STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Strategic Management

Strategic Management

Introduction

Having experienced the SARS, July 7th, 2005 terrorist attack, and the Bird Flu, which have slowed down the UK economy and had an adverse effect on the hotel industry, there are now clear signs of recovery. This report will first examine the UK hotel market, discuss the major industry players and demonstrate the relative importance of key issues. Furthermore, it will explore the UK consumer trends, present the diversity of backgrounds of investors and provide a future outlook along with a forecast which has been developed to illustrate the industry and the factors affecting its development and future. It will comment on short-term and long-term investment as well as recommending an outcome for the investor (Lynch, 2003, 02). A hotel, according to the EU, is defined as 'a collective accommodation establishment, typified as being arranged in rooms exceeding a nationally specified minimum and as providing common services, including room service'. Generally, the UK definition is made according to the holding of a licence to sell liquor.

“It has been, and continues to be, our responsibility to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality.” This is the stated philosophy of the luxury hotel company that Conrad Hilton, the founder of Hilton Hotels, used to extend his desire for his company to offer customers a kind, hospitable, and luxury setting. Conrad started the hotel chain by purchasing a single 40- room hotel from Cisco, Texas in 1919. Since then the corporation has grown into more than 2,800 hotels and 490,000 rooms in more than 80 countries as of 2006.

Hilton Hotels Corporation headcourters are located in Beverly Hills, California. It is known as the leading hotel company in the United States and globally. The Company owns, manages, and franchises Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Embassy Suites and Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn and Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grande Vacations, Homewood Suites, and The Waldorf= Astoria Collection (Johnson, Scholes, 2002, 04). According to the latest preliminary figures from the HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte, the UK hotel industry has proven to be the strongest performer in Europe in the first six months of 2004, with revenue per available room (revPAR) rising 11 percent against the same period in 2003, resulting from a balanced mix of rising occupancies and average room rates. London, which is the leading performer in the UK, experienced a 6% increase in average room rate year on year.

Discussion

"Planning is the process of establishing aims and objectives and choosing a course of action to ensure that they are achieved. This process serves to bridge the gap between where an organisation currently is and where it would like to be. (Hilton's Home Away From Home. 2005, 15) " But planning cannot be seen as independent part of management. Weihrich and Koontz likened the relationship between planning and control to a pair of scissors - the scissors cannot work unless there are two blades.

"The control process involves measuring progress towards planned performance and, where necessary, applying corrective measures so that ...