Analysis of Operational Roles and Skills in the UK Hospitality Sector

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes the UK hospitality industry.

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Learner’s note:
1

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Table of Contents
Task A (LO1)...................................................................................................................................3
Task B (LO2)...................................................................................................................................7
Investigate a range of different operational roles within the hospitality industry.......................7
Examine the skills required for roles within the hospitality industry and current skills
shortages......................................................................................................................................8
Task C (LO3 & LO4)....................................................................................................................10
The current and potential trend in the hospitality industry........................................................10
PESTEL analysis of the hospitality industry.............................................................................12
SWOT analysis..........................................................................................................................15
Impact of external factors on the current and potential trend of developments in the hospitality
industry......................................................................................................................................17
References......................................................................................................................................19
2

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Task A (LO1)
3

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
4
POSTER
Hospitality industry is regarded as one
of the most booming sectors of
modern day business. In this context it
is mentionable that there are also
different sectors of hospitality industry
that help the organisations involved in
this industry to get hold of their
desired target market. It can be said
that these sectors are very important to
an ideal hospitality industry. The
sectors in this case are as follows.
 Food and Beverages -
The sector of food and
beverage is regarded as
the largest sector in this
industry. Consumers of
the hospitality industry are
always looking forward to
Quality Services from this
sector. It is obvious that
food and drinks are
necessary for day to day
living and therefore while
an individual or a family
is on holiday, the best of
quality will be needed as
far as food and drinks are
concerned (Law, 2015). In
this case it is also
mentionable that infusing
local flavors into the food
and beverage services are
one of the modern trends
of hospitality industry as
this gives a different
perspective to the tourist
about a particular place or
culture.
 Travel and Tourism – In
the hospitality industry
another main sector is the
sector of transport or
travel. In this sector the
general goal is to make
sure that consumers are
able to access transport
facilities which are
affordable and effective in
making them reach their
desired destination
quickly and safely. Buses,
taxis, trains, planes, ships
etc. are all part of the
travel and tourism sector.
The travel and tourism
industry has another
aspect related to it named
as leisure travel. Leisure
travel is when an
individual spends money
on food, recreation and
lodging while travelling
from one place to another.
Leisure travelling is one
of the most booming
trends of the hospitality
industry.

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
5
POSTER
 Lodging - This sector can be
defined as the process of
providing services that give
access to an individual or
group to rooms, houses,
camps etc. The objective of
the sector is to provide
consumers with places where
they can rest or spend nights
in exchange of money.
Hotels, Villas, Motels,
Camps etc are examples of
places where lodging
services can be availed. This
sector provides services to a
range of different consumers
such as leisure travellers,
budget travellers, long stay
travellers etc. One of the
modern trends of the lodging
industry is to make sure that
Travellers get as much
facilities as possible in
exchange of the money paid
(Fairhurst, 2017).
 Recreation – While being
on a holiday the general
goal of individuals is to
enjoy themselves and
refresh their mind and body
as much as possible.
Therefore movie theatres,
theme parks, live concerts,
gaming zones etc. are very
important services related to
this sector. The goal of this
sector is to make sure that
individuals who are
travelling or who are on a
vacation enjoy their time
and relax. From the points
mentioned above it is clear
that all these four sectors are
important parts of an ideal
hospitality industry and all
sectors need to be providing
Quality Services to make
sure that the industry in
general is on the right path
of generating revenue.
Topdeck is regarded as one of the
most successful and popular travel
and tourism businesses across the
world that provides services to a
large number of consumers coming
from different regions. As a large
business, the organisation has
different departments that
contribute to the main activities of
a business. These departments can
be categorised into two parts such
as operational and functional.
Operational departments generally
include work force and are
involved in providing consumers a
valuable services. One example of
functional department in Topdeck
is the customer care department
that works 24/7 in order to help
consumers gain information about
certain situations they are in. It is
possible that during travel
consumers can face issues related
to do different things and therefore
if customer care is engaged every
hour of the day, then the business
can obviously gain popularity due
to the effective service. Dedicated
employees and managers are
always interest in their duties in
this operational department and the
objective is to mitigate any issues
related to consumer service as
soon as possible.

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
6
POSTER
For the example of a functional
department the marketing department of
Topdeck can be a great option. It is
mentionable in this case that the
marketing department provides
necessary information to the internal
department and based on those
information the organisation creates for
adds value to services which can
effectively generate desired profit
margins. One of the other objectives of
the marketing department at this
organisation is to make sure that
promotional activities create a consumer
base that can be regularly accessed by
the firm and a fixed benchmark can be
reached as far as generating revenue is
concerned.
As mentioned before, hospitality
industry is one of the growing sectors of
modern economy and this statement can
be supported by the fact that over than
10% contribution to GDP has been
recorded and this contribution has come
from different sectors related with the
hospitality industry (Dudina, 2018). One
of the most important facets of the
hospitality industry is that it can create
work places for different groups of the
society. Hospitality industry is generally
run on the objective to provide Quality
Services to consumer base. It is obvious
that in the process of providing such
quality service, an effective work force is
needed and skill and experience are one
of the most important traits that will
necessary. Therefore, organisations
involved in the hospitality industry will
look forward to make sure that skilled
and experienced people are hiered from
the local population so that local
economy can flourish. Different
businesses built around a particular
tourist attraction for hospitality
destination can also generate an effective
amount of revenue for an economy.
Consumers will be dedicated to purchase
goods or services from hospitality
businesses as resources will be necessary
in the process of travelling or enjoying
holiday and this ensures a continuous
supply to the industry as far a revenue is
concerned. Therefore, guaranteed
contribution to economy can be
witnessed.

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Task B (LO2)
Investigate a range of different operational roles within the hospitality industry
There exist various operational roles in the hospitality industry, such as the event planner, hotel
general manager, Housekeeper and Executive Chef. These designations have various roles and
responsibilities, and their duties are quite different as well.
 Event planner: An event planner is the person who organises an event, handling its
various parts such as inviting the intended guests, setting out decorations, arrangements
for food and drinks, and conducting the schedule of the event. Naturally, an event planner
has to take care of many different factors, so he or she as to have managerial quality
(Kandampully, Zhang and Bilgihan, 2015). In other words, an event planner has to be
able to form efficient coordination between various different officials associated with the
arrangement of an even - such as the banquet hall owner, decorators, food and drinks
catering services and others. In Topdeck, this designation has immense importance, as
arranging for tour events is entirely the responsibility of an even planner, and the brand
reputation of Topdeck depends on it.
 Hotel general manager: The title itself suggests that it is a managerial position. The
general manager of a large hotel has to have both leadership and managerial qualities,
since his or her duties involve taking care of the coordination and job efficiency of
various staffs working in hotel, such as the cooks and chefs, porters, receptionists and
many others while ensuring that boarders get a nice lodging experience (Kim, Vogt and
Knutson, 2015). As for the hotels tied up with Topdeck, the efficiency of their managers
is also of immense importance.
7

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
 Housekeeper: This designation is generally entrusted with the duty of taking care of a
hotel or personal resort. However, it is more of a labour designation than a managerial
one, and he or she has to perform many jobs such as maintaining the cleanliness and
tidiness of the hotel or resort building, or even taking care of the cooking and laundry of
the boarders in that hotel or resort (Lopes, 2016). As Topdeck has tie up with several
luxury resorts that are rented out to tourists, the job expertise of the housekeepers
working there impacts greatly on the business success of Topdeck.
 Executive Chef: This designation exists in every rerstaurants of food services. Since
almost all large hotels run their built in food services, this designations have great
importance in the business success of the hotels. As for Topdeck, their business of travel
agency requires them to conduct tours, which requires them to have a dedicated team of
chefs with them. Hence, the leader of the Chef team in Topdeck is the Executive Chef
whose expertise is a key factor in the business success of Topdeck.
Examine the skills required for roles within the hospitality industry and current skills
shortages
 Event planner: For the designation of event planner, the skills essential are coordination
skills, adaptability to unexpected circumstances, and creativity to plan for attractive event
schedules. However, the skills of coordination among various people and organising
event schedules require managerial skills, which are not easily available in the current
industry (Ali, Amin and Cobanoglu, 2016). Hence, Topdeck will have to hold on to their
current expert team of event planners in order to retain their service quality. Moreover, an
event planner has to have a good level of persuasive and influential communication skills,
which is not easily available in the current pool of job candidates. However,
8

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
compromising with the expertise of the event planner may prove to be a negative decision
for Topdeck, as their main business is that of travel and tourism, and hence their tour
conductors have to be excellent event planners in order to ensure that their clients get a
satisfying, relaxing and enjoyable tour. Hence, Topdeck have to ensure that they select
their tour coordinators only after examining them with rigorous personal interview so that
they turn out to be efficient event planners.
 Hotel general manager: This designation requires a great level of interpersonal and
grievance management skills, as the hotel boarders usually complain to the manager for
unsatisfactory service in hotel. Naturally, the general manager of a hotel has to have
excellent management skills, as well as an overall understanding of the functionality of
all the components of the entire hotel (Dzhandzhugazova et al., 2016). However, the
aspiring general managers in the current employment market lack expertise in managerial
skills, which is one of the reasons that the complaints from the customers in the hotels
has improved. Moreover, the general managers have to have a good level of house
management skills, which is extremely important in order to manage all the
functionalities of a hotel. However, since the brand reputation of Topdeck depends on the
expertise of the general managers in their affiliated hotels, their expertise have to be
ensured.
 Housekeepers: Some of the housekeepers are missing the communication skills for
contacting with the guests on a regular basis. This is hampering the service which the
hotels need to provide the guests. For instance, some guests are not getting adequate
attention for meeting their persona requirements like getting access to towels, soaps toilet
tissues and various other things. Further, one of the major problems is related to honesty
9

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
when the housekeepers are meeting with an accident. They are not admitting their
mistakes they first place which is ultimately hampering the overall reputation of the
companies.
 Chefs: The chefs are not creative enough to create unique dishes which may be liked by
the guests. They guests are getting bored to do taste the same food over and over again.
Further, some chefs are not motivated with good salary structure. They are not being paid
as per their dedication they are putting to make dishes. Hence, the hotels are not being
able to retain good chefs.
Task C (LO3 & LO4)
The current and potential trend in the hospitality industry
It can be seen that the UK hospitality industry is growing in nature and have reached a total
turnover of around £98 billion in 2017, up from £92 billion in 2016 and £86 billion in 2015.
Therefore, seeing this rate, one of the recruitment platforms Adia is expecting that the revenue
figure might increase to £100 billion by the end of 2019. This is being backed by firms who are
providing accommodations and food services which have grown by 20% in the past few years,
and as of now, it stands to 202,060 in 2019. However, the hospitality industry is being hampered
by BREXIT and labor shortage where many bars and restaurants are closing. Further, this
problem is being backed by challenging market situations which are happening due to BREXIT
problems. It was found in the research work of Riley, (2019) around 33,000 of the labors are
planning to leave UK due to the problem of BREXIT which stands to 1 out of 5 employees are
living to leave the UK, and it stands to 18%. For instance, due to the labor shortage problem
Texture Restaurant group has sold the Fetter Lane branch to Cliffords Restaurant Limited.
10

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Another instance shows that Soho institution The Gay Hussar has also stated the same problem
who are struggling enough to save their venue from closing.
Narangajavana et al., (2016) states that the impact of BREXIT is also being felt by the restaurant
groups too where the profit rate has decreased to 64%. The CEO of ADIA is also stating that the
hospitality industry has a wider impact on the overall economy of the UK since it plays a vital
role in creating jobs. Despite the increase in the number of employees, the industry is facing
several problems related to market challenges which are leading to the closure of top restaurants
and hotels.
With the above facts, below are certain trends which the Topdeck a hospitality company of UK
might face. These are:
Transparency
Most of the customers of Topdeck say that they want to know the source from where they are
receiving the food service (Falk, 2016). This is mainly because of the fact that unlike many
restaurants, Topdeck may use food colors or preservatives which might not have the required
permission to use it on food. Hence, importance will be given to startups that will help in
creating transparency in their items that are used for cooking food.
No waste
One of the restaurants, Wholefoods have identified within the next few years "NO waste
Cooking" will be a trend. This leads to stopping the wastage of plant and animal parts that are
once being considered as trash. Hence, for this Topdeck will need to renovate their items on the
11

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
menus in order to use those things which are considered trash. In addition to this, chefs are
instructed to do more with this kind of items since food inflation is increasing tremendously.
Rising cost
It can be seen that the global food prices are increasing at a tremendous rate and as of now it has
increased to 7%. This is making an increase in the overall price of the food items, and one of the
important aspect, i.e. cost of labor is also increasing (Lopes, 2016). This is mainly because of the
fact that the wage rate in the UK will increase to £9 an hour by April 2020.
Using the internet
Asset managers of Topdeck will depend on IoT for exchanging data for better waste
management. This shall help them control and minimize the waste of resources and to fully use
them for the betterment of the hospitality industry.
PESTEL analysis of the hospitality industry
The PESTEL analysis is analyzed below:
Political
The political stability in the UK is high and is one of the most powerful regions in the world.
However, the issues of BREXIT is causing several problems and increasing the debates over
political stability. This is hampering the decision making process and will create chaos. Apart
from this, the UK has good destinations which welcome FDI's, and companies have invested
heavily in the hospitality industry (Ertuna, Karatas-Ozkan and Yamak, 2018). It is seen that the
current tax rate for profits is around 19%, but the government has announced a decree at this rate
12