MEASURING THE PERFORMANCE OF HOTEL OPERATIONS

Hotel operations comprise many activities that are performed to satisf y guests' needs for accommodation, business, dining, and entertainment . These activities consume resources and provide a wide range of servi ces from checking-in to cleaning and re-supplying rooms. In this paper , hotel operations are considered on a monthly basis. The manner in wh ich a hotel's activities are performed in a given month determines the competitiveness of its operations in that month. A reliable performan ce measurement system is essential for effective control and improveme nt of hotel operations. A procedure is proposed to obtain a hotel's op erational competitiveness profile based on its observed performance ov er a number of months. The application of the procedure involves simpl e ratio-type computations that produce relative performance ratings. T he procedure's data requirement is not excessive and management may se lect any level of aggregation of resources and/or products as well as incorporating into the ratings its perception of the relative importan ce of consumption of resources and generation of revenues. A case stud y of a 100-room hotel that caters primarily to business travellers is included to demonstrate application of the procedure. Comparisons with other measurement techniques are provided, including financial ratios , total factor productivity, and data envelopment analysis models. Cop yright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.