Hospitality Industry Report

Hospitality Matters

Hospitality as a whole:

The hospitality industry is primarily focused on customer satisfaction. It is built on leisure or is luxury-based, as opposed to meeting basic needs. Hotels and resorts, cruise lines, airlines and other various forms of travel, tourism, special event planning, and restaurants all generally fall under the realm of the hospitality industry.

There are four major elements to the hospitality industry they are Accommodations, Food & Beverage, Travel & Tourism and Economics.

·       The food and beverage is one of the highest reigns of the hospitality field. It can range from high end restaurants, fast food, catering and so on. The food and beverage element can play an important part of other hospitality elements like if the restaurant is in a hotel it can enhance the overall guest experience by providing great food and awesome customer service.           

·       Accommodations would be hotels, motels, resorts, bed & breakfast, campgrounds, lodges and more.  The business is focused on providing lodging that is comfortable, efficiency and attentive customer service as a foundation. When this element provides great customer service, and supply’s the simple amenities the guest will come back and give great references to their friends and family.

·       Travel and Tourism includes airlines, trains, cruise ships and all the employees for each. The flight attendants and cruise staff functions as food servers, and hoteliers to provide food and or drinks with a comfortable experience. . Business travelers and vacationers alike form the basis for this area of hospitality. Travel and tourism requires knowledgeable employees in information technology, and they are also considered a part of hospitality. Destinations such as amusement parks draw thousands of people, all of whom want to benefit from great customer service while enjoying a memorable adventure.

·       Economics are very important, the hospitality field is dependent on a strong economy. The hospitality business will thrive when people are able to go out to eat or enjoy traveling. Conversely, when economic times are challenging, businesses may decide to bolster the basics of the business. For example, food and beverage businesses might offer special activities, such as a fundraiser, or meal discounts on certain days of the week. Hotel owners, might branch out and provide conference or special event facilities, or transportation options such as specials on limousine services. (Reynolds, 2012)

There are many levels of service in the hospitality industry. For example in a restaurant setting you go from the bottom up such as buss person, dishwasher, hostess, waitress, cashier, cook, chef, foh manager, boh manager and restaurant manager. Every position plays a key role in customer service, each one provides customer service at a different level. 

Customer service in the hospitality field, goes by the “moments of truth”. Some examples of the moments in truth would be:

·       Guest calling to make reservation

·       Guest is welcomed

·       Guest seated at table

·       Server takes order

·       Server brings beverages and or food.

Working as a team usually can be a pleasurable experience, sometimes not. In the hospitality field, you must work as a team. Have good communication skills, and leadership skills.  Everyone works with others, to a greater or lesser extent. Teams are great for large or difficult projects, that one person would find difficult to handle. Teams must communicate, and work together equally for the business to succeed. For example, front desk staff, should keep housekeeping updated on vacancy, and managers should make sure everyone knows of any events happening, and or changes.

I know that I did not work well with a team on this project I’ll be first to admit it. Not that I didn’t want to but when you’re not actually in a situation at work with someone it’s hard to work as a team. I don’t have patience when I’m on a tight schedule. I need to work on that, however I’m not much on doing assignments at the last minute. Sometimes is out of my control. When working as a team like in this class, you and your partner need to be on the same page and able to work at the same pace. But when the two people work long crazy hours and not available to work together at same time, things don’t run smoothly. I need to work on my patience, and my ability to control my time better.

References

    

Reynolds, M. (2012, March 4). CHRON. Retrieved from Chron small bussiness: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/three-categories-hospitality-industry-58524.html

Destination Marketing in Travel and Hospitality

Travel and Hospitality Assignment

Instructions:

Imagine that you are a meeting planner who has been invited to work on planning a future convention for one of the organizations below. To prepare yourself for this opportunity, you need to look through information about an upcoming conference.

Answer the following four questions.

1. Choose a conference for a professional organization in the travel and hospitality industry. What is the conference that you chose? Highlight your answer.

• Destination Marketing Association International Annual Conference (http://www.iacvb.org/)
• Professional Convention Management Association Annual Meeting (http://www.pcma.org)
• Travel Internet Marketing Strategy Conference (http://hsmai.org)
• International Association for Exposition Management: Expo! Expo! IAEE's Annual Meeting & Exhibition (http://www.iaee.com)

2. Briefly describe the facilities being used for the conference or annual meeting. What factors should you take into account when looking at meeting facilities?

           

            The IAEE’s Expo! Expo! 2010 is being held in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The facility being used is the New Orleans Morial Convention Center.  The host hotels will include: Hilton New Orleans Riverside, Sheraton New Orleans, and Marriott New Orleans.  The Morial Convention Center has been recently renovated, and offers 1.1 million square feet of exhibit space.  As the 6^th largest convention facility in the United States, it is a great location for large expositions and conferences.  The facility offers three floors of conference space as well as the New Orleans Theater/Conference Auditorium and two ballrooms (Morial Convention Center, 2010).

            As a meeting planner, it is important to carefully consider the facility being used for your meeting or conference.  First, you must consider if the facility will be large enough to accommodate the number of guests expected to attend the meeting.  The facility will also need to have enough space for the types of events that are being planned.  For example, for a large exposition like the one being planned by IAEE, the facility would need to have a large enough space for the vendors to set up their booths, as well as large conference rooms for the meetings/training programs that will be held.  The second consideration would be the cost.   The budget of the corporation that is hosting the event must be able to afford the cost of hosting an event at a particular facility.  It would be important to consider other information as well, such as the location of the facility, the availability of dining options, and the type of security provided on-site (Angelo & Vladimir, 2007).      

3. Create a to-do list or timeline that explains the tasks of a meeting planning.

List 10-15 items total separated into three parts or phases: planning the meeting itself, choosing a location, and choosing a facility.

Planning the Meeting

1. Determine the purpose of the meeting: business, educational, or social
2. Determine how long the event should last (the number of hours, days, etc.)
3. Pick dates for the event that will be appropriate for all those involved.
4. Plan the schedule of events that will occur during the meeting (i.e. the order of events, start and end times, break times, workshop schedules, and so on). 

Choosing the Location

1. Where will the meeting be held?  Consider where guests will be traveling from.
2. Will the selected location be compatible with the type of meeting being held?
3. Determine whether transportation will be available to and from the facility.  What types of travel will be available.  Is the facility located near an airport, but terminal, or train station?

                                                                                                                         

Choosing the Facility

1. Determine the size of the facility that will be needed to accommodate guests.  If using a hotel, determine if there will be an adequate number of guest rooms.
2. Determine the types of rooms needed for the planned events.  Find out if the facility offers banquet halls, theaters, classrooms, exposition space, or any other type of room needed for the event.
3. Determine if the facility will offer the technological necessities of the meeting (i.e. internet, sound systems, projectors, lighting).
4. Find out what types of amenities or activities are available in and around the facility.  Will guests have things to do during their down time?
5. Call the facility and get a quote on the price of renting the facility.  Does the price meet the budget restrictions of the corporation or group?  Would another location be more cost effective? 

References

Angelo, R., & Vladimir, A.  (2007). Hospitality Today: An Introduction. (Sixth Ed.). 

            Lancing, MI: American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute. 

Morial Convention Center website. (2010). Retrieved on June 8, 2010 from:

            http://mccno.com.