Introduction
Resorts, like other business enterprises face many challenges. They are sensitive areas as they are places used for recreation and relaxation by most tourists and therefore affected by slight changes. People visiting resorts have many options to choose from, thus those managing them must be of the right standards to attract clients. The standards are determined by among many other things, interactions between employees and clients, security and affordability of services.
This paper explores challenges faced by the resort industry and concentrates on high costs of labor, issues of insecurity, high competition and economic recessions.
Challenges Facing Resorts
Operation costs and specifically labor costs have always been high in the hospitality industry and especially in resorts. This is partly because of the high number of employees handling different tasks that are needed. In fact, for most resorts, paying of wages accounts for the largest single expense and takes a big chunk of operating costs for resorts.
On the other hand, a large number of skilled employees who are well motivated are necessary for effective running of resorts. Many of the services offered in resorts like serving food, tour guiding, massage and other relaxation services cannot be automated and therefore resorts will continue to face challenges of high labor costs. Other operation costs are in the form of procured products for clients and recurrent bills.
Security is another significant challenge that confronts the resorts industry. Most of the clients visiting different resorts come from outside of the area where the resort is situated. Therefore, when making a decision whether to visit a particular resort, issues of security are a major determinant of such a decision.
Areas experiencing security problems have less visitors especially those out to enjoy themselves. In current times, the global terrorist problem has seen many resort areas and establishments suffer. When an area is considered prone to terrorists’ attacks, travel advisories are issued and holidaymakers are forced to stay away. Countries dependent on tourism with well-established resort hubs may many a times find themselves without visitors when security becomes an issue.
The third challenge is increased competition or rather an influx of resort hotels and accompanying services that have destabilized the industry quite substantially. With many resorts reporting that they serve less clients than they are capable of, it is indicative of the fact that resorts have grown in numbers therefore existing ones lose some clients to the new ones.
As a result, resorts are forced to cut prices in order to attract more customers, and therefore remain in business. In the process, they reduce the amount of profits made thus creating challenges for business. This is especially true during low activity seasons when few people are holidaying.
The last challenge is global economic recession. People go out to enjoy themselves when they have extra finances and in times of an economic boom resorts definitely have good business. When the world’s or a country’s economy goes into recession, people will handle their most pressing needs first and few will have money to spent on holidays. This generally means a hard time for the resort industry be it at the international or national scale.
Conclusion
High operation costs mainly from wage payment, issues of insecurity, too much competition and instances of economic recession are some of the most significant challenges faced by the resort industry. Clearly, the industry is a delicate one and can be affected by many internal and external factors with great consequences.