Managing Events for Tourism and Hospitality - Report Example

Managing events for tourism and hospitality BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE HERE TABLE OF CONTENTS 0 Introduction 2.0 An appraisal of the size ofthe events industry in France 3.0 An analysis of the complexities of event management 3.1 Explicit and implicit service 3.2 Environmental scanning 3.3 Distinctive features of service operations 3.4 Risk and regulatory issues 3.5 Ethical issues and reputation 4.0 The event management process 5.0 Operations management References 1.0 Introduction Events management is characterised as activities involving creation, facilitation and control of festivals, exhibits, parties and celebrations, parades, meetings or conferences. All events have a specific starting time and completion deadline, hence defining events as a project management task (Slack, Chambers and Johnson 2004). Managing an events project involves understanding the complexities of operations required to successfully carry out the event, gaining foresight of the external market, and taking appropriate action to ensure safety and quality. Successful events management is underpinned by establishing a vision, creating objectives for the benefits the event will provide, planning operations, monitoring the facilitation of the event, creating control methodologies and conduct research to gain unique perspectives of what aspects were successful and where there might be opportunities for future learning to benefit better best practice (Slack, et al.). Events management is not simplistic, meaning that there are many inter-dependent activities that must be coordinated fluidly to ensure the success of an event. As iterated by Getz (2007), events management involves budgeting, setting schedules for activities, procuring appropriate permissions or permits from relevant authorities, considering transportation and logistics, arranging for exhibitionists or other entertainers, identifying a target audience, and coordination of all technical requirements needed to facilitate the event. Recognising the complexities of events management, this report analyses all of the multi-faceted aspects of this project coordination effort. Special emphasis is placed on critical evaluation of operational requirements for a successful event, ensuring service quality, risk management and the stages necessary for successful event facilitation. The report centres its discourse and analysis on The 10th Annual European Independent Film Festival, founded in 2006, and being held in Paris, France April 10-12, sustaining a patron level of approximately 20,000. This event utilises a large Paris movie house and another indoor convention centre that can sustain pre- and post-party celebrations. The festival, a 2 day event running virtually 24 hours each day, requires substantial personnel and management to facilitate an event of this scope and size. 2.0 An appraisal of the size of the events industry in France The event industry in France maintains an annual turnover rate of €2.4 billion (SEA 2015). This represents revenues and gross receipts achieved through various events of different size, scope and calibre. There are approximately 600 different firms in operation in France dedicated to event planning and management that employ approximately 6,500 individuals (SEA). France currently maintains 120 convention centres that can be utilised for a variety of events venues, 80 different fairgrounds, and 2000 different reception centres (SEA). It is further estimated that 10 percent of all international travellers enter the French market for tourism that sustains 300,000 different employment positions dedicated to providing tourism and hospitality services to these travellers (SEA). In 2007, France hosted 894 different meetings for various international associations (Hard 2008). Many local and regional governments are also providing more subsidies for convention businesses as it is desirable to attract revenues to cities to promote economic advantages (Hard). To further illustrate the size and scope of this market, one organisation, The World Travel Market, hosts 5,000 exhibitioners and invites 50,000 different professionals in the travel and tourism industry to meet with customers and explore global travel options. This event believed that the event attracted over £2.2 billion in new business for this industry (Embassy of France in London 2014). Between 2006 and 2012, France witnessed a substantial 27 percent increase in the number of various organised exhibitions in the country (UFI 2014). A significant 32 percent of these exhibitions were of an international agenda (UFI). One major events management company, GL Events, witnessed a 29.1 percent increase in revenues related to live cultural events (GL Events 2014). In the business sector, the meeting and convention industry has brought the country roughly €5 billion and is responsible for employing 58,000 labourers (SEA). As indicated by the statistics, the events industry in France is supportive of different event typologies, including sports events, leisure, very profitable cultural events, conventions, exhibitions, and parties. This industry provides substantial revenues for events management firms, tourism and hospitality firms that benefit from domestic and international travellers enticed to attend these events, and even local government and retailers. It is a growth market and large events management companies, such as GL Events, are witnessing explosive revenues for these events based on high revenue contracts. The events industry in France is continued to witness more domestic and international interest in attending such events, which is providing more tourism revenue to Paris and giving opportunities for employment to many different professionals in the tourism and hospitality industry. 3.0 An analysis of the complexities of event management There is a plethora of multi-faceted, inter-dependent activities required to plan a successful event and ensure its quality facilitation. This section describes these in detail. 3.1 Explicit and implicit service The difficulties of providing services is that many aspects are intangible, meaning that they represent certain inconsistencies, are perishable and are more difficult to market than tangible goods and products (Rushton and Carson 1989). Services rely on five different considerations by which consumers judge superiority of an experience, including empathy, tangible quality, reliability, responsiveness and giving customers assurances (Parasuraman, Ziethaml and Berry 1988). These aspects are measured as explicit and implicit service dimensions. Explicit services are those that customers of an event can readily experience by the senses, such as the quality of taste of foods or cleanliness of restroom services during an outdoor event. Implicit services represent the psychological benefits that a customer receives through the event, such as cheerful interactions with service personnel or emotional reward achieved through a competent concert performance. The 10th Annual European Independent Film Festival provides an excellent case study for describing the complexities (and importance) of explicit and implicit services. The festival is host to a variety of workshops that teach aspiring film enthusiasts techniques in post-production editing of independent films (ECU 2015). Tickets to this workshop are €11.34 and include hands-on experiential learning with a professional in independent film-making. Explicit service ideology involves utilising modern editing tools and post-production equipment, making learning both reliable and quality-oriented. The implicit aspects of this service include the ability to network with editing professionals in the industry and emotional reward through film-editing training that would theoretically make the customer of the workshop feel more viable and important as an independent film-maker. Literature asserts that when a brand, in this case the editing expert Antoine Vareille, provides consumers with self-expansion opportunities, they are likely to have more attachment and loyalty toward the brand (Zhang and Chan 2009). Hence, event managers must ensure that those teaching their workshops maintain competency and empathy toward the film production needs of customers if they are to ensure future patronage of the event. This would suggest that planning, in this event project, would involve recruitment methodologies to attract the most proficient speakers and workshop leaders, injecting a need for a human resources strategy to provide superior implicit benefits of service. Explicit services in the film festival include providing top quality snacks and beverages during the film, suggesting that there be emphasis on developing a relevant supply chain for tangible products necessary to facilitate a quality film-watching experience to enhance explicit service quality. Direct consultation with movie house management/ownership can facilitate this quality assurance strategy or coordinating local vendors and scheduling a sufficient volume of quality food and beverages underpin explicit services with implications for customer satisfaction and retention. 3.2 Environmental scanning A successful event relies on scanning the economic, social, political and technological environments that will have direct impact on an event. Environmental scanning is conducted to identify trends, consumer expectations and behaviours, and potential threats that could complicate the event management and planning process. Taxation policies in Paris, compliance with trade regulations, or in some instances coordinating police force security could be considerations of a politically-oriented environmental analysis. Implications also relevant for event management include consumer consumption characteristics, such as providing an environment conducive to collectivist culture expectations: what is the extent of a communitarian nature of the target audience? Jones (2010) iterates that for many cultures, an event can be established as a mini utopia that allows for strong emotional responses to collective socialisation. A competent event manager might coordinate qualitative or quantitative market research, such as identifying a sample of participants to determine their expectations, experiences and needs when attending a large festival such as the European Independent Film Festival. This valuable research could underpin new service or product strategies, how to coordinate workshops and lectures, or enhance a more positive social environment. Bowdin, et al. (2010) support the importance of socialisation as a means of creating meaning and implicit attitudes when attending events. Without environmental scanning, the event project might sustain ill-conceived social activities which would reduce consumer perception of service quality. Environmental scanning might also identify whether potential customer demographics in the region where the event is taking place maintain price sensitivity or problems with disposable incomes. This can assist in establishing a relevant pricing structure (if applicable) and determine ticket distribution methodologies. For example, France maintains a 9.8 percent unemployment rate, which is higher than many other European nations (Monster Nation 2015). However, analysis would reveal that French consumer confidence has increased to its highest level since 2007 with these statistics underpinned by a survey conducted by Insee, a statistics agency (Meichtry 2015). Hence, analysis of these economic factors could provide an opportunity to increase prices on services or provide more tangible food and drink in an environment where there is likelihood that French attendees will be willing to spend more during the event. Without this scanning methodology, the event planner might be missing many different revenue opportunities or could be establishing event operations which are deemed unfavourable or irrelevant to target demographics. 3.3 Distinctive features of service operations Operations consist of key activities necessary to facilitate a successful event. These include supply chain and logistics, service systems, managing the tangible facilities, marketing, and adherence to budgetary restrictions and guidelines. Operations are key activities that underpin whether an event will be successful. Of primary importance is the marketing function, critical to promoting the event and gaining the interest and attention of important target demographics most viable for patronising an event. Once target groups have been identified, creating relevant advertising content and integrated communications will determine whether there are sufficient revenues created. There are many different models of promotion, including lifestyle-centric advertising (gearing visuals and communications toward values, beliefs and activities of personal lifestyle) or pricing promotions. Effective marketing attracts the most desirable customers to an event, such as asserting that audiences will be fully entertained at an event (Masterman 2004). To illustrate, event managers for the European Independent Film Festival might identify target groups that view independent films as being an expression of their unique creativity and/or sophistication. Many consumers fitting this value system attend events or buy products as a means of illustrating to others in their social environment that they are refined or classy (O’Cass and McEwen 2004). Hence, emphasis on using promotional messages relevant to this lifestyle belief could attract a higher volume of patrons. Building loyalty is also fundamentally important in events marketing operations as loyal patrons spend more on services, are willing to pay premium pricing structures, and provide valuable word-of-mouth advertising (Chaudhuri and Holbrook 2001). In the case of the independent film festival, the event manager must be considerate of not only food and beverage supplies, but also for materials utilised in pre- and post-parties that celebrate the festival. This will require diverse methodology for identifying suppliers of party decorations, graphic arts-supported banners and advertisements, ensuring supply of alcohol for the anticipated party venue volumes, and a plethora of disparate products utilised to create a memorable party environment. Furthermore, ticket production and distribution methodologies, such as providing online web sales, will require coordinating with a web development expert to facilitate these online transactions. Such a site must be functional, easy to navigate, and inject a sense of convenience and reliability to consumers. Ticketing is a significant operational consideration in large events (Thamnopoulos and Gargalianos 2002). The tangible provision of services, such as ensuring workshop interaction with patrons, scheduling workshops to coincide with film activities and relevant parties, and the nature by which networking occurs must be considered, planned and controlled. Recruitment and interviewing should occur in conjunction with placing individuals into various service roles and control systems in place to ensure that personnel are providing their service obligations according to expectations and objectives. Managers need to ensure that service personnel have the cultural communications competencies required to handle diverse interactions with patrons and physically organise the service environment to meet the needs of hundreds or thousands of patrons. Other distinctive features of the film festival would include coordinating a security presence, establishing appropriate restroom facilities for a venue hosting over 20,000 patrons, and timing film presentations and post-film discussions in focus groups according to budget and time allotments for renting the movie house or convention centre and municipality restrictions for hosting a two-day event venue. 3.4 Risk and regulatory issues Identifying potential risks to the event are critical to its successful facilitation (Bowdin, et al.). Not all aspects of the entire operations can be managed by a single person, therefore other leaders on the project team will likely have certain liberties to approve expenditures. Hence, going over-budget is a critical risk concern. Event managers at the independent film festival will likely develop a cost performance index which calculates the predicted earned value of the event in comparison to many costs associated with supply, contracting, human resources, marketing and other value-added activities. Having receipts and expenditures reported on a routine basis can minimise the risk of exceeding budget and give the event manager more control over all project expenditures. Other risk identification activities can include creating a risk register that illustrates the probability of a variety of small-scale or large-scale risks that could have significant detriment to the event. Risk probability analysis and determining threat levels prepares the event manager for allocating resources and labour toward risk mitigation and prioritising prevention techniques proportionate to least and most significant threats (Berg 2010). Risk at the Independent Film Festival might be inclusive of security concerns for patrons, weather-related threats that forbid outdoor venues, risk the workshop presenters are unable to ensure arrival, late delivery of products, technological failures, handling human sickness and health crises in the patron population, or supplier failures of vendor goods needed for the operations. Legal issues requiring consideration include intellectual property rights of independent film-makers and their production authorities. Under international intellectual property law, it is unlawful to present protected films without the authorization of the copy or trade protection when the purpose of the presentation is for profitability. Breaching the proprietary rights of a protected individual or organisation can be a fine up to 300,000 Euros and even potential imprisonment of up to three years. Events management will therefore require legal assistance to ensure that all French intellectual property laws are being properly complied against and consult with various independent filmmakers and creators to gain contractual permissions to utilise their content in creative advertising or other marketing-related development materials. 3.5 Ethical issues and reputation Ethics and values must permeate all aspects of an event (Silvers, et al. 2006). It would be a good ideology to build a code of ethics by which all planning and managerial personnel must abide and understand. In one case study, a manager had failed, in initial event pricing quotations, to factor in costs associated with union labour expenditures, rehearsals for music groups, tear-down costs, and meals into the quotation budget. These errors totalled $100,000 USD (Allen 2004). The manager coerced an employee to contact the hotel who had contracted the event services and blame the error on the hotel itself in an effort to recoup these costs (Allen). Such a situation at the Independent Film Festival in Paris could lead to significant liabilities (lawsuits) and impact the reputation of the organisation for its perceived level of proficiency, competency and morality. Ensuring that all relevant personnel are held accountable to a code of ethics can minimise such an instance in the event that the event managers, themselves, cannot oversee every aspect of a major event. Reputation can be further enhanced by conducting post-event surveys with attendees to determine where service failures were perceived in order to prepare the event management organisation to be a superior service entity when coordinating the next major event. 4.0 The event management process Pre-event processes include conducting cost-benefit analyses of certain service activities, planning a relevant support matrix, developing tangible event activities, creating strategies for facilitating specific service functions, and evaluating a portfolio that consists of finance and budget. An event management process map is a useful tool as it identifies potential events that might disrupt operations, determine the triggers for these events, determine what human interaction is required to mitigate events, and decide what changes are necessary to prevent a negative situation (Bowdin, et al.). Determining relevant vendors necessary to provide services, coordinating transportation and parking requirements, assigning personnel through HR activities, and determining emergency plans encompass the planning stage of the event. Facilitating the actual event differs based on size and scope of the event. At the Independent Film Festival, being of significant size, scope and diversity of service activities, key management personnel will need to be on hand to ensure that all service personnel are complying with obligations and expectations for quality of service. There should be a centralised management authority that is accessible (i.e. two-way radios and mobile devices) to handle crisis issues, supply issues, or other unanticipated events during the service encounter (Lexhagen, Nysveen and Hem 2005) . This individual should be a visible authority during the event that can maintain positive communications with service personnel, coordinate security movements, observe service interactions with customer segments, and engage with customers about their event-related experiences to improve relationship quality. Such activities could also include being present during film presentations to ensure patrons maintain courteous and acceptable behaviours, allow for a centralised reporting hierarchy from service management teams, and handle any issues which might arise with local municipality or town authorities (i.e. noise level, parking issues, or nearby retailer complaints). Post-event, constructing survey instruments to gauge patron experiences and quality perceptions could provide valuable, future marketing and operational strategy developments and changes. Conducting exit interviews with short-term service personnel could also indicate any operational frustrations or challenges they faced to mitigate these risks in the future that de-motivate workers. Maintaining long-tem relationships with helpful and competent staff, such as local security agents, caterers or entertainment groups could ensure partnership development and maintain an interest in being part of future events to ensure quality and smooth operations. 5.0 Operations Management There are multi-faceted operational considerations in an event the size of the Independent Film Festival in Paris. One consideration is holding costs for inventories, inclusive of utilities, taxations or personnel costs (Heizer and Render 2004). Various quantitative forecasting methods can assist in compliance to quality standards and budget constraints, including regression analyses, value stream mapping, Pareto charts and scatter diagrams. These quantitative tools can identify potential perils in operational strategy and indicate where risks lie in terms of expenditures versus the expected return on investment. In the case of the Paris film festival, such quantitative instruments can identify whether there are capacity issues in key areas as it pertains to expected (or registered) patron volumes that can improve logistics, supply chain factors, or tangible set-up of in-house event facilities. From a health and safety perspective, it is a liability to not be prepared for the event of patron injury or other safety-related liabilities (Silvers 2007). It is beneficial to construct an event layout diagram (technical specs) that can be distributed to key security personnel, regional policing authorities and municipal authorities that will determine maximum occupancy of a facility. This will help in determining an emergency escape plan for exits and entrances to facilitate evacuation in the event of a flood, fire or other critical incident. This is common best practice in events management (Jones 2010). It will also be necessary to comply with health and safety laws in France, similar to those of the Health and Safety Executive, which outlines insurance obligations and safety precautions that must be taken for specific service personnel. For example, in the UK, Regulation 15 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Law (1999) makes it an obligation of contractors performing construction to inform workers about special skills they will require to perform safe work when under a temporary contract (HMSO 2014). Under UK Regulation 15 of The Management of Health and Safety at Work legislation of 1999, it obligatory for construction management to provide temporary workers with comprehensive information about special qualifications and skills that would be required to carry out safe work when working under a fixed-term temporary contract (HMSO 2014, p.1). French regulations must be complied with and the event manager will require consultation with relevant authorities to determine legal obligations for employee safety and contractor safety (when applicable). Environmental issues are also of concern, though not as relevant for the Independent Film Festival. France, however, does take waste management very seriously (UK Trade and Investment 2014). Paris recently unveiled an energy-from-waste plant that converts waste into usable commercial and consumer electricity. Costs for dumping materials into this plant are €80 per tonne, which is €50 more expensive than traditional waste management systems. The film festival should be considerate of respecting France’s movement toward renewable energy sources and budget for waste removal in this capacity. On feasibility reports constructed by the events manager, intention to utilise a greener solution could build strong municipal relationships that facilitate future permit issuances and policing cooperation with much more ease. In terms of service, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles are critical as iterated by the respected SERVQUAL model. The following illustrates operational strategy for the Film Festival to ensure all five dimensions are considered: Empathy In service encounter – using cross-cultural communications strategies to illustrate a genuine commitment and understanding of patron needs. This should be part of training of support service staff and tested experientially (perhaps role playing) to accustom staff to empathetic service delivery. Responsiveness Development of a service encounter best practice timeframe to complete a service to ensure that there are no long queues. An operational consideration and training imperative. Reliability All staff members involved in service delivery must be trained on best practices in their assigned tasks. Only competent and experienced staff should be recruited to facilitate reliable service. Tangibles Establish a quality assurance system in supply chain and inventory receipt to ensure no defect to products and freshness according to food consumption expectations of patrons. Assurance Offering refunds for legitimate and measurable service failures, offering discounts when purchasing multiple tickets. In terms of risk management, all relevant authorities (managers) involved in event management and planning should submit risk reports and serve as risk agents that identify potential hindrances to the event as it pertains to their own responsibilities. This will brainstorm more ideas for identifying potential risks and categorising them according to risk level and threat potential. The event manager should also construct a graphic illustration of all determined risks with contingencies attached for public view. This would prepare all personnel with strategies to mitigate a risk event when it occurs, hence avoiding transparency to the patrons attending the film festival. This can be distributed to all key personnel involved with service delivery, planning and patron interactions. References Allen, J. (2004). Events and ethics, Special Events Magazine. [online] Available at: http://specialevents.com/mag/events_events_ethics_321736 (accessed 10 March 2015). Berg, H. (2010). Risk management: procedures, methods and experiences, Reliability and Risk Analysis: Theory and Applications, 1(2), pp.79-95. Bowdin, G, McDonnell, I., Allen, J. and O’Toole, W. (2010). Events management, 2nd edn. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. 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