Scenario Planning and the Trends in Accommodation on the Hospitality Industry - Term Paper Example

Scenario planning and the trends in accommodation on the Hospitality industry Name Date Introduction Scenario planning is important especially in cases where the organization intends to plan for the future. Furthermore, the scenarios planning can be applied in the hospitality industry especially in cases where the major players in this sector have to plan for the trends in the accessibility of the accommodation sector (Page, Yeoman, Connell, and Greenwood, 2010). Scenario planning, in this case, helps in advocating for the flexibility in the accommodation industry and through this enable a given organization to plan for the future. However, for this to succeeds, the stakeholders in the hospitality sector especially the hotels must be able to identify the changing needs and incorporate them into the long term planning of the business. The scenario planning helps in identifying the driving forces, identifying the critical uncertainties, developing plausible scenarios and the discussing of the implications and paths. This is important if the hospitality industry is to succeed and deal with the major trends in the market. Issues facing the Hospitality industry in regards to accommodation The driving forces The major issues facing the accommodation issues includes the Personalization of accommodation services, Last Minute Booking, Use of Modern Technology, Environmental sustainability, Shift in Health in accommodation industry, Travel by nationality and the influence of millennials (HyeWon, Johanson, & Woods, 2011). In future, there will be continued use of personalized services in the hospitality industry which must be planned for in the long run (Lindgren, & Bandhold, 2009). Personalization has affected major players in the hospitality industry, especially with the growing needs to embrace these changes and incorporate them in the hospitality planning process. However, for the scenario planning to succeed the information provided must be able to provide ways in which the planning process is to be done in the right manner. (Jankovic, Persic, and Gavranic, 2011). Cultural dimensions must be catered for through the proper planning process. There is a likelihood the majority of the tourists may emanate from the most populated countries including China and India, and the cultural aspects must be considered when conducting the planning process. However, the changes may be required to ensure that the cultural dimensions are integrated into the hospitality industry to ensure that the accommodation is successful (Hoff, 2016). Furthermore, this may be a costly venture especially given that the cultural differences must be integrated into the hospitality industry and therefore the changes may be implemented to ensure that this is successful. The travel by nationality, therefore, must be fully incorporated into the hospitality industry but for this to happen it is important to ensure that the revenues are guaranteed in the long run to cover the costs that may be associated with the implementation of these changes. Furthermore, implementing the changes should also consider other cultural dimensions to maximize the revenues earned by the hotel industry. Health is a necessity in the hospitality industry, and this should be a uniform venture across the board. The requirements in health do not keep changing like other sectors such as technological changes since this is uniform in the hospitality industry. Personalization of services requires the hospitality stakeholders to ensure that the services they offer are streamlined in a way that they can match the customer individual’s needs. In this case, hotels must structure their operations in a way that it mirrors the customer's needs and therefore it may be forced to employee new mechanisms to ensure that personalization of services is successful. Environmental sustainability will affect the hospitality industry especially in the way the operations are structured to ensure that the wastes and other environmental sustainability operations are carried out in the same manner (Grienitz, & Blume, 2010). This means that the major players in the hospitality industry must adopt new techniques of doing things such as adopting of green technology and adopting activities that promote environmental conservation. The changes in laws and regulations require the major stakeholders in the hospitality industry to utilize the new mechanisms and through this develop the ability to adopt new ways of waste management as well as the use of green energy. Furthermore, the use of green energy may incorporate the use of solar energy which is necessary to the business since it will also help in saving the business the extra cost that may be incurred when adopting the new measures. Environmental conservation, in this case, is important especially for the long term success of the operations and in this case, proper planning must be done to ensure that it succeeds (Khanna, & Bhandari, 2015). Changes in technology will cause a significant shift in the hotel industry. In this case, the hospitality industry operations must be flexible enough to ensure that the hotel and other destinations can adopt the new technology as the technology to make sure that the operations can meet the standards required to succeed in the hospitality industry (Moital, Jackson, and Couillard, 2013). The flexibility in terms of adopting the modern technology in the hospitality industry is important since it gives the stakeholders in this market the ability to transition from one form of technology to another. Furthermore, the use of modern technology can be used in the promotion of the personalization in the hospitality industry. It is important to note that the changes in technology may cause the major players to utilize new methods, but in this case, the major stakeholders have the ability to promote flexibility in all their operations (Dahiya, & Duggal, 2014). Critical uncertainties In scenario planning, it is important to ensure that the driving forces that have greatest impact on the hospitality industry to ensure that proper planning is done (Eatough, 2015). The planning process, however, must incorporate the changes in technology, environmental planning and personalization of the products in the hospitality industry's they are likely to have the greatest impact in the hotel industry (Sevaguru, and Safa, 2009). Changes in technology may call for the reorganization of the operations in the hospitality industry where the hotel may be forced to adopt modern technology to meet the needs of the public. However, as the technology changes, the hotel's accommodation sector must change, and therefore proper budgeting must be done to ensure that the players in the hospitality industry have the ability to meet and cater for those changes. For instance, there may be variations in the booking services as there may be a need for the hotel to incorporate modern technology into their system thereby allowing them to attend to customers' needs promptly and through this ensure that all the needs are attended top. This may be capital intensive as to acquire some of the technological changes may require the business to invest heavily in modern technology and then the same thing may be needed in the long run. However, this is important to improve the customer's service and make sure that the customers are adequately satisfied by the measures put in place by the hospitality industry. Furthermore, this is likely to improve the interaction process thereby enabling the hospitality industry to attract and retain customers from across the board. On the other hand, planning for the environmental changes is crucial for the future sustainability of the hospitality industry operations (Lansing, and Vries, 2007). One of the main challenges that the major players in the hospitality industry are likely to face in future is incorporating environmental conservations measures and adopting green technologies in their operations. Countries across the globe are slowly adopting measures to control the environment and ensure that environmental conservation is promoted. The changes in policies in countries across the globe require the major players in the hospitality industry to adjust their operations to meet the environmental sustainability measures. People across the globe are slowly becoming environmental cautious, and therefore it is important to incorporate these changes in the operations of the hospitality industry. The hospitality industry must, therefore, adjust its policies to meet the requirements which are a costly venture to undertake in the long run and therefore adequate planning must be done to ensure that this is successful. Furthermore, if proper planning is not done by the stakeholders in the hospitality industry, then there is a possibility that legal issues are likely to face the hotels due to their failure to adopt the new policies and integrating them into their systems. Personalization is also a factor that may cause significant changes in the hospitality industry as this affects the customer satisfaction in the long run. It is important therefore to ensure that the personalization of the services related to the accommodation sector are embraced in the hospitality industry if the industry is to succeed (Dzhandzhugazova, Blinova, Orlova, Romanova, 2016). Range of plausible scenarios Adoption of new technologies The adoption of new technologies calls for the significant changes in the hospitality industry. However, the technology may become absolute, and therefore the major players may be forced to change and adapt the new technologies to ensure that the service delivery is improved. For instance, accommodation sector normally incorporates the training facilities which are expensive especially when more modern technology relating to this are integrated. Adopting new technologies in any sector requires huge investments which may have huge implications if the lifecycle of the technology is short especially in cases where the technologies are expensive to implement. This reduces the revenues at the company faces. Environmental policies The change in Environmental policies will, in the long run, become a necessity where the hospitality industry must embrace these changes if they are to succeed and to ensure they abide by the existing regulation if its operations are credible. Furthermore, it is a requirement that the hospitality industry must adopt these changes in their accommodation sector. This includes adopting of the green energy and waste management system to ensure that the disposal of waste is done in the right manner. Furthermore, this will help in the energy conservation, and at the same time, the hospitality industry may have the ability to promote the recycling of various products in the market. Personalization of services Personalization of services is a necessity in the hospitality industry. Furthermore, the information is available on the online platform and various social media sites, and through this, the accommodation sector in the hospitality industry may have the ability to structure their services to meet the demand of the customers which in turn will play a fundamental role in promoting the customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry. Implications The consequences of the three possible scenarios cause the increase of the costs especially in the management of the hotels and come up with policies to support personalization, environmental conservation and the changes in technologies (Lange, Bergs, Weigert, and Wolter, 2012). It is a costly venture to adopt new technologies as well as approve the green based technologies, but this is a necessity if the accommodation sector is to improve its services and at the same time ensure that the hotels and the other main stakeholders abide by the existing standards. For instance, to conserve energy, the hospitality industry must make sure that it incorporates the modern technology in its systems. Furthermore, this may be Beneficial's to the long run operations of the hospitality as the adoption of new technologies which may be profitable over the long term (Maggon, & Chaudhry, 2015). Adjusting to changes to adopt personalization, modern technology and the environmental conservation is a costly venture but may guarantee future returns to the hospitality industry if the hospitality industry can attract a large number of customers. This will help in making sure that the increased cost of operations is covered by the increased inflow of the customers in the long run. Therefore, even though there may be the increase in the cost of the operations while embracing various changes in the hospitality industry, this may be necessary if the sector is to succeed and ensure that customer satisfaction improves. References Dahiya, A., & Duggal, S. (2014). TRENDS AND PRACTICES IN HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM RESEARCH: A SELECTED STUDY FROM INTERNATIONAL JOURNALS. International Journal Of Hospitality & Tourism Systems, 7(1), 27-37. Dzhandzhugazova, E. A., Blinova, E.A., Orlova, L.N.; Romanova, M.M. (2016). Innovations inHospitality Industry, International Journal of Environmental & Science Education., Vol. 11 Issue17, p10387-10400 (at http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.glos.ac.uk/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=22fd03f0-954c- 413d-aa5b-2c921529f3fd%40sessionmgr103&hid=112) Eatough, M., 2015. Planning the Future: Scenario Planning, Infrastructural Time, and South African Fiction. MFS Modern Fiction Studies, 61(4), pp.690-714. Grienitz, V., & Blume, V. (2010). 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