Resort Management: Functional and Operational Issues

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RESORT MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................2
TASK -1..................................................................................................................................... 3
A........................................................................................................................................... 3
B........................................................................................................................................... 6
TASK – 2....................................................................................................................................8
A........................................................................................................................................... 8
B......................................................................................................................................... 11
TASK – 3..................................................................................................................................13
A......................................................................................................................................... 13
B......................................................................................................................................... 15
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................... 17
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 18
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INTRODUCTION
The assignment explores various aspects of the resort operations of tour operators. The
assignment is divided into three parts; the first part of the assignment considers the
functions of an overseas office and evaluates different functional and operational issues
handled during the management of the resort operations. It also considers the structures of
different types of tour operators and compares their differences and similarities in the
context of camping operator and a ski operator. The second part of the assignment
considers quality systems and procedures and level of influence exerted by a legal
requirement on them in the context of accommodation, communication, suppliers, human
resources, and equipments. It also considers their impact on tour operators. Lastly, the
third task involves evaluation of incidents that impact resort operations along with the
methodology/procedure of handling them. It also explores the interrelationship of incident
handling procedures with governmental and trade organisation's guidelines.
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TASK -1
A.
FUNCTIONS OF AN OVERSEAS OFFICE AND MANAGEMENT OF ISSUES PERTAINING TO
OPERATIONS AND FUNCTIONS
An overseas office of a tour operator establishes the presence of the tour operator in the
location where the overseas office is operational. In the current scenario, an organisation is
planning to establish a new tour operator company that will specialise in tour packages to
Costa del Sol, Spain. The area operation will be new for the company without any prior
exposure to the said region. An overseas office in Costa del Sol will make the operations of
the company effective while facilitating the management of local associations like
accommodation arrangements with resorts in Torremolinos, Fuengirola, and Marbella as
well as managing the people opting for the tour package and providing them with highest
service standards. It will act as a point of contact with the local business associates making
the local operations effective and efficient. The overseas office becomes doubly important in
cases when a number of major tour programs are in the offing (Holland and Leslie, 2017).
Overseas Offices - Functions
The overseas office will be led by a senior official from the company and it will act as the
point of contact to local partners and their representatives such as the resort
representatives. Every one of the resort or area representatives will be reporting to the
overseas office and will be given information regarding the arriving group’s details such as
arrival times, reservations, conveyance details, etc. The overseas office will also have
access/copies of the various details including details like the following (Holland and Leslie,
2017)
 Rooming lists for the arriving guests along with special instructions or requests if any
 Continuous updating of the existing data by adding details like the inclusion of
information pertaining to any additional member of the touring party and absence of
a tour party member
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 Details of the conveyance such as coach driver’s name and coach company details;
flight details like arrival and departure or delays
 Administration of the optional excursions by providing details like schedule and
prices; conducting the bookings and ensuring availability of necessary aspects like
conveyance, equipment, meals, and permissions (if any).
The senior employee leading the overseas office is responsible for handling any relevant
issues, emergencies and accidents that are reported by the hotel or resort representative.
Also, the overseas office is usually the payment provider of the RR. Whether the overseas
office remains operational round the year depends on the size of the area being handled by
the resort office; it may work at full capacity throughout the year or with reduced staff as
per the organisational need (Holland and Leslie, 2017).
Functional and Operational Issues
A tour operator is first and foremost a service provider and the quality of service and the
resulting customer satisfaction level is the basic criteria that define their success. One of the
first requirements in this regard is ensuring that the hotel being offered as part of the tour
package satisfies various international and local regulations and guidelines such as safety
regulations, health regulations and hygiene standards. The second aspect is ensuring the
availability of various elements of the tour such as coaches for conveyance, excursions
wherever it’s offered and facilities ensuring a comfortable excursion and ensuring delivery
of committed services. Passenger communication and its effectiveness is a critical aspect of
effective resort management (Fowler, 2012).
There are many issues that arise during the holiday season and the passengers may become
dissatisfied if these issues are not taken care of though most of them can be managed
through effective communication. Any delay in the flight whether during the arrival or
departure is a cause of concern and any changes in the flight schedule should be efficiently
communicated on time. In a similar manner, the coach schedule and any variation in it also
another critical issue that can be managed through effective communication. The
refreshment/meals at the hotels and its timely delivery that includes its start and finish is an
important consideration and failure to take care could affect the tour schedule. The
excursions (optional) are another avenue of potential issues. The primary issues that can
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arise in managing an excursion include changes like changes in departure time or itinerary
and cancellations (Fowler, 2012).
Refurbishment of the hotel can be a hindrance that can be effectively managed and any
passenger inconvenience prevented by careful monitoring of the progress and knowledge of
the time of starting and finishing the construction activities. Medical issues are another
functional/operational issue that can lead to necessary changes like arrangement of
transportation for familial relation of the passenger, hospitalisation of the passenger and
making travel arrangements for the hospitalised passengers return. Lastly, the weather
condition though uncontrollable are another issue that can mar the tour experience and
lead to many other issues like booking cancellations, conveyance delays, etc. Also, the
weather condition needs to be communicated to the passenger to ensure they comprehend
the existing and upcoming weather scenario. The management of the above stated
operational and functional issues is a critical component of resort management (Fowler,
2012).
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B.
STRUCTURES OF THE RESORT OFFICES OF DIFFERENT TOUR OPERATORS
The tour operators structure their tour packages on the basis of the customer requirements
and it includes the choice of accommodation for the passengers opting for the tour package.
The availability of amnesties and accommodation are the primary factors in the tour
package designing/ structuring. The resort offices of the tour operators are categorised/
structured on the basis of the amenities and services being offered. The tour operators have
different types of resort offices that include all-inclusive, full-board, Half Board, Bed &
Breakfast, and Self Catering (Page, 2014).
An All-inclusive resort office is a popular choice since it offers all the services that could be
required as part of the tour. The facilities like accommodation, a conveyance that includes
pickups from and drops to the airport, luggage handling, meals, and sundry services such as
the internet connectivity as well as certain other facilities wherever available like a centre
for the sports and fitness, swimming pools, etc. On the other hand, a full board resort office
includes the breakfast, lunch and dinner as part of the package with a nominal charge. A half
board resort is similar to full board alternative with the inclusion of breakfast and dinner
while lunch is excluded from the package. The bed and breakfast include accommodation
along with breakfast as part of the package. A self-catering resort office differs from the
others due to unavailability of any food/meal options and in these places, the passengers
are expected to look after their own meal. Also, self-catering resort offices lack many of the
facilities that are a part of other resort offices although it’s a cheaper alternative. The cost of
these resort offices vary on the basis of facilities being offered and accommodation is a part
of every alternative though of varying quality (McKay, 2013).
Parameters Ski Operator Camping Operation
Accommodation
 It’s not a part of the package
 It’s a part of the package.
 Alternatives like Chalets,
Caravans, and Tents.
Equipment’s
 Various equipments are made
available as part of the package
at minimal additional cost.
 A host of necessary equipments
are made available at the
camping site.
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 The offered equipment’s include
provision of skiing guidance
through a Ski guide, making
available the necessary skiing
equipment’s on hire basis, and
Ski Schools that offers to teach
skiing.
 The offered equipment’s include
equipment’s related to cooking,
storage, lighting, as well as
equipment’s like camp beds,
chairs, tables, and gas cylinders.
 Passengers with their own
equipment's and tents are also
accommodated.
Transfers
 This concerns the transportation
of passengers from arrival point
to Skiing location.
 It depends on the mode of
arrival
 No transfer is required in case of
arrival by car
 Transfers are made available in
cases of arrival by Train or flight
from Railway station and
Airports respectively.
 Transfers are usually not a part
of the package
 The people arriving by car or
coach can directly reach the
campsite whereas the people
arriving by flight are rare.
Table 1: Comparison of Ski Operator and Camp Operator (Page, 2014)
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TASK – 2
A.
QUALITY SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES AND THE INFLUENCE OF LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
The nature of the business of a tour operator is the provision of services to its customers.
This place a high onus on customer satisfaction and various quality systems and procedures
are in place to ensure the delivery of the best possible customer service and high-level of
customer satisfaction. Also, the tour operators need to ensure compliance of various
regulations, legislation and guidelines that are relevant and applicable in their area of
operations. The quality systems and procedures are a way for these businesses to ensure
compliance while providing high-quality services. The quality systems and procedures come
into play from the initial stage of their operation and are incorporated during different
stages such as identification of partner hotel/resorts and establishing an agreement from
the stay of their customer/passengers. The legal aspect includes various laws like health and
Safety act of 1974 to ensure prescribed health and safety standards and practices; Sales of
Goods Act of 1979 to ensure fair pricing and quality; Data Protection Act of 1984 to ensure
the customer data confidentiality and prevent its misuse; Children’s Act of 1989 to ensure
the proficient handling of wards of the customers/guests; and EU Directive of package
Holidays of 1992 that establishes guidelines and rules for offering package holidays and
tours (Novelli and Hellwig, 2011).
Various checklists allow the tour operators to ensure the compliance of various legislations
and prevent punitive actions arising out of noncompliance as well as ensuring customer
satisfaction. The checklist pertaining to Accommodation, Communication, Suppliers,
Equipment, and Human Resources provide an effective means to inspect and monitor
various aspects of resort operations and determine and correct irregularities to ensure
higher quality standards and adherence to legal framework while minimising the potential
for incidents and conflicts as well as disruptions of the day to day operations.
Accommodation checklist ensures the quality of the staying arrangement for the customers
as well as the implementation of the health and safety standards and the communication
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checklist ensures effective communication between the tour operator, customer, partners
and suppliers (Cetin and Yarcan, 2017).
The technical services or equipment’s checklist ensures standard processes are being
incorporated in the handling and deployment of different equipment’s such as Kitchen and
electrical equipment’s and components. Internal and external security or safety checklist
ensures continuous monitoring of the premises to prevent unlawful entry and minimising
potential to harm to the customers. The housekeeping checklist ensures the cleanliness of
the premises and rooms as well as ensuring the adherence to quality standards and
compliance to cleanliness and hygiene. The supplier’s checklist ensures the implementation
of organisational standards and compliance requirements in the procurement process and
hiring new suppliers. The human resource recruitment and management is also under the
quality process to ensure the entry of employees with potential. There are many regulations
like anti-discrimination, workplace safety, and employment laws that are compliance is also
ensured by checklists like human resource checklist, safety checklist, etc.
Prior to entering a contract with a partner resort or hotel as well as before bringing the
passengers for their stay certain parameters indicated in quality standards and the
regulations are evaluated and only after due satisfaction the partner hotels/resorts are
considered. All the departments such as Human Resource and Finance have their internal
checklists to ensure compliance with the legal aspects as well as to ensure incorporation of
quality standards. This is verified at regular interval through internal and external audits.
The quality systems and procedures of a resort operation have the following basic aspects
(Cetin and Yarcan, 2017)
Health and Safety
This aspect focuses on ensuring the achievement of the quality standards for health and
safety as well as its maintenance at the required quality levels. Towards this purpose routine
checks and audits are conducted to determine the adherence to quality standards and legal
framework. Any of the identified irregularity is reported and dealt with alacrity. The
irregularities, as well as the steps taken to correct it, are documented for future references,
the documents pertaining to the discovery of the irregularity and its nature are forwarded
to the relevant department or the manager for corrective action. The communications
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regarding the irregularities and its handling are prompt to ensure minimal conflict, potential
incidents and disruptions (Novelli and Hellwig, 2011).
Services
This involves ensuring service quality standards to ensure higher customer satisfaction
levels. This also involves routine checks and audits of the service processes as well as the
service delivery especially by considering it at an individual employee level. The
irregularities, if any, are again documented. Resolution and elimination of irregularity are
sought and corrective measures are taken that’s again documented. Incorporation of
processes to identify training requirements and periodic training programs for the
employees is incorporated to improve quality standards of the services. The swift resolution
of the service related irregularity helps in minimising incidents, conflicts, and disruptions
(Cetin and Yarcan, 2017).
Legal
The legal component of the quality systems and procedures is focused on ensuring the
compliance of relevant legislation, laws, guidelines, and frameworks. These include
compliance to laws like contract law, health and Safety act, Sales of Goods Act, Data
Protection Act, EU Directive of package Holidays, and Children's Act. It also considers
compliance to local laws as well as a contractual obligation and in case of identification of
irregularity, a process of documentation, communication and resolution are incorporated
with a focus on restricting the impact of irregularity on the effectiveness of existing
operations (Novelli and Hellwig, 2011).
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B.
IMPACT OF QUALITY SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES ON A SKI OPERATORS RESORT
OPERATION
Checklists Impact on the resort operations of a Ski Operator
Accommodation
 No accommodation is provided so no impact whatsoever in the
accommodations front.
Equipment
 The equipment’s pertaining to skiing and their quality is a critical
consideration since it affects the health and safety of the customer.
Skiing in itself has a component of risk and thus additional compliance
to health and safety measures are a necessary requirement. Also,
various legal aspects govern the availability of equipment’s such as the
Ski Guiding has been discontinued in France due to a restriction placed
by the French government.
 The equipment checklist ensures that the various health and safety
guidelines and legislation are fulfilled and thereby the activity is
conducted in a fairly safe environment. This also contributes to
customer satisfaction and hence the growth of the Ski Operator.
Communication
 The incorporation of quality processes through the communication
checklist will impact the ski operator in the following ways
 Effective communication of the flight details from the parent office of
the ski operator to the resort office allowing the resort office to
prepare in a timely and effective manner.
 Effective communication of flight details between the customer and
resort office will ensure effective management of customer needs in
cases of delay in arrival or departure of the flights.
 Effective communication ensures the transfer happens smoothly
through the coach and there’s no gap of communication between the
resort offices and passengers. This allows timely sharing of information
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