Seminar Reflection: Business Management and Customer Service

Writing a seminar reflection essay allowed me to delve deep into my thoughts and gained experiences about business management, case analysis and customer service. 

The annual growth rate of the travel and tourism industry, worldwide, currently reaches 8.1%, with total revenues of $ 7.60 trillion. Therefore, this industry is an investment target that promises good returns. However, the growth of the digital industry continues to erode conventional business. This time, those who felt the impact were hotel entrepreneurs who began to erode with the presence of lodging services sites from the United States, Airbnb. Airbnb is a service application that provides peer-to-peer rental property. Airbnb is a service application that provides peer-to-peer rental property. A system that allows owners to rent property units to other parties in a generally short period of time. Airbnb as an alternative accommodation like hotels. .

The concept of business carried out is feared to make competition in the hospitality industry unfair. There is no tax paid by the government contribution and various clear rules. To protect the hotel business, several countries and major cities in the world began to apply the rules of the game. This short report will try to analyze Airbnb and explore more of the impacts that have caused the conventional hotel industry

First Case Analysis: Strengths, Weakness and Trust Issues of Airbnb

Strengths of Airbnb

Price - Airbnb is recognized as a cheaper alternative to hotels. The business model allows the company to compete with the low prices compared to hotels and guesthouses. The price is competitive and based on the perfect location to suit any budget. Actually, cheap or expensive is relative, depending on the facilities offered. For example, for lodging model houses in Bali for rent at a price of approximately $ 20-30 per night. Amenities obtained standard, only the bedrooms, public toilets, and a beautiful natural landscape. Another case if the stay in Bali, we will not find the 3 stars hotel at a rate that low.

Experience living like (or) with locals - In addition to saving money, this is also about the experience. Most in a hotel, all rooms are basically the same. Airbnb different. Since we were staying at the home of local residents, we feel how to live like the locals. The rooms and houses are unique. If you want to spend the holidays in house / villa in a tropical style, its available.

Very extensive network - Airbnb operates in more than 200 countries. That is more than 65,000 cities. There have been many houses, villas, and apartments for rent. Particularly in large cities and tourist city. With more than 3 million lists provided. Their claims, there have been more than 200 million guests accommodation Airbnb.

Weakness of Airbnb

Security is still not optimal - Although Airbnb popular in the US, of course, the implementation in each region had a problem and uniqueness. Particularly the case in developing countries where the safety factor remains an issue for travelers. Example: In 2011, the owner of a rented place through Airbnb claimed his residence was robbed and vandalized by unidentified tenant. Until finally Airbnb must provide compensation.

Different countries, different regulations - Considered to violate Housing Laws and Regulations in many countries. The rejection of the Airbnb was also rife. A number of major cities in the world, such as Amsterdam, Barcelona and Berlin, has banned activities of Airbnb. In Singapore, the government has set the minimum duration for a rental house that rented through Airbnb app for 90 days. If under this duration, the rental business is considered illegal.

System Airbnb concept promoted and are relying on trust. Giving you space to foreigners as the host and live with strangers in their place is not easy. Especially for Asians who holds a prudential nature or suspiciously high.

Second Case Analysis: Rosen Hotels and Resort

Personal Impressions About Rosen Hotels and Resorts

The impressive thing about Hotel Rosen and Resorts is the work culture to serve each other, where the employees satisfy their customers and management satisfies its employees. No wonder they lasted for 45 years and became one of the best in the hospitality industry. Customer service has become a very important aspect for other Rosen Hotels and Resorts. This aspect is a differentiator with other competitors. The hospitality industry is required to recognize the behavior of consumers, then elevate the company's ability to meet the needs and desires of consumers. Where the needs and desires tend to be volatile, however Hotel Rosen and Resort were able to answer it all. Next how management treats workers. Workers are the most valuable asset in the service industry. Because those who deal directly with customers. Rosen hotel and resort management are very aware of it. So that many hotel policies favor the welfare and benefit of their workers. For example, giving college scholarships to workers and their children, health programs with their own doctors and nurses for workers and families, a successful financial reward program for employees. so obviously the hotel and resort management rosen considers employees as his own family.

Reasons for Rosen Hotels and Resorts Success

Great customer service and Employee satisfaction, the synergy of the two has made Rosen hotels and resorts as it is now. In addition, the person who made all this possible is the founder of Rosen hotels and resorts, Harris Rosen. Harris's persistence makes him a true entrepreneur. However, after he achieved all that success, he paid everything back to the community and his employees. Build a charitable foundation and become philanthropic. Indirectly, charity activities held by the Rosen Foundation helped raise the brand image of Rosen Hotels and Resorts. Therefore, people are interested in staying there.

Conclusions

It depends on the needs and interests of customers. In my opinion, the market segmentation between conventional hotels and Airbnb is quite different. Conventional hotel customers are those aged 30 years and over, financially well-established and prioritizing facilities and comfort in staying, while Airbnb consumers are mostly 20 years old or commonly called millennial generation, like traveling, adventure and not thinking about comfort and safety, but just look for the cheapest. Because most of them are only using the room as a place to rest and continue their journey. Therefore, they are not interested in spending a lot of money just to stay in a hotel and use hotel facilities for days.

From the case of Rosen hotels and resorts, we can learn that 'service' is the key of the hotel business. Hotels must know the behavior and needs of their customers. The second is how management values the hard work of its employees. Employees who are satisfied with their work will bring positive energy to their work. He did not need to worry about the cost of children's education, family health as guaranteed by the company. Therefore, the work is more focused, effective and productive. Third, we can learn from Harris Rosen's leadership. Sometimes we have to take decisions that crazy to achieve our wildest dreams. Start from the bottom, work hard and never give up. After the success achieved, return it to society.

References

• Airbnb 2019,  About Us - Airbnb Press Room, Accessed 28 Mar. 2019, Available at:
• Alvarez, L 2015, One Man’s Millions Turn a Community in Florida Around. Nytimes.com, Accessed 28 Mar. 2019,
• Bernardi, M 2018, The impact of AirBnB on our cities: Gentrification and ‘disneyfication’ 2.0. Accessed 28 Mar. 2019,
• Bearne, S 2018, 'Airbnb is forcing everyone to up their game': how hotels are changing tack, The Guardian, Accessed 28 Mar. 2019,
• Cohen, D 2015, How Rosen Hotels & Resorts Offers Hope and Hospitality, SUCCESS, Accessed 28 Mar. 2019
• Coldwell, W 2019, Airbnb's legal troubles: what are the issues?, The Guardian, Accessed 28 Mar. 2019,
• Meleo, L, Romolini, A and De Marco, M 2016, The Sharing Economy Revolution and Peer-to-peer Online Platforms. The Case of Airbnb. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, pp.561-570.
• Poh, J 2017, Now that the minimum rental period is 3 months, will Airbnb soon be legal in Singapore?, AsiaOne Accessed 28 Mar. 2019,
• Gerdeman, D 2018, The Airbnb Effect: Cheaper Rooms For Travelers, Less Revenue For Hotels, Forbes.com, Accessed 28 Mar. 2019,
• Shapiro, N 2017, Perfect Strangers: How Airbnb is building trust between hosts and guests, Airbnb Citizen, Accessed 28 Mar. 2019,
• Takacs, J & Vaduva, S 2017. 'A Swot Analysis Of The Global Hospitality Industry,' Revista Economica, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 69(6), pages 105-119, December.