Research Methods For Hospitality And Tourism

Set above the market town of Otley, in West Yorkshire, you will find unspoiled woodlands, secluded accommodation and glorious fishing lakes.

With 49 recently refurbished hotel rooms and log cabins- you will feel a million mile from it all. However you will also find bustling markets, fine dining restaurants, bars, galleries and shopping just minutes away.

Eating at our beautifully extended lakeside Restaurant is a must. Whether you are here for business or pleasure, you will leave refreshed and totally relaxed.

A HOTEL WITH HEART AND SOUL

A RENOWNED AREA OF SCENIC BEAUTY, The Yorkshire Dales is a landscape brimming with history, tradition and nature. Situated on the very southern edge of the Dales, Chevin Country Park Hotel & Spa sits within 44 acres of silver birch woodland on the brow of the Chevin forest. The unique timber buildings of the hotel and lodges sit naturally amidst this seclusion.

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The hotel takes its name from the wooded hillside overlooking the mediaeval market town of Otley. This offers stunning views of the wharfe vally and surrounding countryside. Our ambition for Chevin is for it to remain as the Hotel of choice in West Yorkshire, At the same time preserving the beauty of the natural environment and the character of the original building.

At Chevin Country park hotel & Spa we will put our heart and soul into giving you a great hotel befitting of such a great location and promise to make your visit as special and unique as the setting itself.

PADDY CRERAR.

Aims & Objectives:

The aim of this research is to investigate the factors affecting implementation plans of management which has affected loss of business and profit.

Objectives:

To investigate concept of management based on literature review.

To establish theoretical background to changing management.

To investigate factors that affect implementation of plan by management.

To clarify recent conditions with help of hypothesis.

Analyses the data collected and give evaluation.

PROBLEM ACCORDING TO MANAGEMENT:

In Chevin Country Park Hotel, these are different types of problems according to management:

Problem is about service. Guest has not given nice feedback, most of them are complaining about service. They are saying that, every time they have to wait for food.

Management doesn’t want to hire more staff for Kitchen as well as Service.

Hotels don’t have enough machinery.

Rules marketing strategies laid by new management.

Staff turnover

RESEARCH:

Research is defined as, any gathering of data, information & facts for advancement of knowledge.

Research is discerning pursuit of the truth

Today there are thousands of companies, whose primary activity involves providing research services that helps business key strategies, tactical and operational question. Research has become more formalized & technical. But its purpose remains much the same as enquiries undertaken by the Phoenician merchants. How do I find answer to improve my performance and make life better for customer, employees, and owner?

Business research is design to answer these questions.

OBSERVATION

Due to shortage of time I couldn’t be part of staff or cannot be employee of hotel, so method I chose was direct observation. I started my observation at reception as checking in the hotel.

I was standing at reception as walking guest. I observed following facts:

About Staff:

Staff was not up to the standards.

Were confused and less experienced.

Were delaying check-in process & were annoying customers standing in queue.

Were talking to themselves in their native language

Were rude to customers.

They were confused with issuing of keys to the customer creating panic among themselves.

Were not properly dressed.

Were creating a chaos.

Were not attending guest’s requests, which were living in the hotel.

Were confused while attending call and guests simultaneously.

Proper coordination between staff was missing.

2. At Reception desk:

At the reception, the flowers used for decoration were not fresh..

Bell boy were not available, as a result guests had to carry their own luggage.

Keys were placed in haphazard manner, which was confusing the receptionist while assigning it to the guests.

Three telephones were placed on reception desk but only one receptionist was responsible for attending all three telephones, and she was not able to manage them. Ringing other two telephones while attending one call , was making that receptionist and guests annoyed.

The floor near the reception was not cleaned regularly ,as a result many footprints were printed near the lobby, making floor dirty.

3.In Hotel Room:

When I entered my room, I observed following things:

The floor of the room was not properly cleaned; I could sense the dust on the floor as my shoes were leaving footprints on the floor.

In refrigerator, I could see some empty cans, which projected that it was not restocked.

There were some fingerprints on the mirror, which showed mirror was not cleaned regularly.

The bed spreads also had some marks.

Dusting was not done properly, as there was dust on the table.

Towels in the bathroom were not up to the standards. It seemed like used before by someone else.

The mattress outside the bathroom was stinky.

Toilet tissues near the WC were not assembled in the tissue holder.

AC in the room was not working properly.

Also Wi-Fi signal in the room was very poor.

One of the bulbs in the room was not glowing.

There was no instruction manual for using electronic equipments.

There was no instruction manual for operating AC.

TV was not connected to DVD player and it was mentioned no where how to connect TV and DVD player.

There was no manual for how to operate a washing machine.

4. In Hotel Restaurant :

About restaurant, the service of food was very slow.

Staff didn’t have enough knowledge about food and wine.

Service staff couldn’t even explain to guest what were the ingredients in dishes, like what kind of sauces served with pork or beef?

Even staff didn’t know that which wine goes with specific dishes

e.g.: red wine goes with red meat.

Management had changed the menu & staff was not briefed properly.

There was no sufficient place between two table, making it uncomfortable for people to move to and from the aisles.

Cutlery which was used on table which was not polished.

Also table cloths on the table, were having food stains mark.

Staff used to speak their native languages loudly standing behind the counters.

Also there was loud sound of glasses, cutlery coming from service area behind.

It seemed like they were not able to make proper atmosphere in restaurant.

Restaurant Manager was very rude while handling guest complaints.

5. About Hotel Infrastructure:

Infrastructure of the restaurant was one of the important problems of this hotel. Hotel is having 2 floor restaurants. Upstairs floor having lake view balcony. So guest will prefer to sit upstairs. But it’s very difficult for staff to give proper service to guest. Also bar is not situated near restaurant, so that each and every time they have to go to bar to take drinks for guest.

HYPOTHESIS:

Hypothesis can be defined as observable phenomena or experimental observation. It guides the direction of research. If it seriously conducted, it helps to know what shall be done and what shouldn’t.

Co relational Hypothesis:

Co relational hypothesis occurs together in some specified manner without implying that one cause another.

In this case management is independent and all staff, machinery, rooms, services etc are dependent.

According to the Hypothesis and my observation the results which I found are:

Hotel staff is not maintaining proper grooming standards like hair cut, wearing jewellery etc.

Front office staff is not much capable to handle guest. Also not having enough experience to handle situation.

Food service very slow in restaurant, because of that guest has to wait long for every course. Also staff not having enough knowledge about food and wine. Staff attitude towards guest is not good.

Manager behavior towards guest as well as staff is very rude.

Quantity of food is less

Hotel rooms are not clean properly, when I entered in room, that time I saw that dusting in room not done properly.

Direction signs are not accurate

Infrastructure of the restaurant, some of the facilities in the hotel are not working properly.

Casual staff is working , most of the all department,. Actually management get casual staff on more cheaper rate who are not trained.

CASE STUDY:

A case study at the Front desk: NANCY SWANGER,

Morgan Black appointed as researcher by corporate office.

The Coug Inn is a 150 room’s full serviced property with several medium sized banquets. it caters mostly to business travelers and visitors affiliated to local university. Hotel is very busy between august and may, with periods classes are not in session being extremely slow. Occupancy has been declining for the last year or so. Since arriving at The Coug Inn, Morgan made several observations about hotel situation. It seems that most of the problem with front desk. After reviewing comments card from last month, Morgan has sensed real dissatisfaction with the check-in process. Paper work at check in is perceived as lengthy and hard to fill out. Guest

has been checked into rooms that were not clean. After discussing problem with front office manager, front office manager complaints that reservation staff does not always submit the day’s reservation to the front desk in a timely manner. So when guest arrive, desk further with over 65 % of the hotel staff speaking first language other than English. So communication is difficult. Front office manager further told that, the new hotel in town, the suit to sleep inn. Has an earlier checked in time and it seems to work ok for them. Morgan asks front office manager how the staff might respond to moving to a fully automated property management system. The respond was not favorable. Also corporate office had not put any money into the place in years. In attempt to reach a compromise, Morgan considers changing the check-in time in exchange for the front desk manager’s support of the conversation to an automated system.

What must Morgan take into consideration before final decisions are made to adjust checked in time and install fully automated property management system?

How should Morgan proceed in resolving the communication issue?

Who needs to be involved in the final decisions?

How might Morgan present the case to the corporate office?

(Hotel Management and Operation By Michael J. O’fallon, Denney G. Rutherford, Page no:162)

RESEARCH METHOD USED TO RESOLVE PROBLEM:

Research:

After reviewing the assessment form, I would like to use Evaluation Research. This will help hotel to get profit.

There are three types of research:

Descriptive

Is finding out & describing what it is

Explanatory

Explaining why or how things are there.

Evaluation

In process of Evaluation research participant contribution plays important role.

Participant contribution term means manager should specify their problem & provide the researcher adequate background information relating to them.

As manager explained the entire situation about hotel. As manager told, all problem which hotel is facing, needs to be solved as soon as possible. There are many problems with service, kitchen as well as infrastructure. Actualy all these problems are related to each other.

DATA COLLECTION:

The main step in Evaluation Process is Data Collection.

Data Collection identify issues from the people directly involved in the program identify further issues from the programmed documents, observing how the program is actually working.

Through manager, I got assessment forms, Restaurant & Bar comment card given by guest, also appraisal form which is filled by employees.

To solve these problems, we need to evaluate current employees to determine their productivity, job satisfaction and commitment.

DIFFERENT RESEARCH METHODS USED TO REACH THE CORE OF PROBLEM:

SELF APPRAISAL QUESTIONNAIRE:

Employee Name:

Department:

Position:

Start Date:

How do you feel about the work environment at Chevin Park Hotel?

How do you enjoy most about your position?

What do you feel about strongest work areas?

In what area do you feel you have made improvements or changes?

In what areas would you like more training or more work experience?

What are your goals for next years?

COMMENTS:

Thank you.

Guest Comment Card:

Chevin Country Park Hotel & Spa

Chevin country park hotel & spa really care about what you think. Sending feedback help us to provide you better level of service on your next visit with us. Please feel free to to comment on our site, our hotel or any other matter on your mind.

Rate us:

Excellent

Good

Average

Fair

Poor

Physical appearance of the hotel

Check in process

Cleanliness of hotel

Quality of food

Your overall experience

Better:

Is there an area where you think we could do a better job?

Employee:

Did you particular hotel employee make your stay with us especially enjoyable?

Comments:

Additional comments you wish to make…

Thank you.

CASE STUDY:

SAMOUEL’S GREEK CUISINE RESTAURANT;

Samouel’s Greek Cuisine Restaurant is located in London. Phil Samouel, owner of the Samouel’s Greek Cuisine Restaurant, believes his profit are not as high as they could be. He wants to increase sale. He wants to attract new customer. He also wants to ensure that restaurant running smoothly. Phil Samouel is new to this business. So he decided to hire restaurant consultant. He contacted Ad mark International, ask them to conduct a preliminary assessment of his restaurant operations and prepare research proposal for him to review.

After discussions with Phil Samouel and several of his employees, the account manager from the research firm conclude that the primary questions facing samouels restaurant are:

Are employees being managed to maximize their productivity as well as commitment to the success of the restaurant?

What are the different way to attract new customer?

These are the two separate issues but they are related to each other. First project will evaluate current employees to determine their productivity, job satisfaction and commitment. Second project evaluate the survey of customer.

The employee assessment project:

How do employees feel about work environment?

How committed are the employees to helping make the restaurant success?

Do different group of employees have different feeling about working at samouels?

Customer assessment project:

What is the level of satisfaction of samouel’s customer?

What factors contribute to restaurant customer satisfaction?

Do customers rate Gino’s more favorably than they do samouel’s?

( name of the book )

Solution:

For rooms:

There should be either permanent staff or contract staff for cleaning the rooms , proper cleaning equipment like vacuumed cleaner, glass wiper, all solutions etc. should be purchased to make cleaning easier and faster. A supervisor should supervise the rooms.

The towels and mattresses , bedspreads in the rooms should be properly cleaned and dried. Laundry should take this responsibility.

Maintenance persons, at least 2 should be hired as permanent staff for emergencies & which will also save money of management to look after all the electronic equipments in the hotel.

Staff should be given training before actual service & briefing should be done by manager with the staff so the staff is aware of daily specials, soup of the day & availabilities of the dishes from the menu.

Restaurant:

The staff should be given the training related to food and beverage prior to attending guests.

Staff should be given training, for meeting & greeting guests as per hotel standards laid by new management.

Manager should have an idea of handling all the problems that may happen in the hotel.

Fast and proper service should be given to the guests.

Staff should be given knowledge about what are the ingredients of the served dish.

Staff should be given training based on type of wine and the dish with which it can be served.

The tables should be arranged properly prior to the party or the event organized. There should be proper spacing between the tables so that waiter can move freely for serving.

The plates and cutlery should be properly cleaned and polished. A plate polished should be arranged by the hotel.

Table clothes on the table should be cleaned, and the responsibility has to be taken by laundry team. They should ensure that there are no stain marks on the table clothes.

Staff should use only English while in the hotel, conversation in native language should not be allowed, as it is confusing for the guests of the hotel.

About Staff :

There should be either permanent staff or contract staff for cleaning the rooms

Staff should be provided proper training prior to joining job.

At Reception desk:

This is the most import place in hotel as all the guests are received at Reception.

Flowers at the reception should be fresh and placed properly.

Floor should be cleaned regularly.

If there are more than two telephones at the desk, more than one person should be available at desk to attend the calls.

A personnel should be appointed for handling only guest complaints, and should be handled carefully.

Bell boy should be available at the reception to carry guest’s luggage.

About Hotel Infrastructure:

Infrastructure of the hotel is the major part affecting the service of the hotel. So infrastructure should be designed properly to meet the requirements.

Bar should be situated near the restaurant, so that it will be easy to provide proper service to the guests.

Infrastructure of the hotel is the major part affecting the service of the hotel. So infrastructure should be designed properly to meet the requirements.

(FLOOR PLAN FOR RESTAURANT / BAR/ RECEPTION)

As per shown in diagram, Restaurant is situated on lake. Bar is situated behind the Reception. That’s why distance between restaurant and bar is too long. So every time service staff has to walk through it. Also if you go from service area then also it takes time. That’s why guest are keep complaining about service, slow service.

If you see in diagram, lounge is situated exactly besides of the restaurant on lake. If we make setup of bar in Lounge, and Lounge will goes instead of Bar. This will save lots of time, also because of this it will look nice. So guest can go themselves on Bar and have their drinks. That will useful for guest as well as staff.

If management ready to change infrastructure, this will be the important change, which need to be done. Surely this will help to improve service quality.

Cleanliness:

Proper Cleanliness should be maintained.

All the used utensils should be cleaned at the end of the day so that it can be used next day.

Oven should be cleaned regularly so that it is free from any odor.

Gas stove should be cleaned regularly so that there are no stain marks on it.

planning :

All the events should be planned properly so that there are no confusions at any events.

All the tables should be arranged properly in the night, so that in the morning there won’t be any wastage of time in arranging the table.

Training:

The staff should be given proper “Behavioral Training” so that they should know how to handle guests.

The staff who is working in service section of restaurant should be given proper training on serving and should be given knowledge on ingredients of the dishes served.

The staff should be given

Meetings:

Meetings for staff should be arranged regularly by manager so as to discuss the goals to be achieved and should also discuss what technique should be used for the same.

Meetings should be arranged on daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis.

All the problems faced by staff should be discussed in these meetings.

Feedbacks:

There should be a personnel appointed for handling feedbacks given by guest.

Proper measures should be taken to work on it.

It should be discussed regularly with manager so that the areas where hotel need to be improved is highlighted.

Manager Behavior:

Manager should be experienced, should know how to handle all the situations that a hotel may face.

He should be trained properly so that he can handle annoyed guests.

He should offer some complimentary service to guests in case of any mistakes committed by hotel unknowingly.

Advanced Equipment / Machinery:

Hotel should buy advanced equipment in case of necessity so as to make all the processes fast. For example :

Hotel should buy an automatic dish cleaners so as to make dish cleaning faster and effective.

Hotel should buy number of vaccum cleaner so that cleaning of dust is an fast an easy procedure.

Dish polisher should be bought to polish dish.

Floor cleaning machinery should be bought to make floor cleaning faster.

In laundry, no of washing machines should be present so that bed spreads, mattress and table covers should be washed regularly and kept clean.

Driers should be available so that all the table covers and other clothes are dried and can be used for next day.

Technical Problems:

For handling technical problem a technical team should be hired. For example:

To handle problems related to bulb, tube light fitting, a electrician should be available for hotel.

To handle problems related to network, LAN, wi-fi, internet connection

a technical personnel should be hired.

3. To handle defects in washing machine, oven, geyser, lifts, fans, TV, dvd players a technical team should be there.

Supervision:

A supervisory team should be assigned to do following things:

To supervise room cleanliness.

To supervise floor cleanliness.

To supervise whether electronic equipments are working properly.

To supervise whether cleanliness is maintained at kitchen.

CONCLUSION

As elaborated above, if the mentioned policies are implemented by the hotel management, the expected result would be:

1. Increase in staff skills

2. Rise in customer satisfaction

3. Rise in employee satisfaction

4. Increase in hotel profit

5. Improve in hotel standard

The mentioned policies would help hotel to maintain its position in this competitive world of business and would help hotel to grow at a faster rate, improving its market standards and market values.

This would even help hotel and its employees to be at a stronger position even when market is down. Would help them to handle all the situations that would be beneficiary for the organization.