Business Report: Celtic Manor Resort Operations

The Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, South Wales is one of the prestigious and well-acclaimed resort centres of the United Kingdom. This visioned resort covers an area of 2,000 acres of land and has luxurious rooms, varied activities and occasions to host people from all four corners of the globe. The resort has three golf courses which are of championship standards, with the Twenty Ten course that was developed for Ryder Cup in 2010. Also, the contemporary Conference Village offers facilities for conferences, several first-class restaurants, an outstanding spa zone, and entertainment and sporting pursuits making Celtic Manor the first choice for business and leisure travellers (Celtic manor Resort, 2024).

The service concept of the resort entails offering full and quality services to all customers while making special focus on elements such as service, accommodation and activities to be offered to our customers. Catering to golf enthusiasts, spa lovers, businesspeople planning conferences or any other guest, the management of The Celtic Manor Resort seeks to provide the highest form of service to guests from the moment they arrive at the venue to the time they depart.

The resort succeeds in a way to make guests feel comfortable by providing them with the essentials of a 21st-century hotel while at the same time giving traditional Welsh hospitality. The resort also boasts of a family, couple, golfer as well as business traveller distinctive and flexible products. With respect to this, this report will seek to examine the operations of The Celtic Manor Resort by looking at the services it offers the customers and clients, the kind of customers it serves and the price structures it employs as well as some of the challenges that confront the management of the resort. Furthermore, suggestions for cost reduction as well as its revenues or enhancement of efficiency and profitability, some possible technological developments will be also mentioned to sustain its competitive advantages in the given sphere of the hospitality industry.

Customer Profiles and Expectations

The Celtic Manor Resort serves a wide variety of customer segments, each with distinct expectations and needs. Key customer profiles include:

Golfers: Celtic Manor is one of the premier golfing venues in the world, golfers from all corners of the globe are drawn to the resort. The enthusiasts who are amateur and professional golfers require well-maintained playing surfaces, quality professional training, and exclusive rights to championship-standard equipment. The Ryder Cup itself is a major attraction and it’s supported by a specialised course known as the Twenty Ten Course. The resort also provides golfing packages which consist of room and board associated with several golf courses and fed and watered to satisfy clients' expectations when it comes to an inclusive golf package (Hodge, 2013).
Corporate Guests: Being one of the largest hotels in the world, Celtic Manor has ample conference facilities that it popular with businesses and companies for meetings, conferences and workers' retreats. Business audience demands professional event planning, hi-tech equipment, quality sleeping rooms and outstanding food services. Some of the guests are for official purposes and, therefore, they require quick solutions to their needs such as workspaces, adequate internet, and unique meals (Barnes, 2005).
Leisure Travelers: The families and couples that come to spend their vacation anticipate finding leisure and recreation. Expectations that may be associated with the park include quality of accommodation, spa, quality of family tourism activities and good quality foods. To elaborate a typical family's interests may include playful activities like nature trails, tennis, and swimming, while a couple may think of a spa, professional cuisine etc (Yeomans, 2022).
Event Attendees: It also plays the role of a venue where people come to get married, have a quiet marriage or even have a music festival. Event attendees have certain expectations such as effective organisation of the event, excellent levels of hospitality and ease of access to various facilities. Modern small meetings or large celebrations are effectively and suggestively accommodated in the resort and guests are provided with the most memorable experience (Gould et al., 2024).

This effectively means that this firm is constantly in a position where it has to meet a variety of customers' needs. While golfers are quite particular about the ground features combined with their need for golf playing, leisure travellers are most concerned with rest and comfort and corporate clients with time efficiency and a business-like approach. To be able to address these differences it is essential for the resort to develop different expectations.

Products and Services Offered

The Celtic Manor Resort offers a wide range of products and services tailored to meet the needs of its varied clientele. These include:

Golf Facilities: Golf enthusiasts will be interested in The Twenty Ten which is a championship golf course, Roman Road also a championship course and Montgomerie. Consumers can also get professional coaching and also get to learn at the golfing academy and also get to hire equipment from the golfing centre. Other golf-related activities like the Ryder Cup as well as the Wales Open add to the glamour of the resort as a golfing paradise (Armstrong, 2007).
Accommodations: Celtic Manor provides delightful hospitality and is made up of hotel rooms, suites, and lodges as a form of accommodation available for guests. These can range from stylish, new house-like locations in the principal resort to remote cottages that would be more suitable for families or groups of people. The rooms contain state-of-the-art facilities that have been set purposely to accommodate the needs of a guest.
Dining Options: There are many places that offer several types of food ranging from local café to formal restaurants in this resort. This restaurant offers food from different cuisines such as Welsh specialities, Italian and pan Asain. That is why the meals are chosen specifically to meet the requirements of different guests in terms of cuisine and a Special Diet (Yeomans, 2022).
Spa and Wellness: The resort also has an equal and acclaimed spa service that has various services, for instance, massage, facial, and wellness treatment. This is especially common to such guests who in their stay need to avoid any stressful activities or forces that may disturb them. The Brand image of the spa has turned into an important ingredient that has helped the resort to market itself (Celtic Manor Resort, 2024).
Conferences and Events: It offers the most intricate meeting spaces for conferences making it suitable for corporate and group businesses and for event organisers. Due to its design and construction, the convention centre is well equipped for accommodation of the large conferences as well as small business meetings and weddings or gala dinners among others. These spaces are incorporated with the most advanced technology and the resort offers the services of event management (Barnes, 2005).
Outdoor Activities: Other features include recreational activities such as archery, fishing, nature trails, mountain biking as well as golfing. Some of them are suitable for families while others are for adventurous guests making sure that the visitors get to indulge in different activities.

They must also innovate and expand the products and services that the resort offers in order to be competitive with other resort hotels. Several major steps that are found throughout product and service development are customer feedback, market research, and expenditure on facilities. These stages help him achieve the goals and objectives of this resort and at the same time meet the ever-changing demands of the guests.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) of the Celtic Manor Resort comprise documents that aim at delivering standard services and upholding good operational standards. Key areas where SOPs are implemented include:

Guest Check-in/Check-out: They have well-outlined procedures that govern the process of the check-in and check-out of their guests. Self-check-in has been implemented, cutting down on the time that patients spend waiting and increasing patients' comfort (Celtic Manor Resort, 2024).
Housekeeping: All housekeeping activities are carried out to the highest standards, and the cleanliness of guest rooms as well as the public areas is very important. Housekeeping and cleaning services are performed on a daily and weekly basis; inspections and checks of rooms are also conducted with regard to the quality standards of the resort (Rhys, 2020).
Food and Beverage Service: In relation to the restaurant and bar operations in the resort, SOPs provide guidelines covering food hygiene, safety, and customer relations. Waiters and waitresses are always trained to be professional in their approach and be able to relate with the guests uniquely. Just like with the seasons and guests’ specifications, menu changes are done frequently.
Golf Course Maintenance: There are well-laid SOPs regarding maintaining the golf courses. This encompasses mowing lawns, grooming the turfs, and the maintenance of sporting equipment to cater for the guests' needs (Carradice and Carradice, 2010).

As for the key organisational setting documentation, the SOPs are an efficient tool to ensure the consistency of operation The following opportunities were identified: It is considered to upgrade the technology adopted in the procedures involved including check-ins and service requests.

Pricing and Distribution Channels

The Celtic Manor Resort has a flexible pricing model that enables it to adjust the prices according to the room type, time of year as well as demand rates. Various pricing strategies are available depending on the target customers; golf courses, and family vacation packages among them targeting corporate persons.

Dynamic Pricing: Room rates and packages are realised depending on the demand with high rates charged during the festive season, holidays and events such as golf tournaments etc. On the other hand, the resort proposes lower tariffs and rates during low-profile seasons in order to increase its clientele base (Morrow and Wheatley, 2003).
Pricing for Activities: They also flex prices on some of their services for instance on golfing and body treatments. For instance, golf packages may contain low prices for multi-day stay service, bundled service or low season while spa treatment may have high prices during weekends or holidays.
Distribution Channels: The distribution channels employed by the resort that target the different segments of the customers include. These include:
- Availability from the Celtic Manor site without the help of an agent.
- Third-party travel agencies and Online Travel Agents such as booking.com and Expedia.
- Arranging meetings on business with various corporate clients and with event agents for conferences and groups (Celtic Manor Resort, 2024).
Price Discrimination: On the aspect of price discrimination, the resort has been able to put into practice package services for different classes of customers. For instance, families can reserve unique arrangements, which cover their stay in hotels and apartments, meals, as well as children’s entertainment; corporate clients can also avail themselves of attractive group discounts for organising mass events.

Such pricing strategies and distribution channels were useful in ensuring they captured as much revenue while at the same time catering to as many customer clientele as possible.

Revenue Generation and Profitability Factors

Several factors influence revenue generation and profitability at The Celtic Manor Resort:

Room Occupancy Rates: While the occupancy might be constant throughout the year, the relatively steep tariffs especially during a particular time of the year, festive seasons or big sports events play a large role in the resort’s income. Accommodation management means providing updated availability in its room database and means to implement dynamic pricing which will bring the resort the highest revenues (Abdel-Razek et al., 2022).
Golf Tournaments and Events: Big tournaments including the Ryder Cup and Wales Open are key income-generating events of the resort. Guests who partake in these events spend so much; sponsorships and media coverage are also attracted to these events hence making the resort more profitable.
Food and Beverage Sales: This means that we have many dining outlets and thus most of the resort's revenue comes from food and beverages. Fine dining experiences of the guests and the local visitors as in the Olive Tree restaurant add to the overall profitability (Putra et al., 2022).
Conference and Event Bookings: Due to a large number of spacious conference rooms this resort is ready to accommodate any kind of meetings, starting with business meetings and ending up with conferences and even weddings. These activities contribute a larger chunk of the revenues, especially during the low season when fun tourism is not so prevalent.
Seasonality and Demand Fluctuations: This issue means that the resort's profitability also depends on the season, and thus on the traffic intensity in the given region. Times like summer, Christmas and Easter result in high revenues while low revenue times call for marketing strategies which entail offering low prices in order to fill all the available rooms (Vives and Jacob, 2023).

Only having the ability to manage all these revenues meanwhile ensuring optimal control of the operational costs allows the resort to further enhance its profitability.

Challenges in Product and Service Development

Developing and maintaining high-quality products and services at The Celtic Manor Resort is not without challenges:

Market Competition: There is stiff competition when it comes to room and facility accommodation, especially from other hotels and resorts in the UK and other parts of the world. This puts organisations in a race to come up with new services that can provide a competitive advantage, something that can be expensive and time-consuming (Wall-Reinius et al., 2021).
Changing Customer Expectations: Customers nowadays have higher expectations of the type of experience they want when visiting the resort; therefore the product and service need to be adjusted. This can be cumbersome especially when considering the needs of the different customer segments usually including golfers, families and corporations (Mehta et al., 2023).
Sustainability Pressures: There is an ever-growing spotlight on the need within the hospitality industry to engage in sustainable practices. The resort has achieved certain advances in this area Nevertheless it has to face certain issues concerning energy utilisation, waste disposal and usage of sustainable materials without ignoring the impacts they have on the guests.
Staff Training and Retention: Since the resort has quite a number of functional areas that deliver service to clients and guests, it is crucial that staff are trained well enough to provide quality service in all areas. It is always a great concern for businesses to hire and maintain good talent, especially within organisations which are inclined towards seasons (Mustapha et al., 2020).

Solving these issues involves active management in product and service development so that the resort faces competition but also provides the best services for the guests.

Quality Management and Guest Service

If the quality of guest service is to be maintained and enhanced at The Celtic Manor Resort, the resort can adopt a good quality management system. One such tool is the SERVQUAL model, which focuses on measuring service quality through five key dimensions: such as reliability, assurance, tangible, empathy and responsiveness (Hussain et al., 2023).

Reliability: It is equally important that services are maintained at optimum quality so as to avoid compromise of guest expectations. It is therefore evident that to achieve a reliable service delivery the resort must ensure that staff is well trained and strict Standard Operating Procedures integrated into the system.
Assurance: Ensuring that guests know that their needs will be catered for is fundamental to generating trust between a service provider and the customer. This comprises familiarising the members of staff to be courteous and competent in addressing guest’s questions or concerns.
Tangibles: The overall outlook of the resort including neatness, architectural work, and design of the resort contribute highly to the impression made to the clients. An implication of this is that any facility that is to host guests must be in a state of consistent maintenance as well as constant physical upgrading in order to meet the expectations of the guests to be hosted (Papaioannou et al., 2024).
Empathy: As the name suggests customised service delivery to meet every guest's personal needs as compared to other individuals. It simply means that the resort can drive more satisfaction among the guests by personalising attractions because some guests may be interested in a tennis lesson while others would prefer getting a fruit basket upon arrival.
Responsiveness: This means that the resort has to be in a position to attend to the guests' needs and opinions in the shortest time possible. Real-time feedback like using smartphone applications to order services will enable handling requests faster and enhance guests' satisfaction.

Application of the SERVQUAL model in The Celtic Manor Resort’s quality management will assist in pinpointing areas of concern as well as assess the degree the company is meeting the expectations of its visitors (Papaioannou et al., 2024).

Technological Advancements

Currently, at the Celtic Manor Resort, the ideas being considered for implementation include occupancy and activity sensors to work on the capacity in some zones. Information from these sensors helps in enhancing layout flexibility in some quarters of the resort. Three areas where this data could be particularly useful include:

Conference Rooms: Sensors that detect occupancy in conference rooms can be used by the resort to gather information about how such spaces are used, thus allowing the resort to improve the design of these spaces and their use schedules. This will help the resort determine when and how the rooms are in use, change the layout of the rooms according to the flow of the guests, control the temperature and brightness based on occupancy, and assign places according to the activity taking place (Celtic Manor Resort, 2024).
Spa Facilities: It can be possible to observe the guest movements and utilisation of the treatment rooms, resting zones, and the gym. This data can assist the resort management in the design of the layout to achieve better access to high-demand services (like massages) or achieve better use of available space to minimise wait times (Szromek, 2020).
Restaurants: Occupancy sensors will be installed in the restaurants in the resort will enable the management team to have insights into seating space occupancy and arrangement based on these observations. This could help increase the occupancy of the dining area during meal rushes, guarantee shorter waiting times for guests, and overall increase the restaurant’s carrying capacity.

Analysis of how guests move around the resort, based on data from these sensors can make the layout catch the flows or processes to be efficient with processes and avoid overflowing or underutilisation zones.

Managing Demand during Pandemic Scenarios

Consequently, managing the high demand of an average of 50% of seating capacity in the most lucrative restaurant of the resort during a pandemic is quite challenging. Key tactics include:

Reservation Systems: Hindrances like the Appeal to customers The benefits of making a prior booking enable the resort to regulate demand. Fixed visiting time also helps the resort to regulate the number of guests coming to the restaurant so as to avoid empty tables and make the most of the available seats (Teng, 2020).
Timed Seating Slots: Proposing to set a maximum time, within which guests can be seated during rush hour, will also greatly increase the table turnover and the number of guests that are served. By having more frequent dining slots for instance 90-minute seating times, the resort can book more guests while at the same time ensuring social distancing standards are observed.
Pre-Order Options: Enabling guests to order their meals in advance can significantly decrease the waiting time for meals, make eating quicker, and bring more guests to the restaurant within a short amount of time (Guillet et al., 2020).

Such strategies help the resort control the number of people in restaurants, and follow limits while offering a good customer experience.

Preparing for Future Events with Technology

To future-proof operations, The Celtic Manor Resort can leverage technology in several ways:

Contactless Check-in and Check-out: Allowing customers to check in and check out on digital devices and smart kiosks lessen the waiting time and interaction while increasing the level of satisfaction (Eren, 2022).
Digital Room Service: A Mobile app for room service orders can be used by guests to order food and services through their phones without physically approaching the staff thus promoting efficiency in service provision.
AI and Chatbots: To further improve guest experience, the resort could implement page-based smart AI chatbots on their website and mobile app to answer general guest queries and relieve staff from these routine tasks. They can also assist the guests in making bookings, arranging activities, and also be able to recommend various activities based on the wishes of the guest (Thakur, 2024).

These technologies will enhance efficiency in the operations of the resort, ensure that the guests experience the best services and be in a position to address difficulties like the current pandemic or even new trends in the market.

Conclusion

The Celtic Manor Resort is a famous landmark resort that is well equipped to provide quality services and facilities in a range of services to its guests. Therefore, through effectively designing its customer profiles, providing consistent service through SOPs, and implementing a dynamic pricing model, the resort can still sustain itself in the competitive hospitality industry. However, It has to overcome the challenges related to its product and service such as competition, shifting guest expectations and sustainability.

New technologies like occupancy and activity detection devices to enhance layout distribution in primary zones and manage demand during the pandemic will be beneficial in making profits during the crisis period. The application of quality management tools as witnessed in SERVQUAL will enable the resort to maintain high standards of service delivery to different customers.

Further, the advancement of contactless services and the use of AI for guest interaction will be critical in enhancing efficiencies and optimising guest engagement. In thus embracing these technologies and ensuring a continuation of the process of innovation, The Celtic Manor Resort stands well equipped to meet any future tests and preserve its place among the preeminent luxury resorts in the UK.

References

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Business Report: Operations Management Analysis of The Celtic Manor Resort

Table of Contents

Introduction