Analysis of Conference and Banqueting Operations at Hilton London

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CONFERENCE AND BANQUETING MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
Introduction:...................................................................................................................................3
LO1 Task 1....................................................................................................................................3
P1.1 Evaluate the rise of conference and banqueting sector and analyze the scope and scale
in terms of the UK:.....................................................................................................................3
P1.2 Discuss the key factors which have influenced its growth and development in the UK:.. .4
LO2 Task 2....................................................................................................................................7
P2.1 Analyze the various strategic and operational issues of Hilton related to operational
management of various banquet and conference operations:...................................................7
P2.2 State the importance of providing quality in conference operations and critically analyze
Hilton’s review techniques related to performance of conference operations:..........................8
LO3 Task 3....................................................................................................................................9
P3.1 Discuss the feasibility of food production systems and serving styles as per the
proposed event:.........................................................................................................................9
P3.2 Discussion of major factors and issues related to organizing of off-site banquets or
conferences:.............................................................................................................................10
P3.3 Analysis of menu planning consideration along with its limitations:................................11
LO4 Task 4..................................................................................................................................12
P4.1 Discussion of ergonomic aspects along with those of venue and various facilities related
to the event:.............................................................................................................................12
Conclusion:..................................................................................................................................12
Reference:...................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction:
This study focuses on the various aspects of conference and banqueting in the event
management sector of the UK. It is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors. Reports state
that London is the most favorite destination when it comes to conferences and business
meetings. The following sections provide a clear understanding of the sector with relevant points
for further discussion.
LO1 Task 1
P1.1 Evaluate the rise of conference and banqueting sector and analyze the scope and
scale in terms of the UK:
Conference is the official or formal meeting of people with shared interest to organize a meeting
or discussion. It is generally organized by various business and trade bodies to bring together a
group of people to discuss a pre-defined topic (Jones, 2017). It is generally followed by a
banquet service. Banquet can be defined as an official or informal setting for people to enjoy a
meal. Generally, it happens in marriages, events, conferences and other occasions.
Conferences and banqueting got a major boost ever since globalization. It is one of the most
effective and illustrious ways to organize meetings and put forward one's opinion. The 21st
century has changed the entire notion of conferencing with the collaboration of hospitality sector
along with it. The various factors which have developed the industry in the UK are as follows:
 Developed economy: It draws most country towards UK as they also want to learn from
them the art of business and effective organizational management through these
conferences (Pearcy et al. 2017).
 Popular destination: The UK is one of the most popular destinations which influence
delegates from all over the world to attend conferences here.
 Hotels and venues: The UK boasts of a huge hospitality sector including various big
brands of hotels and venues like Hilton, Marriott and so on. There are around 10,000
venues across the UK.
 Commercial Hub: The UK, especially London is the commercial hub of Europe. A large
number of business meetings from around the worlds are organized here even when an
organization has no operations in the UK.
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 Aesthetic Aspects: According to Kavanagh et al. (2015), London is one of the most
popular cities across the world with total visitors pegged around 20 million every year.
Therefore it is the most favored city in terms of successful business meetings.
Figure 1: Factors for rise in UK conference management industry
Source: Influenced by Kavanagh et al. (2015)
This industry of conferencing and banqueting has a large influence in the UK economy and its
current scale of business is provided below:
 Net worth of UK events industry is pegged at £42.3 billion.
 Supports around 570,000 employment.
 UK visitor economy’s 35% is generated from this sector (Liang, 2015).
 Around 85 million delegates attend conferences in the UK annually.
 Around 1.3 million business meetings held and organized annually.
 London ranked at the top among EMEA cities in terms of meeting and activities.
P1.2 Discuss the key factors which have influenced its growth and development in the
UK:
Political
 Highly stable and very influential
 Encourages FDI
 Free trade policies
Economic
 5th largest economy (Jaimangal-Jones
et al. 2018)
 GDP of $2.808 trillion (2019)
 Growth rate of 1.9% (2019)
Social Technological
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UKConfereceIndustry

 High-income population
 Literacy rate of 99%
 Aging population (Todd et al. 2017)
 Extensively R&D focused
 Best solutions for industry
 Developments in robotics
Environmental
 Around 6% drop in carbon emission
 Environmentally independent
 Best practices for clean energy and
eco-friendly initiatives
Legal
 Appropriate Labor Act and
Employment Act (Buning and Gibson,
2016)
 Legal protection of organization
 Comprehensive framework for legal
issues
Table 1: PESTEL Analysis of the UK
(Source: Created by author)
Political: The UK government is highly stable and practices best norms to attract maximum
business from foreign nations. However, due to latest Brexit issue, there have been certain
uncertainties regarding investments.
Economic: The UK is the fifth largest economy in the world. It has a GDP of $2.808 trillion as of
2019. As state by Hodder (2015), it is the commercial capital of Europe. However, since it is
developed, it has a slower annual growth rate of only 1.9%.
Social: The population of UK is very advanced and highly educated. There is hardly any issues
related to social discrimination. They have a high-income rate and hence beneficial for
organizations. However, they are an aging population which means that there is a limited
workforce for organizations.
Technological: One of the most developed country in terms of science and technology. It has
special contribution to space and robotics research (Lin and Bin 2016). It has all the major
technology which can be used for industry and business development.
Environmental: Have access to vast resources and are resource-wise independent. There has
been significant reduction in carbon emission. Government has implemented various
environment-friendly initiatives for safeguarding the natural environment.
Legal: Relevant Labor Act and Employees Act are in practice to protect labors and employees
and safeguard their interests. Organizations are also provided protection legally to secure their
interests and investments in the country.
The above factors provide a clear picture of the current scenario in the UK. It can be started
after a thorough analysis of the PESTEL elements that few features are positively impacting the
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growth of banqueting and conferencing sector in the UL while some factors are negatively
impacting it:
Positive Factors:
 A stable government with free trade policies and open market. It welcomes various
organizations to invest in the UK and indirectly impacts the event management sector in
the UK
 Economically advanced and attracts Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). It helps to attract
foreign investment. They seek for venues and hospitality units for their meeting and
clients’ comforts.
 High-income population with diverse culture ensures that delegates from all around the
world visit London for events and conferences.
 Best technology in use for industry and business purpose allows various organizations to
attend the UK for learning the best practices by attending conferences related to it.
 Legal protection of organizations ensures that these are protected. Hence it promotes
organizational participation in various fields of the economy. As opined by Ladwig et al.
(2018), it ensures that there are various conferences for better understanding and
awareness.
Negative Factors:
 Brexit is one of the primary reasons for adversely affecting the sector. Due to it,
uncertainties have risen (Azis et al. 2018). Organizations have withdrawn or canceled
their plans to organize business meetings or conferences due to the fear of economic
complexity.
 Slowing growth rate is discouraging organization from investing in the country and they
lose interest to organize or attend any conferences or seminars in the UK.
 Aging population also discourages organizations to venture the markets of the country.
As stated by Agwa et al. (2018), since the population is aging, it means a new
organization will not have steady source of employees.
In order to organize an international event in Hilton, London, various aspects are to be
considered. The Horasis Global Meeting is to be organized at the Hilton, London for duration of
three days. The various points provide clarity to the operational management related to the
conference and subsequent banquet events:
 Date & Time: May 09th – 11th, 2019;
 Financial Considerations:
Categories Revenue
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 Conference Hall rental
 Buffet Lunch & Dinner service
 Accommodation services
 Restaurant service estimates
 Additional revenues
£1,000 X 3 days = £3,000
£200 X 200 plates X 3 days = £120,000
£100 X 100 rooms X 3 days = £30,000
£10,000
£15,000
TOTAL £178,000
Table 2: Estimated revenues generation for Hilton
(Source: Created by author)
Hilton Hotel will make approximately £178,000 during the three-day conference of
Horasis Global Meeting.
 Conference Venue: Jacaranda Conference Hall, Hilton, London. It has a seating
capacity if 250 delegates. Hilton is located in central London making it accessible for all
delegates to reach the venue easily.
 Transportation Links: Easy access to Hilton via cars, buses and railway networks from
London International Airport. Private transportation for delegates is to be provided by the
hotel management at the discretion of the event management organization.
 Wi-Fi connections: Wi-Fi connections are to be provided to in-house guests only. Only
at the discretion of the event management company, special access top Wi-Fi is to be
provided to the delegates.
 Logistics and equipment:
1. Conference area and required staffing
2. Kitchen area and kitchen staffing
3. Banquet area and required staffing
4. Room service for in-house delegates
5. AV system with projectors and DVRs
6. Interpreters and special care providers
7. Miscellaneous requirements like additional areas
 Climate control: Special provisions for climate control like Air purifiers and fire service
in case of emergencies.
 Refreshments: Mineral water, soft drinks, liquor and snacks as requested by the event
management company for delegate and attendees.
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LO2 Task 2
P2.1 Analyze the various strategic and operational issues of Hilton related to operational
management of various banquet and conference operations:
 Menu preparation: It is very difficult to cater to an international audience especially
when they are together in a conference (Chesser, 2016). During conferences, there are
delegates from various backgrounds and cultures. They may have different eating habits
and it is therefore very difficult for hoteliers and venue owners to prepare a menu for the
ensemble attendees. It means preparing dishes and cuisines which will suit the taste of
their varied audience.
 Lack of accommodation: During conference, the management at Hilton is often
worried about providing rooms for attending delegates and officials in the conference.
Often these conferences happen during peak seasons when there is no or less
availability of rooms. As opined by Jones (2017), in such cases, hotels may have to turn
down lucrative offers and have to arrange for accommodation to their clients in other
hotels for their accommodation.
 Keeping up with the event flow: Event management companies are dependent on
hotel management to ensure that they get steady help from them. During events, it is
very difficult for hotel management to manage their business and provide staffing to the
events team to assist in their various sessions. Hilton staffs have often complained about
falling behind on schedule and inability to keep up with their event flow.
 Crowd management: It is very difficult for hoteliers to manage the crowd flow in their
property and establishment (Pearcy et al. 2017). Often, it has happened in Hilton that
attendees have ventured into other areas of the hotel which has not been rented by the
events company. In such cases, management cannot do anything because of customer
care policies.
 Resource allocation: Hotels have limited resources like tables, chairs, and lounges to
provide to their guests. In case of big events like Horasis Global Meeting, the hotel
management faces issues like providing all these resources to the events team. With
rising number of delegates across conferences, it is crucial for the hotel management to
allocate these resources effectively.
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Figure 2: Strategic and operational issues
Source: Influenced by Liang (2015)
P2.2 State the importance of providing quality in conference operations and critically
analyze Hilton’s review techniques related to performance of conference operations:
The importance of providing quality services in conferences and events operations are:
 Increased efficiency: With the management of events and hotel operations, hotel
management and staffs acquire crucial experience in terms of bulk resource
management. This increases their efficiency in event management and conferencing
operations as well as aesthetic human resource management.
 Maintains Goodwill: Even when a hotel is providing good service to their in-house
guests, if they falter in providing good service to the attendees of the events, it will
tarnish their image as a hotel of repute (Kavanagh et al. 2015). Therefore, it will not be
considered for further events. If this happens, the hotel will miss out of future
conferences which are a good source of revenue generation.
 Business opportunities: In this current market scenario of increasing conferences and
events across the UK, providing good services in the conferences and events are very
crucial for the organization to obtain further business form these event management
teams. With the record of spending around £70,000 every conference, it is a very good
opportunity for these hotels to increase their revenues and have a different source of
wealth generation.
Hilton’s review techniques of conferences and event operations are multifold. They are:
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strategicandoperationalissues

 Attendees’ feedback: Every attendee is provided with a feedback form and requested
to provide an honest opinion about their services. As opined by Liang (2015), it helps
hotels to understand the areas where they have faltered and the areas they have
excelled.
 Social-media monitoring: Attendees often turn to social media to register their
experience about the conference they have attended. Hilton has a separate team who
monitors these social media updated to gauge customer satisfaction or grievances.
 Revenue vs Cost assessment: This is the ultimate assessment to gauge whether they
have suffered loss or profit in hosting the conference (Jaimangal-Jones et al. 2018). It
provides data related to financial outcomes only and not customer satisfaction data.
Therefore, it is only used for assessing financial gains.
 Reviewing sales data: if there is rise in sales after the completion of the conference, it
is a positive sign that the conference operations have gone down well with the attendees
and reputation of the hotel is increased.
Figure 3: Methods for assessing conference operation quality
Source: Influenced by Liang (2015)
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MethodsforassessingconferenceoperAttendees’feedbackSocial-mediamonitoringRevenuevsCostassessmenReviewingsalesdata

LO3 Task 3
P3.1 Discuss the feasibility of food production systems and serving styles as per the
proposed event:
The menu for the entire three days of the conferences will be theme focused. It will be
completely influenced by English cuisines so that there is no conflict among delegate about
menu selection.
 Conventional food production style will be preferred. It allows for waste management
and food safety and system recycling (Todd et al. 2017). It is highly influenced by culture
and hotel's financial system. It will make sure that there is effective resource
management in the kitchen to bring down the operational and production costs of food.
Hilton has used this type of cooking to ensure that their materials are not wasted
unnecessarily and there is cost management. Food servings are to be followed
accordingly from the kitchen to the dining or serving area. It will maintain a systematic
approach and there will be no mix-up of servings and beverages with the food and
dishes.
 Centralized food production style is also considered. Since the hotel staffs have to
serve food to around 200 delegates at a short interval of time, it will come in handy. This
process allows for quick food production and maximizes employee and staff
engagement to reduce time-lapse in food production and serving durations. Hilton has
used this style for banquet services and it is very apt for conference dining systems.
 Food and Beverage servings: Beverages are not considered under menu offerings
and thus are added to the actual menu cuisines. They are to be served on a continuous
basis for all delegates and would include tea-coffee, soft drinks and liquor in the evening
sessions. Therefore, a person ordering a five-course meal will get Hors d'oeuvres,
Amuse-bouche, Soup, Appetizer, Main course, and beverages are separate as per
orderings of the delegates. The hotel staffs will follow this system as it reduces
operational time requirements and keeps records of orders in a systematic way.
P3.2 Discussion of major factors and issues related to organizing of off-site banquets or
conferences:
Staff management: There should be seamless staff coordination and management. It is very
crucial as various people are involved with various jobs and they are all interrelated. Hence, to
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avoid any mistake which can disrupt the entire supply chain, it is very crucial to manage staffs
and assign tasks as per specialization and expertise.
Space management: It is also important as proper allocation of locations of each operation is
to be addressed at the earliest to avoid any last minute problems (Buning and Gibson, 2016). A
checklist of defined sessions and works are to draw up and space for each of them is allotted
accordingly. It is crucial to allot space as per the relevance of these tasks.
Equipment: Various equipment starting from kitchen, AVs, media, posters, and logistics are to
be prepared beforehand. It helps to assess the importance and emergence of each task as per
the checklist. Apart from that, it is not possible for a small event management organization to
buy all the equipment. Therefore, vendors are to selected from whom rentals can be taken for
this equipment.
Transportation: Transport facilities should include local travel as well as international flights for
foreign delegates. If there is special request for dedicated transport for any delegates, there has
to be separate checklist for that as well (Hodder, 2015). It is very crucial as transport facilities
reduce time required for any kind of operational needs. Therefore proper allocation of
transportation requirement is to be done beforehand.
Hygiene: Equipment and gears related to hygiene maintenance are also very crucial for
maintaining good health of all visitors and delegates. There should be proper monitoring of
hygiene habit, especially in kitchen and food serving. Furthermore, a clean and tidy environment
gives off positive vibes which are preferred by delegates in any conferences.
Figure 4: Major factors and issues related to conferences
Source: Influenced by Hodder, (2015)
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Majorfactorsandissuesrelatedtoconferences