HOTL2007 Facility and Risk Management- Venue Condition

You are requires an analysis of both the design and the condition of a venue. It assess the learning in Topics.

Using the theory in the readings and the study guide, explain the importance of venue design, and analyse whether proper design principles have been applied to your chosen venue.

 

Has the intended purpose of the design been achieved?
Have the objectives of the various stakeholders been met?
Are there other considerations that were, or should have, been made in the design of the venue?

Using the theory in the readings and the study guide, explain the rationale behind a Venue Condition Assessment based on:

the literature as well as
the objectives,
challenges and
benefits associated with such an appraisal.
Assess the condition of your chosen venue using the VCA form created in Assessment 1 (with modifications after feedback).

n and Jang, 2006 credit the physical environment to the satisfaction or lack thereof with the entire accommodation. Consequently, they argue that simple aspects such as increased window sizes and the lighting within the facility would improve the illusion of better venue in comparison to other that do not emphasize on the same.

My study venue was Hilton Hotel, Sidney which has been in this city for decades. Regardless of having been there for such a long time, renovations have been done over time to catch up with the new trends in the industry designs. Apparently, this hotel brand has been in operations in cities around the globe and still manages to be a competitive player which means they keep up to date. Interior design is done such that the customers get spacious rooms and properly decorated public areas such as elevators, lobby area, state of the art entertainment facilities and other amenities. Location of the hotel within the central business district is an attractive factor in ensuring they do not lack clients. Huge space owned by the hotel ensure there are diverse accommodation rooms to cater customer demands.

Given the prestige carried by the brand world over, they have been able to maintain their presence in the location over the many decades since establishment in the 1970’s. The original building was a five-floor building which in those days was a landmark in the city. With  the completion of other architectural projects, it was important to improve it to the twenty-meter space with aluminum decorations to give it a unique look. Following the increase in space, they have been able to maintain the customers whose royalty was driven by their prestigious taste. Security features such as cameras have been installed in the building to increase the confidence of the consumers. Wi-Fi in the entire building is a part of the innovations that have taken place in past few years since a few decades ago was not a necessity. Conference halls have audio-visual facilities to ensure clients requirements are met. Consequently, if the meeting participants need to carry out presentations they definitely opt for this venue in favor of others without similar services.

Hilton Sydney accommodation rooms are divided into categories such that the client’s needs are met despite what they are. As such, customers who are staying in the city for work purposes can access rooms that are work friendly with an area set aside for that goal. In instances where a customer’s stay aims at relaxation, clients are given comfortable rooms where they can access services such as spa and the room settings are different with lighting that accompanies calm feeling. Corporate events are important for any restaurant whose aim is to make profits. As such, the hotel has huge conference and exhibition area to accommodate many stakeholders interested in that space. Apparently, events area is designed to the satisfaction of the meeting holders to increase revenue for the hotel.

The investors in an industry have one objective of making a profit and remaining relevant despite the new trends and availability of new players. The primary goal has been achieved as the clients keep having their desired needs met. However, there are upcoming trends in places like Dubai where architectural practices such as rooftop pools and gardens are taking over. There is room for improvement and investing in new innovative talents to keep the brand on the rise in terms of design and technology.  

Part Two

The rationale behind a Venue Condition Assessment Based on:

1. The Literature and Objectives

According to Sun et al, 2009, venue assessment can be divided into many diverse categories. One of the main concerns while carrying out this evaluation should revolve around the structure. Apparently, hotels being used for accommodation should ensure their buildings can be trusted to hold a number of people without posing a threat to their lives. Poor structures have been known to collapse and cause massive loss of lives be it in construction stages where workers are victims (Tupenaite et al 2010) or while in operation with clients being the casualties. Therefore, it is necessary to impose a standard to operators on the structure whereby failure to comply should cost the license of operation. (Albattat and Matt 2013) claim that since the hotel industry is a major player in the global economy, they should employ means of disaster management since some of the activities are high risk. Fire and fuel are a must have in the operations of a hotel since they ought to be armed with instant solutions in case of an accident.

The unique design of a destination is instrumental in making of its brand which is what attracts the royal customers and maintains them. Consequently, the businesses ought to create their own image so that those that relate to it feel a sense of familiarity (Qu, Kim and Im 2011). In the assessment, one should look at the objective of maintaining that which the consumers are interested in is still achieved. (Strannegard and Strannegard 2012) insist that the uniqueness of rooms within one building could keep guest coming back to experience the designs they have not yet interacted with in the particular premises. As such, maintaining diverse outlook from what is excess in the market places the investor at an advantage. The main incentive to hoteliers to invest in design and condition of the venue is to be and remain relevant. Therefore, investments have to be made as time moves on to catch up on popular trends as well as maintain decent condition.  

2. Challenges and Benefits of Venue Condition Assessment

Hotel premises condition assessment is essential in finding out any areas that may require attention either repair or to catch up with current trends. According to Noe et al, 2003, frequently checking on the condition of a venue gives a business competitive advantage over the competitors in that they are able to keep up with what is new. Additionally, they claim that most managers and hotel players are not aware of different designs in the industry. As such, they are able to access this type of information. (Wu et al 2013) claims that there is a global aspect involved in bringing together stakeholders including managers, architects, and designers to improve the current state of the hospitality industry. Improvement solely depends on this type of assessment. Research has also led to immense use and improvement of technological infrastructure and internet to market and compete on that space.

Zhang and Mao, 2012 claims that the main challenge in the hotel’s assessment is done through the internet whereby some of the people writing the reviews might necessarily not have visited the particular venue. Depending on what is written in this section the business is able to improve but they may also expose themselves to criticism that in some instances cost them, potential customers, where participants do not necessarily give accurate information. Challenges in identifying the right participants have experience as well as the means of verifying the state of their infrastructure.

Risk management is the most crucial in determining the condition of hospitality premises. As such, it should be treated as an important aspect. However, there is lack of a standard way of establishing what should be defined as safe (Tsai and Chen 2011). Most of the architectural weaknesses are not visible to the eye hence they are not realized until the damage is done. Some materials cannot be easily predictable in terms of durability which would make an assessment of their risk ratio to the people residing in these facilities impossible. Hazards should also be verified even in the neighborhood of the particular place of interest. However, there are complicated institutional processes that need to be completed before carrying them out. As such, the companies are not willing to invest time and resources they overlook crucial activities making them vulnerable to an occurrence of the accidents.  

Reference List

AlBattat, AR and Mat Som, AP 2013, Emergency preparedness for disasters and crises in the hotel industry. Sage Open, 3(3), p.2158244013505604.

Countryman, CC And Jang, S 2006, The effects of atmospheric elements on customer impression: the case of hotel lobbies. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 18(7), pp.534-545.

McNeill, D and McNamara, K 2009, Hotels as civic landmarks, hotels as assets: The case of Sydney’s Hilton. Australian Geographer, 40(3), pp.369-386.

Noe, RA Hollenbeck, JR Gerhart, B And Wright, PM 2003, Gaining a competitive advantage. Irwin: McGraw-Hill.

Penner, RH Adams, L and Rutes, W 2013, Hotel design, planning and development. Routledge.

Qu, H  Kim, LH. and Im, HH 2011, A model of destination branding: Integrating the concepts of the branding and destination image. Tourism management, 32(3), pp.465-476.

Strannegard, L and Strannegard, M 2012, Works of art: Aesthetic ambitions in design hotels. Annals of Tourism Research, 39(4), pp.1995-2012.

Sun, Y Fang, D Wang, S Dai, M and Lv, X 2009, Closure to “ Safety Risk Identification and Assessment for Beijing Olympic Venues Construction” by Yu Sun, Dongpin Fang, Shouqing Wang, Mengdong Dai and Xiaoquan Lv. Journal of Management in Engineering, 25(2), pp.98-100.

Tsai, CH and Chen, CW 2011, The establishment of a rapid natural disaster risk assessment model for the tourism industry. Tourism Management, 32(1), pp.158-71.

Tupenaite, L Zavadskas, EK Kaklauskas, A Turskis, Z and Seniut, M 2010, Multiple criteria assessment of alternatives for build and human environment renovation. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 16(2), pp.257-266.

Wu, HC., and Ko, YJ 2013, Assessment of service quality in the hotel industry.  Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 14(3), pp.218-244.

Zhang, JJ., and Mao, Z 2012, Image of all hotel scales and on travel blogs: Its impact on customer loyalty. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 21(2), pp.113-131.