Tutorial subject: Resort & Spa Hotel Management

Teacher: Xiao Qu
Date: 2 April 2008

Programme Bachelor of Hotel Management

Subject Resort & Spa Hotel Management HTM3012
Audience 130 x 2nd Year hotel management students
Topic/week Resort Hotel virtual field trip
Rationale for This subject provides students with the basic understanding of resort and spa
tutorial hotel management. It will help students to develop an understanding of
service and facilities needed in the resort and spa hotel, select the suitable
site, activities provided for the guest, and managing the hotel operations.
Second Life field trip to an in-world resort hotel will be used to deepen
students’ knowledge.

Course Learning Outcomes

• Students will be able to identify the internal and external environment
in resort planning and explain the basic elements of a resort and spa
complex.
• Students will be able to apply concepts in the planning and developing
of a resort hotel and explain the importance of safety and security.
• Students will be able to evaluate the planning of resort facilities for
the leisure tourists’ needs and consider different marketing strategies.
• Students will be able to communicate and react proactively to the
stakeholders in the hospitality industry in the areas of resort planning
and management.

Most students may not have had the opportunity to visit a resort hotel, so this
tutorial will enable students to visit a virtual resort hotel and holiday villas
(Rixos, Turkey). The Field Trip will be used to enhance students’
understanding of the subject and stimulate their thinking on the relevant
topics. Students will undertake the following activities.

Class divided into groups of 6. Each student in the group will have a different
task:
1. Student 1 will attend the first briefing meeting with the GM of the
hotel in the conference room and have a chance to ask questions
2. Student 2 will meet the hotel designer in the first briefing to find out
about the design and layout of the hotel and to ask questions
3. Student 3 will do a survey of the hotel outdoor leisure facilities and
layout – is the design suitable, convenient etc.
4. Student 4 will do a survey of the hotel indoor facilities and layout – is
the layout suitable, what are the strong points, what is missing etc.
5. Student 5 will review the Rixos Villas, compare the different styles
and layouts and meet with the Rixos Villa owners.
6. Student 6 will attend the second briefing meeting with the GM of the
hotel in the conference room and have a chance to ask questions
7. Student 7 will meet the hotel designer in the second briefing meeting
to find out about the design and layout of the hotel and to ask
questions

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 Total 18 students to each group to make it manageable.

Learning Virtual field trip

archetype
1. This tutorial will allow students to benefit from a visit to a 3D virtual
hotel modelled on a real hotel, and with rooms and facilities available to
let.
2. Students will be able to meet with real hotel staff and management,
interact in a virtual hotel environment

Learning The students will be able to:

objectives
• Discuss hotel design and management aspects with the GM and the
hotel designer.
• Critically evaluate the resort hotel design and facilities.
• Reflect on the interactions and experience and discuss aspects with
their peers.

SL Location Rixos Hotel and Rixos Villas

Features of hotel (from Marketing Manager Eyup Kaplan) "Our hotel will
offer all the luxury you would imagine, reception, silver service restaurants,
bars, an Irish Pub, game room, sauna and spa, swimming pool, beach,
standard rooms, honeymoon and king suites, wedding chapel all operational
and fully serviced." The entertainment center, which will launch later, will
host unique games and contests. Guests will be able to stay at the hotel, use
the facilities, enjoy water sports and a spa, and even arrange a wedding
reception. Charges to stay in the hotel have not been determined yet.

Preparation Two weeks before class:

for field trip • Students will attend an orientation to Second Life – prepare their
avatars and learn the basics of navigation.
One week before class:
• Students receive briefing in tutorial about the virtual field trip.
• Field trip instructions posted on website for downloading
• Students will be divided into 7 groups, each with a different mission
and task.
• Students prepare questions to ask hotel staff, and a survey instrument
to guide their visit to the resort facilities
• A short demonstration visit to the Rixos hotel for familiarization.

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During the 1. Go directly to group area if in meeting with Hotel staff
field trip 2. Try to move around in an orderly fashion and don’t bump other people.
3. When asking questions please wait for your turn
4. Thank the hotel staff for their help
5. If you are in the second meeting groups make sure you arrive at the
meeting place on time.
6. Make notes of your trip for review next week.
7. Logout 10 minutes before end of tutorial and join the rest of the class for
short debrief on immediate reactions to experience.

After the field • Follow-up out of class or in following week tutorial where video can
trip be shown and evaluation, review and discussion of field trip can be
done.
• Student groups may wish to post a short journal of their experience for
other students to read.

Evaluation • We will record parts of the field trip as a machinima video and upload
strategies the file to WebCT or YouTube for student reflection and possible
further discussion.
• A short feedback evaluation should be provided for the student to
complete to comment on their experience after the tutorial.

Anticipated Technical problems

challenges • locating the island, password lost, navigation etc (these should be
covered in the prep sessions)
Other problems
• sufficient PCs with SL installed (use HTRC or HTTU if available) or
work on home PCs

Background to At the virtual hotel opened by Rixos Hotels in the virtual world of Second
Rixos hotels Life, everything operates in the same way as in real Rixos Hotels in Turkey.
(From Turkish The hotel also plans to choose its future personnel from among the personnel
Daily News who prove to be successful in the second life
Tuesday,
September 11, Turkey's Rixos Hotel Group, a luxury chain, is opening its latest luxury hotel
2007) in “Second Life (SL),” an Internet based virtual world launched in 2003 that
now has over eight million registered users. SL is a kind of semi-structured
virtual environment where characters undertake activities for their personal
enjoyment.

Upon its completion, Rixos Hotel Group will be the highest investor in the SL
with golf areas, entertainment and other social facilities. The hotel will
choose its future personnel from among registered users who prove to be
successful in the virtual world. The hotel's operation will be the same as in
the real world and will also enable students studying tourism to virtually run
the various departments of the hotel.

“As we couldn't open the hotel on time in real life, we decided to open one up
in the virtual world,” said Fettah Tamince, chairman of the hotel chain.

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 He said they opened the hotel in Amsterdam in the SL and that there was no
difference between opening a hotel in reality or virtually. “We are watching
the developments, changing trends and needs in the world. Virtual investment
is the result of this kind of vision.”

Tamince expects the benefit of finding good personnel for their real hotels in
Turkey from among the virtual employees. “The hotel in the virtual world
should be managed in the same way as it is handled in the real world. A
professional team will thus work at the virtual hotel and they will do the same
work as they had to do in real hotels,” he said. “So, our project will offer job
opportunities for those who are studying tourism and want to work in our
hotel chain.”

The services and their quality will be the same as those offered in real Rixos
hotels and discounted holiday rates will be offered to customers who
preferred to stay at the virtual Rixos. A 5,000-member team currently runs the
hotel.

The Rixos Hotel World, which is built on an island belonging to the Rixos
Hotel Group, has a 40-room hotel, spa and wellness center, meeting hall,
shopping centers, restaurant and French Street.

Second Life is an Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003, which came

to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early
2007. A downloadable client program called the Second Life Viewer enables
users, called “Residents,” to interact with each other through motional
avatars, providing an advanced level of a social networking combined with
general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore, meet other residents,
socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items
(virtual property) and services.

While Second Life is sometimes referred to as a game, this description is

disputed. It does not have points, scores, winners or losers, levels, an end-
strategy, or most of the other characteristics of games, though it can be
thought of as a game on a more basic level. It is a semi-structured virtual
environment where characters undertake activities for personal enjoyment. In
all, more than 8.9 million accounts have been registered, although many are
inactive, some residents have multiple accounts, and there are no reliable
figures for actual long-term consistent usage.
Retrieved on 6. Feb 2008 from:
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=82950

Rixos Villas http://www.rixosvillas.com/

Rixos Hotels http://www.rixos.com/main.php

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