Sandals Resorts International: The Quality Advantage

Founded in 1981, Sandals Resorts International is now 17 properties and 3,880 rooms, and also has become a world-class success story with one of the 10 most recognizable brand names in the international hospitality industry, according to the author, group director for human resources development and training for Sandals.

A Study of Satisfaction Level of Hong Kong Tourists with Hot Springs Hotels and Resorts in Guangdong, China

The research reported here aimed at examining Hong Kong tourists’ level of satisfaction with hot springs hotels and resorts in Guangdong, China. Primary data were collected and service quality and tourist satisfaction levels were measured using the SERVQUAL model. The empirical findings indicate that most tourists are satisfied with the service quality of these hotels and resorts. Among the different dimensions of service quality, empathy receives the highest score. Overall satisfaction receives a score only slightly better than average. The results also reveal significant relationships among customer satisfaction level, loyalty, and recommendation.

Liderança em Resorts: um estudo dos estilos praticados no Brasil

O segmento da Hotelaria é profundamente afetado pelo comportamento de seus líderes e suas características pessoais, e especialmente, pela maneira como influenciam seus seguidores a alcancarem este resultado. Sendo assim, o presente artigo tem como objetivo geral identificar e analisar os estilos de liderança praticados nos resorts do Brasil. Buscou ainda mapear no grupo de gestores, quais possuem o estilo de liderança transacional e transformacional pela opinião dos próprios gestores e de seus liderados. Para tanto, como método de pesquisa foi realizado um estudo exploratório descritivo de natureza quantitativa e qualitativa, junto a 169 funcionários de 14 resorts certificados pela Associação Brasileira de Resorts do Brasil de todas as regiões do país. Os dados coletados através da pesquisa quantitativa foram tratados por meio da técnica estatística de análise fatorial confirmatória, bem como de técnicas estatísticas de análise de frequência e variância. Já os dados obtidos através da pesquisa qualitativa foram analisados por meio da técnica de análise do discurso - Focus Group. Os resultados da pesquisa quantitativa demonstraram que o estilo de liderança predominante praticado nos resorts do Brasil é o Transformacional. Já os resultados da pesquisa qualitativa apresentaram-se de forma contrária e demonstraram que o estilo de liderança predominante é o Transacional. Esta discrepância entre os resultados das duas pesquisas levou à busca de um entendimento maior acerca das possíveis causas, chegando à conclusão de que a desejabilidade social pode explicar a diferença de opinião dos líderes e liderados participantes da pesquisa quantitativa.

O departamento de revenue management de um grupo hoteleiro: análise dos tivoli hotels & resorts

O presente relatório relata o contacto com a indústria hoteleira nacional por meio da realização de um estágio curricular no departamento de Revenue Management do grupo Tivoli Hotels & Resorts, assentando por base sob as funções desempenhadas na área em estudo. Trata-se de um relatório que apresenta como finalidade a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Gestão e Direção Hoteleira, curso lecionado na Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar, através da realização de um estágio curricular entre Julho 2014 e Maio 2015. Foram definidos diversos objetivos com a realização do presente estágio, tais como adquirir conhecimentos e competências nas técnicas de Revenue Management utilizadas nos Tivoli Hotels & Resorts, bem como adquirir conhecimentos nas técnicas utilizadas para maximização de receita, quer a nível de clientes individuais, quer a nível de grupos. Outro dos objetivos passava por adquirir experiência na análise de estatísticas e técnicas de monitorização, acompanhando a sua correta aplicação por parte das unidades hoteleiras. O grupo hoteleiro sobre o qual incide o relatório, a Tivoli Hotels & Resorts, é uma cadeia hotelaria nacional que conta com doze hotéis localizados em território nacional e outras duas unidades localizadas no Brasil, e que se destaca ao oferecer um vasto leque de serviços ao cliente que dinamizem a sua estada. Este trata-se portanto do Unique Selling Proposition (USP) da marca Tivoli: vender experiências e não simples estadas – Experience More. Ao longo do relatório será feito desta forma referência ao grupo Tivoli Hotels & Resorts bem como especificamente ao departamento de Revenue Management, incidindo o relatório sobre em que consiste esta técnica de gestão e quais as tarefas diárias de um revenue manager.

Memorandum of Understanding Tompkins Cortland Community College-Universidad de Cuenca-Disney Theme Parks and Resorts College Program. International Educational Exchange Agreement.

English

Relatório de estágio. Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Brussels

Dissertação de Mestrado, Direção e Gestão Hoteleira, Escola Superior de Gestão, Hotelaria e Turismo, Universidade do Algarve, 2016

Relatório de estágio no Tivoli Hotels & Resorts

Na realidade que vivemos actualmente os “novos turistas” são mais bem informados e mais preocupados na escolha de um destino turístico, de acordo com as suas motivações. Como tal, a conquista de novos clientes é um desafio constante para qualquer destino ou produto turístico, surgindo assim novas formas de comunicar e chegar ao público que pretendemos impactar. Segundo (Marques, 2012) todas as definições de marketing enfatizam a proximidade da empresa aos seus públicos, levando-o a criar laços estáveis com ele. Esta afirmação aplica-se no marketing Digital na medida em que um dos objectivos é reconhecer o cliente e apresentar a informação que interessa ao cliente, reduzindo o “lixo digital”. O Marketing Digital, assume-se cada vez mais como uma ferramenta que não deve ser desperdiçada pelas empresas, porque uma boa presença online permite-nos, com pouco investimento alcançar mais clientes que resulta num maior número de vendas e mais receita. A presente Tese de Mestrado foi realizada através de um estágio curricular desenvolvido na cadeia hoteleira Tivoli Hotels & Resorts, no âmbito do curso de Mestrado em Marketing e Promoção Turística. No decorrer do estágio surgiu a ideia de dar a conhecer, com este trabalho, a importância do marketing online e a sua utilização como ferramenta de venda e todos outros benefícios, como divulgação e reconhecimento da marca que se traduz na chamada “reputação online”.

Complaining in cyberspace : the motives and forms of hotel guests’ complaints online

Traditionally, consumers who have been dissatisfied with service have typically complained to the frontline personnel or to a manager in either a direct (face-to-face, over the phone) manner, indirect by writing, or done nothing but told friends and family of the incident. More recently, the Internet has provided various “new” ways to air a grievance, especially when little might have been done at the point of service failure. With the opportunity to now spread word-of-mouth globally, consumers have the potential to impact the standing of a brand or a firm's reputation. The hotel industry is particularly vulnerable, as an increasing number of bookings are undertaken via the Internet and the decision process is likely to be influenced by what other previous guests might post on many booking-linked sites. We conducted a qualitative study of a key travel site to ascertain the forms and motives of complaints made online about hotels and resorts. 200 web-based consumer complaints were analyzed using NVivo 8 software. Findings revealed that consumers report a wide range of service failures on the Internet. They tell a highly descriptive, persuasive, and credible story, often motivated by altruism or, at the other end of the continuum, by revenge. These stories have the power to influence potential guests to book or not book accommodation at the affected properties. Implications for managers of hotels and resorts are discussed.

Forward-secure hierarchical predicate encryption

Secrecy of decryption keys is an important pre-requisite for security of any encryption scheme and compromised private keys must be immediately replaced. \emph{Forward Security (FS)}, introduced to Public Key Encryption (PKE) by Canetti, Halevi, and Katz (Eurocrypt 2003), reduces damage from compromised keys by guaranteeing confidentiality of messages that were encrypted prior to the compromise event. The FS property was also shown to be achievable in (Hierarchical) Identity-Based Encryption (HIBE) by Yao, Fazio, Dodis, and Lysyanskaya (ACM CCS 2004). Yet, for emerging encryption techniques, offering flexible access control to encrypted data, by means of functional relationships between ciphertexts and decryption keys, FS protection was not known to exist.\smallskip In this paper we introduce FS to the powerful setting of \emph{Hierarchical Predicate Encryption (HPE)}, proposed by Okamoto and Takashima (Asiacrypt 2009). Anticipated applications of FS-HPE schemes can be found in searchable encryption and in fully private communication. Considering the dependencies amongst the concepts, our FS-HPE scheme implies forward-secure flavors of Predicate Encryption and (Hierarchical) Attribute-Based Encryption.\smallskip Our FS-HPE scheme guarantees forward security for plaintexts and for attributes that are hidden in HPE ciphertexts. It further allows delegation of decrypting abilities at any point in time, independent of FS time evolution. It realizes zero-inner-product predicates and is proven adaptively secure under standard assumptions. As the ``cross-product" approach taken in FS-HIBE is not directly applicable to the HPE setting, our construction resorts to techniques that are specific to existing HPE schemes and extends them with what can be seen as a reminiscent of binary tree encryption from FS-PKE.

Pathway to sustainability : the Lady Elliot Island hybrid solar power station

The Lady Elliot Island eco-resort, on the Great Barrier Reef, operates with a strong sustainability ethic, and has broken away from its reliance on diesel generators, an initiative which has ongoing and substantial economic benefit. The first step was an energy audit that led to a 35% reduction in energy usage, to an average of 575 kWh per day. The eco-resort then commissioned a hybrid solar power station, in 2008, with energy storage in battery banks. Solar power is currently (2013) providing about 160 kWh of energy per day, and the eco-resort’s diesel fuel usage has decreased from 550 to 100 litres per day, enabling the power station to pay for itself in 3 years. The eco-resort plans to complete its transition to renewable energy by 2015, by installing additional solar panels, and a 10-15 kW wind turbine. This paper starts by discussing why the eco-resort chose a hybrid solar power station to transition to renewable energy, and the barriers to change. It then describes the power station, upgrades through to 2013, the power control system, the problems that were solved to realise the potential of a facility operating in a harsh and remote environment, and its performance. The paper concludes by outlining other eco-resort sustainability practices, including education and knowledge-sharing initiatives, and monitoring the island’s environmental and ecological condition.

Architecture in the South Pacific : the Ocean of Islands

Architecture in the South Pacific: The Ocean of Islands recounts the recent developments of the South Pacific and its fascinating architecture. This volume traces the European architectural overlay onto this scattered group of islands as well as the transition of these same islands towards a regional identity that has been fashioned by the remoteness of each location, the incomparable setting, and the distinctive ethnic mix of its inhabitants. A series of themed essays present the story of architectural development in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Wallis and Futuna, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Samoa and American Samoa, and French Polynesia. Recent architecture typifies the evolution of the islands as they have been subjected to the transformative waves of alien trade, religion, colonization, war and tourism, followed by post-colonialism and revived nationalism. As with the Pacific region itself, the most prominent characteristic of the architecture is its diversity. The blending of the universal and the local sets the stage for a fresh vision of the South Pacific across a wide range of building types, from spectacular mission churches to sensational resorts in paradise. This book, in full colour, will appeal to architects, armchair-tourists, students and all those for whom the South Pacific is the idyll of their dreams.

Experiential brand deployment : improving tourism brand evaluations

This article examines the use of an experiential branding process to help leisure resort businesses evaluate their brand. We integrate experiential marketing and the quality function development approach in combination to help understand the brand from the perspectives of both the consumer and firm, to help resort service businesses build their experience-oriented competitive brands. The value of this study is that it provides a real-world brand framework, especially those resorts with limited resources. Much is spoken about the influence of the brand and why it is important, but little is known about decisions related to developing a brand, especially for firms that have limited resources such as resort tourism operators. Tourism operators tend to be small-to-medium enterprises that do not necessarily have the capacity to do everything suggested. Therefore, we explore how firms assess the critical elements of their brand by using an integrated approach. For example, the study finds that, first, by using the quality function development method resorts can identify the most critical brand elements, and second, we identify the associated strengths of each brand element and confirm the identified resort’s critical brand elements for investment. Results show the potential strategies to create a more holistic set of experiences.

Choosing appropriate contract methods for design-build projects

For design-build (DB) projects, owners normally use lump sum and Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) as the major contract payment provisions. However, there was a lack of empirical studies to compare the project performance within different contract types and investigate how different project characteristics affect the owners’ selection of contract arrangement. Project information from Design-build Institute of America (DBIA) database was collected to reveal the statistical relationship between different project characteristics and contract types and to compare project performance between lump sum and GMP contract. The results show that lump sum is still the most frequently used contract method for DB projects, especially in the public sector. However, projects using GMP contract are more likely to have less schedule delay and cost overrun as compared to those with lump sum contract. The chi-square tests of cross tabulations reveal that project type, owner type, and procurement method affect the selection of contract types significantly. Civil infrastructure rather than industrial engineering project tends to use lump sum more frequently; and qualification-oriented contractor selection process resorts to GMP more often compared with cost-oriented process. The findings of this research contribute to the current body of knowledge concerning the effect of associated project characteristics on contract type selection. Overall, the results of this study provide empirical evidence from real DB projects that can be used by owners to select appropriate contract types and eventually improve future project performance.