Accommodation Sector in Australia - Issues and Analysis

This paper talks about the current issues and analysis the points that are faced by the hotels and accommodation management. It also discusses the new forms of services that are currently giving a strict competition to the hotels in the Australian market.

Running head: ACCOMMODATION SECTOR IN AUSTRALIA
ACCOMMODATION SECTOR IN AUSTRALIA
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Executive summary
This paper talks about the current issues and analysis the points that are faced by the hotels
and accommodation management. This paper talks about the new forms of services that is
currently giving a strict competition to the hotels in the Australian market.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Overview of the industry........................................................................................................3
Traditional hotel and accommodation sector.........................................................................3
Issues in hotels and accommodation management.................................................................4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
Accommodation is a word that was used before the term hotels. Accommodation is
referred to renting a place to stay for a short period of time. People who stay away from home
for more than a day and travel need rest, food, sleep and a safe shelter from climate change
and also need place for storing their luggage. Hotel and accommodation management are one
of the key resources for the tourism industry. This paper talks about the hotel and
accommodation management of Australia.
Discussion
Overview of the industry
Hotel and accommodation both fall under the hospitality industry. The hospitality
industry is a broad category that falls under the service industry. The industry is the relation
between the host and the guest. This includes the entertainment and reception of visitors or
guests, hotels, resorts and many other services that cater to the travelers and tourists. The
industry mainly depends on disposable income and the leisure time of people. This industry is
a form of access economy. In 2017, the hospitality industry experienced a growth of 3.9%
worldwide. Australia has always been a popular tourist destination for people thus paving
way for the growth of the hospitality industry. Australia generated revenue of 7.9 billion
AUD from hotels and resorts only.
Traditional hotel and accommodation sector
The Australian tourism has paved for many hotels and resorts for tourists. Hotels and
the accommodation management in Australia have been appreciated by tourists and travelers.
The hotels have provided exceptional service and quality to their guests. The traditional

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hotels in Australia provided guests with spacious rooms, helpful room services, organized
events with tourist guides to help them explore the country, cab service and many more
amenities that the guest requires. The advancement of technology has made beautiful changes
in hotels now in Australia and extra services are being provided that has become
indispensable for people (Moghimi 2016). However, there are many issues in the traditional
hotels that are cropping up because of the inefficient management that is shifting the
preference of the customers (Brown et al. 2017).
Issues in hotels and accommodation management
Hotels and accommodation management are facing issues that are leading to less
revenue in the market. The key issues that are affecting the hotels and the accommodation
management in Australia are the following:
Deficiency of quality workers- Hotels in Australia are currently having a tough time in
retaining employees in the industry and recruiting suitable employees as they are not being
able to find skilled people for the job. The most common occupation that the hotels found
difficult to hire was chefs and cleaners (McPhail et al. 2015). The other problem they faced
was retaining existing employees because of the hectic timings and wage issues (Bohle et al.
2017). Thus hotels now are coming with proper training programs, flexible time shifts and
attractive wages to hire staffs and to retain the existing staffs (Jaworski 2018).
Cost of Operating: Taxes, Fees and Penalty rates- The factor hindering the hotels are the
operation costs that are GST and tax obligations. This has made things more expensive which
is becoming a burden to the customers of the hotels. Hotels are having a tough time in
balancing the increased operation price with good profits (Patiar 2016). This is becoming a
major issue to both the customers and the management of the hotels.

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Attitude of the people- The needs and desires of people are changing with time that the hotels
have still yet not been accustomed to. Tourists and travelers do not want to spend a high
amount of money on lodging and services but want to spend on experiencing the local
market, extraordinary activities that they will find only in Australia.
Growth of informal tourism- Informal tourism has become very popular and successful in
recent times and taken the hospitality industry by storm. Websites like Airbnb, Booking.com
and Quest Apartments are growing in Australia. They have managed to understand the
current mindset of the people and have come up with unique features that cater to the tourist
and travelers (Melissen 2016). They provide rental apartments to their customers so that they
can experience the homely feeling in a foreign country at various costs that have been
designed for different customers (Guttentag 2015). This has been beneficial for people as the
cost is less and the experience is local that tourists crave for in today’s time.
Traditional hotels are lagging behind due to the dearth of skillful employees, the
increase in the cost price and the growth of new forms of tourism. Dearth of skillful
employees automatically results in the poor services of a hotel that has become an issue. The
time schedule and the low wages have also become a major issue (Ladkn and Kichuk 2017).
The high taxes have paved way for things becoming expensive and people think these are
unnecessary expenses. The attitude of the people and the way of travelling has become very
different from what it was before. People travel for experience and not just for relaxation they
want relaxation and experience together which traditional hotels do not provide. The most
important issue for the industry has become the new competition that has acquired the
market. The informal form of service industry that has helped people to book apartments and
stay like they stay in their own house at a cheaper rate compared to the traditional hotels has
affected the hotels negatively. This has paved way for the shift in the preference of the people
who travel who want to experience the country in their own way and get to know the local

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areas. The new informal tourism goes beyond the traditional form of tourism by helping
people get connected to the local people and experience the real country (Oppewal, Huybers
and Crouch 2015). Website like Airbnb is not only providing a great experience for people to
stay in but also helping upcoming entrepreneurs to turn their passion into a full time career by
making them share their experience, skills and hobbies and make an income from that (Assaf
2017). There are other green hotels that have come up that attract customers who are
conscious about the environment and the all technology used run on solar energy, this has
helped to gain many customers as well. (Nimri, Patiar and Kensbock 2017). The traditional
hotels should make changes that grow with the existing time to make sure they do not lose
customers and do not lose their market position to the new forms of accommodation.
Conclusion
Traditional hotels have always been the important part of the service industry. The
services and the accommodation have always been beneficial for the people. However, new
forms of accommodation services are in demand and are gaining a good position in the
market that is giving the traditional hotels a good competition in the market.

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