Report on the Contemporary Hospitality Industry: Whitbread PLC

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the contemporary hospitality industry, using Whitbread PLC as a case study. It begins with an overview of the industry, including different types of businesses like accommodation, restaurants, and nightclubs, and their relationship with the travel and tourism sector. The report then delves into Whitbread's operational and functional departments, such as Food and Beverage, Front Office, HR, and Finance, detailing their roles and interdependencies. The contribution of the hospitality industry to local, national, and international economies is discussed, along with factors driving growth. The report further identifies operational roles within the hospitality sector, analyzes the required skills and skill gaps, and assesses PESTLE factors and a SWOT analysis. Finally, the report examines current and potential trends in the industry. The analysis covers various aspects of the hospitality sector, providing valuable insights into its operations, challenges, and future directions.

CONTEMPORARY
HOSPITALITY
INDUSTRY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Different kind of businesses in hospitality sector and diverse service they offer..................1
P2 Range of functional and operational departments in a chosen hospitality business .............2
P3 Contribution of hospitality industry to local, national and international economy...............3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P4 Identify a range of operational roles within hospitality industry...........................................5
P5 Analyse the skills needed for roles within hospitality sector and current skill shortages......5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P6 Assess PESTLE factors that impact development of organisation operating in hospitality
sector ..........................................................................................................................................6
P7 SWOT analysis for hospitality business and its role in decision-making process.................8
TASK 4 ...........................................................................................................................................9
P8 Current and potential trends in hospitality sector by providing a range of examples ...........9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality industry is a very board sector and incorporate different businesses under it
like motels, hotels, inn or other organisations which provide lodging with or without food.
Contemporary hospitality businesses are those establishments which provide drinks, meals,
accommodation or light refreshments. This assignment is written in context with Whitbread plc
which is a Britain based multinational restaurant and hotel, headquartered in Bedfordshire, UK.
Organisation has four divisions i.e. Brewers Fayre, Table Table, Beefeater, Premier Inn. Hotel is
employing around 50,000 employees and operates mainly in Europe and American continent.
This report will cover various kind of businesses in hospitality sector and different services or
products they offer. Range of operational and functional departments in hospitality business
along with their impact on international, national and local economy is mentioned. Range of
operational roles and skills required for roles in hospitality industry is mentioned. Beside this,
SWOT and PESTLE analysis is carried out to analyse business environment.
TASK 1
P1 Different kind of businesses in hospitality sector and diverse service they offer
Hospitality industry is a multibillion dollar industry which is dependent on disposable
income, leisure time, customer satisfaction etc. There are different kind of businesses which are
operated in hospitality industry like accommodation, night clubs, Pubs, bars etc. These business
and products or services offered by them are mentioned below:
 Accommodation: It is an incredibly wide sector and includes broad range of services.
This sector mainly relies on Comfort, high quality amenities and customer services etc. It
includes Suites, Lodging, hotels and resorts for ex, Whitbread hotel provides
accommodation and food service to their customers.
 Restaurants: This business in hospitality offers drinks, desserts, meals and other services
to their customers. People usually sit at a table and waiter serve them food and drinks as
per their orders. This business is a part of food and beverage sector.
 Night club, pubs and bar: It is another business within hospitality industry which
provides entertainment to the people. These businesses allow customers to take a break
from normal life and spending quality time with their loved ones. These businesses will
offer services like drinks, casino, food, music, entertainment etc.
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 Membership and events: It is another service which is offered by hospitality sector. In
this service, customers are given membership for a certain time period i.e. 3 months, 6
months or a year. Due to this membership, they will be charged minimum or get
discounts during their visits till their membership service exist.
Relation between hospitality industry and travel & tourism sector
Travel and tourism is one of the biggest sector associated with hospitality industry and
include different aspects in global context. Travelling sector includes cruises, ships, train, air-
planes etc. Different businesses in Hospitality such as Hotel, restaurants, night clubs, casinos etc.
heavily depends upon tourism and travel sector for their revenues and profitability. If appropriate
travel and tourism facilities are not available in a region, no other hospitality business will be
able to flourish and attain desired outcomes due to lack of customer base. People will prefer to
travel in order to spend a quality time and leisure time which is offered by hospitality business.
Hence, these both sectors are interrelated and dependent on each other.
P2 Range of functional and operational departments in a chosen hospitality business
Hospitality sector comprises of different departments that works in a coordinated and
interrelated way to attain competitive advantage over rivals and competitors. These operational
and functional department of Whitbread Hotel will allow the organisation to attain their goals
and targets in a smooth manner. These departments are discussed beneath:
Operational departments: These departments in hospitality sector is responsible for
monitoring and checking operational work in a company. Due to this, business activities are
performed in a smooth manner. It includes departments like Front office, F&B, housekeeping
department etc.
 Food and Beverage Department: This department of Whitbread hotel offers drink and
food services to their guests as per their preference and needs. Workforce in this
department prepares high quality food and drink so that customers can be satisfied in a
proper way.
 Front Office: This unit in operational department have the duty of interacting and
communicating with guests when they arrive for their stay. Main role of Front office
department in Whitbread is to resolve the issues of customers, providing required
information, maintaining records and details of customers, oversees check-in and check-
outs.
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Functional Department- These department in Whitbread hotel have the duty to manage
employees, accounts, finances so that organisation can work smoothly and exceptions of
customers can be met in a proper manner. Some of these departments are stated below:
 HR Department- Human resource department in Whitbread is responsible for hiring,
selecting and training employees so that they can serve customers in an efficient manner.
This will allow the company to gain high revenues and profitability.
 Finance Department- This department in concerned organisation have the duty to
manage funds and finances so that a proper budget can be formulated. Beside this, it
supply funds to other departments so that they can perform their activities and operations
in a proper way and profit margins of company can increase.
P3 Contribution of hospitality industry to local, national and international economy
Hospitality sector is a fast growing industry that offers different services to their guests
and contributes either directly or indirectly in international, national and regional economy.
 Local economy: Hospitality industry comprises of different businesses that provide
different services to their customers and grabs their attention to earn high profits. Due to
this, tourist came for visits and spends money on different services like food, transport,
accommodation etc. local government get taxes from local business man and invest
collected amount in development of roads, building etc. at local level.
 National Economy- As hospitality industry grows at a fast pace, it offers many services
to the consumers and for this high man power is required. Due to this, people at national
level get different job opportunities so that they can earn a good livelihood. As UK is
well developed in hospitality sector, people earns a good livelihood and rate of poverty
and unemployment is low in nation.
 International Economy- Hospitality sector comprises of different restaurants, hotel and
other transportation services that offer services in worldwide context. Due to this, people
can travel at any place and it results in integration of national economies. Due to these
hospitality business, people spend money at international visits because of which GDP
and employment rate of company enhances in international context.
Facts related with Hospitality industry in UK
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 Hospitality sector Employees more than 2 million people in accordance with 2017 report
and around 1 million people in 170000 commercial setup.
 This sector is fifth industry in UK which employees maximum people.
 Hospitality industry in UK generates a revenue of 90 billion pounds due to which tax
contribution reaches around 34 billion pounds. (Economic Contribution of UK hospitality
industry, 2019 )
Interrelation of operational and functional units in Whitbread hotel
All departments in Whitbread organisation works in a coordinated manner with other
departments so that customers can be served in an effective manner. In this context some
examples are given below:
 HR department of company work in coordination with Food and Beverage department to
help them in hiring skilled chefs and waiters.
 Finance department of company works in collaboration with front desk department so
that payments and other finances of customers can be managed properly.
 Purchase department in Whitbread hotel works in coordination with finance department
so that they can get sufficient funds to purchase required resources and materials so that
other departments can work in a smooth and effective manner.
Key factors driving growth at local and international level
International hotel chains and brand identity
International hotel chains drives growth at both local and international level because of
their brand image. High brand image is able to grab the attention of customers in a proper
manner. Hospitality businesses at global level such as Whitbread hotel have a strong brand
image in marketplace due to which customers prefer their services. It influence local economy in
a positive manner due to job opportunities for local residents. Beside this, international economy
will also positively impacted as overall revenues and economy rises due to expansion of hotel
chains.
Growth of franchising and licensing agreements
Licensing and franchising agreements are increasing now a days due to profitable
outcomes. Multinational organisations expands their business with the help of these agreements
to attain competitive advantage at global level. This will increase standard of living for common
people. As big brand grab attention of people in a proper way, their revenues are high. For ex,
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McDonald's use these agreements to enter Asian and European marketplace that is beneficial for
people of UK. This implication benefits of these agreements at international level.
TASK 2
P4 Identify a range of operational roles within hospitality industry
There are different operational roles which are played by workforce in Whitbread hotel.
Some of these roles are stated below: Operation manager: In this role, manager of hotel supervises and monitors the work with
is performed by workforce of operation department so that consumers can attain
maximum satisfaction. This role is performed so that needs of customers will be fulfilled
in a timely manner then hotel will earn high profitability and revenues. Front office manager: Front office department is the first department that comes in
contact with customers. Front office manager plays an essential role in building good
impression of hotel in front of customers by resolving their issues and grievances in a
quick manner. This role is performed to assure that customers will be highly satisfied
with services of hotel.
 Back office manager: This operational role do not contribute directly in generating
revenues and income for Whitbread hotel. But they perform several duties like finance,
HR, IT due to which employees, finances and other aspects are managed in a proper
manner. Due to this, other departments of Hotel are able to perform their functions
desirably.
P5 Analyse the skills needed for roles within hospitality sector and current skill shortages
Workforce in Whitbread hotel requires different competencies and skills to perform their
tasks and work in a desired manner. Some of skills that is needed by managers in Whitbread are
discussed below: Technical skills: These skills are vital for the workforce in hospitality sector so that they
can manage their machines and technological equipments without any complexities.
These skills are essential for employees working in front office or back office as they
have to perform their work on computers and other digital media. Customer handling skills: These skills are Important for the employees in hospitality
sector so that guests from different background and races can be deal in a proper way.
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By these skills, needs and requirements of customers can be fulfilled properly and their
grievances can be resolved without any complexity. Employees which are working in
operations and front line departments require these skills to communicate with their
customers on a daily basis so that organisation can retain their customers for long time
span.
Skills gaps, drivers and their impact
Main skill which lacks in workers of hospitality industry is communication skill due to
which they are not able to interact with customers in a proper way. Reason for lack of this skill is
poor educational background and confidence level. Due to lack of skills in employees, revenues
and profitability of business organisations get impacted in a negative manner as customers are
not satisfied properly. Another reason for skill gap is mobility and migration of labour from one
place to another. Due to migration, they became inefficient in developing their skills further. Due
to this organisation goals, profitability suffers considerably. Quality standard in Whitbread will
also reduced because of this issue.
Way to improve skill gap
To improve skills of employees, they can be given training and development sessions. This will
benefits them in serving customers desirably.
TASK 3
P6 Assess PESTLE factors that impact development of organisation operating in hospitality
sector
Whitbread Plc is one of the best British multinational company which is engaged in
providing hospitality products and services. Due to operating at global level, PESTLE Analysis
is required to be conducted through which the management of Whitbread Plc can analyse
external factors such as political, economical etc. It assist management in identifying the positive
as well as negative impact on their business operations. Here the brief description of these factors
along with their positive and negative impact on their business operations:
Political factors: These factors are generally related to the level of government
intervention in the business, economic, and certain industry. Political factors include government
policy, corruption, foreign trade policy, tax policy, labour law and many other which plays a
huge role in nature and objectives of the business. In context of Whitbread plc, it also affected
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by these rules in the both positive and negative aspects which can understand by the following
points:- Positive effect: Whitbread Plc can sustain in the UK market and can earn a better profit
as government policies in the UK does not change very quickly.
 Negative effect: In the context of Whitbread Plc these political factors can leave some
negative effects which leads to the business to a major loss. Increase and decrease in tax
could be a best example of political factors. The government of the country might
increase taxes for some companies and decrease it for others, it will effect the business
directly.
Economic factors: The factors related to the economic which can direct or indirect long
term effect on the business. There are various economic factors like exchange rates, inflation
rates, interest rates, and unemployment rates. In the Whitbread Plc these factors may be effect in
the both positive and negative effects: Positive effects:- In the favour of Whitbread Plc, If the government rises the inflation rate
in the economy, it would be affect the price of the company products. In that case
Whitbread Plc has to be increase the prices of their hospitality products and services and
this can increase profitability ratio for the Whitbread Plc, so if the economics conditions
are good , the sales of vehicles remain high.
 Negative effects:- In the other aspect, if inflation rate is increase by government,
therefore prices of the hospitality products and services will be increase and company
will receive better profit but in this case a negative effect will be occurred is decrease in
demand because if prices of their products and services will be increase and people
demand will be decrease which can leave a bad effect on the profitability of the company.
Sociological factors:- The sociological factors is describe by the changing socio culture
trends and people's preferences. There are many social factors which is always keep in mind
while doing a business which includes age distributions, income distributions, and social
barriers. Positive effects: In refer to Whitbread Plc, it uses social media platforms like Facebook,
Instagram, and twitter to engage with customers.
 Negative effects: Whitbread Plc can badly affects by the suddenly change people's
choice, fashion, and many other.
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Technological factors: These factors refers to the technology which is adopt by a
company to increase its productivity. In context of Whitbread plc, it uses the latest form of
technology to fulfil its goals.
 Positive effects: In the production, Whitbread plc is used high technology so they can
save their scrap cost.
 Negative effects: As they are using high technology so the employees of this company
does not know how they can use it in the high production.
P7 SWOT analysis for hospitality business and its role in decision-making process
Strengths
 High Skilled Workforce- The company posses highly skilled workforce by providing
proper training and learning programs as they are investing huge funds and various
resources to make skilled and motivated workforce.
 High level of customer satisfaction- The company is attempting many efforts to build
good customer relation to achieve higher customer satisfaction and form brand reputation
among potential customers.
 Superb Performance in New market- The company has built expertise in entering into
new market and achieving success from them. It increase the revenue and built a great
revenue system and differentiate the cycle of operation in the market place where
company operates.
Weaknesses-
 Low marketing strategies- The company is lacking in good marketing strategies as the
unique selling preposition and positioning is not clearly defined which gives benefit to
competitors.
 Limited success outside core business- The company faces many obstacles in moving
towards any other segment of product with its present strategies which hinders the
success of company.
 High attrition rate in workforce- The company facing higher attrition rate in
comparison of other organisation and they are required to spend more on training and
development of employees.
Opportunities-
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 Opening up of new market because of agreement with government- The company
through adopting new technology gets an opportunity to enter into new market.
 Lower inflation rate- This results in more stability in the mark which makes giving
credit to the customer at lower interest rate to the customer to attract more customers.
Threats-
 No regular supply of innovative product- The company has developed various product
in response to other players who are developing number of new products and the supply
of new product is not available always results in changes in sales of company.
 New technology of competitor- This is a serious threat for a company in both medium
and long term.
Influence in Decision-making-
The SWOT influences decisions of the company by providing information related to
strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats as the decision are made according to that
information. The decision of long term strategies is formed considering weaknesses and taking
steps to remove them. It helps the organisation in deciding that objective is achievable or not. It
allows mangers to form vision and produce possible outcomes which will help in long term
change. It helps in considering key features of company to form future plan , developments and
risk mitigation. Through SWOT company can grab the opportunity present in the environment
and can respond to new trends and allow to deal with the changes in technology or in
competitors operations.
TASK 4
P8 Current and potential trends in hospitality sector by providing a range of examples
It is vital for business organisations in hospitality sector to formulate plans and policies in
accordance with future and current trends. With the help of these trends, company can grab
attention of customers so that high revenues and profitability can be earned.
Current trends:
 Security and safety: Due to threats and terrors, main trend in hospitality sector is to offer
high security and protection to the guests so that they can feel comfortable and secured
during their stays. If security will not be given, customers will feel reluctant for stays due
to which sales and profits can reduce.
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 Internet services- It is a major trend in today's time. By using this trend customers can
share their expectations and reviews about given services. Beside this, it will be easy for
customers to make booking and paying after or before stay. Due to this, revenues and
profits of Whitbread will enhance.
Future trends
 Era of bots: Chat bots represents an easier manner for the hotel operators to interact with
their customers and guests without involvement of real people. Bots will respond to the
queries and messages asked by customers in a quick and proper manner.
 Virtual reality: Booking in hospitality sectors like resorts, hotel etc. will be carried out
through interactive technologies such as 360 view. Due to these technologies, customers
will be able to choose desired room without their physical presence.
CONCLUSION
From above discussed report, it is concluded that businesses associated with hospitality
satisfy the needs and desires of consumers in a proper manner. Beside this, hospitality sector also
contributes in local, international and national economy due to which employment rate and GDP
of country increases. Different departments of organization are interrelated with one another due
to which company is able to acquire expected results. To analyses business environment, SWOT
and PESTLE techniques are used and they benefits in enhancing sustainability of business.
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