ESHT - DHR - Comunicações em eventos científicos
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Browsing ESHT - DHR - Comunicações em eventos científicos by Author "Melo, António"
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- Education and competencies for hospitality management: the case of polytechnic higher education graduatesPublication . Melo, António; Gonçalves, M.With the growth of tourism in recent years, the demand for higher education in Hospitality Management has increased, having contributed to the integration of a greater number of graduates in the labour market. In this research, the (dis)articulation between polytechnic higher education and the hospitality management labour market is analysed, focusing on the competencies and career paths of graduates in this area. The general objective of this research is to analyse the process of developing professional skills of graduates in Hotel Management, through the perspectives of the various actors, seeking to understand how they perceive the role of training, in such a process, on the one hand, and the role of practice and professional experience, on the other. Based on the interpretative paradigm, authors adopted a mixed approach, combining semi-structured interviews to courses directors of Higher Education Institutions and representatives from the labour market, and a questionnaire applied to Hospitality Management graduates. The ensuing data was analysed through content and statistical analysis. The results demonstrate the relevance of internships as contexts of training and professional integration, as well as the technical and transversal competencies in which graduates feel more confident, not always concurring with what employers require or those that are developed by the educational/training system. Research shows that the articulation between the education/training system and the labour market has gaps at various levels, demonstrating that a dialogue between these scopes is a pressing need.
- "Rota dos Sabores" – simulation-based learning in Tourism, Hospitality and Catering education and trainingPublication . Melo, António; Melo, Carla; Vasconcelos, SandraCurrent society and the labour market value and demand that people have the ability to work in teams and be creative, innovative and adaptable to new situations. Having become increasingly important in education, these skills are particularly relevant within the tourism, hospitality and catering fields, which traditionally rely heavily on practical teaching and learning approaches, focusing on real-world issues and skills that reflect the professional scenarios and challenges of future graduates. Drawing from these premises, this paper will describe ‘Rota dos Sabores’, a student-organized gastronomic event taking place in the last semester of the degree in Catering and Restaurant Management. Aiming to enhance students’ creativity, teamwork, collaborative skills, and their ability to adapt to new situations, this event combines both soft and technical skills (e.g., event organisation and management), at the same time it helps students broaden their international gastronomic culture, being leveraged by structured practical training and work simulation approaches. Based on desk research, observation and content analysis (resulting from questionnaires applied to the students and event participants), this paper aims to frame the activities carried out, crosscutting different perspectives as to establish the importance of collaboration and teamwork in shaping the future careers of hospitality graduates. In addition to describing the different event stages and its implementation, the authors will reflect on students’ overall performance and feedback as crucial components of teaching and learning experiences. As a result, this paper is expected to contribute to the development of new training and inform future simulation-based activities in this area.
- Shaping the new normal: Portuguese hotel and event managers’ reactions to COVID-19Publication . Melo, Carla; Melo, António; Vasconcelos, Sandra; Meneses, DanielaThe COVID-19 pandemic has created a worldwide crisis, which has had an impact on all economic sectors, having transformed social and consumption patterns. This crisis has been particularly difficult for the tourism industry, with uncertainty and the emergence of new consumer profiles and demands prompting swift reactions from policymakers and stakeholders. Focussing on two sub-sectors of the Portuguese tourism industry – hospitality and events – this paper aims to identify the most relevant concerns and Crisis Management Strategies adopted in each of these sectors in the early stages of the pandemic, putting forward a multi-layered analysis, juxtaposing the different challenges faced by managers and how they were approached. Based on previous studies and on 14 semi-structured interviews with hotel and event managers, the authors adopted an exploratory qualitative approach as to record and categorize the interviewees’ perceptions, having established the transversal importance of resilience, flexibility, and technology for each sector’s recovery. Moreover, taking into account the singularity of each setting, the authors were also able to identify more specific sectorial categories, which have had an effect on both the decision-making and future outlooks for both the hospitality and events industries. Overall, despite being hopeful, hotel and event managers anticipate different recovery challenges, with the first highlighting the importance of soft skills, and the latter emphasizing the need to regain the public’s confidence, at the same time they will have to rethink their offer as to better address current needs and concerns.
- The COVID-19 aftermath: a multidimensional study on hospitality managers' perceptionsPublication . Silva, Miguel; Melo, António; Melo, Carla; Vasconcelos, SandraThe COVID-19 pandemic has brought many constraints to several industries, including tourism and hospitality. Despite its resilience, the socio-economic implications arising from this sanitary crisis have exposed the vulnerabilities and prompted swift reactions from policymakers, stakeholders and managers. This exploratory study aims to determine which dimensions of the hospitality business were most affected by this pandemic and how they responded to this outbreak. Considering dimensions such as "Decision making" "Health Safety" “Operations” “Marketing & Sales”, "Human Resources" and "Customer Relationship Management", this study is supported by semi-structured interviews with hotel managers, putting forward an analysis based on the perceptions and realities of different hotel categories and operational contexts. Aiming to complement previous and ongoing research concerning the coping mechanisms hotel managers have had to implement when confronted with this unprecedented crisis, it succeeds in identifying key strategic areas and concerns, that are relevant for understanding the current situation, as well as preparing future emergencies and crisis affecting the hospitality business, paving the way for future research within this scope
- The impact of Covid-19 in restaurants – Take away and delivery, the consumer’s perspectivePublication . Azevedo, Daniel; Melo, AntónioTake-away and delivery where already being used by the restaurant business in Portugal prior to Covid-19 as a way to increase sales and profitability. The early days of the pandemic with an almost complete lockdown had a huge impact in the restaurant sector as all restaurants were suddenly forced to close. That lead to a vast majority of restaurants reinforcing their already existing take-away and delivery operations or starting to operate that way. In order to better understand the relationship between consumers and take-away and delivery services provided by restaurants, a research was conducted to assess the degree of use of these services. The research took place between the 9th and the 25th of April by means of an online survey resulting in 448 valid responses. The majority of the responders (69%) already used these services prior to Covid-19 between 1 and 3 times a week. On the other side, 28% said that they had never used take-away or delivery. During the pandemic, 53% claimed not to use take away and delivery services whilst only 45% said they were using it 1 to 3 times a week. When questioned about their future intents after the pandemic, 72% predicted they will use take-away 1 to 3 times a week. Within the consumers that use take-away and delivery, 22.5% spend less than 10€ per order, 54% from 10 to 20€ and 23.5% spend more than 20€. Preliminary results show that despite the fact these services were already being used prior to Covid-19, frequency of usage is on the rise, foreseeing significant growth for take-away and delivery in the near future. Data also seems to indicate that this phenomenon is not specific of big cities and urban population and could become an overall trend. Restaurants should develop/adapt their menus to cater to the specific needs of these services and invest in consolidating their presence in the take away and delivery markets as it can become one of the most important revenue sources.
- The main strategies of restaurant revenue management and its applicability in the F&B departmentPublication . Maia, Pedro; Melo, António; Oliveira, MónicaOver the past years, Revenue Management has been used in various sectors, starting in the airlines, passing through the hotel and restaurant sectors, with a focus on the creation and maximization of revenue. In this sense, Restaurant Revenue Management becomes a useful tool for incomes, making establishments more competitive and contributing to business growth and sustainability in catering and restaurants context. The main objective of this study is to research the development and application of Restaurant Revenue Management, through the study of its systems and strategies, tounderstand how restaurant and catering establishments can optimize revenue through the creation and implementation of RRM systems. This research begins with a literature review where we aim to understand the principles and characteristics of Restaurant Revenue Management as a whole, to know the RRM strategies and how to apply them in the hospitality and catering sector. The methodology chosen was quantitative, where questionnaires were prepared and distributed to hotels and restaurants in Portugal. The results demonstrate that major part of the respondents is not familiar with the concept of Restaurant Revenue Management. Most respondents believe that the application of the RRM concept is important for the company's results and for those who are familiar with the concept, they consider that it allows the ideal customer to be defined based on their characteristics and enables decisions to be taken based on knowledge, creating a structure of fixed and variable costs. Purpose: Thus, the general and specific research objectives inherent to the study are: To assess how Restaurant Revenue Management is applied in Portugal in the restaurant and hotel contexts. To recognize what are its characteristics and practices. To understand how Restaurant Revenue Management influences revenues. To realize the advantages and disadvantages identified by the application of restaurant revenue management. Methodology: This research focuses on a quantitative methodology, using the questionnaire as a data collection tool. A deductive research approach was used in the scientific research process. The technical procedure used in the investigation phase was bibliographic research, having been collected information in several scientific articles and books on the subject. On a first moment, the collection of relevant documents for the research was made. The script was validated by six academic professionals and five professionals from the sector. After validation, an online questionnaire was conducted using the Google Forms platform. To achieve the maximum possible number of answers, the distribution channel used, to collect the results, was the e- mail. An initial telephone contact was made to confirm availability to answer the questionnaire. After this contact, the questionnaire was sent via e-mail. The questionnaires were conducted in Portuguese, as the study was only intended for entities located in Portugal. During the investigation, 880 questionnaires were sent out and 131 responses were received all completed, in a period between June and August. The instrument used to analyze and process the data collected was Excel. Results: The concept of Restaurant Revenue Management generally is not known among F&B departments, as demonstrated in the answers collected during the distribution of the questionnaire, in which 58.8% do not know the concept and only 41.2% of the respondents are familiar with the subject. Those who know and apply the concept of RRM consider the application of the concept and its respective impact important and crucial for the business. In the answers to the questionnaire about 57.4% consider its application important, while 24.1% considers it very important and 14.8% extremely important. Only 3.7% states that the RRM is not very important. Of the 131 respondents, only 41.2% are familiar with the concept of Restaurant Revenue Management, making a total of 54 responses. Originality: This is original research with the authors perspective constructed based in arguments from other research work to back up the investigation.