Analysis of Micro and Macro Factors Affecting the Hospitality Industry

The hospitality industry deals with the business of entertaining guests or clients, providing conference delegations, food, accommodation and other entertainment and social services. The sector is however faced by micro and macro forces that affect its operations. The Small forces within a business that affect its ability to operate its normal activities such as offering services to its customers are called micro factors. On the other hand, forces that influence business by affecting the larger society are called macro factors. The micro forces include competition and human resource while macro forces include climate change and technological advancement. By embracing technology and good human resource management practices, the industry can improve its consumer experience and compete favourably in the market.

The Crowne Plaza is an international company that offers hospitality services across the globe. The company has hotels in Manchester, London, Glasgow, New York City, Dubai and many other cities.

2.0 Discussion

2.1 Macro factors affecting Crown Plaza Company

            The macro factors affecting the company include Climate change and hospitality and technology and hospitality.

2.1.1. Climate change and Hospitality  

Climate change can affect the hospitality industry and its operations. The industry uses a large number of resources such as food, water, and paper. It also causes a small amount of pollution by the release of smoke and chemicals. Some of the pollution comes from the emission of CFCs in refrigerators and air conditioners. The hospitality industry has also been affected by the effects of pollution. Hotels that rely on nature such as snow, oceans, mountains or forests to attract customers and tourists have been affected due to increasing temperatures due to climate change and global warming. Hotels that offer nature recreation activities such as winter sports, fishing, and mountain climbing will be affected by unpredictable weather and effects of climate change. Climate change affects the industry directly by influencing destination patterns. Hotels located in places experiencing harsh weather conditions such as heavy rains that cause floods will receive few customers and encounter losses due to the destruction of property. According to Gössling et al., (2012) the hospitality industry is the most affected in cases of extreme weather. Unpredictable weather can affect the industry’s operations.

2.1.2. Technology and Hospitality

Hotels offer varieties of services such as food, swimming pools, massage rooms, golf clubs, beauty centres, GYMs, beds, and many others to their customers. These services require the use of up to date technology to attract more customers. (Nyheim and Connolly, 2011). The utilisation of the internet has become a significant factor to consider. The hospitality industry has advanced to online advertising where hotels market their services. Technological changes can affect the hospitality industry especially when the new technologies are made available in the market. The industry is forced to adapt to these new technologies to keep up with new trends. Hotels are therefore forced to replace or improve their computer hardware, software installation, and network technologies such as WI-FI. The use of electronic cards or prepaid cards to make payment is one of the many new technologies that hotel businesses have to implement to keep pace with the outer technological world. Lack of such technologies can discourage customers who desire such technological pleasures.  The organisation is also affected by micro factors which include.

2.2. Micro Factors

               Some of the micro factors affecting this company include human resource and hospitality and competitive advantage and reception.

2.2.1. Human resource and Hospitality

Employees influence the overall performance of a hotel or restaurant depending on their skills, experience, and motivation. Staff in the industry may include chefs, waiters, and kitchen assistants. The education level of the employees affects the hospitality industry positively or negatively. Employing staff with qualified education jeopardise the industry positively while engaging those with irrelevant or unqualified education affect the performance of hotel businesses adversely.  

2.2.2. Competitive advantage and Hospitality

Competition is a significant concern in the hospitality industry. The search for customers both domestically and internationally is the primary purpose of the industry. The hotel seeks to possess competitive advantages to achieve more customers and make more profits. According to Tsai et al., (2009) competitiveness involves the combination of assets of a business and processes that are used to transform them to obtain economic benefits such as the provision of services to customers. Competition is related to the growth of the business, prices, costs of production and distribution, and the market’s ability to afford the services. Competition can lead to positive or negative impacts on the hospitality industry. Destination competition between the business and similar businesses is a significant concern in the industry. The best competition should improve the standards of living for those in the destination by offering appropriate services at a reasonable fee.

3.0 Conclusion

The forces that affect the operations of hospitality businesses can be used to make positive impacts on the society and the company itself. In seeking to deal with these macro and micro forces, the company will grow and compete adequately in the industry.

4.0. Recommendations

The hotel will benefit from the incorporation of technology into its service provision. Meeting the expectations of customers can be rewarding to the industry.  It has to be technologically relevant by employing technologies such as digital signage and smart TVs to get more recommendations from their customers. The guarantee of security to customers’ property and personal information can improve the hotel’s image and gain more trust. The business can save customers’ data in the cloud rather than on computers that can be stolen. The use of backup software and devices can also improve the efficiency of data storage. The hotel can also use new saving energy technology to reduce its energy costs by automatically switching off electricity in unoccupied areas by using motion sensors. The use of tablets by customers to check-in and check-out will improve efficiency and satisfaction. This will also reduce time wastage of the lining up of customers at the front desk and enhance the guest experience. The business can embrace the use of smartphone applications to locate amenities such as gym, bar, swimming pool, and spa in the business environment.

The business can reduce pollution and the effects of climate change by avoiding the use of pollutants. Using non-toxic products, water-based paints and coatings, purchasing cleaning agents with low toxic levels and using indoor furniture made of wood rather than pressed wood (Boella and Goss-Turner, 2013). The hotel can embrace environmentally friendly policies such as using green energy like solar. The effects of climate change and global warming can also be reduced by encouraging proper housekeeping measures like checking for CFCs leakage in refrigerators and HVAC units during maintenance operations. The recovery and reuse of ozone-depleting devices or substances will also help to control Ozone-depleting substances that are emitted by the industry.

By employing staff with the required training, the hotels can perform excellently in the market. The process of recruitment should be done correctly with the aim of hiring the best person to achieve the needs of the business (Boella and Goss-Turner, 2013). Training of employees to meet the current trends in the hospitality industry is of significant advantage because it improves efficiency and keeps the service delivery relevant in the market. The training exercises can be done internally in the business premises or externally in training facilities. Motivating employees will ensure they perform their potential. Recognizing and appreciating employees will also be a useful motivating tool since the idea will help to maintain the productivity of the business. 

In growingly competitive industry, the hotel needs a marketing strategy that focuses on providing services that are in line with its goals to avoid wastage of resources. The hotel also needs to analyse its strengths and weaknesses and those of its competitors. This idea will help to realise a market gap that the hotel can utilise to establish itself in the market. The use of social media will help to analyse their reception and that of their competitors. Advertising on social media can also improve its competitiveness (Boella and Goss-Turner, 2013).

6.0. References

Boella, M., & Goss-Turner, S. (2013). Human resource management in the hospitality             industry: A guide to best practice. Routledge.

Gössling, S., Scott, D., Hall, C. M., Ceron, J. P., & Dubois, G. (2012). Consumer behaviour        and demand response of tourists to climate change. Annals of Tourism             Research, 39(1), 36-58.

Nyheim, P., & Connolly, D. (2011). Technology strategies for the hospitality industry.             Prentice Hall Press.

  Tsai, H., Song, H., & Wong, K. K. (2009). Tourism and hotel competitiveness             research. Journal of travel & tourism marketing, 26(5-6), 522-546.