html Themis, T. 2009, “Athens, Greece – Upscale Hotels Market Snapshot”, STR Global, HVS, September. Tiedemann, L. 2009, “Hospitality in Ancient Greece as Seen in Homer's "Odyssey"”, April 23, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1653693/ hospitality_in_ancient_greece_as_seen.html?cat=72 Read More