Resort Operations Management: Analyzing Functions and Quality Systems

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes resort operations management.

Resort operations
Management

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Analyse the functions of resort operations including coordination and handling of various
tour operators and customer service function as well as managing the legal and health and
safety issues.................................................................................................................................2
1.2 analyse the structure of the resort offices of different types of tour operator........................3
M1 Explore the complex problems related to the various functions of resort operations...........4
LO2..................................................................................................................................................5
1.1 discuss how effective quality systems and procedures affect legal and conflict situations...5
1.2 Analyse how implementing an effective quality system by your organisation has produced
results in positive impacts on the operation of the resort............................................................6
M2 Synthesise and process complex information and data related to managing conflicts and
legal issues...................................................................................................................................7
M3 appropriate approach is used to implement quality or conflict management........................8
LO3................................................................................................................................................10
1.1 analyse incidents that affect the operations of a resort........................................................10
1.2 evaluate the procedures to be implemented by a tour operator to deal with different
incidents.....................................................................................................................................11
1.3 discuss how procedures to be implemented by a tour operator link with guidelines of trade
associations and government bodies..........................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................15

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: GAP model of quality services......................................................................................12

Introduction
The resort offers essential services in the tourism industry to their customers, and therefore their
administration and management of its entire activities are essential. This task has considered the
significance of resorts management of the important resorts of Thomas Cook, i.e., SENTIDO and
Sunconnect. Thomas Cook is a travel organisation that facilitates travellers to undertake travel in
England and nearby countries. Thomas Group is a leading travel organization that offers a wide
range of tour packages, holiday plans, transportation, and other relevant services to their tourist.
Its accommodation services are luxury and therefore attract many tourists to its resorts. The
above-discussed resorts of Thomas Cook are sun and beach hotels and therefore offer more
relaxing time to their tourists during their holidays. The vision of Thomas Group is associated
with quality improvement to offer satisfactory services to their tourists.
This task has provided various functions which the resorts of Thomas Cook perform to manage
their administration activity. Different organizational structure is discussed in this task that helps
staff members to perform their job effectively in their resorts, as their roles and responsibilities
are predetermined. The importance of quality system and conflict management is discussed in
this report. In the end, the role of governmental bodies to foster the hospitality sector and the
protection of its stakeholders is discussed in this report.
1

LO1
1.1 Analyse the functions of resort operations including coordination and handling of various
tour operators and customer service function as well as managing the legal and health and safety
issues
Tour operators and travel agents are the intermediaries that create a relationship with the Thomas
Cook to offer travel and hospitality services to their customers, which includes, making
arrangement for travel, stay at resorts and move from one place to another at the chosen
destination. In addition to this, other hospitality services of tour operators include, ticketing,
hotel bookings, travel insurance, and foreign exchange so that travellers can spend their leisure
time without any issues. Nowadays, with the digitalization system, the importance of tour
operators reduces. Tour operators are the individuals who at their personal level influence the
mindset of travellers positively. Hence, to handle tour operators, Thomas Cook is required to set
such commission that motivates travel agents to attract more customers to get a higher return
(Travel Agency and Tour Operations Management, 2019).
The primary services in the hospitality sector required by customers, like, resorts, hotels,
transportation facilities, car rentals, coach, ferry, etc. largely depend upon tour operators.
Customers generally prefer to get suggestions from tour operators regarding travelling to their
chosen destinations; hence, Thomas Cook and their resorts must specify their tour operators in a
regular interval, what services they offer to their visitors, various promotional schemes, etc.
Thomas Cook is required to manage their legal, health, and safety issues by complying various
regulatory laws. Health and Safety Commission was set up to ensure the health and safety of all
the stakeholders in the hospitality sector. Development of Tourism Act, 1969, has specified
various rules and procedures that are required to be compiled by Thomas Cook and their resorts
to administer their business and commercial transactions effectively. In addition to this, package
tourism regulations are also prescribed by the UK government to ensure that Thomas Cook
specifies accurate and relevant information about their services and products offered at their
SENTIDO and Sunconnect resorts (Ali and Amin, 2014). Not only compliance of these
2

regulations is necessary, but their implementation with enthusiasm is necessary to ensure that
travellers’ rights do not get exploited.
Thomas Cook can also ensure health and safety measures by offering healthy and hygienic food
that meets the standard as prescribed in Foods relevant act. In addition to this, a CSR policy of
Thomas Cook will ensure strict regulatory control over various functions of SENTIDO and
Sunconnect resorts, to ensure satisfactory services to the customers.
1.2 analyse the structure of the resort offices of different types of tour operator
The resorts of SENTIDO and Sunconnect have the organizational structure which can be
segmented into following:
Financial Department: This department focuses on recording all financial transactions and
includes activities, like purchasing accounting, capital management, sales accounting, inventory
accounting, etc. (Potashova and Charhifalakjan, 2015).
Front Office: It handles all the customer relevant services, like, reservation, concierge,
housekeeping, telephone services, etc.
Human Resources: This department of SENTIDO and Sunconnect resorts handles the
recruitment, interview, and selection, of their employees. This department is also responsible for
imparting training to their employees on a regular basis.
Food& Beverages: It is responsible for ensuring all the food and beverages availability services,
like, dining rooms, bars, cleaning services in the kitchen, etc. of both the resorts of SENTIDO
and Sunconnect. All the food preparation activities and its quality maintenance is the prime
responsibility of this department (Resort Organization chart, 2018).
Sales: This ensures effective services of selling all the hospitality products and services offered
in the resorts of SENTIDO and Sunconnect, like, rooms, accommodations, food&beverages,
laundry services, etc.
Logistics: This department ensures the availability of daily supplies, purchasing appliances, and
their security in the resorts of Thomas Cook.
3

Following are different types of tour operators, which that are associated with Thomas Cook:
Inbound Tour Operators
These are the tour operators that offer local assistance to the non-resident travellers that visit
their country. These tour operators offer their services generally where there is language mix
issue, and hence make arrangements for travellers in airport pick up, hiring local guides, car
rentals, etc. so that customers can easily reach to their chosen resorts of Thomas Cook at the
destination.
Outbound Tour Operators
These tour operators create liaison with Thomas Cook to help their residential customers to
travel across various countries in the world, where Thomas Cook offer their services (Types of
tour operators, 2019).
Domestic tours
These are the most common tour operators that help the travellers of Thomas Cook to travel
within their own country. Thomas Cook has created liaison with various such type of travel
agents to facilitate customers in visiting their resorts established in their country.
M1 Explore the complex problems related to the various functions of resort operations
The resorts of Thomas Cook, for example, SENTIDO and Sunconnect face various issues while
executing their jobs to serve their customers. In the hospitality sector, customers are the kings,
and therefore resorts have to keep their customers happy by offering those products and services,
which they expect and demand. Changing technology is another issue in the resort management,
as nowadays visitors are more attracted towards that organization that offer innovative and
advanced services for spending their leisure time (Nunkoo et al., 2013). Hence, the resorts of
Thomas Cook are required to have updated on a regular basis regarding their technology. One of
the macro issue in managing the SENTIDO and Sunconnect resorts is terrorism in a particular
destination that creates a negative impact on the mindset of travellers. Ensuring health and safety
related maintenance in the resorts of SENTIDO and Sunconnect is difficult as lack of internal
management can impact negatively on the brand image of Thomas Cook.
4

LO2
1.1 discuss how effective quality systems and procedures affect legal and conflict situations
The quality service system is an effective management tool for the hospitality industry that helps
Thomas Cook and their resorts to monitor their entire services from the perspective of their
customers. In the resorts of Thomas Cook, managers create value for their customers as they
recognize the client retention importance. The increasing competition in the tourism sector,
pressurize every hotel and tourism industry to ensure quality measure in their premises to sustain
and grow in the market.
 To ensure quality system and procedure in the Thomas Cook, the following components
are focused by the managers of Thomas Cook:
 Guest being served as per their demand and expectation
 Develop procedures and methods to identify the desire of their guests
 Impart training to the staff members of the Sunconnect and SENTIDO resorts
 Implement revised and monitor system of progress
 Implement modifications in the existing service delivery system, if required (Mok et al.,
2013).
A total quality management approach and six sigma technique is used by the dangers of Thomas
Cook to ensure quality and a specified standard is followed within various hotels and resorts,
like, Sunconnect and SENTIDO.
Thomas Cook has implemented self-evaluation of quality measurement in their various resorts in
which the managers provide comment cards in the guest rooms to identify their issues,
perceptions and feedback. The quality system is majorly adopted in some of the fields in various
resorts of Thomas Cook, like, Sunconnect and SENTIDO. Quality measurement in technological
5

devices and relevant services in Thomas Cook provide assurance to customers regarding,
maintenance of AC, DC, and their repairs.
The internal management of Thomas Cook and their resorts are effectively managed to provide
quality services to their customers, as without productive workforce in the hospitality sector, no
organization can attain success. Quality procedure in human resources includes identification of
an appropriate candidate for various positions, imparting training regularly, conducting meetings,
seminars, and monitoring of progress of employees (Ashourian et al., 2013). The quality system
is essential in housekeeping departments of Sunconnect and SENTIDO resorts in the UK. This
department focuses on toilet cleaning, common area cleaning, bedrooms cleaning, and many
more. The efficient and productive housekeeping department in Thomas Cook creates a positive
image in the eyes of travellers and helps to increase its ratings.
1.2 Analyse how implementing an effective quality system by your organisation has produced
results in positive impacts on the operation of the resort
The various quality system followed in different departments of Sunconnect and SENTIDO
resorts of Thomas Cook has impacted to a great extent in the performance and revenue of the
organization. The aim of Thomas Cook is to make the dreams of customers come true by
ensuring the highest quality service and experience to them.
Thomas Cook has made arrangements for their customers and tour operators to easily submit
your complaints through emails, phones, fax, letters and other modes of the online channel. Such
complaints are managed automatically through a centralized system of management. It has also
set up “Super” complaint process at various destinations. This helps Thomas Cook in enhanced
customer satisfaction, which has resulted in 8% increase in net promoter score across the Group.
At Sunconnect and SENTIDO resorts, Thomas Cook has created a network of quality managers
who are responsible for overseeing various procedures, plans, etc. within the resorts and ensures
whether suitable actions are taken of reporting to the centralized system (Thomas Cook Group
Plc, 2009). The feedback received from the customers is conveyed to the central team so that
necessary improvements can be implemented in the Sunconnect and SENTIDO resorts.
6

This centralized method has increased the faith and trust among the travellers about Thomas
Cook and its services. This has resulted in the creation of brand value with higher sales margin
for holiday packages. Also, considering customer feedback has resulted in increased and
improved trading through higher customer demand for visiting Sunconnect and SENTIDO
resorts.
Thomas Cook has also entered in a partnership with Trust You, which is a global online
reputation management leader that ensure the Thomas Cook and their resorts comply with
various quality control criteria in the hospitality sector (Quality result of Thomas Cook, 2014).
the online reviews, comments written across the worldwide about Thomas Cook is analyzed by
Trust You and accordingly summaries are prepared that enables the resorts of Thomas Cook to
identify how they are performing their jobs and in which field they are required to improve to
attain the quality standard as expected by the customers. This facilitates customers to easily
convey what they experienced in Sunconnect and SENTIDO resorts during their holidays.
M2 Synthesise and process complex information and data related to managing conflicts and legal
issues
To manage the conflicts and legal issues within the internal structure of Sunconnect and
SENTIDO resorts, Thomas Cook has to maintain a proper centralized vigilance system. Conflicts
arisen in the management are the part of running a corporate business; hence, managers are
required to develop a proper communication system so that employees can easily convey their
issues and problems directly to the top management (Gill and Williams, 2014). Conflicts in the
resorts of Thomas Cook may arise due to lack of communication, low employees participation,
low motivation to employees, etc. Hence, a centralized system that focuses on such issues of
employees must be created. However other methods of conflict management can also be adopted
by the organization.
Legal issues within the resorts of Thomas Cook may arise due to non-compliance of mandatory
provisions or regulations prescribed by the government of the country where the resort is located.
Legal regulations compliance can ensure a set standard through which Thomas Cook can
compare the performance of their resorts on a periodical basis as per the set standard.
7

Compliance o regulations and guidelines issued for the tourism sector not only helps the resorts
of Thomas Cook to effectively manage administration activities but also creates creditworthiness
and a recognizable brand in the market. However other approaches of quality management can
also be followed by the Thomas Group.
M3 appropriate approach is used to implement quality or conflict management
Thomas Cook can adopt character behaviour approach to resolve conflicts in different types of
resorts, with an objective to consider harmony and goodwill instead of winning. This approach
helps to identify the characteristic behavior of employees working in Thomas Cook and
according to their level of development; leaders and managers can incorporate strategies for
resolving their conflicts.
To effectively incorporate quality control measures, gap model of service quality is an effective
approach in which a specific standard is followed at the different level of management in the
Sunconnect and SENTIDO, so that satisfied internal stakeholders ensure productive outcomes.
According to this approach, employees are also imparted with specific training that focuses on
how to implement such standards in their performance to improve the quality of their services
(Ashourian et al., 2013).
8

Figure 1: GAP model of quality services
9