HM111 Diploma in Tourism Management

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA CAWANGAN SABAH
KAMPUS KOTA KINABALU
(HM111)
DIPLOMA IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT
OCT 2020 – FEB 2021
HTM130
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
CASE STUDY
PREPARED BY:
NAME FARAH AIN HAMIMAH BINTI RAMLEE
PREPARED FOR:
MR ALVIN GATU
FACULTY OF HOTEL AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT
UiTM CAWANGAN SABAH, KAMPUS KOTA KINABALU
SUBMISSION DUE:
14 DECEMBER 2020

1. What are the expected effects on hospitality industry that could be learned from the
covid-19 outbreak?
Due to the covid-19 outbreak, the hospitality industry has been severely affected by the
procedures that were adopted in attempt to minimize damage from the pandemic.
One of the most obvious impact that covid-19 has done to the hospitality industry is the
decrease in demand from consumers which has resulted in temporary closure of many
hospitality businesses. A study conducted by the editorial team of the Journal of Hospitality
Marketing and Management suggested that even after reopening the businesses and lifting
travel restrictions, costumers will not come back immediately. Over 50% of individuals are
not willing to dine in at a restaurant. Same goes for hotel businesses, customers are not
willing to travel to a destination and stay in a hotel.
Besides that, job opportunity in the hospitality industry has significantly decreased due to
hospitality businesses needing to cut cost. Not only that, there has also been cases where
businesses had to lay off their employees because they could not afford to pay them
anymore thus, causing many people involved in hospitality industry to be jobless.
Next, the implementation of covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP) in hospitality
businesses. In effort to lessen risk of infection from the outbreak, most if not all businesses
have been required to follow the SOP set by the government. There have been visible
sanitizing efforts such as the use of mask and gloves by the staff and placing hand sanitizers
in entries as well as keeping record of costumer’s body temperature, implementing social
distancing and limiting customers served at a time, more frequent and detailed cleaning,
health training for employees.
Furthermore, transportation industries have also suffered a big lost due to this pandemic.
Airlines have been obligated to stop any international flight as per government order. All
transportation to other countries has been put to a halt in order to curb the spread of
coronavirus. This has caused a massive decrease in revenues for airlines all over the world.
Lastly, the sudden high demand for technology investment. The implementation of
technology in the current situation has proven to solve immediate challenges and provide
new business opportunity. Technology such as online and mobile ordering, contactless
payment and health and sanitation monitoring has piqued consumers interest and reassured
safety in consuming the service provided.
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2. Suggest ways that the top management could practice in managing their staff during
the pandemic period. (hotel sector)
Firstly, flexible scheduling staffing concept. Hotels would need to rely on flexible scheduling
practice that can make quick shift adjustments depending on the situation. The schedule has
to cater to the needs of the employees that keeps the hotel operating. For example, giving
the employees the option to choose their hourly shift while also giving them the option to cut
back due to certain circumstances without fear of their job getting taken away.
Next, switch from job class-oriented staffing to task-oriented staffing. cross utilizing staff so
employees can multitask multiple different positional responsibility during a single shift is
profitable during the current pandemic as hotels need to preserve income as much as
possible. For example, employees who could efficiently perform diverse task in one shift
such as switching back and forth from front of the house responsibility to back of the house
task.
Besides that, practice good communication. Establish leadership by communicating in full
transparency while remaining realistic and positive. It is important for the staff to know the
facts of the current situation and how it could affect them. For example, welcome input,
feedback and suggestions from the staff that may help solve the current problems.
Furthermore, ensure employee safety. The most important thing during the current pandemic
period is ensuring safety from the wide spreading virus. This is why managements have to
take precautions for their staff. For example, screening every individual before entering the
premise is essential. Employers should also encourage employees with symptoms to stay at
home.
Lastly, consider work from home to implement social distancing. While core operational staff
will not be able to operate from home or during hotel closure, there are several disciplines
that could conduct their work remotely. For example, support functions such as IT, Sales,
Finance and Revenue management are able to do most of their work from home, this allows
the hotel to keep teams employed during closure.
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3. The core product of hotel business is room sales, during the pandemic outbreak, the
room occupancy rate could drop to zero percent. As the top management team,
suggest what you could do to generate income for your organizations.
Firstly, I would suggest the hotel to start upselling for new prospect. Due to covid-19, the
typical upselling items such as breakfast buffet or a spa session are no longer possible, but
by offering various eye-catching deals via advertisement, social media and booking sites, we
can upsell to individuals and groups through the booking process instead. For example,
offering to upgrade a room for a small charge or providing timed discounts and booking
perks.
Next, rescheduling and offering alternatives to cancellations. Because of the pandemic,
many travellers are forced to cancel their hotel booking. This has caused hotels to revert
their room revenue to the guest. So instead of refunding the customers, we could start
offering an alternative such as giving the customers the freedom to reschedule their booking
to any future date.
Besides that, we should start focusing on domestic travellers. International travelling has
been restricted by the government during the pandemic in hopes to reduce the rapidly
spreading virus, however domestic travel is still allowed in certain areas especially the green
area as long as they follow the sop requirements. With that in mind, we can maximize
domestic market exposure by concentrating on in-country advertisement and emphasizing
on the international travel restrictions and decreased flight timetables to encourage guests.
Furthermore, we should start investing on creative new market that takes advantage of the
current situation. By making the most out of the hotel space to meet the guests’ current
requirements, hotels are able to generate revenue from services other than the traditional
lodging services. For example, Red Roof Inn launched the “Work Under Our Roof” program
which provides a room with work efficient facilities that is designed for people to rent as
workspaces from 8 am to 6 pm at a reduced rate.
Lastly, we could start changing the pricing strategy. During the pandemic, it would make
sense to lower the room rates in order to fill in the rooms that are otherwise vacant during
the periods of low demands for hotels. For example, a smart pricing strategy that lowers
room rates is by charging lower rates in exchange for no refunds. This will secure profit for
the hotel.
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4. What are your expectations to hotel business that is individually owned and
chain/franchise label hotels?
Firstly, for individually owned hotels, I expect them to use the time during the restriction for
maintenance. It is the most appropriate time to do large-scale maintenance without worrying
about the guests. It is important for them to be prepared to leave a big impression during the
reopening. For example, they can do system checks, deep cleaning and plan out ways to
implement the sop alongside retraining their staff.
Secondly, I expect them to come out with plans to generate side income aside from
providing lodging services. this will keep the profit cycling to maintain the hotel. For example,
the Historic Smithton Inn owned Rebecca Gallagher was able to generate profit by seizing
the opportunity when Pennsylvania shut down all liquor stores by creating an e-commerce
site to sell the wine from the Inn’s wine bar alongside branded sheets, candles and soaps.
Lastly, individually owned hotels should start implementing new technology in their hotel
especially during the current predicament to optimize social distancing and contactless
methods. For example, online room booking and cashless payment to minimize contact as
much as possible.
As for chained hotels, they are already well equipped with advance technology so I expect
them to focus more in optimizing their marketing strategy. They will need to gain the trust of
their loyal customers as well as reel in new customers. During the pandemic, cleanliness
that ensures safety important to the consumers. Keeping that in mind, it would be smart to
centre around their advertisement around that. For example, Hilton hotel announced working
relationship with trusted cleanliness brands like Lysol and Dettol, and the Mayo Clinic to gain
the trust of customers.
Besides that, I expect them to do promotions more vigorously in order to pull in new
customers especially the millennials who are most eager to start travelling once the
restrictions are lifted. For example, discounts, promotions and perks are the best way to
catch customers who tend to be more cost conscious and sought for good deals.
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