Burgundy Hotels’ Career Communication Essay

Background to Burgundy Hotels

Burgundy is endowed with natural sites such as the Abbey of Fontenay, the village of Vézelay, the rock of Solutré and the Morvan among other places. Tourists have a variety of classy hotels and restaurants that feature gastronomic guides and the local chef’s cuisine. The Burgundy wine culture offers a variety of events that range from street fiestas and concerts to wine festivals. It is well known for both red and white wines that are made from Pinot noir and Chardonnay grapes.

Burgundy is divided into Côte-d’Or (offers expensive Burgundies), Beaujolais, Chablis, Côte Chalonnaise, and Mâcon. The city features sports tourism ranging from lakes, forests, and wines. Burgundy offers fifteen hotels with or without restaurants. This paper provides an insight into the abovementioned establishments with a view of examining the career opportunities that students anticipate in the near future. It discusses two hotels, Chateau Hotel Restaurant Sainte-Sabine and Château-Hôtel André Ziltener. It also provides an overview of two Michelin star hotels, Le Relais Bernard Loiseau and Maison La Meloise.

Research Methods and Data Sources

We used the following data collection techniques to obtain first hand and reliable information.

• Interviews that involved advertisement and marketing managers of the four enterprises
• Research journals regarding job requirements
• Company websites that contained publications on job groups and salaries

Scope

The research report covers the following areas

• Company profiles
• Background of the respondents
• Information on careers in Business Communication
• Recruitments qualifications and requirements
• Standards of employment
• Growth of the industry

Research Methods

Our group used survey methods to collect information. A number of hotel and restaurant managers were interviewed to gather credible information about their operations.

Le Relais Bernard Loiseau and Maison La Meloise Findings

Le Relais Bernard Loiseau

Bernard Loiseau enterprise is an iconic firm in French haute cuisine. Notably, this situation makes interesting case study of a business endowed with artistic and creativity. In France, haute cuisine attracts a status that is close to a culinary art and chefs are highly esteemed (Boulud, 2006). In Groupe Bernard Loiseau, the chef (who was also the founder) was a charismatic leader who put the company in the spotlight (Eburne, 2010). The first interview involved the public general manager at Le Relais Bernard Loiseau restaurant.

He is the overseer of the operations of the restaurant including coordination of accounting, sales and marketing, human resources, and provision of memorable services to clients. He was the right person to respond to the survey because of his strategic position in the establishment (Eburne, 2010). He revealed that the cultural cuisine had propelled the hotel to great heights. In addition, the restaurant’s location at Burgundy is an adequate reason for any tourist to visit its premises. It has several branches namely the Restaurant Tante Marguerite, close to the National Assembly.

Chef Pedro Gomes offers visitors fresh Burgundy cuisines. The Relais et Chateaux Morvan country close to La Cote d’Or, Bernard Loiseau’s Restaurant Tante that offers gastronomical cuisine reinterpreting traditional recipes such as the Escalope of duck foie gras fried with raisins and Tante Louise sole fillets. Chateau Hotel Restaurant Sainte-Sabine enjoys the adjacent medieval village of Châteauneuf-en-Auxois, with excellent panoramic views surrounded by a park rich in wildlife, such as deer, hares and other beasts of the jungle.

Visitors enjoy spacious and comfortable rooms. It is designed to offer a range of leisure activities such as swimming, park walks, and cycling (Paris & Leroy, 2014). It offers a relaxing corner for guests to discover the gastronomy of Burgundy. Another branch, Bernard Loiseau’s Restaurant Loiseau des Vignes, is located in the heart of Beaune. Relais et Chateaux in Saulieu with its restaurants in Paris offers services for families with children. Bernard Loiseau’s inn offers gastronomical cuisines that have sustained its Michelin 3-star status (Eburne, 2010).

Furthermore, the wine cellar of the Bernard Loiseau’s inn offers great wine from Burgundy that is supervised by the wine steward, Eric Goettelmann. The dishes include refined cuisines of gastronomical recipes that were invented by the late pioneer and Chef, Bernard Loiseau (Paris & Leroy, 2014). Bernard Loiseau’s Hotel La Cote d’Or (located in Saulieu) offers excellent spa services such as relaxation therapies, and massages among others.

Job information in Business Communication, Interviews and Training

The study reveals that there are flexible job opportunities in the restaurant. Some of the jobs that are offered at Le Relais Bernard Loiseau include accountancy, sales management, advertising and marketing, procurement, communication officers, IT, and banquet sales managers among many other exciting career opportunities.

The keen interest of the group was in communication and advertising since it is the specialisation of many colleague students. The general manager advised students who were wishing to work in the restaurant that it was important to pursue short courses in the hospitality management and interpersonal communication skills besides a bachelor’s degree course in Business Communication.

Maison La Meloise: Jobs for Business Communication students and Training

The restaurant is located in the ‘Great Wine’ country, at the mouth of the Dheune Valley. The tourism facility is the ultimate ‘home-away-from-home’ for many tourists. With churches from the 11th, 12th and 17th centuries, visitors enjoy a stroll through its streets that are characterised by rich and diverse cultural heritage (Echikson, 1995).

The group interviewed the sales and marketing manager whose primary role was to oversee marketing and brand image maintenance through diverse marketing strategies. He provided us with first-hand information on the hotel’s milestones since its inception. Jobs for Business Communication students included management in sales, advertising, Information Technology (IT), and marketing. The marketing manager said that graduate students have to show full commitment and professionalism to qualify for any jobs at Maison La Meloise.

Information on Careers in Communication in both Hotels

Students who pursue Business Communication can choose from a variety of career fields such as advertising and/or business journalism among others upon graduation (Paris & Leroy, 2014). Careers in Business Communication include management, personnel recruiter, admissions counsellor, sales representative, public information officer, negotiator and business mediator, marketing specialist, and human resource manager among others.

This broad assortment of careers requires students to specialise in relevant subjects that fit their interests in the workplace. In addition, the hotels offer career opportunities in hospitality specifically in accommodation such as room attendants, reception and front office. Chefs are trained on the job to specialize in the culinary department after recruitment.

Hiring Requirements

Prospective employees in the hotel industry will need to submit their academic certificates and transcripts to prove completion of school and possession of the necessary qualifications. Knowledge about computer applications is also paramount to job qualifications. An attachment of their GPA is also required to enable the management gauge the applicants’ academic performance. A panel to determine their qualifications and interpersonal skills usually interviews applicants. Applicants who are interested in other departments other than management undergo training to gain relevant skills.

Employment Standards: Salaries, Benefits, and Standards

The salaries are described according to the job description. The BLS PayScale.com reveals that marketing communication managers earned nearly $63,591, product-marketing managers $87,179, and senior marketing managers $102,298 in that year. Various publications of the organisation showed the working terms and contract conditions. The French labour laws governed the standards concerning working hours.

In France, the legal length of the working week is 35 hours in both the public and private sector. The maximum number of working time is 10 hours. However, the maximum working day can be extended to 12 hours based on a collective agreement. The hotels and restaurants remain committed to the labour laws. However, they provide a welcoming package in the event of overtime and nightshifts. Allowances that are provided include free medical cover by the company’s insurance, housing, food, drinks, and transport allowances.

The Growth of the Industry

Hiring at Maison La Meloise is conducted in January and June every year to replace outgoing retirees with a view of replenishing the enterprise’s workforce. The general manager revealed that the organisation hires people depending on the availability of vacant positions or internship programmes. Students are advised to seize the opportunities once they complete school to enjoy the high job standards and benefits in Burgundy’s tourism industry.

Currently, France enjoys political and economic stability, a situation that attracts international travellers to visit new destinations in the country. The hotel industry in Burgundy is expected to remain stable due to a projected number of increased tourists in France. Therefore, job security and better terms of employment will remain within the reach of graduates in the near future.

Conclusion and Recommendations

This report serves two purposes. One, it provides crucial information on the tourist destination available in Burgundy France. It has discussed the products and services available in the four establishments and reasons why guests need to visit Burgundy. It is endowed with an oceanic climate that is favourable for the international traveller from the UK and other originating countries.

Secondly, it has provided credible information on the available careers for Business Communication students. It also offers a guide to the job requirements for the hotel industry. This value is an added advantage since the students can prepare in advance before seeking the jobs. The report has extrapolated the job titles ranging from senior management to other subordinate positions that students can evaluate.

Glossary

Reference List

Boulud, D. (2006). Letters to a Young Chef. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Eburne, J. (2010). The Chef Drive: Cooking Beyond the Pleasure Principle. Contemporary French & Francophone Studies, 14(2), 169-77.

Echikson, W. (1995). Burgundy Stars: A Year in the Life of a Great French Restaurant. Boston, MA: Little Brown and Co.

Paris, T., & Leroy, F. (2014). Managing Transition in an Artistic Company With Entrepreneurial Management: A Case Study of Groupe Bernard Loiseau. International Journal of Arts Management, 16(2), 42-54.