THE CHALLENGES OF EVENT MANAGEMENT AS A NEW TRENDS IN HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

CHAPTER ONE

1.0     INTRODUCTION

          Event management is an exciting and growing industry, as well as a unique career opportunity for everyone with a passion for the planning and organizing of events, such as concerts, conventions, parties, weddings, and other gatherings.

According to Ramsborg, G.C.; B Miller (2008). Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of large scale events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. It involves studying the brand, identifying the target audience, devising the event concept, planning the logistics and coordinating the technical aspects before actually launching the event.

The process of planning and co-ordinating the event is usually referred to as event planning and can include budgeting, scheduling, site selection, acquiring necessary permits, coordinating transportation and parking, arranging for speakers or entertainers, arranging decor, event security, catering and emergency plans.

          The events industry now includes events of all sizes from the Olympics down to business breakfast meetings. Many industries, charitable organizations, and interest groups hold events in order to market themselves, build business relationships, raise money or celebrate achievement.

According to Burns, J. (2010) Event management is considered one of the strategic marketing and communication tools by companies of all sizes. From product launches to press conferences, companies create promotional events to help them communicate with clients and potential clients. A number of elements such as music, live entertainment or even the particular venue may be used to influence the tone and atmosphere of an event.

Chen, J., Sloan, P., and Legrand, W. (2009) said Event managers may also use news media to target their audience, hoping to generate media coverage which will reach thousands or millions of people. They can also invite their audience to their events and reach them at the actual event.

According to Holleran, J. (2005). Sustainable event management (also known as event greening) is the process used to produce an event with particular concern for environmental, economic and social issues.[2] Sustainability in event management incorporates socially and environmentally responsible decision making into the planning, organization and implementation of, and participation in, an event. It involves including sustainable development principles and practices in all levels of event organization, and aims to ensure that an event is hosted responsibly. It represents the total package of interventions at an event, and needs to be done in an integrated manner. Event greening should start at the inception of the project, and should involve all the key role players, such as clients, organizers, venues, sub-contractors and suppliers.

1.1     BACKGROUND OF STUDY

          The hospitality industry is changing at a rapid rate due to technological advancements that will require future professionals to be skilled in technology while conserving natural resources to sustain our environment. Leisure professionals will need to exceed guest expectations from a growing clientele and accommodate their ever-changing needs to stay relevant. Future leaders must be able to analyze and identify current trends to understand future consumer behavior by conducting research while maintaining ethical behavior to uphold integrity within the industry

In the past several years, Nigerian have experienced unthinkable disasters resulting from terrorist activity. The September 11 attacks at Abuja on a peaceful, sunny morning with no warning. War with Boko Haram has made our country and our people more vulnerable to terrorist activity and, even with the war at an end, the Department of Homeland Security warns that terrorism remains a very real threat for the foreseeable future. The bombing of the federal building in Bauchi and Abuja City was a shocking demonstration of domestic terror. Natural disasters have taken their toll as well. A massive natural gas explosion in Bayalsa reduced a strip mall to a huge crater. Businesses and threatened the tourism industries in those areas.

          In this climate, any organization that runs events should be prepared for anything that could happen – to protect its exhibitors, speakers, attendees, employees, and, to the greatest degree possible, the continuity of its events. Inherent in this is the impact on the organization's reputation. It's entirely possible that one ruined or badly handled event might mean years of rebuilding reputation and attendance.

The likelihood is that the event planner or manager is the person most likely to have to deal with any disruption to an event. This paper is aimed at helping those individuals prepare themselves to deal with the threats and hazards that might befall a conference or exposition and to prevent or, at the very least, minimize the impact of a disaster.

1.2     STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Before you begin any kind of planning or assessment, it is important to determine risk… to decide on what potential disruptions to concentrate what are usually limited resources. It's not possible to be prepared for every possible disruption; you have to concentrate on what is most likely to occur. This universally accepted risk management equation will help with this effort:

Risk = Probability + Consequence

Probability, quite logically, refers to the likelihood of something happening, while consequence refers to its impact. For example, the probability of a meteorite hitting your event facility is likely quite small, although the consequences from such an event would be huge. The risks on which you want to concentrate are those in which both the likelihood of occurrence and the potential consequences are in the medium to high range. Keep this in mind as you go through the emergency management process.

Most of all, keep things in perspective. Any consequence that involves potential critical injury or loss of life must take precedence over less critical outcomes. It's important, therefore, to prioritize the risks as well as identifying the ones to focus on.

1.3     OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

          The main focal point and idea of this research work is centered on the challenges of event management as a trends in hospitality industry. Other objective the research will cover in this work are:

i.                   To ascertain the challenges faced by event management in Nigeria hospitality industries.

ii.                 To investigate on how this challenges affect the hospitality industry and its growth within the economy.

iii.              To highlight all the possible means by which the challenges faced in event management can be overcome or reduce.

iv.              To address the issues of security and terrorism as it is one of the challenges of event management in our country Nigeria to the hospitality industries.

1.4     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

          The study will be significant in various ways to various sector, as will be seen below;

It will present in a precise manner, the importance of event management as regard to human security and terrorist and how to manage events in a safe guide manner and atmosphere.

To event managers and potential managers, the findings of the research, suggestion and recommendations based on the findings will be a good guide for future management of resources, allocation, security threats and challenges facing the industry.

The research report will also serve as a reference material to students of hospitality industry and tourism management, especially those with a bias in event management.

The research will also be beneficial to the researcher. This is because the study will expose the researcher to so many related areas in the course of carrying out his research. This will enhance the researcher’s experience, knowledge and understanding of event management.

Finally, this study is intended to unveil those factors that are responsible for the challenges within the industry in event management and planning while also highlighting the control mechanisms required for a successful event management.

1.5     RESEARCH QUESTION

For a better understanding and comprehension of this research work the researcher went on asking some important question which formed the research question for this study, which will be addressed and answered, questions are.

1.     What are the challenges faced by event management in Nigeria hospitality industries?

2.     Do you think that the challenges faced by the industry affect the hospitality industry and its growth within the economy?

3.     What is you recommendation on how this challenges faced in event management can be overcome or reduce?

4.     Is there security threat and terrorism challenges within your place of management and event centers?

1.6     RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The researcher formed some of the hypothesis which will be tested for the support of the study which will enable the readers and the researcher know the stand of this research work. The hypothesis will be tested at 0.05 level of significance. The research hypothesis are as follows.

H1: There is a significant relationship between the challenges of event management and the growth and success of events management in the hospitality industry.

H2: There is no significant relationship between the challenges of event management and the growth and success of events management in the hospitality industry.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

          The research is intended to cover the event management within the hospitality industry, its control measures and productivity/growth within the country. However, due to the diverse nature and scope of the country and the time frame required for the report of the research , the research has been scaled down to a case study of Bauchi State  Nigeria.

1.8     LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

During the course of performing/researching this project work, the researcher encountered a lot of challenges as well as opposition which ranges from financial constraints, time factor, sourcing of material etc. this factors in their own ways, slowed down the speedy progress of this work that resulted to the researcher not being able to finish the research work on time as is required

1.9     DEFINITION OF TERMS

Hotel:  An establishment held out by the proprietor to offer food and drinks, and if so required sleeping accommodation to anybody who is in a fit state to receive the services.

Hospitality Products and Services: They are things produced by the hospitality industry to meet the need of customers in return of their money. They include foods, drinks, accommodation, entertainment and other services like cyber café, car hire and so on.

Event management: is the application of project management to the creation and development of large scale events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. It involves studying the brand, identifying the target audience, devising the event concept, planning the logistics and coordinating the technical aspects before actually launching the event

The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry.

Event planners coordinate and manage conferences, meetings and parties. Some planners exclusively organize a specific type of event, such as those who specialize in wedding planning.