Queen's Inn Case Study

The Queen`s Inn _Assignment 1

The table of information supplied, regarding the business activities of the Queen’s Inn, located on the Atlantic Ocean in St. John’s, Newfoundland, revealed much information. The following report will discuss the current business situation and will be followed by recommendations for change. These proposed changes will mainly deal with changes to the Inn’s present business strategies that will insure future profitability. Also reviewed will be modifications to the supplied database to enhance its efficiency and usefulness.
Currently, the Inn is performing relatively well, however, based on historical data within the supplied database,
a number of reports have identified important information about what is currently working, and more importantly, what areas need to be considered for future change. Based on the reports, “Avg No of Visitors per Room Type” and “Avg Length of Visit per Room Type”, it would appear that the Inn’s strongest customer base consists of groups larger than 3 people who stay an average of 5.5 nights and are renting the Side Street view rooms.
However, this information alone is very misleading. Three additional reports, “Room Type Occupancy”, “Base Income per Room”, and “Avg Income per Room Type per Night”, shed much light on exactly where its strengths lie. For instance, occupancy for the 3 Room Types show that the 10 Ocean view rooms have a 100% occupancy rate, while the 10 Bay view rooms rate at 80% and the 10 Side view at only 40%. As well, base income shows the Ocean view rooms account for well over half of the total income and average $254 per room per night while the Bay view and Side Street view average $155 and $127 respectively. As for who is renting these rooms, it can be speculated that it would be mostly couples taking advantage of the Romantic Weekend Getaways. Typically speaking, those seeking business and family accommodations would opt for less expensive rooms. In terms of future business, based on this information, emphasis on this sector of potential customers would be very
prudent. The Inn`s Management Staff should centre advertising and marketing efforts around its Ocean View rooms and focus on customers looking for romantic getaways. Secondary emphasis should be to attract Business class customers, so as to increase occupancy rate for the less expensive Side Street view rooms. With an increase in marketing efforts, occupancy should rise. Vacation packages, which presumably attract families, should be maintained as a final focus. Once these strategies are in place, Occupancy for business and family class rooms should increase and Ocean view Romantic getaway should continue to be the bread winner for the Inn.
With respect to Management Information Systems and the supplied database of information, there are a number of recommendations that will aid Management in developing important day to day information and reports that will allow them to make informed business decisions.
The first of these recommendations is the investment in a computerized reservation and bookkeeping software that is tailored to this type of business. Aside from this, the supplied Access database could be modified to supply like information for strategic decisions. Information can be inputted through drop down menus and records added through completion of standard forms requesting detailed information upon Guest reservation and or check in. This inputted information will feed and update a modified table that will gather and save the information that will be vital for future decisions. In addition to the database fields already in the table, other information needs to be collected. Information related to discounts given will show if package style discounts are working. Fields identifying extra charges, such as extra guest charges, are important information. One step further would be to have these types of discounts and additional charges located in a table by themselves so that they can be changed and modified without changing historical data (the present income information within the database does not specify what discounts or charges may or may not have been applied). These tables can be accessed
through the initial input form referenced earlier. Other information that can be inputted and stored within the master table are charges related to such things as long distance charges, pay per view fees, meal charges, coupons, specials, etc.. This type of historical data can be used for much detailed reports on extra revenues being generated. This information can also be used for billing and receipt detailing for Guests so as to explain all levied charges. Access also offers less formal reporting tools, such as pivot tables, which Management Staff can educate themselves with and use “click and drag” technology.
In closing, I feel that continued emphasis on the aforementioned packages and the utilization of Access in creating valuable repositories of detailed information will allow the Queen`s Inn to realize future growth and prosperity. Detailed reports using the additional information discussed earlier will help Management determine why people are choosing to stay at their Inn. Occupancy trends per Room Type can be reviewed from season to season to aid in developing marketing strategies. With each passing Guest, important historical data is gathered, saved, and analyzed through Access tools and used to report information that will help steer future business success.