Unit 41: Tourist Resort Management Report - Business Strategies

This report delves into the multifaceted world of tourist resort management, examining various resort types such as all-inclusive, beach, golf, and ski resorts, while highlighting their key features and potential operational challenges. It explores the different types of resort packages, including leisure, corporate, and business-leisure combinations, and analyzes their business implications. The report also covers market research methodologies to understand target market needs, illustrated with examples from Ballygally Castle resort, and develops a business plan to maximize profitability. Furthermore, it assesses sustainable approaches and initiatives implemented by Ballygally Castle, proposing ways to enhance brand value and business performance. The report utilizes secondary sources and references to support its findings, offering valuable insights into effective resort management strategies.

Unit 41
Tourist Resort Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................3
LO 1...................................................................................................................................4
Different types of resorts, key features and their potential issues and challenges.......4
Potential issues of managing the resorts.......................................................................7
Different operational requirement for a range of resorts and their management
strategies to minimise challenging issues......................................................................9
LO 2.................................................................................................................................10
Different types of resort packages...............................................................................10
The overall business implications of developing and running a range of resort
packages......................................................................................................................11
LO 3.................................................................................................................................12
Market research into a specific resort location regarding the needs of a chosen target
market..........................................................................................................................12
Business plan for a resort............................................................................................16
Resort package to maximise business and profitability analysing the customer’s need
.....................................................................................................................................20
LO 4.................................................................................................................................21
Different sustainable approaches, practices and initiatives implemented Ballygally
palace...........................................................................................................................21
Ways of sustainable approaches, practices, and initiatives for enhancing brand value,
image, and business performance...............................................................................22
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................23
References.......................................................................................................................24
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Introduction
The resort serves as a commercial location, for visitors who are offered leisure, soothing, and
entertainment activities. The resort provides all the facilities such as accommodation, a place to
rest, leisure events, and entertainment, all that a tourist wants for relaxing or vacation in short
(Papatheodorou, 2014). In this report, various kinds of resorts with their features have been
discussed. There are some challenging issues that a manager faces while resort management
is also provided with some recommendations. Some most popular resort packages have been
given with suitable examples. For market research and business plan, secondary sources have
been used and proper references have been added in suitable sections. Most of the report is
done based on the information of Ballygally castle resort. Some sustainable issues are also
discussed here.
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LO 1
Different types of resorts, key features and their potential issues and
challenges
Types of resorts
For vacationers, there are various groups of resorts. Visitors select their preferred resort
holiday, taking into account both the preferred services as well as the resort amenities provided.
Often for tourists, the resort itself is the main attraction. The most popular resort varieties and
their characteristics are provided here;
Figure-01: Different types of resorts (Self-made).
 All-inclusive Resorts
All-inclusive resorts are capable of providing all-purposes and for this, it is known as all in one
resort. The pricing is pre-set for these resort bundles and the tourist amenities are in a single
location (Mikulić and Prebežac, 2013). Paradise Island resort, Cancun Palace, etc are some of
the most popular all-inclusive resorts.
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Resorts

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 Beach Resorts
Beach resorts are located near the beach and it provides various beach sports facilities like
diving, surfing, scuba diving, snorkeling, parasailing, etc to its guests. Even some of these
resorts have a private beach, which provides visitors privacy. Bora Bora resort, Palm island
resort, Hermitage Bay, etc are some of the most popular beach resorts.
 Golf Resorts
Golf lovers are very fond of these types of resorts. Golf resorts are usually situated next to the
ocean or islands because it needs watersides (King and McVey, 2016). For sports, golf resorts
need a lot of land. The Broadmoor, Old course, Pinehurst resort, etc are some of the most
famous golf resorts.
 Ski Resorts
Ski resorts include sports like skiing, snowboarding as well as some other winter sports. For
sports, lifts, slopes, trails are needed, so these types of resorts are constructed in mountains
(Rayna and Striukova, 2019). Valle Nevado, the ski resort of Perisher, etc are some of the most
ideal ski resorts.
There are many other kinds of resorts, including such historic resorts, spa resorts, island
resorts, lake resorts, family resorts, etc. Each of these performs the visitor's function and
provides them with comfort and refreshment. All resorts should have secure and relaxed
accommodations with sufficient beverages and dining services. For the luxury and flexibility of
the tourist, resorts provide numerous recreational activities.
Potential Issues and Challenges
In the hospitality industry, managers try to cut costs, enhance productivity to boost revenue.
Despite taking many approaches, evolving operations managers face challenges that affect the
resort's income. For cutting costs and balance daily productivity, they had to resolve some issue
and they have been discussed below;
 Managers should keep up with client preferences that are evolving. The management of the
resort wants to be effective to satisfy consumer demands, as the environment is becoming
quicker and activities take less time to function than it was before.
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 In order to look after visitors and the facilities available, the resort workers must work for just
a prolonged period of time, thereby having an increased work schedule. For that reason,
managers ought to build a squad (WANG and Jing, 2019). He should incorporate shifts or
perhaps a work schedule so that workers may not feel overloaded by their work.
 Managers must be close with the technology that is evolving. There's something really fresh
and improved every day. The experience of the upgrading innovation throughout the resorts
includes consumers (Grobelna, 2018). In order to adapt to the current climate, resorts could
use certain technological updates and automation.
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Potential issues of managing the resorts
The manager requires providing a professional and devoted staff force in order to maintain the
resort operations efficiently. For certain skilled staff, there are many organisational criteria and
the roles for any task are different. Some of them are discussed below;
 Operations of Front Desk
The department that receives and welcomes the visitors is the front office services. Through
addressing, correcting, and leading the customers to the appropriate service, this specialised
field services the inquiries (Baum and Odgers, 2012). The problems in this field may emerge
from the skill of the professionals' contact and appearance. For front office staff, organisational
qualities such as composure, politeness, trust, etc. must be at the peak. For their work, they
ought to be pleasant and genuine.
 Maintenance Service
The technical department of the organisation oversees this field and is committed to ensuring
client satisfaction. Guests hope to have well-maintained facilities where everyday routines are
easily maintained (Pintelon and Gelders, 2019). Failure caused by repair and servicing hampers
good practices. Resorts often involve minor adjustments and frequent reviews of the facilities of
the property. This region is also liable for both the resort's protection and security.
 Housekeeping and Room Service
It is important to ensure the cleanliness and sanitation of the visitors' quarters. The visitors
expect a neat and clean space and for this, resorts do so from time to time. Room facilities are
requested by the visitors and the housekeeping staff is obligated to accommodate them
immediately (De Jonge, et al. 2017). For any aspect of the visitors' lodging, this department is
accountable.
 Accounting and Finance
The experts in this field are liable for identifying and disbursing the appropriate funds. Next, the
management collects funds from numerous sectors for the appropriate functions. In order to get
potentially higher returns, resorts often spend their funds in a separate agency. Financing in the
analysis and construction needs tremendous expenditure and this causes the industry to be
improved and the company to benefit from production in the future.
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 Promotion
Visitors and guests need to be conscious of the facilities provided by the property. The
advertising and publicity professionals assure the consumers of the deals of the resort. The task
for the promotional and marketing department is to incorporate digital, innovative advertising
(Van Zee, 2019). In this manner, the firm will meet clients' virtual needs and continue to
negotiate with rivals. With a limited budget, the department has to pull it together so that it
makes the plans successful.
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Different operational requirement for a range of resorts and their
management strategies to minimise challenging issues
Managers face some issues during running regular operations in the resorts. By overcoming
these challenges they can increase the efficiency of the work processes. Possible ways of
minimising these issues have been discussed below;
 A resort basically sells services to their guests and which is intangible. For this reason,
customer satisfaction depends on the employees in charge. Resorts have various types of
employees for different departments and among them, front office personnel is the most
important. Because they are the first person the customer interacts with. So the HR
manager should recruit the right person for the job. He should set different criteria for the
applicants. A gentle person with good communication skills is the best choice for the job.
 For maintenance, managers should follow a standard operating procedure. According to the
importance and features, routine maintenance, preventive maintenance, predictive
maintenance, corrective maintenance plan should be followed.
 For housekeeping, the task is to retain the workforce, to educate them, to ensure the staff's
safety and wellbeing so it can establish the company's image.
 The finance and accounting department requires recognising the obligation and wisely
dispersing the budget in a manner that provides a strong effect on the competitiveness of
the property.
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LO 2
Different types of resort packages
The packages provided by various resorts rely on the tourist categories and the business
dynamics of this industry. Resorts offer these packages to attract various types of people.
Different types of resort packages have been discussed below;
Leisure Packages
This package is basically a leisure vacation package and it combines excursion, transport, food
facilities as well as luxurious accommodation. It should also provide various recreational
facilities like BBQ, spa, and different other sports (Enoch, 2016). Usually, the guest stays at the
resort to tour nearby tourist attractions. For example in Ballygally castle, guests get a variety of
offers like dramas, musical shows.
Corporate Group Packages
This type of package is created to attract a group of people who will stay to attend conferences
and meetings. People usually search for affordable accommodation which will also have a
conference room. They also desire buffet facilities and other adjacent services. Few business
community travel trips also include corporate budget getaways. Trips, excursions, and offshore
meetings are included in those bundles. Ballygally castle also provides those facilities to
corporate groups.
Business and Leisure Packages
This package is like all in one because it provides site seeing, kitchen settings, recreational
services, workstation, transports, etc other facilities. When business trips are extended, it turns
into a business and leisure package. Ballygally castle offers its guests both packages. Different
bundles are committed to some pricing criteria the resorts sell. The spring sales quota is
exceeded by spring sales and packages being sold. So, travelers seeking a spring trip will try
out the bundle and the deals and incentives will draw them (Ayala, 2020). Ballygally castle also
has an offer named 'Springtime Splender', which includes different facilities like seasonal
shows, musical performances, etc.
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The overall business implications of developing and running a range of
resort packages
Different resort packages have been offered to different target markets to attract them.
Packages enhance both the sale and revenue of the property. Here some significance of resort
packages is discussed below;
 Packages increase the sales of the resorts, in both peaks and off-seasons. Packages like
all-inclusive packages and business and leisure packages attract customers more (Olson, et
al. 2015). Guests find these packages efficient for them and purchase these packages. As a
result, the overall sale of the resorts starts increasing not only in peak seasons but also in
off-seasons.
 Revenue is directly connected with sales. So if the sales start increasing the revenue will
eventually increase too. This theory is applicable to every business as well as for resort
businesses. As packages increase the overall sales of the property, the revenue also
increases.
 Resort packages attract repeat customers. It is an important issue for the resort because it
will increase the customer’s loyalty.
 By offering different resort packages, resorts try to promote their service feature. Without
spending much on marketing strategies, this is an effective way of promotion.

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