Introduction to Hospitality Industry
Summer 2013
Term Project
Project Overview The course project allows students, in assigned teams, to compare and contrast three hotels in the Boston/Brookline/Cambridge market. Projects will require both primary (field work) and secondary research. Presentations to the class summarizing the results of your analysis will be conducted during the last class of the semester.
Project Topics 1. Select three hotels in the Boston/Brookline/Cambridge on which your team will focus its analysis. A hotel signup sheet will be passed around in class for your selection.
2. Learn all that you can about each hotel from its website and its Twitter/Facebook home pages.
3. Visit each hotel in teams of no more than 2 people. Spend no more than one hour in each hotel lobby and general public space areas. Observe only. Do not interact with the employees, guests, etc. Collect as much data about the service, customers, facilities, location, etc., as you can. You should apply your knowledge gained from the Lodging section of this course (chapters 3-5).
4. Summarize your findings in a written report and PowerPoint presentation. This should include educated guesses about the hotel and why you have drawn the conclusions you have drawn, including at least the size, ADR, RevPar and category of the hotel. You may wish to structure part of your summary as follows: "Because I saw... I believe this hotel is..." based upon the information and observations cited in parts 2 and 3.
Format The oral presentation should be no more 15 minutes, with an additional 5 minutes reserved for questions and discussion. Since you only have 15 minutes, you can’t demonstrate all your research – just the highlights. Each student must contribute during the presentation. A one page summary handout of the major points for your classmates should be included. The written report should include the following sections: * Executive summary; highlighting the scope and findings of your research (1page) * Methodology; detailing the process of how you collected data (1-2 pp) * Analysis of research; the body of your report, including the research you collected. This is the bulk of your paper (length – variable and illustrating the breadth & depth of your research). * Conclusions & recommendations; based on your analysis, what are your findings and implications of the research. (3-4 pg) * Appendices, footnotes and complete bibliography. Appendices can include charts, compilation of specific data, images that add