Unit 20 - Hospitality Operations in Travel & Tourism P3 & M3

Introduction 

In this document I will be explaining how internal and external factors affect hospitality operations in travel and tourism organisations and then I will assess how hospitality operations in travel and tourism organisations have responded to internal and external factors

Internal factors: 

Pricing strategies –
This factor can affect the hospitality as the pricing makes or breaks the company, if the pricing of the product/service is too expensive or if people do not think it not worth the money it will not be purchased. Hospitality providers work out the best way to gain customers and income, whether it is by an advertising campaign or working out when people are more likely to book things. Pricing strategies at festivals and events vary on the period of time staying, the longer period ticket you get, the cheaper it works out to be. The festival tickets are usually on sale a year or 9 months before the event actually happens, they do this to gain customer sales and keep them interested. When booking to stay with a hospitality provider, you can book via their personal website, booking websites, via the phone, through work or in the hotel itself.  When eating at a restaurant, the main pricing strategies is by having a meal deal which is either a starter or a desert, a main meal and a soft drink. Especially in Europe, the restaurant providers are always fighting for competition and gaining the most amounts of customers, so the dinner deal is around €7 and the children’s dining deal is around €5.

Promotional strategies –
Hospitality organisations are always promoting their businesses and thinking the best way to do it and grab people’s attention at the same time, prime time TV, a popular magazine or on websites. Festivals have promotions of their event throughout the year; by announcing the dates, the main headliners and then the full set list a few weeks before the event. Hotels promote their businesses by adverts on the TV, radio and in magazine offering new products and services and any sales which are upcoming or a new location. Restaurants promote their new products by emailing customers on their email lists and writing posts on their social media platforms to gain people attention. Sometimes, in newspapers they have a voucher to get people into the restaurants (it may be a discount off or a free dessert)

Location –
This internal factor can either positively or negatively the business as the distance entices the customer if they do not need to travel far. Many festivals are in two locations in the country so many people can go without feeling left out. Examples of these festivals; VFestival is in Chelmsford and Staffordshire and the artists perform at one location and travel to the other location to perform on the next day. Reading and Leeds festival is another one where the same acts perform at both locations but on different days. Hotel providers, such as the Hilton and Premier in have responded to this factor by making their hotel locations worldwide to gain a wider customer base and entice customers to visit other hotel locations when travelling.  Some restaurant has locations just in the UK, Weatherspoon’s is an example of a restaurant which has pub like features and is many towns as well as airports to reach as many customers as they can with their product which is food and drink. 

External factors:

Economy – Hotels and restaurants are having to reduced their prices and increase the incentives offered to get more bookings and money into, as during recessions, money is spent on paying the bills and putting money away as saving for something important and not spending it on a leisure trip (hotel break, a meal out or a day trip to a local attraction)

Hilton hotels do a sale in the beginning of January, which are half price rooms and can book any date in the year and get it at a cheaper price.
If business customers know where there are working throughout the year and travelling around, they can book up many rooms at once (may get it cheaper) and save the company money but still stay in a high end hotel. Hilton hotels also offer a loyalty scheme where you get a certain amount of points, once there is enough the points can be spent on hotel rooms 

Accessibility –
This external factor is if suitable for everyone to enter and not feel left out, examples; having a ramp or a disabled access for wheelchair users or people who can’t do the stairs. At festival, there is always a disabled entrance and disabled tickets (the carer goes for free) and at some festivals there is a disabled camp which is close to the stages and has all of the amenities needed – toilets, food stands and a flat so it is not bumpy for the wheelchairs to be pushed across.
Some hotels, you can request to have a room on a low floor or can have a room with a walk in bathroom/ wet room which mean there is no bath and can be washed by a shower whilst sitting down on a little pull out seat. 

Trend for healthy eating –
More and more people are becoming coeliac which means more restaurants are having to provide a gluten and wheat free menu for customers who want to eat in the restaurant and have a choice on what to eat rather than just salad or a jacket potato and will feel normal if you can order a normal meal and not feel picky.
All festivals now have a food stand which has healthy food and not deep fried food and unhealthy drinks (fizzy drinks and alcohol)