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Executive Summary

With the Olympic Games due to be held in the year 2012 in London this essay serves to explore the impacts that this global athletic competitions will have on the Embankment hotel Bedfordshire being one of the service provides as far as the hospitality management industry is concerned. The essay will focus on the strategies which the hotel might have to enrol in approaching the big event. Focus will also be directed on highlighting some of the opportunities that the Olympic Games might tug along to the advantage of the Embankment Hotel Bedford shire management in tapping out financial resources from the expected visitors. The paper will analyze three business elements of The Embankment Hotel Bedford which include its marketing and financing as well as its business environment.  The findings from this analysis will be used in formulation of recommendations which will in turn be implemented as a post preparation strategy in maximally capitalizing on drawing profits out of these popular Athletic Competitions. Having executed an analysis and evaluation of this once in a blue moon opportunity, the findings were that masses with a lot of financial resources will be drawn from all corners of the world and London will have a lot to benefit from. The possible projections were that the hotel might be left incapacitated in regard to breaking the ice of benefits if some aspects such as financing and marketing are improperly harnessed. These are the hurdles which will be intensively and extensively discussed to come up with appropriate recommendations for fill in the loopholes.

 

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Introduction

In the year 2012 London will be hosting the Olympic Games a popular athletic activity which comes around after every four years. In this light the city of London is expected to be flocked with athletic fans from the four corners of the world and residents are already in much anticipation of the many opportunities that might sprout in having the honour of hosting this very important universal activity. To this effect entrepreneurs are already buckling up to take into custody all the benefits that their businesses can benefit from out of harnessing the financial resources that the influx of people might bring.

This report will therefore be based on how The Embankment Hotel can harness this life time opportunity to its full advantage by tapping the resources which the expected voluminous crowd will have to share with London. The Embankment hotel is ranked as one of the major service providers in the field of hospitality management. Offering quality services during this rare and precious opportunity will be one of the fields that the hotel can exploit in milking the financial benefits that this rare market will afford them. This will be in form of maximizing on extending quality rest and accommodation services, food and beverages for teams and fans from participant countries in addition to conference rooms for athletic officials and any other interested parties.

One of the major objectives of this paper will be analysing the current position and situation of the hotel in relation to provision of services which the field of hospitality is supposed to offer. But this will come after a briefing on the Embankment hotel background. The paper will also come up with some prospects on some of the improvements that the hotel can make to better what its menu has to offer. This will be in readiness to meeting all the possible demands that the visitor tastes will appeal for. This will be in consideration of the three elements of business which had earlier been highlighted. The conclusion that will be made from the findings of this analysis on what is to be expected during the Olympic events will help mould the recommendations that will assist in formulation of the guidelines that will help the management of the Embankment hotel to forge forward in setting its priorities that must be met prior to the Olympics.

Background

Hosting Olympic Games is accompanied by economical benefits in all sectors ranging from job creation to increase in tourism and hospitality earnings in the host nation and specifically the host city. Organization should come early since there are a lot of expectations on the real economic benefits of the event more so taking advantage of the spectacular event that attract the whole world. As the clock tick to the official opening the 2012 Olympics Games, it's the challenge to the Olympic organizing committees in Bedfordshire to raise the organization standards to a new level beating the previous Olympic Games staged in Beijing China. Since hospitality is the major stakeholder in the realization of the event, Embankment Hotel is expected to be among the beneficiaries of the event. The report deals with the topic 'The impact of the 2012 Olympic Games on the Embankment Hotel and the preparation of the hotel towards the event.' In the event of this platform' a research was done and its findings presented with the recommendations.

Embankment Hotel is a four star hotel with a refurbished interior; it is located at the heart of Bedford. Its structure offer both accommodation and conference facilities.  

Findings

After a thorough research, the results indicated that the impact of the event on the economy was positive. Bedfordshire could make huge benefits from the event through hospitality and other sectors that were involved. The research was therefore economical and recommendations were stated to ensure the event was successful both economically and organization.

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Business environment

In assessing the impact on Embankment Hotel and on its operation we conducted a PESTEL analysis, obviously on its macro Environment, among other important analysis. We considered this as one of the major analysis that would have enabled the management of this hotel to settle for the most effective decisions regarding the appropriate plans that were expected to be put in place. One of the reasons why we decided to conduct the PESTEL analysis is due to the fact that it could have enabled us to classify the various factors of macro-environment, these macro-environment factors that we are refereeing to include, Political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal.

Because of this is a major affair that qualifies to be classified as an international event, the government ought to be involved in the entire planning process from beginning to the end, in this case there are several decisions that the government ought to have put in place because of their impact on the organizations like Embankment Hotel and other operating in the region, some of which have already been put in place. There is the possibility that government may increase taxes slightly in order to capitalize of this international affair (Olympic Games), just like all other countries that have previously hosted the event, which has the potential of changing tremendously the economic situation of this country. There is also the likelihood of an overflowing of foreign organizations in course of the festival in order to tap in on the temporarily opportunities that are sure to be created by the festival, something that greatly relies on the government decision which therefore puts us on notice concerning the same (Hall, 1972).

The first major factor to consider in this PESTEL analysis is the economic benefit, which is no doubt going to occupy a central place in the whole affair. The Olympics are expected to bring a lot of economic benefits as has been confirmed by the research that was previously conducted, which are better grouped in two categories namely; long-term or short-term. The most prominent in the short-term category are the cash flows from the incoming visitors, athletes, trainers, the training activities, cultural events, media activities associate with the Olympics and the meetings of the different committees organizing the games which is one of the main concerns of Embankment Hotel. This is due to the fact that majority of the plans that are needed to fit in the said requirements will be required to be done in the host city where Embankment Hotel is located in, a benefit ensuing to Embankment Hotel whose impact is likely to last a long time. As for the long-term benefits, they might not be as linked to Embankment Hotel as the short-term; however it is essential to consider them because of the effect that they might have on this hotel, in one way or the other. These effects include; infrastructural development in this region, which meets international standards, to accommodate all the activities; the publicity that the media will accord this festival and in extension this host city; and lastly, the benefits that are directly related to the community itself. All these impacts touch on the organizations in one way or the other and ought to be considered before the final decision is arrived at regarding the organizational strategies in the upcoming event.

The social factor is another factor in the model that calls for attention.  This to a larger extent relates to the classification of the people together with the growth in the local population which will no doubt be impacted by this event. From this social factor it is incumbent upon the Embankment Hotel and other hotel in the neighborhood to brace for an unprecedented growth in both local and international clients, something that should kick start them to prepare for that explosion in the number of clients.  

The age distributions and other categorization of people such in terms of sex, age and social stratification must be considered. As for the technological factor, the hotel requires to upgrade its services by acquiring the most recent technologically advanced gadgets in order to meet the international expectations in terms of services and products that are offered by other technological conscious organization in the rest of the world. One of the international breakthroughs in terms of technology is the internet which therefore calls for its incorporation in the hotels system in order to reach as many visitors of the event as possible. The last factor to consider in this model of PESTEL is the environmental and the legal factors. At the center of this analysis of the environmental and legal factors is the consideration of the local waste issues, local licenses and permits that the organization requires together with any other legal requirement that may be needed in this plan as regards the organization of this upcoming major event (Hall, 1972).

The other analysis that ought to be considered touches on the external micro-environment; in this case this analysis is better carried out using the Porter's 5 Forces to determine the position of Embankment Hotel in terms of its preparedness. Porter's 5 Forces is essentially an effective tool that determines the actual power of an organization in terms of business. The first power that was we have assessed is the supplier power to determine how stable the hotel is and that its suppliers can not affect its operations. The buyer power is the next power that we have evaluated which essentially involve the researching of the appropriate measures that requires to be put in place to ensure that the clients do not in any way dictate how business is run by the organization, something that basically ensure that the organization gives the best in terms of the clients expectations.

The third force in our Porter's 5 Forces analysis is the competitive rivalry that essentially involves analysis of the overall competitors in the industry and the strategies that might be called upon in fighting the competition that they bring with themselves. In this case there is also the threat of substitution which is meant to ensure that the clients are left with no choice of substituting the services of the hotel with others. Still in this is the threat of new entry or the ability of other organizations to enter into this business and thrive, which in this case might include foreign companies, just as was mentioned earlier, but based on the fact that this is an organization that is firmly entrenched in the industry due to the fact that it is an established hotel, which under the circumstances is one of the least important factors in the Porter's 5 Forces model (Hall, 1972).

Also needed is a research on the internal environment of the company which involves conducting of the SWOT analysis of this organization. As is normally the case, this involves the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunity. The strengths of the company and everything that has enabled it to remain top in the hospitality industry in the region has been identified and looked into at depth in order to determine any improvements, minor or significant. The weaknesses involve instances that have prompted the company to incur losses and the prospects of turning these into economic benefits. The threats have been evaluated in the Porter's 5 Forces regarding the entry of new organizations together with the competitive rivalry. Finally, the opportunity that lies in the coming event is very crucial which in this case involves the economic advantage that has been discussed in the background (Hall, 1972).

Marketing

In regard to marketing a lot of research needs to be initiated in trying to identify some of the strong points as well as the weaknesses that will have to be put into considered for the Embankment hotel to beat the competition that other hotels like the Bedfordshire Swan Hotel will bring in the market. Apart from this visitors need to have prior knowledge of the hotel's location, what it has offers that others do not which will have to be done prior to the Olympics. Global marketing in this case will also be imminent. This will have to be done in the most enticing (Campbell, 2004) way possible in order to capture the visitors priorities in convincing them of the hotel superiority over all the other hotels. This 2will also entice visitors to make early bookings in order to have a rough idea of how many visitors they expect to make appropriate plans. The targeted market will range from athletic fans, distinguished guests, athletes, athletic officials and dignitaries who might want to come and watch their country representatives in action. The hotels therefore have to have a rough idea of the nature of customers it will be dealing with.

In this connection to this the Embankment Hotel management needs to conduct research to know the tastes and preferences of its customers to be and the strategies of ensuring other competitors are behind them in terms of services offered within the range of the targeted market. The Embankment Hotel management has a lot of marketing campaign strategies to choose from. For instance the internet 9e-marketing) which forms quite an efficient model of communication due to its easy accessibility globally under cheap cost will come very much in handy (Campbell, 2004). Other crucial methods will include the media through making television ads and commercials, business magazines and radio broadcasts. Volunteering as sponsors has also proven to be an effective method in the past since it helps makes global marketing easier and hence the Embankment Hotel management can also try this.

All the requirements that regard the hospitality management field will also have to be well prepared and of good quality. This will include conferencing and accommodation where rooms have to be properly equipped with quality and high standard equipment. Conferencing rooms have to take into consideration the nature of the guests they might be accommodating (Henry, 2008). Under the field of customer care staff will have to be properly trained to attend to people of different cultures, languages and nationality prior to the Olympic Games. Food will be another factor that should be importantly addressed in consideration of the diversities in the nature of visitors. This is more importantly in having prior knowledge on some of the delicacies that visitors might want featured hence chefs and servicemen and women have to have prior training. Means of transport to and from various stadiums will have to be properly organized and structured and this will also go a long with provision of enough security (Campbell, 2004).

Finance

Considering the financial expenses expected to be encountered by the Embankment Hotel, it is expected to dwell mostly on renovation of existing structures and upgrading its services. Expanding of its accommodation facility will not take place since a bigger investment is required with uncertainty of its use after the event. Instead, its catering facility is expected to expand to cater for more customers attending the event.

The fixed cost during the event is expected to suffer some looses since the number of people is expected to hit its high. More investment is required especially on the vehicles expected to ferry the hotel customers to the event and back. Therefore the hotel should embark on acquiring some vehicles. The accommodation part is the major blow to the hotel since there are few rooms; the hotel needs to renovate its accommodation to cater for more visitors though without compromising its standards (Henry, 2008).

Concerning the variable costs incurred, the human resources will be under pressure therefore more staff needs to be recruited as part of increasing good services to the customers. Sectors that will be affected are the security, catering and sales. More finances are required to deal with the security of the visitors and also providing them with the highest standard possible by employing new chefs, drivers, and security personnel.

Referring to the findings of the report there is evidence that there are a lot of benefits to gain from the 2012 Olympic Games. Therefore more investment required to aid in realization of the economic benefits expected. An economic research conducted in on several economic sector, their economic viability and the payback period also were dealt with. It was a justified investment as per the report on the 2008 Olympics conducted in Beijing China.

There is a lot of risk involved in the organization of the event since it is expected that the standard will be will be too high but with event only lasting for a few days and the uncertainty of the event. Therefore it may be such a disaster considering the huge investment on the event not managed well. The possibility of the actual expected business going way much below what is expected is very likely and this is why the process must be approached with a lot of consciousness. Under a pessimistic scenario, the company would make massive profits and this research results is anything to go by but in a pessimistic scenario, this would be a big blow to the progress of the organization which would stagnate for some time

Conclusion

The Embankment Hotel is set befit a lot from the 2012 Olympic games therefore a lot of changes on the strategies of approaching its business to accommodate the recommendations of the findings. Marketing of the hotel is crucial considering the competition on the sector is high there is tendency of losing customers even after huge investments only for luck of marketing. Marketing create trust from customers since most of them want to associate with famous hotels.

Other competitors like the Bedfordshire Swan Hotel might take advantage on poor marketing strategy and outshine it if it does not come up with strategies that will make it emerge as superior hotel and Embankment Hotel has the first choice for customers. This will also be determined by the marketing communication used. The method should be clear and well attractive to the sports funs since most of the visitors are associated with sports.

According to research on Embankment Hotel the chances loosing poor customer service is a major challenge that could disadvantage the hostel during the spectacular event. The risk might be on the choice of the preferred target group and their likes and dislikes. The hotel should concentrate in sourcing information about its potential Customers and strategies on the best services to offer to them. Online customer care is also a matter of concern (Henry, 2008).

Recommendations

It is recommended that:

• The hotel should come up with innovative way of handling its customers such as coming up with online marketing and hotel booking.
• The hotel should use its strategic location to make itself superior to other hotels that are disadvantaged their location.
• Embankment Hotel should be involved in advertisements that are associated to the event. Colluding with main sponsor is another option in marketing their products and services. Online activities such as creating a nice website outfit that could attract more viewers. E-marketing using established marketing websites could boost its customer flow. Frequent advertisement could be good for increasing customer awareness.
• The hotel also has to identify its target market and research properly on their tastes and preferences. It is important this done and the findings implemented but more generally staff should be increased to cater the pressure for service and also to maintain the standards. This will be through provision of high quality amenities in regard to accommodation, food, entertainment and other that might be important facilities also areas that touches on security, transport and quality customer care should be addressed.