Hospitality Operation Management - Sample Assignment

Hospitality operation management

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................5
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................5
AC1.1 Analyse the nature of hospitality product and service areas.......................................5
AC1.2 Evaluate the different influences affecting patterns of demand within hospitality
operations...............................................................................................................................5
AC1.3 Compare customer profiles and their differing expectations and requirements in
respect of hospitality provision..............................................................................................6
AC1.4 Analyse factors affecting average spending power (ASP) in hospitality businesses..6
AC2.1 Evaluate the key stages in product and service development applied within a
hospitality operation...............................................................................................................7
AC2.2 Analyse the features which contribute towards the customers’ perception of
products and services.............................................................................................................7
AC2.3 Assess the opportunities and constraints affecting product and/or service
development within a hospitality environment...................................................................8
AC2.4 Evaluate different merchandising opportunities for hospitality products and services. 8
Task 2........................................................................................................................................8
AC3.1: Choose an organisation and evaluate the different pricing methods it uses..............8
AC3.2: Appraisal Of Revenue Generation And Profitability.................................................9
Task 3: Report..........................................................................................................................10
AC4.1 Apply a range of performance measures and appraisal techniques to individual
aspects of hospitality operations, the product and the whole operation.............................10
AC4.2 Determine the usefulness and limitations of the various quantitative and qualitative
appraisal techniques and their application to hospitality operations....................................11
AC4.3 Apply approaches to business analysis, evaluation and planning appropriate to
hospitality operations..........................................................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12

Introduction
Hospitality operation management can be defined as the administration of business activities
so that highest level of efficiency can be created within the organisation. As tourism has
become a very popular leisure activity over the globe hence the need is to ensure that
Hospitality operation management practices are in proper place (Jauhari and Bharwani,
2017). The present study has laid emphasis on the operations management practices of
Waldorf Hilton which is the most iconic hotel in London in place since 1908 (The Waldorf,
2018). Study focuses on various areas being nature of hospitality product and services;
merchandising opportunities; pricing methods among others.
Task 1
AC1.1 Analyse the nature of hospitality product and service areas.
The nature of hospitality product and service areas offered by Waldorf Hilton, London is as
follows;
 Dinning - Dining services provide foods and drinks that are of inspired taste and also
have a presence of expert service offerings (The Waldorf Hilton, London. 2018). The
offerings are usually perishable in nature and do not last for long span of time.
 Room division – These are in form of guest and executive rooms as well as suites that
are designed for comfort and convenience (Law, Buhalis and Cobanoglu, 2014). Here
the tangible aspects are in form of interior of the room; equipment’s present inside
and overall ambience while non-tangible aspects are client responsiveness; trust,
responsiveness among others that are not visible directly (Reynolds, 2013)
 Health and Fitness – these are inclusive of gym, swimming pool, sauna and steam
room that helps the people to stay healthy and fit even during the tour (The
Waldorf, 2018).
 For business – in order to add convenience to business plans the hotel
provides services such as meeting rooms; video conferencing; facility;
audio/visual equipment; as well as business center and office (Jauhari and Bharwani,
2017).
AC1.2 Evaluate the different influences affecting patterns of demand within hospitality
operations.
 Seasonality – The tourism flow to Waldorf Hilton, London are affected by the seasons
where March to May is heavily crowded on account of mild temperatures and

blooming nature. The demand for hotel also increases during this time. The charges of
the rooms also rise as per the season (The Waldorf Hilton, London. 2018).
 Time/day of week – the demand for the hotel is at its peak during weekend times as
most of the people from other areas pay a visit to London. The lounge area is
extremely full just before dinner (The Waldorf, 2018).
 Healthy living – as people these days are quite conscious about health, hence there is
a less demand for desserts offered by hotel Waldorf Hilton. The guests have been
found to use the gym facilities hence the better services for the same are in demand
(The Waldorf Hilton, London. 2018).
 Competition – As there is a presence of many hotels in UK that are offering same
kind of services as Waldorf Hilton hence this may led to less demand during off
seasons. Consumers will prefer those places that offer same kind of services but at
low cost.
 Economic factors – there is most likely to be a change in demand pattern of the
consumers if there is a change in economic situation of nation such as inflation rate,
fall of pound, brexit crisis among others. The consumer demand towards the hotel
may show a rise or fall accordingly.
AC1.3 Compare customer profiles and their differing expectations and requirements in
respect of hospitality provision.
Varied types of consumers pay a visit to Waldorf Hilton and are inclusive of business
persons; families; newlywed couples etc. hence they have a presence of differing
expectations with respect to hospitality provision by the hotel. For example, business persons
will prefer well developed meeting halls, Wi-Fi and video conferencing facilities. They are
most likely to request for a formal meal and a buffet in a few cases. The pricing may not
matter to them much as the payment is done by company. However the conditions will
change for a family as they would expect facilities for kids such as play areas, wheel chair for
old aged people; entertainment among others (Jauhari and Bharwani, 2017). There meal
requirement will be oriented towards healthy options and that offer varied kinds so as to suit
the needs of every family member. In the same lines, the couples who come to hotel may
expect special suites for themselves followed by varied food and beverage offerings. They
may also expect a good drinks menu and cosy area to spend quality time with each other.
Hence the need on part of the hotel is to assess the kinds of consumers that prefer to pay a
visit to hotel and focus on fulfilling the expectations and requirements accordingly.

AC1.4 Analyse factors affecting average spending power (ASP) in hospitality businesses.
Various factors are present that impact the overall average spending power of consumers who
visit Waldorf Hilton. These include;
 Income – The people will middle income may prefer normal rooms and may not opt
for food and beverages served in the hotel. While these areas may not matter for
people having high income.
 Status – if any client belongs to a royal family then he may not think twice before
using any services provided by the hotel. He would rather spend money to ensure that
he has a quality stay in the hotel (Wang, Tsai and Tsai, 2014).
 Economic situation – If there is a presence of high inflationary pressure in the nation
from where the consumer has come then his overall spending power is most likely to
be less as compared to those nations that are witnessing high growth rates.
 Socio cultural influences – Consumers are most likely to increase their average
spending power in the hotel during festival time or an occasion in the family such as
marriage.
AC2.1 Evaluate the key stages in product and service development applied within a
hospitality operation.
 Market research – Whenever any new product or service is to be launched in a
hospitality firm, such as Waldrof Hilton then the need is to carry out market research
h so as to know about the on-going trends, taste and preferences of consumers (Bowie
and et.al., 2016). For example, in present case the firm wishes to launch a sleep menu
at the hotel so as to ensure that clients are able to have a peaceful sleep after their
journey as a traveller.
 Segmentation – The segments can be done on the basis of income being middle and
high income packages can be made for clients. There can also be separate packages as
per age and lifestyle.
 Idea evaluation – the idea can be evaluated by providing a few consumers with this
service for free and asking them to give feedback for the same (Cook, Hsu and
Marqua, 2014).
 Advertising – Advertising can be done as launch of an innovative sleep menu by the
hotel and also setting a tagline for the same.

 Awareness – It can be done by posting the ads on social media sites and also the
website of hotel. This is a most important step so as to increase the overall sales and
revenue figures of the hotel in a short span of time.
AC2.2 Analyse the features which contribute towards the customers’ perception of
products and services.
Brand image by the hotel is one of the major features that aids in developing customers’
perception of products and services. This is followed by how much caring is the hotel
towards disabled persons and what kind of services are provided for them. This is followed
by whether ample of resources are available with the hotel or not (Neuhofer, Buhalis and
Ladkin, 2015). In the same manner, style of service is also important so as to attract the
consumers and develop a positive perception of the consumers towards it.
AC2.3 Assess the opportunities and constraints affecting product and/or service
development within a hospitality environment.
The sleep menu service developed by Wardrof Hilton as a set of several opportunities and
constraints that are as follows;
The opportunities are in form of grasping a wide range of consumers that wish to have a good
sleep while they are on their travel job. It can further aid in gaining the competitive advantage
over the rival firms. However on a negative note, they are required to train the human
resources in this area so that they can provide the services that are also in tune with the vision
and mission of hotel statement (Jones, Hillier and Comfort, 2016). Moreover if the consumers
are not satisfied with the service then they can be taken over by the competitors who are
providing same kind of service. It is also essential for the hotel to provide ample amount of
accommodation service to the guest else they are most likely to make an exit from the hotel.
Same applies to the manner in which the guests are treated by the employees. Both the above
mentioned areas can be utilised as a source of opportunity or limitation.
AC2.4 Evaluate different merchandising opportunities for hospitality products and services.
Merchandising can be defined as the set of activities that are used by any industry to
promote the product and service offerings (Brown, Thomas and Bosselman, 2015). The
management team is required to present the hotel in such a manner that consumers are
attracted towards it and prefer staying. It is also very essential to put good photos of hotel on
online listings so that it is easy for the consumer to compare and make the final choice. It is

however required to be remembered that the hotel or its rooms must be the same that has
been presented in the photo else it may led to bad word of mouth publicity.
The management should also ensure that there is some unique feature in the hotel such as
state of the art on-site meeting and conference area; well-built swimming pool; good scenic
beauty among others.
Task 2
AC3.1: Choose an organisation and evaluate the different pricing methods it uses.
Name of Hospitality Business: Hilton Waldrof, London
Method Method
used or
not used?
Brief remarks about how method is used
1. Cost-oriented pricing Yes
It is used to cover the basic cost of running the hotel in
the areas of admin, cleaning, security, wages, taxes etc
(The Waldorf Hilton, London. 2018).
2. Market-oriented
pricing Yes
This strategy is also used in order to successfully
compete with the competitors. Hence prices are not so
low so as to have an image of low quality and not high
as well so as to lose the consumers to rivals.
3. Service charge Yes Service charge is levied on most of the services
provided by the hotel (The Waldorf, 2018).
4. Cover charge Yes
Cover charge is not meant for those who are staying in
hotel but those with no reservation have to pay the
same.
5. Minimum charge No There are no such criteria of minimum charge in the
hotel (The Waldorf Hilton, London. 2018).

AC3.2: Appraisal of Revenue Generation and Profitability
Name of Hospitality Business: Hilton Waldrof, London
Elements to be observed Observation/Remarks
Labour Intensity Revenue Generation or
Profitability
As the hotel belongs to service
sector industry hence a large
number of labours are used to
carry out the services.
Shelf Life Revenue Generation or
Profitability
Firm can easily sustain in the
market with respect to Revenue
Generation or Profitability if the
product or service offering is of
quality.
Elasticity Of Demand Revenue Generation or
Profitability
There is a presence of inelastic
demand in Hilton hotel which
means there is less change in
demand o consumers than the
price change.
Standardisation / Portion Control Revenue Generation or
Profitability
The hotel uses standardised
products in all area including
food and beverage,
housekeeping etc. and is also
strict towards sanitation
standards (The Waldorf, 2018).
This has helped it in maintaining
the overall profitability figures.

Task 3: Report
AC4.1 Apply a range of performance measures and appraisal techniques to individual
aspects of hospitality operations, the product and the whole operation.
Performance appraisal is that technique which is used to evaluate the overall performance of
a firm under study. There can be a use of various performance measures and appraisal
techniques so as to ensure that the operations of Hilton hotel are up to the mark. One such
is checking the quality management of food and beverage as well as housekeeping unit as
they are the ones who should be adhering with the norms of safety and hygiene. Then is
the speed of delivery done by waiters, consumer service agent and room cleaning etc. done
by housekeeping hotel. This is a most important dimension as guests vesting Hilton hotel
are usually for business trips and do not wish to have a time shortage. External comparison
can also be done with the standards that have been set by industry on various parameters
such as quality, safety, hygiene, time management among others. Last but not the least
technique in this regard is judging the overall Sales performance/gross profit/net profit
attained by the hotel over a period of time.
AC4.2 Determine the usefulness and limitations of the various quantitative and qualitative
appraisal techniques and their application to hospitality operations .
Quantitative appraisal techniques are the ones that lay emphasis on numerical data while
qualitative appraisal techniques pays attention on the subject matter involved in the study.
The qualitative appraisal techniques applied for Hilton Waldrof firm above are inclusive of
quality management, speed of work, External comparison among others. The assessment of
these areas can be done by making use of questionnaires; interview sessions; feedback form
filling as well as through group meetings. However the above mentioned techniques have a
set of their own drawback such as there non application to wider population with the same
degree of certainty as quantitative analyses (Kandampully, sZhang and Bilgihan, 2015). Then
there is also a use of quantitative techniques such as Sales performance/gross profit/net profit
that can be easily measured and can be used for comparing with previous years or rival
firms who are offering similar kind of services as the hotel. However, there analysis is
required to be done by experts.

AC4.3 Apply approaches to business analysis, evaluation and planning appropriate to
hospitality operations.
Various approaches can be used to analyse, evaluate and plan the overall hospitality
operations. These are inclusive of taking feedbacks from the supervisor about the overall
performance of employee; installing cameras in the hotel; making standards for quality
management, food hygiene among others. Methods can further be taken by analysing the
overall future business requirements as well as how much the hotel wishes to attain in a given
span of time. Implementation can be done and any changes can be managed with passing
time.
Conclusion
From the above report it can be concluded that hospitality operations in Hilton waldorf is of
huge importance due to the overall brand image and consumer satisfaction level carried by
Hilton brand. Hence the need is that the company officials must focus on provision of quality
services. Not only this, they must also provide value for money offerings to the consumers.
References
Bowie, D., Buttle, F., Brookes, M. and Mariussen, A., 2016. Hospitality marketing.
Routledge.
Brown, E.A., Thomas, N.J. and Bosselman, R.H., 2015. Are they leaving or staying: A
qualitative analysis of turnover issues for Generation Y hospitality employees with a
hospitality education. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 46, pp.130-
137.
Cook, R.A., Hsu, C.H. and Marqua, J.J., 2014. Tourism: the business of hospitality and
travel. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Jauhari, V. and Bharwani, S., 2017. An exploratory study of competencies required to
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Marketing and Consumer Behavior (pp. 159-185). Apple Academic Press.
Jones, P., Hillier, D. and Comfort, D., 2016. Sustainability in the hospitality industry: Some
personal reflections on corporate challenges and research agendas. International
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28(1), pp.36-67.

Kandampully, J., Zhang, T. and Bilgihan, A., 2015. Customer loyalty: a review and future
directions with a special focus on the hospitality industry. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(3), pp.379-414.
Law, R., Buhalis, D. and Cobanoglu, C., 2014. Progress on information and communication
technologies in hospitality and tourism. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, 26(5), pp.727-750.
Neuhofer, B., Buhalis, D. and Ladkin, A., 2015. Smart technologies for personalized
experiences: a case study in the hospitality domain. Electronic Markets, 25(3),
pp.243-254.
Wang, C.J., Tsai, H.T. and Tsai, M.T., 2014. Linking transformational leadership and
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The Waldorf, 2018.
http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/united-kingdom/the-
waldorf-hilton-london-LONWAHI/index.html
The Waldorf Hilton, London. 2018.
https://www.kayak.ae/London-
Hotels-The-Waldorf-Hilton-
London.35454.ksp