CASE ANALYSIS: NORTHRIDGE PLAZA HOTEL (Travel and Lodging Industry)
The Northridge Plaza Hotel is located in the northwest sector of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The hotel organization participates in the travel and lodging industry. The services offered by the hotel include the traditional lodging services associated with hotel organizations rooms, food and beverage service, and ancillary services for guests. Additionally, however, the hotel provides a full range of business support services for guests, and complete travel and sight seeing services for such guests. The mission of the hotel is to provide outstanding lodging, business, and travel services to guests.
Recently, the hotel has experienced occupancy rate problems. After studying the situation, the management adopted a strategy designed to attract seminar attendees from the near by California State University, Northridge, and to attract an increasing number of tour and convention guests.
Background on the Travel and Lodging Industry
The activities of the hotel segment of the travel and lodging industry are no longer limited to the provision of lodging, food, and ancillary services (Standard & Poor's, 1990, L 2). Entertainment, convention facilities, and special accommodations for business and government guests have long been a part of a hotel's ancillary services. In the last decade of the twentieth century, however, entertainment, in the form of gaming, is of such great magnitude for some hotels that lodging and food services may almost be considered as ancillary services for gaming activities. Further, the availability and quality of conference, and other special services for business and governmental guests in the early 1990s often are the determining criteria for lodging site selection by such guests.
Typically, the hotel segment of the travel and lodging industry does no better than track gross national product growth (Clark and ...