CONFERENCE AND BANQUETING IN HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report has tried to elaborate on the various aspects of the conference and banqueting sectors in the UK context. The case provided has increased the level of understanding and support of the hospitality sector, and event management plans and programs were heavily influenced.
The case provides a picture of a conference recently conducted in Ireland and provides various aspects of it, like challenges, recommendations, and key solutions to mitigate the problems. It has also supported the success of the event management sector holistically. The reader could have an elaborate understanding of the industry analysis of the event management sectors, and potential investors could benefit effectively from this.
The various aspects of understanding the nature of the conference and banqueting sector, development factors, key strategic and operational issues in effective event management, food and catering services, and last but not least, the understanding of the ergonomic considerations in the conference program and event organization are focused upon to have a holistic approach of the various functional areas of the event management sector in the UK country prospects.
The report will provide a vivid picture of the current situation of event management in the UK. All factors are systematically analyzed to give the readers a better flow of information and knowledge of the conference and banqueting sector of hospitality management at large.
INTRODUCTION
In order to have a vivid understanding of the nature and way of performance of the annual leadership conference of the given organization and its strategic operational measures a brief introduction to the chosen organization with its required resources is necessary(Abbott and Geddie, 2000). The table provides a brief introduction to the topic of discussion- conference and banqueting in hospitality management.
- Highlights – Characteristics
- Event type – Leadership conference or more specifically Annual Leadership Conference
- Company name – ICON, global clinical research company at Ireland.
- Supporting agency – Energy communications
- Date and duration – of conference 25th to 28th February 2013 (3 days)
- Venue – Ritz Carlton Powerscourt
- Conference group size – 135 participants
- Objective of the conference – Discussion of strategic vision and positional retention analysis of trusted CROs.
The conference event will help in better understanding the nature of the conference and banqueting sectors in the UK and will provide a detailed analysis of the various influential factors for their development. The operational issues will provide effective event management and service delivery systems could be interpreted more efficiently (Agnew and Kennedy, 2005).
The report will also focus on ergonomics in the event industries and support their future prospects. The hospitality and tourism industry has flourished enormously in the UK, and recent technological upliftment has changed the business scenario. The conference and banqueting sector has improved greatly as a result of rapid e-technological development(Archer et al., 2012).
DISCUSSION
UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF THE CONFERENCE AND BANQUETING SECTOR
An understanding of the nature of the conference and banqueting sector in the UK will increase strategic support for venue diversification, enhance developmental influences and enable better knowhow of the hospitality industry that includes its size, convenience, scope and diversification strategies.
DISCUSSION OF THE SIZE AND SCOPE OF CONFERENCE AND BANQUETING INDUSTRY IN UK
Understanding the hospitality industry in the UK, considering its size and scope, will attract potential investors. The conference and banqueting industry in the UK will have different management and ownership styles, and the structure will vary accordingly(Baum, 2011). The current industry trend could be studied, and developments within the industry could be enhanced.
The scope of conferences will include support of a large number of sectors such as hotels, clubs, restaurants, bars, casinos and contract catering(Chen, Jeng and Chang, 2006). The hospitality industry, especially the conference and banqueting industry in the UK, has a wider scope of diversification and is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. The advancement of industrialization ahs increased corporate lives and conference has gained huge popularity in this short span of time(Cho et al., 2006). The annual turnover of the nation has increased manifold, and employment opportunities have risen largely.
The size of conference could be classified as small ranged, middle ranged and large ranged according to the days of its continuation and number of participants and national involvements. The small conferences continue for one day and have number of participants below 500 (approx)(Choi, 2006).
The medium ranged conferences continue for 2-3 days and ahs around 600-1000 participants. The large conferences continue for more than 5 days and have head count of around 3000-4000 participants and are generally international in origin(Deery and Jago, 2010).
The small conferences are more common in corporate houses and are conducted whenever necessary. The medium conferences are generally annual and annual general meeting and conference is the most common example of it(Font, 2002).
DEVELOPMENT FACTOR ANALYSIS
The factors responsible for conference support and development of the hospitality industries in the UK generally include catering and food services, means of entertainment and amusements, innovative decision-support systems, readily available service facilities, accommodation services, conference room availability with latest and upgraded facilities of machines and integrated e-services, and other perquisites(Getz and Carlsen, 2000).
External factors will include the nation’s economic condition, GDP rate, and other performance measurement parameters. The developmental factors analysis will increase the effectiveness of the conferences, and the risk of failure and other performance issues could be mitigated largely.
Resources should be utilized efficiently, and information flow through advanced communication should be supported to reduce information misuse (Hansen, 2009). The development of the conference and banqueting sector is largely influenced by the prevalence of better opportunities and options in the country.
The UK, being a developed country, will enhance the opportunities for development (Herzberg, Meyer, and Weske, 2013). The UK’s industrialization has been rapid, and the country is continuing to develop fully, so the hospitality industry has flourished enormously in the country(Jagels, Coltman, and Coltman, 2004).
Country-cultural influxes have increased the effectiveness of conferences and other event management sectors, and internationalization has increased their scope.
UNDERSTANDING THE KEY STRATEGIES AND OPERATIONAL ISSUES INVOLVED IN CONFERENCE AND BANQUETING EVENT MANAGEMENT
The key strategies for supporting the operational issues in relation to conference and banqueting and event management are manifold and include partnership and tie up functions with some well known event management agencies will increase the performances of the events(Janiesch, Matzner and M\”uller, 2011).
The more the facility providence the more will be the gains of the event management organization and thus hospitality industry will gain largely. The other strategies to attract organizations and corporate house includes after sales service providence and follow-ups. Networking maintenance in this regard will help in better business sustainability(Janiesch, Matzner and M\”uller, 2012). The various tools and techniques of operations management in hospitality will support the business firms to have increase profitability support.
The various strategies include standard service providence to support food and accommodations with increased ambiences like internet facilities, fitness centers and gyms, swimming pools, night clubs, shops, car parking zones, and other rooms for extra facility providence to the guests(Jobst and Preissler, 2006). The conference and banqueting aspects will support the fruitfulness of the conferences.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The support of administrative procedures through function sheets, contract sheets, and booking diary documentation will systematize the conferences. Other services include pricing and packaging, and the organization needs to focus on the financial, legal, and marketing approaches(Kay and Russette, 2000).
The other laws relating to workplace health and safety need special focus. Implementing performance and quality evaluation and review techniques will support the increased effectiveness of event programs and increase hospitality organizations’ global competitive advantage. The key strategies include mostly communication factors, the way of conducting conferences, and the level of participation in management(Liaw et al., 2010).
The management requires a systematized hierarchical support that will have well-established responsibility centers. Delegation of authority is one of the factors that will have profound impact on the hospitality sectors especially in the conference and banqueting sector. Resource allocation should be such that the optimization criteria are maximum. The accommodation and food production strategies should be well incorporated in the strategic planning because they serve as one of the most crucial factors of development and effective conference and banqueting management(Lighthall et al., 2003).
Record keeping and database management will enable increased transparency in information sharing and data misuse could be avoided at large. The maintenance of files and information will act as instruments of time optimization and cost optimization(Lumbroso and Di Mauro, 2008). Decision making will support fruitful results and the organizations specially the conference and banqueting service sectors and such other event management sectors will have higher rate of success in future times.
DISCUSSION OF PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY REVIEW TECHNIQUES
The performance of the hospitality agency is largely dependent on the success of the conference or the business meeting. The fair conduction of the conference will require active human resource participation and enhanced support of the management will help in better management and hospitality industries will have increased success in future times(Mair and Jago, 2010).
The client verdicts were supportive in a discussion of performance and quality of the conference and the review techniques of it. The clients has opined this leadership conference as the best till date and the creative vision and team excellence were the two main things that were of high praise in the conference so conducted. The location and facility support of the hotel industry was high and the gathering of participants surpassed their assumed level of expectations(McGregor and Stacey, 2007). The success was quite high and the participants were satisfied with the way the conference was conducted.
The third party support and agency intermediary support has increased the efficiency of the event management programs and the future of hospitality industries will be sustainable in future. The evaluation techniques may include feedback from the participants, hotel staffs and the agency itself(McKercher, Law and Lam, 2006). The organization will also provide increased support of the government and other national organizing bodies to have better effectiveness.
UNDERSTANDING OF FOOD PRODUCTION AND SERVICE SYSTEM
The food service system is one of the key factors that influence the success of any event management program. If the food and catering service is not up to the mark then the program will surely fail. The food variety should be based on cultural demographics so that every participating member could have their foods(Meng et al., 2002).
The food production system, food production style and food production process need to be planned effectively and efficiently so that service facilities has no discrepancies. The foods need to be fresh and healthy keeping the workplace hygienic factors in mind(Nagarajan, 2003). The beverages and other drinks services need to be additionally provided with the main food items and this will increase the customer’s perceptions and needs.
EVALUATION OF THE SUITABILITY OF THE FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEMS AND STYLES OF BEVERAGE SERVICES
The conferences will have different food supply system and will have different beverage specifications as per the size of the conference. Big conferences are generally ended with a gala dinner party. But small conferences may at times support higher food services(O’Brien, 2006). The conferences should have banquet system support and beverages will mainly constitute tea and coffee.
But summer conferences may have soft drinks support and the gala dinner parity may provide hard drinks and other social parity support(Pechlaner et al., 2004). The food items thus provided with should be fresh and hygienic to support critical hazard control measures and the menu plans should be based on the legal compliances of the hotel venue and the organization as well(Pizam, 2010).
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