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This report is about Ocean Park of Hong Kong – one of the largest amusement ocean park in the Orient and even in the world.

In this report we are going to cover such topic as strategy concepts of Ocean Park, external and internal environment of organisation and its corporate, business-level and international strategy. On base of data collected we’ll give our recommendation and advice to CEO and Board of Ocean Park of Hong Kong about Park’s strategy to the next 10 years (from 2005 to 2015).

The main aim of this report is to provide in-depth strategic analysis to CEO and Board members. Thus, this work is focused on challenges, opportunities and threats of organisation, its culture and economic aspects, strengths and weaknesses of organisation, core competency of ocean park in order to help to improve it in anticipation of arrival of Hong Kong Disneyland.

Strategy concepts and vocabulary
-Mission (Strategic purpose, not specified)

Ocean Park provides all guests with memorable experiences that combine entertainment and education, while inspiring life long learning and conservation advocacy. Our aim is to maintain a healthy financial status, while striving to deliver the highest standards of safety, animal care, products and guest service.
http://www.oceanpark.com.hk/html/en/footer/corporate-information/vision.html

-create all activities for perfect family holiday

-increase involvements of visitors in environmental issues and lives of animals

-Goals and objectives to fulfill its mission

“Boost the number of annual visitors from four million in 2004 to five million by 2010”

“To make a 0,5 per cent contribution to Hong Kong’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010” (page 7)

-Vision (More specified)

http://www.oceanpark.com.hk/html/en/footer/corporate-information/vision.html
Ocean Park aspires to be a world leader in providing excellent guest experiences in a theme park environment connecting people with nature

– Become number one marine-based park for each family not only from Hong-Kong but also from mainland China.

– To be main attraction for all tourists, who visit Hong-Kong

-What performance measures would you use to determine the success of Ocean Park?

-It is the hometown favorite. It had been a long-time favorite of several generations ((it’s been operated for more 28 years). Many local people were sympathetic to Ocean Park. People who had visited the park as children were now bringing their own children to visit the park. Its reputation even extended into mainland China. It had become a fixture of Hong Kong’s cultural heritage. (p.5)

-The number of visitors in 2004 is 4 m of people (with daily maximum capacity 35,000 people).

-Total revenue in 2004 was 536, 2 HK$ m comparing to 428,3 HK$ m in 2003, surplus for 2004 year was 95,7 HK$ m comparing to deficit 4,1 HK$ m in 2003.

– recognizability of new brand (Whiskers became a household name in Hong Kong)

-Who are the various stakeholders in Ocean Park organization (how might they impact on its purpose and mission)?
Stakeholders, who help to achieve park’s purpose and mission:

Hong Kong government, Home Affairs Bureau and the Tourism Board, employees of Ocean Park corporation, its visitors (customers).

Interfere with achieving park’s purpose and mission:

Activist groups (certain environmental groups and animal rights activists) – forbid of buying and transportation exotic animals to park, trade associations and unions (bus companies and taxi drivers) – forbid in building a mass transit railway (MTR), competitors – regain market share.

External Environment

-Conduct a PESTEL analysis for Ocean Park, identify the key driving forces for change facing Ocean Park; Rank key driving forces based on their predictability and potential impact on Ocean Park, then develop some scenarios and identify implications of these scenarios for Ocean Park.

PESTEL:

Political:

Government support

Improving relationship between Hong Kong and Mainland China

Promotion of tourism

the easiness of the restrictions and promotion of the free travel of China in 2003 that helped to inject a new life to the tourism industry of Hong Kong

environmental law

Economic:

Growth and development of the global amusement park industry

Disneyland’s arrival

Increasing number of mainland visitors

Increasing standards of living in midland China

Raise and spend HK$5.55 billion

Social:

Major events and activities (peak seasons and holiday themes: Chinese New Year, Easter Holiday, Summer Holiday, Halloween and Christmas)

Media, advertisement and publicity, required for these special events

Change of demographic (Population growth rate, age distribution, size of families)

Increasing the cost of labor and more guarantees for employees

Negative affect of Outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outcome

Technological:

Development of the amusement machinery industry

Increasing popularity of new technologies for consumers (internet, mobile, digital camera)

Amortization of park equipment

Developing of new transport system (for example, a mass transit railway (MTR))

Research and development activities (creating of new park amusement)

Environmental:

Opposition from certain environmental groups about the importation of wild animals to Ocean Park

Expenses on maintenance of exotic animals

Protests of animal rights activists against relocation of animals

Climate change (rain season in spring, hot in summer, typhoons in summer)

Legal:

Approval of Town Planning Board for hotel, Legislative Council for MTR station.

Restrictions on mergers

Employment laws

Key driving forces and their ranking :

1)Global changing in tourism for Hong-Kong and Asia-Pacific region (development of tourism in region)

2)Raise and spend HK$5.55 billion from private and government loans to revamp park’s well-worn product line (approval of development plan)

3)Disneyland’s arrival – worldwide success of main competitor-Disneyland, coming to Hong Kong (Disney’s success or failure)

Binary table of scenarios for Ocean Park’s key drivers (in decreasing order of their impact on park):
Development of tourism in region
Approval of development plan
Disney’s failure
Scenario
+
+
+
Successful scenario
+
+
–
+
–
+
Middle scenario
+
–
–
–
+
+
–
+
–
–
–
+
Failure scenario
–
–
–
-Define Ocean Park’s industry and conduct a five forces analysis: Which are the dominant forces in the industry? How may the five forces change? What are the underlying dynamics which are driving these five forces, and how may the five forces change? What are the impacts on key competitors and on Ocean Park? What can be done to influence the impact of the five forces?

Five forces analysis for amusement park industry:

1) Threat of New Entry

In terms of the amusement park industry, the entry barrier is high due to the need to invest large amount of financial resources (for park equipment, human resources maintenance), a lot of time required for park’s planning, construction, development and launching, a lot of licenses and legalization required (safety, sanitary, security etc.). In addition to the amusement park required land for a full scale development. This factor is important because Hong Kong has a high land price real estate market.

Re-write in own words!!!!!

2) Threat of Rivalry:

It is important to consider that with lack of differentiation, visitors’ choice will greatly over the price and service, thus causes pressure for the intense price and service competition. Due to high threat of rivalry, Ocean Park is implementing different plans and activities such as redevelopment and introduction of new attractions in order to catch the attention of the visitors and differentiate themselves from rivals. There are no rivals with exactly the same range of products. Disney’s arrival is only expected.

Re-write in own words!!!!!

3) Threat of Substitution:

(where this information from?? – I like this point!))

The main threat of substitution is Hong Kong Disneyland & Wetland Park, a new international theme park and an educational park (Appendix 2)??? Apart from this, there are other forms of substitution. From the education side, Hong Kong residents can switch to go to Cultural Centre, Mai Po Wetland, Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden. For entertainment purpose, they can visit the Karaoke, Cinema, Game Centre, or have a day trip to China.

4) Bargaining power of buyers (visitors):

(where this information from?? – I like this point!)

-Tourists

Tourists have a low bargaining power as long as “must see” image successfully built-up and the Park cannot be replaced by other substitutes. Therefore, Ocean Park focuses to build up this image especially in Asia.

– Local residents

The buying power of local resident is high since they have many choices as mentioned above. The switching cost is relatively low. Also, Hong Kong people like new experience and their loyalty to the product are generally low. The Park, therefore, launched difference programs like “Big Five” events with difference theme each year to bring new excitement and experience to them. Besides, special discount in low season and year pass intent to attract…???

5) The power of suppliers.

Suppliers have quite high power. Thus, construction elements of amusement rides are huge and complicated, that’s why park is highly tied with supplier. Otherwise, this market is developed and the choice of suppliers is become greater now. While constructing buildings (hotels, etc) with particular contractor park can’t easily change to another contractor because of high switching cost). The situation with the exotic animals is such as Ocean Park can buy in particular country only.

Which are the dominant forces in the industry?

The dominant forces in the industry are: rivalry, buyers and substitutes.

How may the five forces change?

Looking forward, the five forces will change in this way:

-Rivalry will increase with Disney’s arrival;

-Buyer power will increase slightly;

-Substitute threat will also increase;

-Entry threat decrease dramatically;

-Supplier power will also decrease. (Exhibit 2.5 – p.72)

What are the underlying dynamics which are driving these five forces?

Aftermath of economic crises and increasing in number of suppliers will decrease supplier power.

Disney’s arrival decrease entry threat in entertainment park industry.

Developing of new technologies will affect rising of substitutes. Also competitors with new technologies will gain (in this aspect Disney has an advantage)

Disney’s arrival increase demands in diversification of Ocean Park’s products.

Ticket price advantages (185 HK$ for adult ticket at Ocean Park compared to 295HK$ for the same ticket at Disney).

The main rival (Disney) is also same market oriented (families with children).

What are the impacts on key competitors and on Ocean Park?

Five forces much more affect Wetland park – Ocean Park’s key competitor, located at the northern part of Tin Shui Wai, in Yuen Long – than Ocean Park itself, because Wetland park’s products are less differentiated. It has “a 10,000m2 visitor centre, Wetland Interactive World, and a 60-hectare Wetland Reserve.” (http://www.wetlandpark.com/en/aboutus/overview.asp). Arrival of other competitor – Disney and it’s substitutes – doesn’t affect much Ocean Park because it has it’s its own niche.

What can be done to influence the impact of the five forces?

More differentiation of new products, directed mainly to Chinese native culture will affect rivalry, substitutes and buyers. Unique high-quality products and services also will influence buyers. For seeking suppliers big impact will have Internet and special web-sites with best quality of service, characteristics, recommendations and prices.

Conduct a strategic group/space analysis for Ocean Park

There are 2 key competitors for Ocean Park:

First one is mentioned above Hong Kong Wetland Park. It is a conservation, education and tourism facility, consisted of large visitor centre, Wetland Interactive World and a Wetland Reserve. This park provided visitors with opportunities to observe wildlife, awareness and understanding the values of wetlands throughout the East Asian Region and beyond, wetlands conservation. So, it’s mainly about wetlands. The Hong Kong Wetland Park is also going to be a world-class ecotourism facility to serve both local residents and overseas tourists.(ttp://www.wetlandpark.com/en/aboutus/mission.asp)

Compare to Disneyland and Ocean Park, Hong Kong Wetland Park has different facilities and product range (such as themed exhibition galleries, a theatre, a souvenir shop, an indoor play area), provide different services and thus, like Disney and Ocean Park, has its own niche. The range of facilities provided is the narrowest among 3 parks. Thus, Wetland Park can’t meet demand of those visitors, who are looking for excitements and extreme pleasure, which can be found on a rides at 2 other parks.

Who are the main visitors? Is it local or global? Is it has the lowest range of facilities than Ocean Park and Disney? Much lower prices.

The second one – arriving in a nearest future The Hong Kong Disneyland.

After 28 years of operating as a near monopoly, Ocean Park would soon have to compete with one of the biggest names in the entertainment and theme park industry. Moreover, Disneyland targets the same group of park’s customers – families with children.

It has well-known brand and reputation. It’s the world leader in terms of entertainment. Several of Disney’s characters (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Winnie the Pooh) were household names all over the world, including in Hong Kong. Thus, Ocean Park’s mascot, Whiskeys, appear lackluster by comparison. Image, which Disney company holds almost for a century (The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923) and Disneyland itself (first park was opened in 1955) for half a century (compared to 28 years of Ocean park) helps to attract visitors not only from Hong Kong and midland China, but also from different part of the globe, especially those who are from the USA and Europe.

Among other advantages of Disneyland are:

– location: it could be reached in just 10 minutes from Hong Kong’s airport and less than 30 minutes from downtown Hong Kong.

-at least 5.6 million people were expected to visit the Hong Kong Disneyland during its first year of operation (compared to 4 million of Ocean Park expected visitors).

-the price claimed to be the least expensive among the five Disney amusement parks throughout the world.

-the area of Disneyland is 310 acres compared to 215 acres of Ocean Park.

-5 times greater investment than for Ocean Park.

-Expected economic effectiveness is 3 billion more.

-world-renowned innovation

-high customer service standards

Strategic groups within the entertainment and theme park industry in Hong Kong

Broad

Ocean
Park

Geographical Scope

Global

Product range

Disneyland

Narrow

Wetland Park

Local

Conduct a market segment analysis for Ocean Park: How is the market segmented? How could it be segmented? Where would you position Ocean Park’s products and services? Where would you position the competitor’s products?

Ocean Park is a part of entertainment and theme industry. Its market is families with children. Disneyland – future competitor – applies to the same market. Despite this, Ocean Park has its own niche – visitor from midland China.

Internal Environment
-What resources and capabilities does Ocean Park have?
Resources (what a firm has):

1)Tangible:

-financial – suppliers of money (private and government loans) – expected HK$5,6 billion investment; HK$145 billion economic effectiveness; surplus from operations in 2004 was HK$182,2 million on revenues of HK$536,2 million ???;

-physical – Sea World, marine life and real animals:35 rides and attractions; 3 hotels; favorable and convenient location on the southern side of Hong Kong Island; wide range of new activities, such as the Abyss Turbo Drop thrill ride, seasonal and special events, popular water-related activities, interactive activities with animals, “edutainment” programs, successful Sea Jelly Spectacular and so on.

2)Intangible:

– long-time reputation of park with government, customers,

-new brand – sea lion named Whiskers;

-cultural heritage of Hong Kong

-great number of repeated visitors

3)Human:

-37,100 employees, their skills and knowledge;

-Thomas Mehrmann, new CEO of Ocean Park, and his previous experience at US-based Six Flags Corporation;

Natural and wild life focus (Interactive activities with animals)
Recreation and education
Capabilities (what a firm can do)

-New products, facilities and services development capability – continually adding new features and attractions (such as: a new roller coaster, a subzero Ice Palace, 7.6 million liter aquarium with an underwater restaurant, extra 33 animals species, the number of rides doubled to 70), so, become a nearest future one of the best marine-based theme park with strong connection with nature;

-Keeping park attractions fresh, novel and exciting, while minimizing costs;

– research and development, marketing and sales capabilities: plan to refurbish and rename Ocean Park’s 2 major areas (the Lowland and the Highland), new hotels to be developed, including a five-star boutique, spa-type hotel – this redevelopment plan would be completed in 2012!! – recommendation part too!!, plan to open offices in the major urban areas of Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai to enhance promotional activities in Hong Kong and attract more mainland visitors

-new incentive compensation, that linked employee compensation to the financial performance of park

-What might be the competence of Ocean Park?

Core competences – resources and competences which are both valuable to customers and difficult to imitate

-distinctive work culture, with its own norms and practices

-local market loyalty

-unique SmartFun Annual Pass program

-cultural aspect (cultural heritage of Hong Kong), orientation on specific market segment-mainland Chinese visitors,

-long-term reputation, distinct Chinese characteristics

-powerful brand

-customer trust

-primary focus of OP on real nature and wildlife in contrast to Disney’s strengths in cartoon characters, castles, virtual reality and fantasy

-focused on education and the live animal attractions — one of the key elements that will differentiate it from Hong Kong Disneyland when it opens in 2005. (from Echo’s articles)

-cost and differentiation of product (continually adding new features and attractions as well as price advantage over Disney encouraged visitors to return to the park)

-The aerial tram that takes visitors from the entrance side of the park over a hill to the rest of the attractions has become a Hong Kong tourism icon-is it still true?? (from Echo’s articles)

Competitive advantage is explained by the distinctiveness of its resources and capabilities, by offering customers greater value by means of lower prices or greater benefits and service

Competitive Advantages of Ocean Park over Disney:

-long-time reputation, -hometown favorite,

-cultural heritage of Hong Kong, orientation mostly on visitors from midland China

-first-mover advantages

-no need to engage in high-profile advertising and publicity, rely more on word-of-mouth

-more diverse and wide range of products (including Sea World, marine life, real animals plus 35 rides and attractions)

– price advantage: the admission price for Disneyland is expected more than twice higher for child and one and a half higher for adult than price of Ocean park. And visitors from mainland China are very price sensitive. SmartFun Annual Pass program with unlimited admission to the park for its holders within a year, and discounted prices for food, souvenirs

-Infrastructure – 3 hotels had been constructed comparing to 2 at Disney.

-orientation not only on entertainment, but also on education of visitors,

– differentiating by focusing on ecology and conservation issues

-recognizable brand

-In addition to all the American fun at the park, traditional Chinese holidays are still observed (Chinese New Year)

-Disney has its characters, but we have flexibility to mix and match and bring in other entertainment (from Echo’s articles)

-Does Ocean Park build its strategy on its resources, capabilities and competences?
Yes.
Importation of more species
Water/Sea-related construction
Hotel-better recreation
-Are they sustainable? How can they be developed?
Sustainable to some extent, but with some limitation.
For example, it may face the opposition from environmental group.

They can’t relay only on resources, capabilities and competences-they need to be developed, innovated and refreshed, because they may begin to look dated and shabby for their visitors.

SWOT Analysis

Positive impact
Negative impact
Internal environment
Strengths

-Diversified and wide range of amusements (thrills, animals, seasonal and special events)

-product line revamp

-Highly linked with culture of mainland Chinese visitors, knows their demands and behavior

-the main, oldest and most famous amusement park in the country (long-time reputation, hometown favorite),

-cultural heritage of Hong Kong,

-28 years of operating as a near monopoly

-no need to engage in high-profile advertising and publicity, rely more on word-of-mouth

-strong business connection to the local government (support from the government of Hong Kong and mainland China)

-renovation of the park’s brand image

-mascot as a brand

-previous experience of Thomas Mehrmann (new CEO of Ocean Park) in theme park industry (at US-based Six Flags Corporation)

-local market loyalty

-positive image of park

Weaknesses

-Located on a hills-hard to get to some riders-that’s why visitors experienced rides only once.

-different facilities are old and un-attractive and need renovation

-a lot of activities depend on weather???-ask Echo about it

-no substantial capital investment

External environment
Opportunities

-focusing on delivering mainland China’s visitors as well as foreign visitors

-development of new transportation South Island Line (when???-check case-and ask Echo about it) that would cause convenience and fast access direct to the Park for the foreign and local visitors.

-plan to build a mass transit railway (MTR) station to connect OP to the subway grid

-the development and improvement of the amusement machinery can impact the services and features of the organization and its relationship to their foreign visitors.

– raise the standards of park with Disneyland arrival

– fostering sponsorships

– plan for building new hotels (boutique and spa-type) – orientation on luxury tourism – new market segment

Threats

-economical instability (such as the Asian financial crisis of 1999-2001, lasted for 3 difficult years for OP ), outbreak of different diseases, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 (Both these factors can affect number of visitors and their buying behavior, worsening the park financial situation)

-arrival of Disneyland Hong Kong

-OP was situated on valuable real estate: it could be shut down and its land could be sold off for other recreational or commercial purposes.

Recommendation – p.6-7!!!

(recommend to use this business connection for future purposes, such as building a subway line for the visitors (it’ll happen in 2007). Say, in 3 years

Build a mass transit railway (MTR) station for connection to the subway grid. Till 2015)

(recommend to start innovation process, it will take about 6 years). Say, in 5 years

This report talks about the accommodation on Hilton Hotel in Salalah. In methodology we used many techniques such as exploratory and quantitative. The objectives of this research are evaluating these things that are related to Hilton Hotel accommodation:

1- Evaluate making reservation.

2- Evaluate transport.

3- Evaluate exterior.

4- Evaluate the reception.

5- Evaluate rooms.

6- Evaluate the restaurants.

7- Evaluate restroom.

8- Evaluate other Hotel services.

The main recommendation of the research is to improve and develop the product and service that is develop the tourism in Oman and make it contribute with GDP (General Domestic Profit) and reduce depend on Oil.

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND:

The purpose of this assignment is to inspect, evaluate and recommendation to improve and develop the tourism industry in Sultanate of Oman. In this research we will evaluate the accommodation service that the Hilton Hotel provides it for the tourists. we will evaluate making reservation, transport, exterior, reception, rooms, restaurants, restroom and other Hotel services. Then we will write some recommendations that help to improve and develop the accommodation services in Hilton Hotel. In this assignment we will focus on accommodations only but in this hotel they provides many others product and services for the tourists. Tourism is the main ingredient in most countries of the world and adopt some of these countries is entirely dependent on tourism increase the GDP (General Domestic Profit) of these countries.

In early nineties, with the exception of the Emirate of Dubai and Bahrain were the Gulf governments not pay attention to the tourism sector to several considerations including political, social and economic.

The Gulf countries were not known to the tourists in the past with the beginning of 1992 and after the Gulf War second it began to focus in this sector and try to attract the tourists of entire the world.

Recently, the Gulf countries become good place for tourism because it has many things that is attract the tourist such as the natural, buildings, animals, environment, cultures and so on.

Oman has the potential of natural and picturesque which is worth to visit and watch. Moreover, the natural locations that tourist attraction found in all provinces and regions of the Sultanate of Oman. It is includes valleys and springs, majestic mountains which is covered by the greenery, trees, flowers and plants as well as various types of animals, birds and fish.. Moreover, the sand, hills and mountain caves, and last but not least Kharief Salalah.

Dhofar Governorate has an importance historic and a special place in the past and now. Dhofar Governoraten has ten states and it are: Salalah, Thumrait, Mirbat, Sadah, Rakhyout, Dilkot, Makecn, and Schlemm Islands Allaniat and mandate Mazyona. The city of (Salalah) is the Regional Centre for conservation and it is away from Muscat about 1023 KM. also, it is characterized by the religious tourism, historical, where there are many sites of religious nature such as the (Al-hqaf) that was mentioned in the Holy Quran and the tomb of the Prophet Hood, and the Prophet (Ayyub). Moreover, besides it there is in Dhofar ruins of the city AL-balied and Port Sumhuram historic famous export of frankincense at Khor Rori.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE:

Hilton Salalah is considering five stars and it has 147rooms and suites. It designed and equipment with very comfort and luxury. Moreover, it has advantage of it s location overlooking the beach of the Arabian Sea as well as several recreational facilities such as tropical garden, swimming pools, tennis courts, and so on that makes the tourist enjoy. Also, it has the best restaurants in Salalah such as Al Maha restaurant which offers a mix of Arab while the tourists enjoy to watching the sea. It has 6 international restaurants that provide foods and drinks for all tourists from whole the world.

Hilton Guest Room

Wake up to this local-style 42mA?/452sq.ft room with separate seating area and high-speed internet access. Get to work at the large desk in the separate working area, take time off in the easy chair or sofa and gaze at the mountain view…. more

Hilton Guest Room

“Wake up to this local-style 42mA?/452sq.ft room with separate seating area and high-speed internet access. Get to work at the large desk in the separate working area, take time off in the easy chair or sofa and gaze at the Mountain View. Special touches include magazines, mineral water, chocolates and fruit”(1)

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

This research is done as we asked in Introduction to Hospitality and tourism management course. This research will be written depending on my objectives as we was written before. The nature of my research is Evaluate research, because the main goals of this research to evaluate many things as we said in my objectives also approve my expectations of many things. In addition, the kind of the research is evaluation.

From this assignment we want to evaluate the accommodation service that the Hilton Hotel provides it for tourists. we started my project by limiting the objectives which my research will be rely on. Then we looked for more information from books, internet, magazines and newspapers to write down the literature review and prove it by some references. However, we designed my survey and then we wrote the methodology and arrange it.

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http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/SLLHIHI-Hilton-Salalah-Resort/accommodations.do;jsessionid=247163ECBF6F821A7079E2A9AAFEF8A1.etc41

Then we outlined the findings term depending on what the information we got from my resources. Through that time, we have completed all steps of the assignments.

we use convenience sampling because we did not have enough time. So too, with my research about information we used various resources to find more information and details to make my research more useful by giving some facts and experiences of many people. All quotations of the projects were from my course, internet and books.

FINDING:
1. The elements upon which Accommodation Establishments should be evaluated include:
Making a Reservation:

In this hotel the establishment’s ability to make a guest feel welcome, acknowledged and appreciated is very good by provide good quality for the tourists. Moreover, the ease with which an establishment is reached or located, by telephone or on site is good because it is so far from the airport and city center so the tourist fined a problem to reach it. The reservation procedure is very easy and the tourists can reserve by many ways such as by web site, telephone and go to the hotel. The ability to determine special needs and requirements is very good by ask the tourist few questions. The tourists can find a lot of information that they need from this hotel.

Transport:

In this hotel they have ability to make a guest feel welcome, acknowledged and appreciated by offers many kinds of cars for rent. They divided the types of cars into 7 groups. It is economy, compact, intermediate, full-size, four wheel drive and premium. Also, they offer driver for those who cant driving or don’t have driving license. The Staff behavior and communication skills in this Hotel is very good. also, it Adherence to all relevant laws and regulations that the government put it for this kind of enterprise. As Nasser observed (tourist) said, “it are cleanliness, maintenance and the level of service offered to it is very high. The Staff behavior and communication skills in this Hotel is very good. also, it Adherence to all relevant laws and regulations that the government put it for this kind of enterprise”.(1)

Exterior:

The Cleanliness and maintenance of the exterior of the establishment’s buildings and pavements is very good and looks nice and the tourists find a lot of signage that guide them as they want to go inside the hotel. Moreover, there is a lot of parking that for more than 100 cars inside the hotel.

Reception – Check In:

Nasser said “the first impression created by the establishment and its staff is very good. Also they have ability to make a guest feel welcome, acknowledged and appreciated. The level of service provided is very good with a good quality by offers facilities for the tourist. Also, the staff behavior and communication skills is very good and the best thing that attract them when we went there is they smile for them and that makes them happy to deal with this hotel”.

Rooms

The cleanliness of the rooms visited is very good and it looks nice and luxury. Moreover, the facilities and amenities within the room are beautiful and attract the tourists. Also, they clean it every day to be comfort for the tourists.

Restaurant – Dinner and Breakfast

The establishment’s ability to make a guest feel welcome and appreciated upon arrival and departure is very good. The Table appearance nice and the ambience are very nice and comfort. In this hotel, there are six international restaurants and it provides every kind of foods that that the tourists want with a very good and modern way to present foods.

(1) Intervew with Nasser Salim (Tourits, Who Visited Hilton Hotel in Salalah) On Thersday 25/11/2010 , 9:00 PM

Restroom:

The cleanliness, maintenance and comfort of all restrooms visited is very good and they clean it twice per day.

Other Hotel Services:

In this hotel, there is Porter Service for tourist who arrival and departure. Also, there is Room Service, Minibar Service and Wake up Call Service. They provide this service with high quality that makes the tourist happy.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

Through this assignment we tried to valuate the accommodation service in Hilton Hotel in Salalah in different ways as we said before. we tried to give background of people reactions to accommodation service that this Hotel provides it for tourists. All finding appeared the accommodation service is very good in generally. Finally, we hope that this assignment could be as a tool of information who read it, or as helpful research for who will use it in his studies as a resource.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1- Try to increase the campaign of advertisement about the accommodation service.

2- Try to provide some pictures of Omani cultures, attraction places and so on inside the rooms.

3- Try to give tourists better impression to take part with accommodation services.

4- Try to minimize price that makes the tourists staying more times.

5- My main recommendation to this Hotel to take good care of their tourists and try to maintenance the rooms every month to makes the tourists feel comfort.

According to statistics, there are aspects which affect our way of thinking much more than mass media alone. The information and advice we are fed daily from various sources can often be ignored by us, but the mass media influences us all greatly, therefore, it is important for us to define mass media.

The term “mass media” was first used in the 1920s to denote a section of the media aimed at targeting the lager audience using outlets such as nationwide radio networks and mass circulation of newspapers and magazines, though some forms of mass media such as books and manuscripts had already been used successfully for centuries.

Mass media includes Internet media such as podcasts, blogs, message boards and video. We now have the kind of exposure that is compares in scale to that which was once restricted only to a certain band of mass media producers. Such audience communication has been considered by various commentators as forming a mass society with special characteristics, in particular, atomization or the lack of social connections this makes it especially open to the influence of modern mass media techniques such as advertising and propaganda. Public media as a term is used much less and is defined as “media whose mission is to server or engage a public”.

Mass media can be used for several purposes, these include:

a. Advocacy, in business and social matters. This can include advertising, marketing, propaganda, public relations, and political communication.

b. Entertainment, traditionally in the performing of music, acting and sports and more recently during the late 20th century via video and computer games.

c. Public service announcements.

What makes mass media so attractive? The tourism industry harnesses the mass media which in turn holds a form of mystique to the public. This is because the designed communication appeals to a wider demographic. Advances made in mass media technology aides the marketing and promotion of tourism. If it gets people talking then this is a sign of a good mass marketing drive. If it succeeds then not only does it mean that the advertising drive has worked well, but also that the organisation in charge will benefit by the much valued and sought after word-of-mouth method of advertising.

2) Types of Media

It can be possible to divide the types of Media into 3 categories: Print Media, Electronic Media and New-age Media.

a-? Print Media a-„

a. Book

A book is a collection of sheets of paper, parchment or other material with a piece of text written on them, bound together along one edge within covers. A book is also a literary work or a main division of such a work.

b. Magazine

A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising and/or purchase by readers. Magazines are typically published weekly, biweekly, monthly, bimonthly or quarterly, with a date on the cover that is in advance of the date it is actually published. They are often printed in color on coated paper, and are bound with a soft cover.

Magazines can be classified as:

General interest magazines (e.g. Frontline, India Today, The Week, The Sunday Indian etc)

Special interest magazines (women’s, sports, business, scuba diving, etc)

c. Newspaper

A newspaper is a publication containing news and information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. It may be general or special interest, most often published daily or weekly. The first printed newspaper was published in 1605, and the form has thrived even in the face of competition from technologies such as radio and television.

a-? Electronic Media a-„

a. Broadcast: radio & television

Television and radio programs are distributed through radio broadcasting over frequency bands that are highly regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. Such regulation includes determination of the width of the bands, range, licencing, types of receivers and transmitters used, and acceptable content.

b. Film

‘Film’ encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. The name comes from the photographic film (also called filmstock), historically the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist – motion pictures (or just pictures and “picture”), the silver screen, photoplays, the cinema, picture shows, flicks – and commonly movies.

c. Internet

The Internet (also known simply as “the Net” or less precisely as “the Web”) is a more interactive medium of mass media, and can be briefly described as “a network of networks”. Specifically, it is the worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and governmental networks, which together carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked Web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web.

a-? New-age Media a-„

a. Blogs (Web Logs)

Blogging has become a huge form of media. A blog is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries.

b. RSS feeds

RSS is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired, news-oriented community sites like Slashdot, and personal blogs. It is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts.

c. Podcast

A podcast is a series of digital-media files which are distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers. The term podcast, like broadcast, can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.

d. Mobile

Mobile phones were introduced in Japan in 1979 but became a mass media only in 1998 when the first downloadable ringing tones were introduced in Finland. Soon most forms of media content were introduced on mobile phones, and today the total value of media consumed on mobile towers over that of internet content, and was worth over 31 billion dollars in 2007 (source Informa).

3) Role of the media in tourism

The mass media plays a unique role in modern society. Its growth has accompanies an increase in the magnitude and the complexity of actions and engagements within society. With rapid social change, innovation in technology, an increase in personal income, standard of life and the decline of some traditional forms of control and authority. Although much debated, there is an association between the development of mass media and social change, even after years of study into the influence of the media. Many of the consequences whether beneficial or detrimental which are attributed to the mass media are almost without doubt due to other tendencies within society. Sociologists would rarely deny the significance of mass media and mass communications as a whole, as being a main feature in the construction and circulation of modern social understanding and imagery.

The media play a crucial role in putting emerging destinations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia onto the global tourist map, helping to boost the local economies, according to the United Nations Tourism Organisation (UNTO)

(http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23983&Cr=georgia&Cr1=tourism).

The vast majority of travel is decided upon by people who have never before travelled to that particular destination, and are therefore dependant on media reporting. Should a crisis occur, tourism can be seriously damaged.

4) Relationship with Media and Tourism

It can not be ignored that the recent boom in tourism can be attributed to the media. Information is accessed using it and an education regarding the many interesting attractions to be found around the world. The internet is possibly the most popular source of information on destinations and the best way of reaching them.

Through the Internet, information and various articles on a destination can be found which will give the traveller an advantage.

They will also gain knowledge to determine which places best suit them and offer them the most. Using the internet is fairly easy and cheap to book. With online travel agencies, flights and trips can be booked simply by logging on to a particular website and making a choice from any of the tour packages the agency offers.

2. Effects of media on tourism

The internet has for a long time been a key component and aide in the technology of travel. Surveys show that the trend is rising in numbers and indicate that travellers are doing their research and booking more and more of their travel online. Whist traditionally the realm of most major websites who were offering low airline fares with all the accompaniments are now in a position to offer even more. Social media now provides a completely new opportunity for interaction with its potential customers. It has become a global media platform which is at last, companies in all sectors are finding new way to: (http://38minutes.ning.com/profiles/blogs/can-social-media-make-an, “Can Social Media make an impact on Travel and Tourism?)

aˆ? provide a greatly improved customer service

aˆ? respond to customer needs in the marketplace

aˆ? extend their real-world brands beyond current geographic restrictions

These same things can occur in the world of travel and tourism!

1) Economy

The tourism industry generates substantial economic benefits to host countries and tourists’ home countries. Particularly in developing countries, one of the first motivations for a region to promote itself as a tourism destination is the improvement made to its economy. Along with other factors, this massive economic development can bring both positive and negative consequences. (www.geointeractive.co.uk/…/economic%20impact%20of%20tourism.ppt, “Globalisation and Tourism: Impact of Tourism”)

a-?Negative impact a-„

There are numerous hidden costs relating to tourism, these can have a negative effect on the economy of the host community. Wealthy countries are better placed to profit from tourism rather than the poorer ones. In addition, the countries last developed will have the most urgent need for income, employment created by it and a general rise in living standards. These countries are less likely to realise these benefits due to large scale transfer of tourism revenues leaving the host country also the exclusion of local businesses and their products.

a. Leakage

The direct income for an area is the amount of tourist revenue that remains locally after taxes, profits and salaries are paid outside the area and after imports, these subtracted amounts are called leakage. Generally, in most all-inclusive package tours, around 80% of a travellers’ expenditure will go to the airline, hotels and other international companies, as opposed to local businesses and workers. In addition to this, significant amount of income actually retained at destination level can leave again through leakage. In Thailand, a study of ‘leakage’ in tourism showed that an estimated 70% of all money spent by tourists actually left Thailand.

There are two main ways that leakage occurs:

Import leakage: This mostly occurs when tourists demand certain standards of foods, equipment and other products that the host country cannot supply. On average the import-related leakage for most developing countries to-date is between 40% and 50% of gross tourism earnings for small economies and between 10% and 20% for most advanced and diversified economies.

Export leakage: Often, found in poorer developing countries, these are the only destinations that possess the necessary capital needed to invest in the construction of tourism infrastructure and its facilities. An outcome of this is an export leakage which will arise when overseas investors who finance the resorts and hotels take their profits back to country of origin.

b. Enclave Tourism

Local businesses sometimes see their opportunity to earn income from tourists severely reduced by the creation of “all-inclusive” holiday packages. When a tourist spends their entire stay at the same resort or cruise ship, which cater for all their needs and where they make all their purchases, there is little or no opportunity for local people to profit from tourism. All-inclusive hotels generate the largest amount of revenue but their impact on the economy is less per dollar of revenue than other forms of accommodation. All-inclusives also import more and employ fewer people per dollar of revenue than other hotels. The cruise ship industry provides another example of economic enclave tourism. In 1999 non-river cruises carried around 8.7 million international passengers. On some ships guests were encouraged to spend most of their time and money on board, more notably in the Caribbean. Guest opportunities to make purchases in certain ports are closely managed and restricted.

c. Infrastructure cost

Tourism development can cost the local government and local taxpayers a great deal of money. Developers may insist the government improve airports, roads and other infrastructure, along with tax breaks and other financial advantages, which can turn out to very expensive. Though the improvement of a country’s infrastructure can be deemed to be a necessity, when public resources are spent in such a way, it is often at the exposure of critical areas such as health and education.

d. Increase in prices

A tourist demands for services and goods will often cause price increases that react negatively on local residents whose income may not rise proportionately. Tourism development and the related rise in the demand of real estate may increase considerably along with a dramatic rise in building costs and land values, making basic daily requirements more difficult to attain.

e. Economic dependence of the local community on tourism

For a healthy economy diversification is a necessity.

However, if a country or region becomes increasingly dependant for its economic survival upon one industry, it can put severe strain upon itself and the people involved to perform well. Developing countries, especially those without the ability to explore other resources have welcome tourism as a way to boost their economy.

In Gambia, for example, 30% of workers depend directly or indirectly on tourism. Many small island states struggling to develop, percentages can range from 83% in the Maldives to 21% in the Seychelles and 34% in Jamaica. To rely solely on tourism carries a risk to those tourist-dependant economies. Economic recession, the impact of natural disasters such as tropical storms and changing patterns in tourism can all have a devastating effect.

f. Seasonal character of jobs

Problems that seasonal workers face include:

job and income insecurity

guarantee of employment

difficulties in getting training

employment-related medical benefits

recognition of their experience

working conditions and unsatisfactory and working conditions.

a-? Positive impact a-„

a. Foreign exchange earnings

Tourism expenditure will help generate income to the host economy which will stimulate the necessary investment for financial growth in various economic sectors. Some countries may accelerate growth by insisting that visitors bring in a certain amount of foreign currency for each day of the duration of their stay. A significant indicator of the role of international tourism is its generation of foreign exchange earnings. In 83% of countries, tourism is one of the leading five export categories this accounts for the main source of foreign exchange earnings for at least 38% of countries.

b. Contribution to government revenues

Taxes generated by direct contributions on incomes from tourism employment and businesses and direct levies made on tourist e.g. departure tax. Indirect contributions arrive via tax and duties charged on services and goods supplied to tourists. The TWO assumes that tourism and travels’ direct and indirect, and personal tax contribution globally was more than US$800 billion in 1998 – this figure is expected to double by the year 2010.

c. Employment generation

International tourism and its rapid expansion has significantly increased employment. Eg. Hotel accommodation alone has provided around 11.3 million jobs worldwide during 1995. Tourism is able to create jobs directly via hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, souvenir sales and taxis amongst others, and indirectly via the supply of goods and services required tourist-related outlets and businesses. Tourism supports up to 7% of the global workforce.

d. Stimulation of infrastructure investment

Tourism can stimulate local government to make much needed infrastructure improvements, better water and sewage systems, roads, electricity, public transport and telephone amenities can all benefit from such investments. This will all invigorate, encourage, and improve the lives of residents and the tourist combined.

e. Contribution to local economies

The environment relies heavily on the assets of tourism revenues are often used amongst other in the economic value of protected areas. Other revenues are not so easily quantified, as not all of tourists spends is formally logged. Revenue is earned from tourism via informal labour such as street render, guides and drivers. A positive side to informal employment is that monies are generally recycled within the local economy this has a good multiplying effect as it is spend repeatedly over and over again its community. The WTO has estimated that tourism will probably generate an indirect contribution that will be equal to 100% of the direct total of tourism expenditure.

2) Culture

There are concerns that the development of tourism could lead to some destinations losing their cultural identity if they cater for the presumed requirements of their tourists, in particular, the international market. This is based on the observations of other “destinations” having compromised their sense of identity. The experience of tourism can be somewhat different to the things people see and do when in a home environment, this includes the real life experience and lifestyle of the places and the people they may see during their visit. (http://www.gawler.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/5_Gawler_Impacts_Tourism.PDF, “The Social & Cultural Impacts of Tourism”)

a-? Positive impact a-„

Tourism is an opportunity for cultural exchange and more, creating an interaction within people of different lifestyles, aspirations and needs. Putting economic benefits aside, experiencing outside contact within various communities draws attention to the host community. People will always want to interact with other cultures and communities in the hope of learning of their traditions or possibly be confronted by new challenges and perspectives on life. It has been said that travel is a means to “discover that things unknown or forgotten within ourselves”. Tourism is obviously an experience driven industry the more you do it the more you want it. In addition local culture is a unique experience, along with the local personality, food and hospitality. The more one knows and learns about a destination, the more fulfilling the experience will be.

Tourism is often used as a tool for raising awareness. The local branding of certain products and achievements can create regional identity, nationally and internationally. The needs and awareness of local issues can be raised by tourism.

There is a global trend that aims towards investment in interpretation of natural and cultural resources. The attraction to natural and heritage icons often helps to fund numerous conservation project it also provides opportunities for the management of those sensitive and significant areas.

A growing and important number of cultural celebrations have emerged which highlight many important events whilst paying homage to their ancestry. Cultural events can assert their identity which help and preserve local traditions for younger generations they also influence and inform visitors. In Australia main urban areas which tend to be multicultural and have developed their own very unique cultures. Many mostly regional areas are very much influenced by the food and the culture of their founders. Local food, crafts and personalities are always kept alive and kicking purely by tourism whilst raising funds for the greater community.

Tourism can often boost the preservations and transmission of cultural and historical traditions. This will often help with conservation and the sustainable management of natural resources, the protection of local heritage, and a revival of indigenous cultures and arts and crafts.

a-?Negative impact a-„

Many impacts are socio-cultural and result in a lack of information, false impressions, poor communication and knowledge and misinformation. Negative perceptions and attitudes towards visitors and tourism in general can affect tourism and communities. Ill feelings towards tourism, delays/obstructions to tourism product development plus lack of council/authority support can prevent tourism from flourishing; perhaps these communities are not yet ready or even prepared for the onslaught of tourism. Problems with the economy or the environment can all too easily, rightly or wrongly, be blamed on tourism. Leaving the channels of communication open and with adequate consultation transparency and involvement at community level at all stages during the planning process can benefit communities in taking ownership of tourism.

In some circumstances the word “tourist” has become a negative term; in fact, many travellers no longer consider themselves as tourists and prefer the term “traveller”. There is a clear change in attitude of both the traveller and communities to the concept of the “visitor”. This concept now gives strength to the fact that travellers are merely guests of the community and that their stay in that community is very much a privilege and not a right.

3. Media marketing in tourism industry
1) How Film and TV drama images promote the new destination

Greater knowledge of a country can be gained from film and TV. The wildlife, fauna, culture and its people can result in the broadening of minds and general attitudes towards the country. An interest in the nation and its positive image can eventually lead to an actual visit to the country (Iwashita, 2006).

Leisure activities such as watching films as well as traveling are ways to escape. Both provide temporary relief from the real world (Carl et al., 2007). Films can induce viewers to travel by the physical properties (scenery and landscape) and their associated theme, storylines, events and actors, shaping the audience’ feelings, emotion and attitudes towards places. Location and film experiences are enhanced in memories by associating them with the actors, events and setting (Iwashita 2006; Riley & Van Doren, 1992).

One of the effective strategies to induce film tourists is collaborative campaigns with the film industry (Grihault, 2003).

England provides an excellent example of the way in which film and television has boosted the tourism industry. Approximately 28 million visitors visit Britain each year after viewing the country on the screen (Kim et al., 2008). VisitBritain has made various efforts to temp Indian film makers to use UK locations in ‘Bollywood’ movies, even if locations are used as backdrops for other countries.

Movie maps have also been widely used to promote film locations of the destination. Movie maps have been found to be successful as part of film tourism marketing campaigns (Hudson & Ritchie, 2006b). They can be used to ease film tourist in identifying various locations where the film has taken place. A movie map has been produced by VisitBritain highlighting more than 200 filmed locations across the UK. These materials have quickly become Visit-Britain most successful printed product.

Other marketing strategies have included guided film tours and walks. Such tours have relied heavily on film illustrations enabling the tourist to identify the landscapes and buildings that have been used in the making of the move. There should also be a website dedicated to film tourism that will provide film synopsis, links to film-related websites, the necessary relevant information about travel within the destination including tours, accommodation, food, shopping and the opportunity to learn about film destination, the language, history, religion, lifestyle and leisure.

2) How consumers make a decision on their destination

Literature on tourism shows that the image of a destination will influence significantly the tourists choice of destination. Images of destinations play a significant role in influencing tourist decision-making process as the basis for tourists to make choice about where to visit (Gartner 1989; Echtner & Ritchie 1991). The more favourable the image of the destination, the greater the likelihood of being selected as a destination choice (Chon 1990; Um 1993). Butler (1990) suggests that films can influence the travel preference of those who expose to the destination attributes and create a favourable destination image through their representation.

To influence the choice of destinations, understanding of how decisions are made and which factors can influence them are regarded as the important pieces of information (Woodside & Carr, 1988). There are plenty models explaining the tourist decision-making process which include important variables influencing tourist decisions.

It has long been recognized that travel stimuli through marketing efforts and previous travel experience have played an important role in influencing destination choice. Non-touristic-directed stimuli such as films can also have strong influences on tourist decision-making (Iwashita, 2003). These stimuli have not yet been included in the tourist decision-making models as important variables. The power of film in portraying a positive destination image to induce tourist arrivals to a place is clearly shown in various research (e.g. Tooke & Baker 1996; Iwashita 2006; Kim et al., 2008). Having reviewed the literature, it was found that film-induced tourism is relatively new in tourism research. Research on the impact of film on tourist decision-making is even lacking (Busby & Klug 2001; Hudson & Ritchie 2006b; Rewtrakunphaiboon 2008).

4. Media on tourism of countries
1) Impact of Film on Visitor Number

Film-induced tourism has brought major economic benefits to local communities such as lasting tourist receipts. Film locations can be all-year, all-weather attractions which alleviates problems of seasonality in the tourism industry (Beeton, 2004). Riley et al. (1998) studied 12 films and found that the peak of the interest appear after the release of the film, approximately 50% increase in visitation at least five years later and the image is often retained for a long time.

2) How films and TV drama influence on tourism

A further significant benefit of film tourism is the increase in cultural value to the location of the film. Numerous heritage sites have been used as film locations and in many cases have seen their popularity soar as a result, particularly after its release. Such sites acquire specific meaning through its film narration. Without film storylines, a castle or a stately home may not be indistinguishable form others (Busby & Klug, 2001).

Film locations worldwide now play a major role in deciding which country a tourist will visit. The American soap opera ‘Sex and the City’ is one of the examples that have become such a big hit not only in the United States but around the world. Hundreds of shops, restaurants and bars that were featured in the film have become significant destinations and an added reason to visit New York.

a-? Specific Film and drama cases a-„

a. ‘The Piano, Lord of Ring, etc (New Zealand)

New Zealand is one of the latest destinations to benefit from film-induced tourism. The movie, “The Piano” has provided many positive benefits form tourism within New Zealand. New Zealand was shown in its promotional posters which in turn aided and promoted international tourism advertising. The image of New Zealand has been enhanced further after being the backdrop to all three ‘Lord of the Rings’ films. The New Zealand tourism website promotes itself as ‘Home of Middle-earth’. Amongst other popular films that were shot in New Zealand include ‘The Last Samurai’, ‘Whale Rider’ and ‘Perfect Strangers’. Websites that link particular films to their film locations is a very effective promotional tool to induce tourists to the destination (Croy & Walker, 2003). This promotion strategy has been used in New Zealand where Tourism New Zealand developed part of its website to specifically promote ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and other film locations throughout the country.

b. TV drama (South Korea)

The Korean film named ‘Stairway to Heaven’, one of the popular television series in Asia, was shot in many cliche places but the sentimental location is the merry-go-round at the Lotte World. After the release of the film, the merry-go-round at Lotte World has become the famous attraction among Asian tourists (Aran, 2007). Evidence shows that the emotional attachment that film-induced tourists have with the film is a recreation of the often stunning locations. In ‘Winter Sonata’, the evidence is shown and impression scene of two lovers holding hands whilst walking on a log. This famous log has now had to be destroyed and removed from the location due to an overwhelming number of visitors, some attempting to emulate the scene in the film.

Film can enhance the destination image and increase the awareness of the host city. Previous research (Kim & Richardson, 2003) suggests that those who are exposed to the film have more favourable destination image towards destinations featured through films than those who are not exposed to films.

5. Conclusion

This report shows the relationship between the tourism and the media and its actual effect on tourism. It also gives an illuminating perception of film-induced tourism by revealing a lack of research in tourism and requesting further empirical studies into this aspect of tourism. It also shows the advantages to be had from film-induced tourism, opening up many locations to a wider audience and informing the tourism more than traditionally targeted tourism promotional campaigns. The marketing of film tourism has been used successfully in many of the leading film locations in United Kingdom, United States, Korea and New Zeal

This essay critically discusses the relationship between heritage and community, collecting and making reference to a wide range of writing and theorizing on heritage and its management.

As Lowenthal (1995) argues in his book The Past is a Foreign Country, the past is an ever-changing phenomenon, which is not constant due to the way in which the past is translated to us and how we, as individuals, intepret our past, with each individual having a different version, a different interpretation, of a common past. ‘The past’ is a heritage, which, argues Lowenthal (1995) is at once burdensome and nurturing, open as it is to various interpretations and various uses. The past is essential, and inescapable, and can be as innocent as one’s memories as captured in photographs or can be manipulated as witnessed by the Holcaust deniers. It is this changing nature of ‘the past’, or ‘heritage’ that simultaneously sustains and constrains us (Lowenthal, 1995). The past is, argues Lowenthal (1995), an increasingly more foreign country, that is distinct from the present but which is increasingly manipulated by present-day aims. It is necessary to preserve the past to avoid ‘cultural amnesia’ but a cult of nostalgia can also choke and dampen progress, and so dealing with ‘heritage’ is a delicate matter. ‘Heritage’ and its management, in terms of community, is therefore a complex matter that generates tensions and conflicts.

Chitty and Baker (1999) look at how historic sites and buildings are managed and show that preservation and presentation are central activities in the historic environment but that, often, these activities can be antagonistic to each other. This antagonism arises because of the different economic, social, cultural and educational perspectives taken by the different bodies involved in preserving and presenting historic sites and buildings. For example, those in charge of public entry to the historic site or building are interested that the site or building be open for as long as possible to as many people as possible, so that the revenue is as high as possible. Those involved in preservation of the historic site or building, for example, are interested not in the entry of visitors to the site, as a primary concern, but rather that they have the space, temporal and physical, to perform the necessary conservation duties to preserve the site or building for future generations, in a sympathetic manner.

Several case studies are discussed in Chitty and Baker (1999) including Avebury, Hadrian’s Wall, Norton Friary, Brodsworth Hall and various sites of interest for industrial heritage and in terms of military heritage, many of which are promoted as sites of heritage tourism (Timothy and Boyd, 2003). As Baker states in the introduction to Chitty and Baker (1999), sympathetic reconstruction and conservation is fundamental for preserving the authenticity of historic sites and buildings. As her argues, Avebury as it is currently encountered is largely a 1930’s reconstruction and not how Avebury was constructed originally. It is perhaps the case that many visitors do not realize that the current structure is not how it would have appeared when originally built, but many of those same visitors still take a great deal away from their visits to Avebury. This presents a dilemma for the managers of the site, the National Trust, who have to decide whether to preserve the Avebury as it is, complete with 1930’s modifications, or whether to change the site back to how historical records show it was when originally constructed. This dilemma illustrates the dilemma facing all managers of historic sites and buildings: the management of these sites is dependent on visitor numbers, as ‘heritage’ is a business nowadays, which is as dependent on revenue as any other business. Preservation of historic sites and buildings therefore needs to take place within the confines of dealing with visitors who want to be able to freely move about a site or building that they have paid to enter, for example.

As Baker argues in Chitty and Baker (1999), the meaning and historical perspectives of buildings and sites can also be lost or mistranslated in the effort to maintain these sites and buildings within the context of generating revenue: the holistic view of the historic remains can be lost as individual stories and narratives are generated. For example, across Derbyshire, there are many historic sites from many different ages. In a few square miles, there is Bolsover Castle, Langwith Pit, with the last remaining working pit head in the area, Sutton Mill, which is a fully working water mill, Hardwick Hall, of Bess of Hardwick fame with the largest glass facade in the UK: all of these sites ‘compete’ for revenue from visitors, but, as a whole, do not explain the continuity of, or the development of, the history of the area. In the effort to collect revenue from visitors, the history of the area as a whole has been lost to the general public, it’s holistic history has been waylaid. Local history is not taught in schools in the area and so children grow up in the area often unable to afford to enter the historic sites, or with parents who do not encourage visits to the historic sites, and so never learn about their local history. They become dis-jointed from their local history. Heritage and community thus has no meaning for these individuals, and, as a whole, the community tends to come to view the historic sites not as their heritage but rather as visitor attractions that they cannot afford to visit and do not understand, as they have no connection to the sites or buildings, other than knowing that they are commercial activities and that ‘something’ happened there.

This is a very modern tragedy, that heritage and community have become disjointed, that even when people do visit sites and buildings of historic interest that their experience is an isolated one, not ‘joined up’ to other historical sites of interest and thus not giving a holistic viewpoint of local history, or how this local history connects to larger UK history, for example. Preservation of historic sites and buildings is more than simply conserving those sites for the future, it also comes to include the preservation of the memories and history of those sites, a goal of communication. Presentation therefore overlaps with preservation, in terms of communicating to the visitors.

Grenville (1999) looks at the rapid changes that are taking place in countryside management and their effect on the cultural landscape, in terms of the conflict that this process generates between archaeologists and ecologists, and looks at many case studies such as the management of archaeological landscapes on army training grounds, the management of ancient woodlands and the conservation of monuments in Norfolk. As Grenville (1999) states in the introduction, the identification of natural areas of significance by bodies such as English Nature separates out the significance of these areas from the possibilities of whole landscape evaluation, in a manner similar to that described by Baker in Chitty and Baker (1999): the holistic understanding of the whole landscape is lost, and whilst ‘Site Wildlife Statements’ are made about these areas of significance, managers of these sites are presented with problems when the views and needs of archaeologists, ecologists and visitor satisfaction all need to be considered. An example of this comes from Thornton Abbey in Lincolnshire: badgers were slowly destroying the archaeological remains at the site and the public and the resident ecologists were adamant that the badgers should be allowed to go about their business; the manager of the site eventually decided the badgers should be moved on, but the event caused a great deal of consternation amongst the archaeological community (Grenville, 1999).

Howard (2003) looks at heritage management, its interpretation and identity, and finds that heritage has become a major concern around the world, particularly in the UK which relies heavily on tourism to heritage sites to keep these sites open and functioning, now that the majority of heritage sites in the UK are under the control of bodies which run them as a revenue-generating exercise. Howard (2003) points out, similarly to Chitty and Baker (1999) and Grenville (1999) that because most heritage sites are now run as a revenue-generators, there is conflict between preservation, conservation and management as to how these sites should be run, managed and interpreted. As Howard (2003) argues, however, the term ‘heritage’ nowadays means anything and everything the public want to save, from historic buildings to morris dancing to material culture and nature. As Howard (2003) argues, therefore, due to the heterogeneous nature of the ‘heritage’ that people want to save, the management and interpretation of this ‘heritage’ is extremely complicated and needs many different approaches, especially as ‘heritage’ can take on a nationalistic component which has entirely negative repercussions, for as Howard (2003) states, “so long as heritage can be used for profit, or to produce group identity, or to subjugate or exclude someone else, then someone is going to use it”.

Heritage, according to Howard (2003) is related to the concept of inheritance, in terms of meaning ‘that which has been, or may be, inherited’, and is also related to the idea of something that should not be forgotten, for example, the Holocaust heritage. Heritage also defines identity so that heritage has a contingent nature. That there are so many definitions of heritage, and that historic buildings and sites are bracketed together and understood in terms of ‘heritage’ is perhaps what leads to some of the tensions apparent between workers of different disciplines, when approaching a historical site or building. Everyone feels they have a claim on the site or building, in terms of common heritage, and they feel a responsibility to defend their heritage from the viewpoint of their different disciplines (i.e., ecologist/archaeologist/manager). This obviously then leads to tension as their viewpoints, whilst stemming from the same common concern, differ widely and have different effects and needs. ‘Heritage’, whilst a term that can be used to easily describe something that should be preserved, is a term that complicates the practical preservation of that site or building, especially as heritage marketing is something that is being used for consumer-led revenue-generation (Howard, 2003).

Managing ‘heritage’ ‘for the community’ are the phrases of the moment, with the label ‘heritage’ being given to many things from historic sites and buildings to dances and religious/political ceremonies. Heritage is thus a flexible, little understood, term, that is, in Lowenthal’s (1995) sense, open to many and varied interpretations. In this context, then, managing heritage for the community is a difficult matter, which causes many tensions, between the various people responsible for managing ‘heritage’ and between these people and the community in which the ‘heritage’ is situated. Heritage and community are thus fuelled with tension and conflicts and the usefulness of the term ‘heritage’ as a political descriptor of our collective history, packaged in to revenue-generating pieces, is called in to question.

References

Howard P (2003) Heritage Management, Interpretation and Identity, London: Continuum.

Lowenthal D (1995) The Past is a Foreign Country, Cambridge: University Press.

Timothy DJ & Boyd S W (2003) Heritage Tourism, Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Grenville J (1999) Managing the Historic Rural Landscape, London: Routledge.

Chitty G & Baker D (1999) Managing Historic Sites & Buildings, London: Routledge.

In this report I would write about ‘The relationship between the tour operators and their suppliers’. I would give some description of Accommodation, Transport, Ground handlers, excursions and activities, Food and crafts. This is related to the topic so I will try describing them as good as possible. I will also write about Tourism and supply chain management, transport to and from destinations and also conclusion. Hopefully would be understandable for other who are interesting in this subject.

Body:

The power of the tour operator for their sellers has been the focus of great debate in the business in latest years. Sightsee operatives’ also known as tour operators’ dispute that the seller is a self-regulating service provider in surplus of whom they do not apply rule. Sometimes, but, it is not easy to decide that the seller is a self-regulating service provider or the tour operator’s agent. The significance of the division is in the dissimilar costs that run from the changed interactions.

Tour operators have usually offered an article in their booklet representing:

They do not apply straight rule above the day to day organization of ‘accommodation, airlines, railways’ and other extras regarding to your vacation. They then are powerless to agree to responsibility for some work or lapse reason by individuals concerned in your vacation activities over which they do not apply straight rule”. Though the difference is determined by deliberation of all the conditions and not just by suggestion to the phrasing of the agreement linking them. Exist three key motives for the significance of the difference linking a manager and a self-sufficient service provider:

Explicit responsibility: the sightsee operator is vicariously responsible for the work or slips of representative but not individuals of self-sufficient service providers ‘(except in the EU where the Package Travel Directive applies)’.The responsibility to offer security: ‘the tour operator’ has a responsibility to obtain sensible concern for the individual protection of workers (e.g. representatives) except for the sellers. Legal duty: rules that inflict explicit responsibility on a way typically detain to responsibility to the work of employees and agents and do not normally inflict responsibility for the work of self-sufficient service providers.

http://wftga.org/news/consumer-rights-tourists-international-level-and-role-tourist-guides-john-j-downes(13/03/12)

The contribute sequence consist of the sellers of all the supplies and forces which go keen on the liberation of tourism goods to customers. It consist of all sellers of supplies and services which may not be straight agreed by sightsee operatives or by their representatives (including ground handlers) or sellers (including accommodation providers). Tourism contribute chains engage lots of work not only housing, transportation and touring, but also clubbing and cafes, handicraft, groceries production, rubbish clearance, and the transportation that supplies tourism in places. Delivery chains work via trade-to-trade relations, and support chain organization distribute sustainability presentation development next to economic act, by operational to develop the industry procedure of all sellers in the delivery string. Sightsee operatives cover huge power over actions all over the tourism delivery chain, as they point and power the size of tourism, the tourist targets and amenities which are second-hand. Sightsee operatives may apply that to assist in advertising universal development in sustainability act as element of first-class industrial training. Within preparation activities for sustainable delivery chains, sightsee operatives and ‘The Travel Foundation’ have to memorise that exist models of first-class training all over the straight delivery chain of sightsee operatives plus in a selection of travel targets but these are only applied by a few businesses and lots of others may study from them. This will be easiest to apply sustainability needs in housing and very hard in carrying, mainly observable in tour and performance as most helpful to the neighbouring market as this supplies groceries and ability manufacture. Target sustainability efforts will need bigger shareholder organization and if just for this motive will be extra period concentrated to apply. A safe revenue flow, by steady agreements and projected agreement circumstances plus value is top, together to ease the essential savings by the sellers, and to make stronger the confidence in the association. Scheme requires period of time for businesses to make understanding and expand relations, and sightsee operatives tend to need a stable and important quantity of actions with a seller or target if they are to do an important donation and wait for transforming in restricted procedures. Three circumstances in the sightsee operative-and seller association are mainly significant for the achieve victory of delivery string plan: long-time organization, reasonable value and a reliable amount of process.

Triumphant delivery string relations among businesses and their sellers are developed and applied according to a clear number of steps:

To establish a sustainable supply chain policy and management system.

To support suppliers in reaching Sustainability Goals, including raising awareness on sustainability issues amongst suppliers and demonstrating why sustainability performance is important

To integrate sustainability criteria into suppliers’ contracts and preferentially agreement suppliers that meet those criteria. Trade advantages from assume fine trainings for tourism delivery string organization consist of preservation of customers, as around they raising presume in charge performance still from individuals not prepared to pay for this; raised income; bargain expenses and better functioning effectiveness, outstanding spirited to consider and react to danger and chance in the stock promote; · organization of hazard and keep on in front of governmental requests; better workforce act, success of improved employment and workforce maintenance, when happy workforce are an important advantage; defence of the centre resources of the trade (environment and culture); and improved product worth, status and marketplace, defending picture and position, especially for businesses openly quoted on store sell.

They advise to the TF offer priority to effort in the housing sub area, especially in relative to middle-sized buildings, and in home groceries manufacture and support, and that the precedence regions for development in every of these sub parts are:

Room, ecological act, service circumstances for workforce and stipulation of guidance on sustainability subjects; service prospects for local areas population; ecological transportation in the destination, particularly for organization of hard and fluid harsh environment; linkages with the home market particularly for groceries support, handicrafts and equipment; advertising of publicly and environmentally sustainable tourism parcels and sellers

Local food & craft producers & suppliers:

Sustainable manufacture way contains making development and guidance;

Class, consistency and supply; and contact to sells.

On the source of present delivery string presentation and actions, developments are needed as a right of way in these tourism sub-sectors in all developing countries where tourism takes place. In addition, developments which might be related to transportation, land trainer, tours & actions and clubs & eating places sub-parts, are drawled. As well they advise the following advantages for act by the TF that will help in advertising delivery string developments:

Support TF sightsee operative associates to increase extra precise and methodical data on their actions which supply to better sustainability at the range of aims in their delivery strings, particularly for gathering tourism. Support larger approval and performance by TF members of active models of first-class training in the delivery string, with back-up of their sellers via alertness increasing, guidance and technological support, and apply of precise agreement clause as suitable, to apply fine exercise equipment and principles for their zone, on socio-financial and ecological feature. Support TF sightsee operative associates to collect data regarding sustainability matters at the objectives – particularly group tourism targets – which they go possibly by founding a regular agendas of data assembly and reassess opening with couple of targets primarily. Persuade TF associates to improve infrastructure with destination shareholders on main sustainability topic and to expand business with destination shareholders to build up and understand development to progress sustainability plan.

Persuade TF associates to assume and expand client teaching so that their clients are alert of important communal, financial and ecological topics at targets, and of behaviour that they may obtain to develop sustainability during on vacation; and to apply selling to encourage – in client-welcoming tongue – sellers and vacations that are extra sustainable. This statement reconsiders case of active tourism delivery string plan from number points of the world and at number of places in the delivery string. A delivery string comprises the sellers of all the supplies and services which go into the shipping of tourism goods to customers. It comprise all sellers of supplies and services whether or not they are straight agreed by sightsee operatives or by their representatives. Plus land trainers or sellers and housing supplier. This must as well be mentioned to a few tourism supplies and services are given straight to visitors and are buying by customers plus it must not be onwards that sightsee operatives may manipulate their clients in this region as well. The scheme overviewed in this statement pays attention on developed profit to the destination places, customers and the tourism trade. These schemes are determined of four major aims in the tourism delivery string:

Accommodation
Transport
Ground handlers, excursions and activities
Food and crafts

Also contain a range of many actions – from growing the size of home supplies and services old in the tourism area. To run on ecological and socio-educational topics, for example waste organization trainings, service preparation and fighting prohibited figures of tourism. Lots of these ideas were put into training by single or couple of tourism industry, occasionally running in partnership among many places in the delivery string. Tour operators have also integrated several ideas purposed to maintain further sustainable tourism which are being assumed at destination rank.

Tourism and supply chain management:

The effect of a sightsee operative appear from the effects of every workings of the goods they retail, as well as use of unrefined resources and their giving out and manufacture, as well as effect from move and supply. Acknowledging the sustainability of every tourism merchandise follows disappearing to the unrefined resources from which are made, via sellers, sellers’ sellers, and etc, going back to source, including guarantying a business assemble sustainability condition in its individual inner function. Tourism, as any previous delivery strings, work through trade-to-trade relations, and delivery string organization may be practical to distribute sustainability presentation development next to economic act, by functioning to develop the selling process of all sellers in the delivery string. One major variation among tourism delivery string and individuals of more areas, like that visitors journey to the merchandise, and the merchandise that they purchase has a mostly high service element – in other language, this engage a upper amount of individuals in the instant manufacture of the vacation practice. Very good case of delivery string organization from a different area is the DIY seller, B&Q, that has urbanized and applied a main delivery string organization agenda, primary concentrate on ecological effects, and currently fit in public effects on top, for all its 40,000 goods. in turn to consider its in general sustainability as a seller, B&Q analysis the sustainability of its goods moving back to the unrefined resources from which they were formed, via sellers, sellers’ sellers, and etc., going back to basis, also as guaranteeing that B&Q gather sustainability norm in its individual inner process. Used for B&Q, the principles of merchandise – plus service and operational environment – are a key element of class and sustainability. Contribute chain organization in all zones, as well as tourism, wrap all pieces of a merchandise ‘life cycle’: unprocessed resources, processing, producing, supply, selling, client apply and last dumping. In general, the sustainability of a tourism merchandise, result on topics plus the atmosphere and operational environment in top targeted states; security, plus security of clients and employees in distribute all features of a tourism goods; and reserves use and removal, as well as good management, recycle and recover of rubbish supplies, and measures to raise the effectiveness of supplies apply. Tourism delivery strings engage lots of works – not only housing, transfer and tours, but also inns and cafes, handiwork, groceries manufacture, waste dumping, and the transportation that ropes tourism in targets. All those type a fraction of the vacation merchandise which is usual by visitors while they buy vacations – whether or not the sellers of those works are straight agreed by a sightsee operative. Only like no sightsee operative will offer first class transfer to get clients to a fifth class vacation public house, the sustainability of a vacation, like class, its up to presentation on all the associates in the tourism delivery string. An additional feature of the tourism delivery string is the performance of clients during on vacation, mostly in relation to performance and what they basis for themselves in tourist target. Sightsee operative are advertising the entire vacation understanding to clients, and is consist of chances to practice a targets home merchandise and activities. Sightsee operatives may cooperate a major task in if suitable suggestion to their clients regarding home merchandises and activities, and in guarantee that home manufacturer and facility supplier include way in to travellers on a cheap price. Lots of sightsee operatives by now provide more data on these features, but there is range to do extra.

Transport to & from destinations

Sightsee functioning contain marketing, buy, deals improvement, promotion and trade, and buys. Land process contain land transfer and tours. A few of the works of tourism merchandisesaˆ¦ sightsee operatives treaty sellers to offer a few of these works straight: others are attain by sellers and their sellers. The entire sellers offering section supplies and services which go under the dispatching of tourism merchandise are element of the delivery string for that good.

http://www.thetravelfoundation.org.uk/images/media/5._Tourism_supply_chains.pdf(16/03/12)

Conclusion:

Finally I would like to say that current relationship between tour operators and their suppliers is strong as this report states and findings I have put down. It also very interesting to me because some of the facts I did not know before. Especially the Accommodation, Transport, Ground handlers, excursions and activities, Food and crafts and Tourism and supply chain management. These sectors of the report explains how strong the relation ships are between the tour operators and their suppliers.

This paper seeks to discuss the concept of product life cycle apply to the cruise product selling in Wing On Travel Agent (Hong Kong). First, the relationship between tourist product and cruise product is defined. Then the concept of product life cycle is introduced. Finally, a case study of Wing On Travel Agent (Hong Kong) is presented to illustrate the life cycle of selling the cruise product.

Transportation by carrier; accommodations; rental of motor vehicles; or any other service related to travel. Depending on the jurisdiction this may or may not include time shares. Travel services includes transportation by air, sea, or land, or the provision of other goods or services related to recreational, cultural or educational travel, including but not limited to lodging, food, guided tours, or instruction.

The cruise industry is one of the fastest-growing segments of the travel industry – since 1980 the industry has had an average annual passenger growth rate of 8.1%. Almost 45 million people have cruised at least once; of these, nearly 23 million have cruised in the past 3 years. (By: Miller, Richard K.; Washington, Kelli. Travel & Tourism Market Research Handbook, 2009, p88-91, 4p, 5 Charts;)

Between 1999 and 2005, passenger levels for conventional cruises have expanded from about 8.5 million to 13.9 million. During the same period, the Asia Pacific region accounted for between 5 % and 8.6 % of the worldwide market. Between 1999 and 2005, Hong Kong’s typical rate1 of capture of the Asia Pacific conventional cruise market ranged from 16% to 30%. The total cruise passenger throughput in Hong Kong including local residents and international passengers traveling on conventional cruises and cruises-to-nowhere has increased from 1.38 million in 1999 to 2.15 million in 2005. The number of cruise vessel calls has increased from 409 to 1 051 over the same period.

The growth of tourism even exceeded the growth of GDP worldwide by approximately 1.3 times in the last 25 years of the 20th century (WTO, 2003).

The cruise industry is a niche market in the tourism industry. The market share of cruises in the tourism market is small and account for only 0.6% of the hotel beds offered worldwide (WTO, 2003). This number seems small, but the cruise market has shown incredible growth figures and is seen as a market with high potential. The cruise industry has grown with an average annual percentage of 7.4 since 1980. An estimated 15 million travelers cruised in 2008. The North American cruise market dominates the industry and it makes a significant contribution to the American economy. The cruise industry generated $38 billion in the total U.S. economic output in 2007(CLIA, 2009). The cruise industry becomes however more and more globalized with a growing number of destinations and calls in Europe and other regions (Cruise Europe, 2009).

Between 1990 and 2004, passenger levels expanded from 4.4 to 13.2 million worldwide (Bermello-Ajamil & Partners, In 2005c). Accorrdint to B&A, passenger carrying levels could expand from the present 13.2 million to between 19.3 and 30.1 million by 2020 (see Figure ES-1).

Target Market

Hong Kong as a Port-of-Call

Hong Kong as a Homeport

China

F

S

Far East

F/S

F/S

Southeast Asia

F

F

Trans-Pacific / Repositioning

F

F

World Cruises

S

S

Australia/Asia/N.Z.

W

W

Cruise to Nowhere

N/A

S

Key: Strong (S), Fair (F), Weak (W)
Fit of Hong Kong within Identified Target Markets

Source: B&A and GP Wild, 2004

Hong Kong’s cruise season is characterized by both year-round regional operations by Star Cruises and seasonal (October to May) operations by international cruise operators.

Cruise ships are not, like ferries, just seen as a mode of transport. These ships are often a destination on itself, and can be typified as floating hotels, or even floating resorts (Dowling, 2006).

The Product Life Cycle

The product life cycle theory says that the development of sales and profits of new developed products shows a clear pattern. The product life cycle theory states that a product goes, after its introduction, through different phases. From the introduction, the product will know a phase of growth, maturity and finally decline or revitalization (Dekker et al, 1995). Butler developed, based on the product life cycle, the life cycle of tourist locations. Instead of the quantity of products sold, the life cycle of tourism development uses the number of visitors as the indicator of the level of destination development (Butler, 1980 from van der Borg et al, 1996). The development process of any tourist destination may, just as the development process of products, be represented cyclically (van der Borg et al, 1996). Figure 1 shows the destination life cycle curve with the phases of introduction, growth, maturity and decline/revitalization.

With reference to the cruise industry the introduction of a cruise destination begins of course with the necessary infrastructure. Initial costs are high since the cruise port should ‘often’ be made accessible for cruise ships and should have the required facilities to accommodate these cruise ships. During the phase of introduction a limited number of cruise ships visit the cruise port. In this phase costs are relatively high in relation to the benefits. During the phase of growth the number of cruise ships and cruise passengers visiting the city increase and facilities need to be improved. Since the available capacity is used more efficiently, costs will drop in relation to the revenues. The expenses made by cruise passengers in the city will increase and the cruise sector will contribute significantly to the economical development of the destination. During the phase of maturity the cruise sector can be considered a major contributor to the local community. The cruise port is visited by a large number of the largest cruise ships and facilities are state of the art. The cruise port city has achieved an international reputation. The destination life cycle shows however that there is a possibility of decline. Cruise destination could lose their position and reputation which would result in a decline of the number of cruise ships visiting the destination. A decline can be caused by, for example, negative environmental impact or nuisance due to the large number of cruise passengers visiting the destination (Gibson, 2006).

The life cycle differs of course for each and every product or tourism destination. Marketing strategies that should be adopted in the different stages of development differ as well. In the phase of product development it is necessary to meet the customer needs. The needs of cruise lines and cruise passengers should be satisfied in order to develop into thriving cruise destination. The destination should build upon its brand based on the needs of its customers. During the introduction phase it is important to create awareness among cruise lines and cruise passengers. In this way the cruise destination will secure its place in the market. With an increase in passenger volumes, costs will decline and profits will rise. In this stage promotion shifts to creating loyalty in order to remain and improve the obtained position (Plog, 2001).

Application

Cruise ships are not, like ferries, just seen as a mode of transport. These ships are often a destination on itself, and can be typified as floating hotels, or even floating resorts (Dowling, 2006). This has not always been the case. The main purpose of the big Ocean liners of the past, like the Normandy (1932) and the Queen Mary (1934), was primarily to transport passengers and cargo between Europe and America [1] . Transoceanic liners sailed on fixed schedules and routes and the different classes in the society were separated with first class cabins and public spaces in the front, second class in the middle and steerage class in the back of the ship (Maxton-Graham, 1985 from Chin, 2008). The speed of these ocean liners was not only important economically, but also for prestige [2] . The Ocean liners lost however market share due to the rising popularity of the airplane and finally lost their function as transport mode. Many ships were taken out of business or were used only to make pleasure trips. The cruise industry as we know it emerged in this period. Nowadays, airplanes do no longer compete with the passenger ships operating in the cruise sector and actually have become an important extension of the cruise product. The cruise product is not, as the ocean liners, based on the transportation of passengers but on the experience they are able to give to their passengers.

6.3 Market analysis
6.3.1 Introduction

The cruise sector is an exclusive part of the leisure industry and has developed rapidly in the last four decades. The sector is still expanding, not only in number of passengers, but it becomes also more and more globalized. In the market analysis we will look more closely to the major cruise regions, the growth of passengers in these regions, the characteristics of cruise passengers, the properties of the cruise product and cruise line economics.

6.3.2 Cruise regions

The major cruise regions in the world are based in North America and Europe. Figure 2 gives an overview of the total overnights per region in 2008. The Caribbean is the major cruise region, followed by the Mediterranean and Central America. The Caribbean and Central America are not negatively affected by seasonal weather patterns, apart from the hurricane season, and cruise ships are deployed in these regions throughout the year (Gibson, 2006). Between April and September, a large part of the cruise fleet is however relocated to Europe and Alaska. These regions show a clear seasonal pattern with no cruises in the winter period and a peak in the summer months (Dowling, 2006). Climate can be considered as a determining factor in the deployment of cruise ships.

Figure 2: Market share 2008 per region, based on the total overnights.

Source: CLIA

6.3.3 Passenger growth

Cruise tourism has, together with the whole leisure industry, shown a phenomenal growth. The cruise sector developed from a small market with cruise lines operating with only a single ship, to a globalized industry with a fleet of numerous unique vessels (cruiseweb.nl). Table 1 shows that especially the European market and transatlantic voyages have shown significant growth figures between 2000 and 2008 of respectively 238% and 279%. The market of North and Central America showed a passenger growth of 141%. The spectacular growth in number of cruise passengers can also been seen based on the number of cruise ships ordered by the different cruise lines. The CLIA Five-Year Capacity Report and Passenger Carrying Report of 2008 shows that 34 new ships were contracted or planned to be added to the fleet from 2008 to the end of 2012 (CLIA, 2008).

Table 1: Total bed days per region 2000-2008

Source: CLIA

6.3.4 Characteristics cruise passengers

The general profile of the cruise vacationer is upscale and well educated, with a median household income of $93,000 and 69 percent having a college degree in 2008. The median age of cruisers is now 46 years old, down from 49 in 2006 (CLIA, 2009). This shows that that the cruise sector continues to attract younger travelers. The cruise market is dominated by American cruise passengers, followed on distance by passengers from Great Britain. Other passengers come mainly from other European countries like Germany, Italy, Spain and France (Gibbons, 2009).

The tourist industry experience the trend that people do no longer take one big holiday per year, but make several shorter trips instead (Bargeman et al, 2002). This trend can also been seen in the cruise industry. The length of the cruises has declined over the years. Especially short cruises with a length between 2 and 5 days have become more popular in comparison with 25 years ago. Figure 3 shows the length of cruises in 1980 and 2006.

Figure 3: Length of cruises

Source: B&A, 2008

6.3.5 Cruise product

The cruise industry is characterized by substantial heterogeneity similarly to other tourism products (Papatheodorou, 2001). Each cruise is different in terms of ports of call, or vessel. Besides that, the experience people have, does differ among every individual. Cruise lines have the opportunity to differentiate in terms of quality and in terms of variety and offerings. Differentiation is used as a strategy by some cruise lines in the cruise industry. Cruise lines developed products that meet the preferences of different types of passengers by offering for example thematic cruises and cruises to different regions. An example is Disney Cruise, which offers cruise passengers a unique experience by focusing on the theme of Disney [3] .

The cruise product, offered by cruise lines, has changed from an ‘all-inclusive’ package to a more customized product. This means that ‘amenities’ and ‘experiences’ can be booked together with the cruise itself. Onboard sales have become a significant proportion of the turnover of a cruise ship and the profits derived from on shore excursions are significant. A typical Royal Caribbean cruise ship can, for example, generate close to a half million dollar tour income with a single call to St. Petersburg, Russia (Peisley, 2003). According to Royal Caribbean’s Vice President for Commercial Development, John Tercek, US$100 million of the profit of Royal Caribbean’s US$ 351 million profit in 2002/3 was derived solely from shore excursions (Klein, 2006 in Ross, 2006 pp. 262). Most people who take a cruise do not live in the area of the port of departure. Therefore, fly-cruise packages are very popular and play, next to the offering of excursions and other services, an important role (Papatheodorou, 2006).

6.3.6 Cruise line economics

Economies of scale are important for cruise lines. The average cost per passenger drop as the scale of operation increases. Two main categories of cost savings can be identified, namely: economies of density and economies of fleet size (Papatheodorou, 2006). Economies of density means that cruise lines are able to operate more efficiently with larger cruise vessels since fixed costs are spread over a large number of passengers. Economies of fleet size are derived by spreading fixed costs over a large number of cruise ships. Besides this, a large fleet makes it for cruise lines easier to expand in many different regions and thus establish a network of operations (Papatheodorou, 2006). Cruise lines are able to operate more efficiently with an increase in the number of ships and capacity, since the variable costs rise by a rate which is less than proportional with the increase of passenger capacity (Blauwens et al, 2007). Ships have therefore become bigger and bigger and are in some cases even considered as the main destination, instead of the ports of call (Chin, 2008). Royal Caribbean has recently ordered a new vessel, the ‘Ocean of the Seas’ with a capacity of 5400 passengers, which will come in operating in the end of 2009 (www.royalcaribbean.com). In comparison, in the 1970s and early 1980s, the typical cruise ship accommodated between 500 and 800 passengers (Klein, 2006).

Due to the importance of economies of scale the cruise industry is consolidated among three major players. The passenger capacity of the Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Star/NCL Cruises cover 80% of the total worldwide cruise capacity. The allocation of the passenger capacity among the major cruise corporations is shown in figure 4.

Figure 4: Cruise capacity by Cruise Corporation in 2008

Source: B&A, 2008

Under the three main cruise corporations, several cruise brands operate with a great degree of independency. Each brand looks after their own itinerary planning, marketing, on shore excursions and other operations. Each of the brands has specific core consumer markets that are based on demographics and nationality. Table 2 shows the three corporations, with the number of ships in operation and the brands operation under each corporation.

Table 2: Major Cruise Corporations

Parent group

Number of ships

Brands

Carnival Corporation

99

Carnival Cruise Lines

Holland America Line

Princess Cruises

Seabourn Cruise Line in North America

P&O Cruises UK

Cunard Line

Ocean Village

AIDA

Costa Crociere

P&O Cruises Australia

Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.

42

Royal Caribbean International

Celebrity Cruises

Pullmantur

Azamara Cruises

Celebrity Xpeditions

Star/NCL Cruises

18

Star Cruises

Norwegian Cruise Line

NCL America

Orient Lines

Other

Disney Cruise Lines

Crystal Cruises

MSC Cruises

Regent Seas Cruises

Oceania

Silversea Cruise Lines

Sources: B&A, 2008; Dowling, 2006

Cruise lines have very high occupancy rates, compared with the hotel industry. The average room occupancy in the cruise industry lies above 95%, compared to 59% for the hotel industry (Toh, 2005). The seasonal movement is a key factor of the financial success of the cruise industry. Cruise lines are, unlike hotels, flexible in the positioning of their capacity.

5.3 Conclusion and hypothesis

The development of tourism destinations shows, just as the development of products, a cyclical pattern. The concept of the destination life cycle says that a tourism destination goes through different phases of development. Instead of the quantity of products sold, the concept uses the number of visitors as the indicator of development. A cruise destination will, based on this concept, know a phase of product development, in which the necessary infrastructure is constructed, a phase of introduction, growth, maturity and a phase of possible decline or revitalization. Each phase asks for a different marketing approach. After all, a precondition for the development of a competitive tourism destination concerns the effectiveness of tourism development efforts. During the initial phase it is important to develop a desired image brand which creates awareness among cruise lines and cruise passengers. During later phases it is important for a cruise destination to create loyalty in order to secure its place in the market.

CONCLUSIONS

The Regent Hotel Case Study
1. Pricing Strategy Review – Key Issues

There are several key issues which must be considered when determining the pricing strategy for a hotel. The main variables that affect hotel room pricing in general will include transient demand at the location, for example during festivals, conferences or major tourist occasions, and also whether it is currently high, low, or ‘shoulder’ season. Weekly arrival or departure patterns can also affect occupancy: there may, for example be many spare rooms on a Thursday night, or even worse, excessive demand on one night of the week, due to overlap from arriving and departing guests, which means that rooms may end up being empty on the surrounding days. For example, if guests staying from Monday to Friday choose to also stay Friday night, it may make the rooms unsuitable for people who want to stay over the weekend, thus leaving a shortage of rooms on Saturdays.

Equally, the ratio of guest rooms to meeting, or conference, rooms can dictate pricing strategy, as if the hotel has plenty of guest rooms, but little conference space, it may have to offer excessive discounts to attract conference guests, but in the opposing scenario, it may be able to charge a premium. In a similar vein, a hotel with a successful history of holding meetings or conferences, and thus a good reputation in corporate circles can also command a premium for business functions. The potential for incremental revenue from the restaurant and bar areas should also impact on pricing, both for the rooms and the facilities themselves. Should a hotel have a high proportion of guests using its additional facilities, then it can use these revenues to subsidise the cost of the rooms, thus enabling it to lower prices and thus attract more guests, who will ideally also use the facilities. However, should the facilities be of poor quality, or too expensive, then the price of the rooms may have to be raised to compensate for the shortfall. A final factor to consider is the potential for risk to the hotel, such as the likelihood of cancellations or damages, which can be mitigated to some extent by including cancellation and attrition clauses in the terms and conditions, provided these are made clear to guests at the time of booking.

Pricing strategies at major brand hotels also tend to fluctuate more with the market, because of their size and power. Serlen (2004) reported that many of the major brands lowered rates dramatically during the recent period of difficulty for the industry, but these rates were unprofitable, and thus the hotels couldn’t maintain those rates and be profitable. As such, most hotels chose to keep rates more stable, sacrificing some revenue during that period, but meaning that they won’t be the same pressure of profitability once demand has returned. However, a Datamonitor Company Profile (2005) of the market in which the Hyatt and other premium hotels, such as the Regent, operate; has shown that pricing power within the market is currently heavily influenced by the hotels’ capacities, and also the pricing decisions of competitors. The downturn in the travel industry has led to a competitive environment where supply currently outstrips demand. Therefore the market as whole, ranging from low costs leisure up to the premium end in which the Regent operates, is currently dictated by the pricing strategies of competitors. Competitors’ actions generally within the current climate could cause supply growth to outstrip demand growth, which could be disastrous for the Regent, and thus attention should be paid to these considerations.

Specifically for the Regent, the refurbishing of the conference rooms has enabled it to offer high quality corporate facilities, which should enable it to charge a premium for conferences, over and above what other hotels in the region can charge. However, the opening of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre could lead to problems for the hotel, as it appears of offer far superior facilities to that which the Regent, or indeed any hotel, could possibly offer. Therefore whilst the Regent can still hope to gain significant conference revenue, especially during high season when the EICC will be in great demand, it may not be able to rely on conference revenue as a key stream. However, given that delegates who use the EICC still need to be accommodated, the Regent could potentially attempt to negotiate with the Edinburgh Convention Bureau to become the hotel of choice for conferences using the Centre, and this would enable it to charge the desired premium.

With regards to the additional facilities, such as the bar and restaurant, given that there is currently not a high proportion of guests using these facilities, it is difficult to justify using them in the pricing strategies of the rooms, as reducing the price of rooms to attract more guests will not necessarily greatly affect the revenue generated by the facilities. However, it is important to review the pricing strategy of the bar and restaurant, to ensure that these are not priced so high as to drive away guests, and possibly including some meals in the price of the room could be a good way to increase demand for the rooms and the additional facilities, whilst potentially also slightly increasing the price.

Finally, it is important to determine whether the customer dissatisfaction is being caused by pricing at all, and also whether other hotels in the city are pursuing aggressive pricing strategies which are taking demand away from the Regent. If this is the case, then it may be necessary to accept some short term losses in order to fight back and prevent the Regent Hotel losing so much business that it has a stigma attached to it, and is unable to attract any guests back, however this is likely to be a drawn out and costly process.

2. Front Office Operation – Key Issues

There are several other key issues concerning the hotel that it is vital to assess if the brand is going to be developed and revitalised in the eyes of the public. Using the SWOT analysis (Appendix One) Firstly, it is important to determine which of the first three identified weaknesses are causing the decline in customer satisfaction, and ensure that remedying this is given highest priority in the coming refurbishment. However, regardless of which of the identified weaknesses are most responsible for the sharp decline in customer satisfaction, it is vital that all weaknesses are addressed as part of the refurbishment and handover process in general.

Firstly, the outdated financial and reporting systems need to be replaced with an integrated solution, which connects all the different departments, and facilitates the transfer of information between the various heads of the departments. This system should enable food and beverage staff to input orders directly into the cash registers in the bars and restaurants, and these orders should then be transferred directly onto the relevant customer’s bill, perhaps using the customer’s signature, or their room key, as proof of their identity and room number. A similar system should also be put in place for the mini bars, enabling housekeeping to update the charges on the mini bar bills as they replenish the bars every day.

An improvement to the reporting system would also enable staff to check the usual and predicted levels of occupancy when taking group bookings, thus enabling them to charge the relevant amounts for each period. This would help avoid the potential for offering groups too great a discount during busy periods, and would also help let staff know to when offer larger discounts, such as during quiet periods. Equally, sales and financial data and targets for Front Office, Sales and Food and Beverage could be shared across the three departments, so that each department knows what other departments are doing, and also what all three departments are aiming for. This would enable each department to maximise its own contribution to the hotel’s revenue, without adversely affecting the performance of the other relevant departments, for example Sales would know not to offer a cheaper meal option to large groups if the Restaurant is likely to be very busy for that period.

The question of modernising and replacing the linen appears to be the main reason for the refurbishment, and Andrew Brennan should have this well in hand. However, no mention has been made of plans to refit or expand the laundry facilities, which is a key consideration, as not only does it appear to be affecting guest satisfaction, but it is also resulting in insurance claims, which drive up costs, and thus put a drain on the hotel’s profits. The whole laundry operation should be reviewed, and its capacity should be increased so that, not only can it handle the demands placed on it by the normal running of the hotel, but also to ensure that it has sufficient spare capacity to complete all laundry requests to a high standard and on time.

The threats arising from the slow tourist industry, and the loss of bookings from Milton Hotels could be problematic, however provided the customer satisfaction issues can be resolved, word of mouth, together with a successful refurbishment and re-launch of the hotel should be sufficient to attract customers back, and the number of bookings appear to be picking up, as can be seen from the trendline on the room occupancy graph in Appendix Two. However, the final main issue to be addressed is that of revenue maximisation. As can be seen from the financial analysis (Appendix Two), only in the highest season does the hotel come close to completely using all its rooms, and occupancy often drops below the 60% mark. Equally, even in the busy months of June, July and August, total revenue realised is less that half that if all the rooms were charged at their full rate. As such, it is vital to reassess the marketing and advertising used to attract people during high season, as not only should rooms be as fully occupied as possible, but they should also attract as high a price per room as possible, and currently this is not the case.

References
Serlen, B. (2004) Hotel Programs Grow. Business Travel News; Vol. 21, Issue 15, p. 1.
Datamonitor Company Profiles (2005) Global Hyatt Corporation – SWOT Analysis.
Appendix One: SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Beautiful Victorian architecture
Excellent location with fine views.
Modern food and beverage areas
Prestigious banqueting and conference areas.

Weaknesses

Outdated financial and reporting systems.
High need for modernisation of rooms and replacement of linen.
Inadequate laundry facilities.
Lack of revenue maximisation across all departments.

Opportunities

Potential to house EICC guests.
Growing importance of Edinburgh.
Chance to completely refurbish and re-launch hotel.

Threats

Declining customer satisfaction.
Slow tourist industry.
Loss of bookings from Milton Hotels.
Lack of customers using dining facilities.

Appendix Two: Financial Analysis

2003

Room

Rooms

% Occ

Revenue

Max Rev

% Rev

nights

Sold

Jan

5890

2709

46%

?168,364.35

?1,050,125.00

16%

Feb

5320

2554

48%

?156,585.74

?948,500.00

17%

March

5890

3711

63%

?247,004.16

?1,050,125.00

24%

April

5700

3249

57%

?201,567.96

?1,016,250.00

20%

May

5890

4300

73%

?303,967.78

?1,050,125.00

29%

June

5700

4617

81%

?342,622.57

?1,016,250.00

34%

July

5890

4476

76%

?319,944.48

?1,050,125.00

30%

Aug

5890

4889

83%

?392,635.59

?1,050,125.00

37%

Sep

5700

4446

78%

?361,148.58

?1,016,250.00

36%

Oct

5890

4418

75%

?301,749.40

?1,050,125.00

29%

Nov

5700

3648

64%

?230,334.72

?1,016,250.00

23%

Dec

5890

2297

39%

?136,855.26

?1,050,125.00

13%

2004

Jan

5890

2827

48%

?185,111.96

?1,050,125.00

18%

Feb

5510

2755

50%

?182,281.00

?982,375.00

19%

March

5890

3829

65%

?262,516.24

?1,050,125.00

25%

April

5700

3477

61%

?262,665.63

?1,016,250.00

26%

May

5890

4653

79%

?339,296.76

?1,050,125.00

32%

June

5700

5016

88%

?407,349.36

?1,016,250.00

40%

July

5890

4830

82%

?357,903.00

?1,050,125.00

34%

Aug

5890

5007

85%

?420,688.14

?1,050,125.00

40%

Sep

5700

4731

83%

?398,870.61

?1,016,250.00

39%

Oct

5890

4653

79%

?330,502.59

?1,050,125.00

31%

Nov

5700

3933

69%

?256,077.63

?1,016,250.00

25%

Dec

5890

2768

47%

?169,124.80

?1,050,125.00

16%

2005

Jan

5890

3122

53%

?206,707.62

?1,050,125.00

20%

Feb

5320

2979

56%

?200,665.44

?948,500.00

21%

March

5890

4123

70%

?288,445.08

?1,050,125.00

27%

April

5700

4104

72%

?271,315.44

?1,016,250.00

27%

Hong Kong tourism is one of the four pillars in its economy. With its image as a cosmopolitan city, Hong Kong has attracted millions of tourists each year. However there are tourism issues that should not be overlooked by the government and the Hong Kong Tourism Commission (HKTC) in order to develop strategies to maintain the long term sustainability of Hong Kong tourism. In this paper, a situation assessment is presented and key tourism issues are identified together with the problems associated and relevant strategies to overcome these problems identified.

After the handover of Hong Kong back to the hands of China in 1997, Hong Kong developed its strong links with China. Tourism is with no exception. In 2010, Hong Kong recorded 36 million visitors with more than 60% of visitors coming from Mainland China (HKTB, 2011). This was the result of the extension of Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) and the relaxation of visa arrangement that stimulate the demand. In the coming future, demand from Chinese tourists is still in a grow.

Despite the stable demand from Chinese tourists, Hong Kong faces huge challenges from nearby destinations. Hong Kong is used to have being a shopping paradise and being a MICE destination as its competitive edges, however these edges seem to be narrowing down. Hainan province in China has launched a shopping tax refund program to attract non-residents to spend in shopping (People’s Daily, 2011). Singapore and Macau have developed casino resorts together with MICE facilities to attract business tourism.

Despite all these, Hong Kong still has its advantage on its geographic location to be a gateway to China which attracts millions of people in and out of Hong Kong as a hub. Besides, Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city and an “Asia’s world city” which contains characteristics of the West and the East, tradition and contemporary which is appealing to overseas tourists. Its financial position in Hong Kong has attracted many business travelers to come to Hong Kong for business purpose and its image of being a Shopping and Food Paradise has also attracted many leisure tourists.

Though Hong Kong still has these advantages, these competitions should not be overlooked in order to strategically maintain its long term sustainability.

Tourism Issue 1 – Reliance on Chinese tourists

In the light of the huge share of Chinese tourists in the mix of Hong Kong tourist arrivals, it is an issue of whether Hong Kong tourism should rely that much on the Chinese market.

Some supporters would say the huge supply and spending of Chinese tourists has stabilized Hong Kong tourism demand. From the statistics obtained by HKTB (2011), while the numbers of short haul tourists from Taiwan and Japan and that of long haul tourists from Europe and USA declined in the past 10 years, the visitor number from Mainland China grew rapidly. It can be said that Chinese tourists have sustained Hong Kong tourism.

Moreover, according to another statistics from HKTB (2011), Chinese tourists were big spenders that have accounted for 69% of the total visitors spending in 2010. All these reasons have led Hong Kong to develop tourism policy especially for this group of tourists.

However, over reliance on the Chinese market would create problems as well. In case of external forces or simply the change of taste of Chinese tourist would pose difficulties for Hong Kong to maintain its visitors’ number.

The 12th National 5-Year Plan released by the Chinese government is one of the external forces mentioned. It was the first time that Hong Kong tourism was not highlighted in the plan, instead the Chinese government intended to develop Macau as a world-class tourism and leisure center (Hong Kong’s Information Services Department, 2011). With this aim, the Chinese government might be policies that favor that development of Macau tourism. In that case, more Chinese tourists would be encouraged to go to Macau instead of Hong Kong.

Back to Hong Kong, cases like Ah Zhen incident that happened recently would discourage Chinese tourists to travel to Hong Kong. Ah Zhen has been accused to have damaged Hong Kong’s reputation as Shopping Paradise by blaming Chinese tourists for not purchasing souvenirs from designated shops. Similar incidents have also happened after this (Wall Street Journal, 2010). These incidents would hinder more Chinese tourists to travel to Hong Kong for shopping. In the long run, this would pose challenges to Hong Kong tourism.

China is a huge market that would supply sufficient demand for Hong Kong tourism, Hong Kong government should continue retaining this group of guests to come to Hong Kong. In order to achieve this, there are several recommendations to protect the interests of these guests.

Firstly, the government could expand its “Quality and Honest Hong Kong Tours’ Programme” to continue strengthening Hong Kong’s image as a quality and value for money destination. At the moment, the programme has been carried out in 27 Mainland cities and also in the virtual world on the Internet. Participating travel agents in the scheme have to commit that their itineraries should not contain designated shopping stops and forced shopping and forced self-paid activities. In the new expansion of the programme, the government can promote these tours together with its benefits in more cities in China. Besides, the government can also promote them more extensively via different communication channels, e.g. TV advertisement, social media, etc.

Moreover, secret shopper campaign should be continued and done more extensively to spot out illegal or unethical behaviors of travel guides to maintain a satisfactory level of services. This campaign can be used to facilitate the implementation of the “Quality and Honest Hong Kong Tours’ Programme” as well to make sure the travel agencies in China and in Hong Kong if they are following the guidelines offered by Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) and the Hong Kong Tourism Commission (HKTC). It is hoped that by this campaign, travel agencies would self regulate themselves in service delivery and provision.

Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) should develop a more regulatory system to warn and punish travel agencies or tourist guides once illegal or unethical behaviors have been spotted out. In the case of Ah Zhen, originally she was suspended from being a tour guide after the case discovered, however, after her appeal to TIC, she is now suspended for only half year. This indicates the ineffectiveness of the existing system which could allow similar incidents to happen in the future. TIC should be more careful in designing its regulatory system in order to exercise more regulatory power and punishment on Hong Kong tour operators and tour guides who have offended the rules and gives more confidence to Chinese tourists, thus remedy the bad reputation built.

However, for the long term benefit of Hong Kong tourism, over focusing on one market segment could be dangerous, Hong Kong government should also find ways to attract other markets.

Issue 2 – Sustainability of cultural and heritage attractions

In view of this and the keen competition from neighboring destinations, Hong Kong has tried its best to develop new tourism products to overcome these challenges. Cultural attractions are popular among these new attractions in recent years to improve Hong Kong’s cultural image. Tsim Sha Tsui piazza and the West Kowloon Cultural District are two of the big projects that the government has under taken as new tourism attractions. Besides, the government has also emphasized in developing heritages to showcase Hong Kong’s mixed culture. Examples are the former Marine Police Headquarter in Tsim Sha Tsui which has renovated to become a square “1881 Heritage” and a boutique hotel named “Hullett House”. Another example would be the Central market which will be developed into Central Oasis and the project of revitalizing the Former Police Station is Central. One key issue that can be identified among all these projects is whether they could enhance sustainability.

According to the Chief Executive in 1999 (Hong Kong Sustainable Department, 2008), the Hong Kong government would ensure a sustainable development to bring about full integration of economic and social development with conservation of environment. In order to achieve this, local participation is very important in leading to sustainable development which gives win-win situation to all parties of the society.

However, one common key critics faced by the government in these big projects is lack of transparency. For example, in the case of Tsim Sha Tsui Piazza, a workshop that aims to gather opinions from different parties was subjected to question as these parties were mostly come from the government or government-related organizations (Tourism Commission, 2007). Another example is from another big project, the West Kowloon Cultural District. The management authority of the project is questioned as all of the 15 members from the authority were appointed by the government. Therefore, it is commonly believed that due to lack of transparency, the interest of the government might have affected the management. For heritage sites development, given that the Heritage Tourism Task Force was set up in 1998, it was blamed to be lack of leadership and lack of influence in the government bureaucracy (Chu and Uebegang, 2002).

The essence of sustainable tourism development is how to balance different views from different parties which is actually a huge challenge that the government has to face in planning and developing tourist attractions. In order to fully implement sustainable tourism development, a bottom-up approach has to be adopted to collect more objective views from all sectors in Hong Kong so that specific needs could be satisfied and win-win situation for tourists and locals could be achieved. Cooperation with and involvement of locals or significant cultural group should be guaranteed and local community should be involved at the beginning stage of planning and operation to avoid these heritages to lose its original value, especially to the locals who have grown up with these heritage sites. It is hoped that by this approach, the integrity and authenticity of the heritage could be maintained while new elements like environmental friendly designs could be also involved in the new design.

Another problem raised from sustainability is whether these new attractions could showcase the local elements. Perhaps due to the image of Hong Kong as being an international city, projecting an image of East-meet-West, attractions are often blamed to be lack of local characteristics. For example, in the case of West Kowloon Cultural District, even one of the advisory committees of the project criticized that the design is lack of local elements (HKheadline, 2011). This problem has to be dealt properly, or else every new attraction in Hong Kong would deliver similar image to tourists, especially for revitalized heritage attractions which are supposed to deliver a unique image and background knowledge of Hong Kong so that visitors could appreciate and understand more about Hong Kong. One of the solutions is to keep up with public consultations and gather opinions of the public about the kind of local culture to be included in the design of new attractions. By that, local culture could be incorporated into the design and would not be missed out.

Conclusion

With its strong link to China, Hong Kong relies on the supply of Chinese tourists to sustain tourism. Though the huge number of Chinese tourists remains a consistent supply, there are risks associated with it and as a government body, HKTC should develop measures to also attract other markets and diversify the profile of Hong Kong visitors. On the other hand, sustainable tourism development is often questioned due to lack of transparency and overlook of Hong Kong local elements in development new attractions. HKTC and the government should involve a more transparent public consultation and public engagement so as to guarantee a more sustainable tourism planning and development.

Redang Island

Redang Island – Superb destination for all…and divers too!

What would you expect a PERFECT island holiday going to be like? Crystal clear seawater? Checked. Accommodation for people of all age? Checked. Beach and sea activities for all? Checked. How about well equipped diving resorts with good dive spots to explore around? Checked! So where is this place that have all these checked? Redang island!

Thanks to the ‘Summer Holiday’ movie starred by Richie Ren and Sammi Cheng, Redang island had since then becomes one of the most popular holiday destinations in Malaysia. The beach resorts gradually upgraded their facilities from just snorkeling to more varieties of activities to meet the needs from all sort of visitors. If you are looking for banana boat riding, sea kayaking, beach volleyball, beach soccer, or even beach-front clubbing session, they are easily available and offered by many resorts. And what if you are a diving enthusiast or want to try out diving? Ask the resorts and most likely they are also the dive centre you are looking for!

The dive resorts would provide activities for beginners and certified divers alike, with discover day diving, diving courses, shore dives and boat dive trips as the usual offers. Best if you could check around the diving packages offered by the resorts before getting to the island, as they would usually have better ‘value-for-money’ factor if compared to ‘per dive’ rates offered over the counter in the dive resort. And some dive packages might even throw in unlimited shore dives, where you can dive as many times as you (and your body limit) would like to!

Dive sites in Redang are filled with wide varieties of corals and sea creatures, and not to mention large pelagic fishes such as barracudas, jacks, trevallies, and sharks. You would have fairly high chances of being able to spot green turtles and hawksbill turtles due to turtle conservation efforts going on within the marine park. But if you are really lucky enough, whale shark could just grace by during your dive! While it is recommended to dive in the spots distanced away from snorkelers for best diving experience, the shore dive would able to offer you the chance to spot fishes such as titan triggerfish, grouper and even moral eel or sharks!

And now you know there is this destination that can enjoy your time in exploring the beauties deep down below while your family are occupied with all the beach activities, it would just all depends on how well you could talk to your loved ones and make Redang as your next vacation spot!

Picture reference:

Redang Tanjung Tokong – Green Turtle : http://www.asiadivesite.com/malaysia-dive-sites/redang/tanjung-tokong.php

Redang Pulau Kerengga – Humphead Parrotfish: http://www.asiadivesite.com/malaysia-dive-sites/redang/pulau-kerengga.php

Redang Mak Cantik – Anemone: http://www.asiadivesite.com/malaysia-dive-sites/redang/mak-cantik.php

Redang Pulau Ekor Tebu – Titan Triggerfish: http://www.asiadivesite.com/malaysia-dive-sites/redang/pulau-ekor-tebu.php

The beginning of the 21st century was referred as the most difficult phase in the history of tourism industry. This sector was affected negatively because of terrorism, war and global health problems The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2005. However, it was in 2005 that the sector started to open out and in 2004 international arrivals increased at a rate of 8.6% compared to 2003 (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2005). Economist Intelligence Unit (2005) states that there are many reasons for this kind of relief. The relative stable geopolitical conditions, development of key sectors, such as China, the supply- driven expansion of carriers at low cost, which are currently building inroads in Asia and the Middle East, at long with the conventional markets of North America and Europe, constant pressure on the prices of many of the industries, pent – up demand of former years, covering the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Even though the climate of the UK is not favourable, the country still attracts many visitors thanks to its natural beauties like lakes, rivers, rugged mountains, coastline and other factors that cover high standard of services, natural attractions and transport services (Youell, 2001).

Recently the world is witnessing the significant change in the economy. Indeed, Stavrou-Costea (2005) stated that national economies are changing and “as we move progressively away from a world in which national economies were relatively isolated from one another into an interdependent global economic system, we are witnessing the rapid appreciation for and development of all aspects associated with and affected by human resource management”. In fact, Stavrou-Costea (2005) also stated that “while the emerging international economy creates opportunities it also presents challenges and threats with which yesterday’s business managers did not have to deal”. In this perspective regardless of industry and the size of the companies (Ulrich, 1997) managing human resources has become vitally important for the companies in achieving the goals of the organisation (Stavrou-Costea, 2005). Similarly, Dessler (2000) stated that human resources need to be collaborator in developing a company’s strategy in order to be successful in organisational goals. “Human resource management can help the company reach organizational effectiveness and thereby have a determining effect on whether or not the company is good enough, fast enough, and competitive enough not only to survive but also to thrive” (Schuler and Jackson, 2000; Stavrou-Costea, 2005). Schuler and Jackson (2000) and Stavrou-Costea (2005) commonly stated the difficulty of achieving and sustaining organisational effectiveness without the efficient practises of human resources management.

Tourism and hotel industry are supposed to be parts of hospitality industry. Hospitality industry has becoming a very large of source of employment. The rate of employees in hospitality industry is increasing and employees are undergoing certain problems. Some factors contribute to selection and recruitment of staff in hotel industry and HRM is facing to solve selection and recruitment problem in hospitality industry like retraining performance ,high-labour turnover, low morale ,retraining performers .In an analysis of 5000 jobs advertisements across a number of different occupations and sector in the UK,Jackson et al.(2005) found that the skills stated as necessary by employers are ‘social skills’ and ‘personal characteristic’ only 26 per cent of organizations mentioned the need for educational recruitments. Personal services this rate is less than 10 per cent.

As a highly labour-intensive industry, tourism and hospitality organisations are often hard to talk of how their people are “their greatest asset”. However even cursory understanding of the nature of work’ employment and people management in tourism and hospitality points to many paradoxes and contradictions that are apparent in studying human resource management (HRM) in the sector.

Many academics, industrialists and policy-makers have attempted to define the nature of the tourism industry-and the place of the hospitality sub-sector within this border conceptualization-yet there is still no commonly accepted definition. Hence, there are inherent problems seeking define what is large and diverse sector which means many of the activities may overlap and could be described as encompassing tourism and hospitality. For example Lucas(2004)in her recent work on employment relations in hospitality and tourism industries chose to talk in broad terms about the Hotel, Catering and Tourism sector.

In some geographical areas and sub-sector areas, tourism provides an attractive ,high-status working environment with competitive pay and conditions, which is in high demand in the labour force and benefits from low staff turnover. On the other hand, it brings low pay, problems in recruiting skills in number of key areas, a high level of labour drawn socially disadvantaged groups, poor status and virtual absence of professionalism.

More is known about employment in certain sub-sectors than other .For example, the commercial hospitality industry encompassing hotels, restaurants and pubs, bars and nightclubs is the largest sub-sector with around 70 per cent of employees in the UK(people 1st,2006).Unsurprisingly, then, the commercial hospitality industry is well served with extensive research on the nature of employment and HRM strategies(D’Annunzio-Green et all.,2002:Lucas,2004).

In terms is the predominance of small-and medium sized enterprises is a further issue to consider is the manner. People 1st(2006) note that within the UK hospitality, leisure travel and tourism sector & per cent of establishments employ fewer than 10 people and 50 per cent fewer than five. Heterogeneity is also seen in relation to the way that organisations adopt differing routes to competitive advantage. For instance, full service carriers in the airline industry are likely to have very different approaches to HRM compared to low-cost airlines(Eaton,2001:Spiess and Warning,2005)The same is true for the hospitality sector, which may range from first class and luxury hotels providing extravagant, full 24-hour service to the more homely comforts of a bed and breakfast establishment; from fast food restaurants to Michelin starred restaurants .In turn, the jobs provided by these various organizations demand a variety of skills and attributes from those employees interacting with customers, which again will impact on HR strategies such as recruitment, selection and training.

Commonly selecting and recruiting and people to fill new or existing positions are a crucial element of human resource activity in all tourism and hospitality organisations, irrespective of size, activity and structure. It has been noted how the importance of service quality has increased the pressure on organisations for select right selection.(jameson,2000) pointed this may be especially true in smaller organisations that may not have well developed HRM functions or recruitment and selection systems and may recruit irregularly with heavy reliance on informal system and methods. Certainly, within the context of the hospitality sector, Price(1994) set up that 241 hotels sampled in her research a third never used job descriptions or person specifications. Lockyer and Sholarious (2005) surveyed over 80 hotels and again found a general lack of systematic procedures for recruitment and selection.

Research Objective

The ultimate objective of this study is to explore: What recruitment strategies applied in the UK’s 5 star hotel industry? An exploratory study in London Hotels. .The research objectives can be listed as follows

.To review HRM and hotel industry theories

.To explore what recruitment strategies in the U.K hotel industry

.To evaluate importance of HRM department in the U.K hotel industry

.To identify what is the recruitment and selection problems in the U.K 5 star hotel industry

.To identify if there are any weaknesses of recruitment strategies applied by the UK’s 5 star hotel industry

Therefore research questions for this study are;

What is recruitment?

What are recruitment processes?

What is the importance of recruitment in achieving strategic HRM?

In what way the recruitment is important for the service sector players?

What is the role of recruitment in the 5 star hotel industries overall business strategy?

What recruitment strategies are followed by the 5 star hotel industries?

Are there any weaknesses of recruitment strategies applied by the 5 star hotel industries?

Design of the Study

In order to fulfil the objective of the study, paper is organised as follows:

Chapter Two consist of a review of the literature on the subject. In chapter two; HRM theories and diffusion of recruitment and selection strategies, service encounter tasks, definition of 5 star hotel industries are given.

Chapter Three includes methodology of this research and consists of research design, sampling methods, data collection methods, data analysis, ethical issues involved in research process and limitations of this study.

In Chapter Four, data analysis provided. This chapter divided into two parts; secondary data analysis and primary data analysis. In the secondary data analysis; U.K tourism industry, recruitment and selection strategies in tourism industry are analysed. In the primary data analysis, interviews that are conducted with the management of the UK hotels are analysed.

Chapter Five is the conclusion part of the study and includes some directions for the future researches.