Discussion And Analysis Of The International Journal Of Hospitality Management

Services Selected for Blueprinting

Discuss about the International Journal of Hospitality Management

Grace Hotel built in 1920 by Grace Brothers now is recognised as an effective hospitality institution in the region. The hotel firm provides different types of facilities like gym, sauna baths and pools for entertaining customers. The hotel also generates Wi-Fi services in a complimentary fashion for helping customers carry out their business (The Grace Sydney , 2016).

Different types of services associated with front and back stage and also the support functions.

The above services are taken for Blueprinting in that the above functions work in an integrated fashion in servicing the needs of its customers.

Three Key Customers Actions depicted in the Service Blueprint for Grace Hotel Sydney are conducting of online reservations, meeting of registration formalities and also the ordering of food items.

The criticality of the three customer actions listed above are discussed as follows.

Conducting of Online Reservations

The generation of online reservation facilities by hotel institutions contribute in enhancing the level of convenience for the tourists and visitors such that they can make reservation of hotel rooms from anywhere and at anytime (Koutroumanis, 2011). The hotel website is required to incorporate essential features to help the guests gain the advantage of a virtual tour before deciding on making reservations (Sparks & Browning, 2011). Further, the hotel website is also required to enhance on the parameters of reliability and safety that encourages the customers to conduct reservations online (Ye et al., 2011). Satisfied customers focus on sharing their online reservation experiences with other customers and peers involved in social media networks like Facebook and Twitter which in turn contribute in increasing the number of guests for the hotel institution (Ladhari & Michaud, 2015).

Meeting of Registration Formalities

The management of Grace Hotel is required to effectively introduce the guests or visitors to the registration formalities based on helping them in filling of registration cards. After the activity concerning the registration cards has been ideally met the room keys are handed over to the customers. The meeting of the registration formalities by the customers based on generation of personal information and ending the same through the generation of payment contributes in initiating the relationship of the hotel with the visitor (Surachartkumtonkun et al., 2013).

Ordering of Food Items

Customers focus on generating permutations and combinations of the different food items available in the menu list provided to them by the hotel. The orders placed by the customers are required to be served to them by the food and beverage department within a specific period and also needs to fulfil the quality parameters for helping in the generation of needed customer satisfaction. The freshness and the quality of the ingredients and the products as a whole potentially help the customers relish on the food offerings and thereby contribute in generation of loyal customers. Further, hotel firms like Grace Hotel Sydney are required to generate needed assurance related to enhancing the level of nutrition, freshness, taste and quality of the food and beverage offerings such that the same contribute in sustaining the level of customer satisfaction and in attracting new guests to the hotel (Giritlioglu et al., 2014).

Analysis

Three key frontstage contact employee actions that are chosen from the service blueprint are Greeting and Collection of bags, Meeting of Food Orders and finally in Processing the Check-Out. 

Greeting and Collection of Bags

The greeting and collection of bags is evaluated to be a potential function during the check-in process. The generation of effective greeting and eye contact with the customers during the first ten minutes of their visit to the hotel ideally contribute in development of an effective relationship with them. Proper greeting and eye contact carried out with customers help in generating an effective impression on their minds. Further, the front desk staffs are required to greet the customers from a distance of 10 feet before the customers have reached the registration desk (Magnus, 2016). Greeting customers based on the above approach contributes in creating a sense of welcome and warmth for the customers thereby encouraging them to visit the hotel. Another, concept associated with the greeting of customers is the use of the 10/5 rule. The use of the 10/5 rule can be effectively incorporated by the hotel staffs where the guests entering the hotel are required to be located at a 10 feet distance while they are needed to be greeted at distance of 5 feet from the registration desk (Ariffin & Maghzi, 2012).

Meeting of Food Orders

The food and beverage (F&B) department in the hotel institutions are required to ideally focus on the accomplishment of the following objectives for enticing customers in an effective fashion. The staffs of the F&B Department are required to prepare the different tables and counters in a responsive fashion for helping in the serving of dishes for the subsequent customers. Further, they are required to stock the tables with needed glassware, ceramic dishes and bowls and other types of sprinklers and spreads for ready-to-use by the customers (Torres et al., 2014). The F&B staffs are also required to inform the customers about the food menu and also about special meals being generated if any in the hotels. The staffs also take orders from the customers, place them in the kitchen and bar for processing and thereby serve them at the tables in an effective fashion within a specified period. F&B staffs are also required to get feedback from the customers about the food quality while also suggest desserts and beverage offerings. The staffs are also required to be healthy and well groomed and also reflect needed knowledge of food etiquette for enhancing the level of customer satisfaction (Manhas & Tukamushaba, 2015). 

Section A

Processing of Check-Out

Different types of check-out options are exercised by the hotel companies for helping the customers gain the benefit of easy check-outs. The hotel institution may encourage the guests or visitors to gain the facility of express check-outs through the filling up of express check-out forms provided by the security authorities on their visits to the guest rooms. Use of express checkouts can be made for facilitating and speeding up the check out process such that the amount due can be informed to the customers in a faster manner. The hotels can also encourage the customers for gaining the facility of self checkout. The use of self checkout systems help the customers gain effective information from guest records and history to which they can gain easy access (Toh & Potapova, 2013). Gaining information from such folios help the customers understand the amount due and thereby in making payment in an effective fashion. Further, the check-out staffs in the hotel are also required to conduct a thorough check of the hotel rooms starting from the collection of room keys from guests and also in checking of fittings and curtains before finally escorting the guests to the main lobby (Singh et al., 2016).

Three key elements of Physical Evidence are car parking, escalator and elevator and also the services generated by the registration desk of the hotel.

Car Parking

The customers or the visitors to the hotels expect the hotel authorities to effectively understand the parking zones so that they can effectively drive their vehicles to the parking lots. The hotel authorities are thereby required to help in guiding the visitors to the parking spaces based on the use of arrows and marks. Further, the customers also expect of the availability of adequate parking spaces for effectively parking their vehicles in an effective fashion. The car parking fees are required to be generated in a justified and affordable fashion with also the availability of free times restricted within the first 30 minutes of the parking time (Ordenes et al., 2014).

Escalator and Elevator 

The existence of escalators and elevators are needed in the hotels for helping in the easy movement of guests along different floors. Regarding elevators the hotel is required to appoint an operator that would help in managing the crowd and also in helping the guests move to their needed floors in an effective fashion. Further, the hotel administration is also required to bear contacts for the operator and management firms for escalators and elevators such that they can be called by the hotel’s management body in case of any difficulty or emergency. Proper measures undertaken by the hotel would contribute in generation of effective hospitality services to the customers (Gupta et al., 2014). 

Section B

Registration Desk

The registration desk of the hotel companies gain competency and productivity in terms of using of incorporating different types of technological applications for Smartphones and also web based mediums for helping the customers in conducting registrations in a convenient fashion. The existence of an online registration desk along with existence of a physical registration desk ideally contributes in serving the registration needs of the customers (Manhas & Tukamushaba, 2015).

The different fail points indicated in the Service Blueprint for Grace Hotel Sydney are taking longer time than expected in making customer registrations, lack of adequate number of staffs in carrying the customer luggage and escorting the customers to the hotel rooms causing delays and also the taking of longer times for the food to reach the guest tables from the kitchen.

Longer Time in Registrations

A fishbone diagram can be effectively generated for understanding the reasons behind longer time in registrations.

Customers often complain for a longer time during the registration activities at the check-in points for the hotels. Different types of factors like the inadequacy of trained staffs needed for making the registrations, slowness of the POS systems and registration software, cases of use of faulty or expired credit cards used by the visitors and also delay made by the customers in furnishing needed information are accounted to cause delay for meeting the guest registration activities within a specified period (Ratanakomut & Kitcharoen, 2013).

The customers also complained of delays of the luggage and customer baggage being carried to the hotel rooms. The existence of reduced number of carrying staffs with also the growth in the exhaustions level of the existing carrying staffs and also the existence of language uses causes the delay in reaching the luggage to the rooms (Ariffin & Maghzi, 2012). 

Longer Time for Ordered Food reaching Guest Tables

Section E

The management of Grace Hotel needs to ideally focus on the development of applications for mobile and e-commerce such that the same helps the customers in effectively booking the hotel rooms. Similarly, the hotel is also required to recruit effective number of carrying and kitchen staffs and also generate needed training for enhancing the expertise of the staffs in servicing emerging consumer needs.

Conclusions

The report reflected the significance for the different functions identified in the service blueprint categorised as front, back and support category services for hotel institutions. Empirical discussions are generated to serve the information needs. The report also carried out a fish bone diagram analysis for the different bottlenecks identified in the service blueprint model for Grace Hotel Sydney.

References

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Giritlioglu, I., Jones, E. & Avcikurt, C., 2014. Measuring food and beverage service quality in spa hotels. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality, 26(2), pp.183-204.

Gupta, A., Arif, M. & Richardson, P.A., 2014. Assessing Customer Service in Airports – Models from the UAE. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 1(2), pp.1-23.

Koutroumanis, D.A., 2011. Technology’s Effects on Hotels and Restaurants: Building A Strategic Competitive Advantage. Journal of Applied Business and Economics , 12(1), pp.72-80.

Ladhari, R. & Michaud, M., 2015. eWOM effects on hotel booking intentions, attitudes, trust, and website perceptions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 46, pp.36-45.

Magnus, S., 2016. Employee Mere Presence and Its Impact on Customer Satisfaction. Psychology & Marketing, 33(6), pp.449-64.

Manhas, P.S. & Tukamushaba, E.K., 2015. Understanding service experience and its impact on brand image in hospitality sector. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 45, pp.77-87.

Ordenes, F.V., Burton, J. & Theodoulidis, B., 2014. Analyzing Customer Experience Feedback Using Text Mining: A Linguistics-Based Approach. Journal of Service Research, 17(3), pp.278-95.

Ratanakomut, S. & Kitcharoen, N., 2013. A STUDY OF FACTORS THAT AFFECTING SERVICE QUALITY OF PASSENGER SERVICE DEPARTMENT IN AIRLINES (AIRASIA, THAILAND). Innovative Journal of Business and Management, 2(1), pp.9-18.

Singh, S., Kushwaha, S.P. & Patnaik, S., 2016. Development of Hotel Management Information System. International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, 6(6), pp.7793-95.

Sparks, B. & Browning, V., 2011. The impact of online reviews on hotel booking intentions and trust. Tourism Management, 32(6), pp.1310-23.

Surachartkumtonkun, J., Patterson, P.G. & McColl-Kenned, J.R., 2013. Customer Rage Back-Story: Linking Needs-Based Cognitive Appraisal to Service Failure Type. Journal of Retailing, 89, pp.72-87.

The Grace Sydney , 2016. Located in the heart of everything! [Online] Available at: https://gracehotel.com.au/ [Accessed 6 October 2016].

Toh, R.A.M. & Potapova, I.I., 2013. Check–in Check–out: Improving the Management of Hotel Front Office Operations. European Journal of Economic Studies, 4(2), pp.115-17.

Torres, E.N., Fu, X. & Lehto, X., 2014. Examining key drivers of customer delight in a hotel experience: A cross-cultural perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 36, pp.255-62.

Ye, Q., Law, R. & Gu, B., 2011. The influence of user-generated content on traveler behavior: An empirical investigation on the effects of e-word-of-mouth to hotel online bookings. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, pp.634-39.