Introduction – Hospitality

1. Introduction – Hospitality • International Tourism Management WiSe 2008/2009

2. Cowboys „The travel industry, according to everybody outside it, is run by cowboys. Despite the abundance of professionally run companies, both big and small, the perception is still that holiday firms rip off unsuspecting customers. … But the biggest problem is that operators are often selling a product where the gap between perception and reality is huge. Mass-market holidays are often sold as a dream vacation when they are often anything but.“ (Quelle: www.travelmole.com Issue 226 (Sept. 2002), zitiert in Page 2003)

3. General development Tourism market

4. Economic importance of hospitality

5. Segmentation hospitality

6. Segmentation Food and beverages

7. Segmentation Catering/Restaurants

8. Segmentation Accomodation companies

9. Definition Accomodation companies • In Germany: „Ein Hotel ist ein Beherbergungsbetrieb mit angeschlossenem Verpflegungsbetrieb für Hausgäste und Passanten. Er zeichnet sich durch einen angemessenen Standard seines Angebotes und durch entsprechende Dienstleistungen aus.“ (DeHoGA und DTV) • Necessary conditions: • At least nine guest beds • Majority of rooms with en suite bath and toilet • Reception existing • Parahotellerie • Others form of accomodation (can be commercial or non-commercial) • Commercial accomodation companies have to be • Profit-orientated, main source of income, open to everybody, for longer period

10. Actors in the accomodation market • Structural forms in accomodation market • Individual hotels • Chain hotels • Franchise hotels • Management hotels • Leased hotels • Cooperation hotels • Cooperations • For instance Best Western, Ringhotel, Romantic-Hotel • Reservation service companies • For instance Utell, HRS, hotel.com • Marketing rings • For instance Summit Int., Preferred Hotels, Relais & Châteaux, Four Seasons, Leading Hotels of the World

11. Systematic view on company forms

12. Branded hotels

16. Brand cooperations

18. Forms of segmentation of hotels • Completeness of services offered • Hotel, Hotel Garni, Full hotel • Location • City, Resort etc. • Connection to transport infrastructure • Motel, Airport hotel • Quality • Star rated, other categories • Duration of stay • Hours, days, weeks, seasons • Legal form of company • Single company, Limited, etc. • Size of company • Individual hotel, family hotel, chain hotel, major hotel • Profit orientation • Profit-orientated, non-profit-orientated, communal, social institution, learning hotel, minor part of company

19. Different types of accomodation • Class L – Luxury hotels • Hotel, Congress hotel, All-Suite-Hotel • Accomodation, breakfast, food and beverages offered • International Standard, luxurious, modern • Greetings of guests in front of the house • High level of technical and personal services • Meeting point, modern communication equipment • Outside Germany often big shopping center included • Price high • Class 1 – First Class Hotel – Convention hotel • Accomodation, breakfast, food and beverages offered • High Standard of comfort • Good level of technical and personal services • Price medium to high • Mostly large number of beds, chain hotels

20. Class 2 – Middle class hotel, Aparthotel • Accomodation, breakfast, food and beverages offered • Practical, solid level of basic services • Price medium • Class 3 – Hotel Garni • Accomodation and breakfast, only some food and beverages only for guests • Little city hotels, not much staff, often family run • Price lower medium

21. Class 4 – Pensions, Hotel pensions • Accomodation and breakfast for longer stay guests, fixed menu food at specific times • Simple, no special comfort, often close to spa institutions • Without special services • Prices dependent on length of stay • Class 5 – Rural hotel „Gasthof“ • Mainly restaurant, few beds mainly for restaurant guests • Simple, rural, no special comfort • Often family run with own butcher or fish farm • Price low, except Star-restaurant places • Others • Motels, Resorts, Highway hotels, holiday homes etc.

22. Hotel classification – a critical view

23. System of German hotel classification • Why Classification? • Better sales, better product positioning • Reliable quantitative indicator for potential guests • Better categorization of services offered (not: quality of services) • German hotel classification of DeHoGa • Since 1996 unified German system • Evaluation of objective, not subjective criteria • Enjoys legal brand protection • Development of criteria • By sub-group hotels of DeHoGa

24. Basics of classification • Voluntarily: Entering and exit always possible • Transparency: Every hotel company can learn beforehand into which category it will be put • Participants • All accomodation companies with more than eight beds • Criteria of Classification • 19 criteria, higher level of fulfillment needed for each star level • Further minimum levels of points for a star level from the criteria • Building/rooms • Interior decoration/Features • Service / Leisure offers • Form of product offer • In-house conference facilities

25. Categories • Five star categories • Tourist * (Garni) • Standard * * (Garni) • Komfort * * * (Garni) • First Class * * * * (Garni) • Luxus * * * * * (Superior) • Evaluation process • HoGa‘s on provincial level themselves or by other organisations like CoCs) • Regular random controls • Classification by document and representative sign

26. Discussion • In 1996 Germany and Denmark started a hotel classification program. 2003 Sweden adopted the Danish system. Through this process now all important European countries have classification systems. How about a EU-wide harmonized system? • In 2004 the European Association of hotel associations HOTREC decided to start working on a europe-wide classification system. • Arguments against: Regional differences, high costs • Most major markets are dominated by domestic guests (Germany, France, Italy, Japan, USA) or specific source markets (Germany/UK at Spanish coast and islands).

27. Cultural as well as climatic differences result in different criterias for quality: • Slippers and oneway-tooth brush important in Japan, not in Austria • Good and diverse range of wines offered – necessary in Austria, not in Britain • Baked breakfast available – important in Britain, not in Portugal • Tobacco shop in the hotel necessary in Portugal, not in France • Bidet necessary in France, not in Netherlands • Many towels positive in Netherlands, not in USA • Ice machine on each floor important for USA

28. Beds have to be longer in Northern Europe than in Southern Europe • Rooms are smaller in a 5 Star hotel in Tokyo than in a cheap motel in USA • Lobby in 4 Star hotel in Beijing much bigger than in 5 Star hotel in Europe • Swedish 3 Star hotels do not need to have a window • Even bigger differences for African, South American destinations • It is therefore not suitable to have a harmonized system all over the world. The 5 Star system is established internationally (Middle East 7 Star hotels only marketing gag), not easily abandoned • Even now star rating criteria lead to useless investments (Sauna in 4 Star hotel in Malta)

29. Most important criticism: • Star rating only looks at single quantitative criteria set. • No clear distinction between business travellers and holiday makers needs • No recognition of the most important fact: service QUALITY

30. Management in the hospitality sector The Hotel Manager The Hotel Manager is a man from the distant future who opens up a restaurant in the distant past. The guests travel there via time machine (yes, just like The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams). He's pretty funny as he's very evolved, but he's still a stupid jerk. Appearances: Tick vs. Prehistory: This episode is featuring a restaurant located about 3.5 million years ago. The Tick and Arthur wind up stuck in the distant past, but they're 'saved' when The Hotel Manager kidnaps their tribe of human-ape ancestors and takes them to the hotel to replace his waitstaff. Tick manages to overthrow the hotel staff and return his tribe to freedom and restore himself and Arthur to the 20th century.

31. Management or improvisation • Planned and managed: • Fixed „normal“ ways of doing things, management by exception • Job descriptions, workflow descriptions • Differentiation between operational and strategic management • Improvisation: • Management by experience: good for stable situation only

32. Human Resource Management • Hospitality is a People industry • Human Resource Management among the most important functions • Finding and retaining staff • Coordinating staff • Controling staff • Supporting staff • Leading staff

33. Classical HR Organigram – Single hotel

34. Customer orientated HR Management • End of Column structure • Process orientation • Problem solving instead of Zuständigkeit • Empowerment • Moments of Truth Concept • Abilities Matrix • Data Mining of abilities of staff • Competence cluster • Example Accor Ibis Hotels: 15 Minutes Total Zen: How can it work?

35. Quality management • Quality ≠ Expensive • Quality: Hardware, Surroundings, Software • Quality: Ongoing process

36. TQM – Total Quality Management • Customer point of view: How important is the service offered and how was the quality of the service perceived? • Producers point of view: How good was the quality management? • TQM as a never-ending upward spiral (Kaizen)

37. Ecology management • Based on: • Laws and regulations • Customer demand • Staff demand • In Germany: • DeHoGa Eco Criteria • Government subsidies from • European Recovery Program (ERP) • Deutsche Ausgleichsbank (DtA) • Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) • Bundesländer Subsidies

38. Ecology management • Labels: • Many Ecology labels worldwide on different levels • Example Bavaria: http://www.stmugv.bayern.de/umwelt/wirtschaft/siegel/index.htm • Other examples: • Blaue Flagge, Grüner Koffer • Top label in Germany: Viabono

39. Ecology management • Discussion: In the 1990s the hospitality companies in Germany could not agree on a label like „Grüner Koffer“. Today Viabono is supported by DeHoGa etc. Is ecological engagement in hotels just a marketing gag or will we see a real „greening“ of the hospitality industry?