It is usually a good strategy to emphasize positive things
in any human endeavor to encourage the team to excel and to perform beyond
expectations. But there is a danger of going too far in this
direction, and ignoring critical factors that are necessary for success.
If a retail shop focuses solely on gaining more customers
without measuring the cost of increasing sales, there is a very real danger of
achieving stellar sales results at the expense of profit and ultimately a
failure of the business. Thus a sound approach to increased sales and profit is
to monitor gross profit and expenses while at the same time doing those things
that encourage more people to patronize the establishment by delivering greater
value for money to a well targeted customer base.
The cost of attracting new customers is a costly business, that
requires expense in advertising; staff training; upgrading facilities; or in
special discounts. Thus it is a sound practice to do everything possible to
exceed expectations of existing customers to enhance the likelihood of repeat
business and improved profitability. Above all, it is important to keep track
of all aspects of the business and take a balanced view of the many success
factors as well as the negative issues that need to be addressed.
This past week there were two items in the press that once
again focused on the increase in arrivals of both long stay visitors and cruise
ship passengers. The good news was that there were increases all around. In the
subtext however, there was a strong indication that the arrivals did not
translate into increased business. This is a disquieting trend that has
continued for far too long and it indicates that we do not have our eye on the
ball when it comes to the hospitality industry.
Policy makers and the BTA have been focused on arrival
numbers and ignoring the receipts. There are continuing reports about seeking
new business from non-traditional areas and developing the Chinese market while
admitting that Beijing is a bit far. That’s the understatement of the year. The
airlines would have to develop an in-flight refueling capacity to make the
Beijing Bridgetown hop.
It is time thet we started measuring the profitability of
our hospitality industry and focus on those things that add value to the
visitor experience. We should use new technologies available to us in
developing up market additional business from our traditional markets. By
capitalizing on the positive experiences of generations of visitors we can
develop word of mouth advertising.
It is time to focus on what works and the successes that we
have had even in these difficult economic times, and there are some. The
industry needs hard headed pragmatic individuals who have a clear perspective
of the future of the industry and the direction that it must take. We need to
start measuring the things that count and focus on the contribution that is
made to our economy.
The steady decline in hospitality industry revenue, at many
levels, indicates a policy failure of significant proportions. It is time to
abandon the bottom feeding strategy to increase the numbers of visitors and to
focus on high value customers and service excellence. It’s more work, but it’s
worth it.
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