Hot Chocolate Event in London’s Hospitality Sector Assignment Sample

Introduction

Hospitality industry is considered as most sector as it highly contribute in the economy development and growth and help the country to improve their economic conditions. Hospitality industry involves many business fields such as; travel and tourism, hotel, food and beverage, meetings and events. Event management sector is one of the major part of the hospitality industry. Hosting events such as; weddings, business meetings, conventions, conferences and seasonal events can bring the substantial income for the resorts, cafes, clubs, hotels and many other hospitality businesses (Davahli and et al, 2020). Seasonal events are highly beneficial for the hospitality related companies and there are several companies that organises the events to attract guests and increase sales. In this manner, this report is going to explain about the Hot Chocolate Event organising in winter season. The main aim behind choosing this event is to offer memorable experience to the customers. Events are useful to the hospitality industry as it helps to drives revenue as well as boost brand exposure. The location of this event will be London, United Kingdom. This event will be organised near the Borough Market and Covent Garden which are famous tourism place. This report will discuss about the relevant strategic planning and delivery consideration in relation with the Hot Chocolate Event.

The hospitality industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors, significantly contributing to economic growth through travel, tourism, hotels, food, and events. Seasonal events, in particular, play a vital role in attracting customers and boosting revenue for businesses. This report focuses on the planning and execution of a Hot Chocolate Event in London during the winter season.

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Main Body

Event cycle

Event cycle refers to the time taken from the series of the activities or events which repeat themselves consistently and in similar order. The event cycle involves the five stages such as; plan, organise, measure, analyse and share. The application of event cycle stages to the Hot Chocolate Event is given below:

Figure 1: Stages of the Event Cycle

Plan – The event planner will assess the key findings from the past event and develop goals accordingly for the next event which is Hot Chocolate Event (LYYTI, 2021). After that, event organisers will focus on finding the ideal contributor and set accurate budget. Event planners will ensure to plan event services carefully including venue, content etc.

Organise – This stage is related to organise the event like any other event, offline or online. This particular event will be organised offline and the London’s best tourism places such as; Covent Garden and Borough Market (Fox et al, 2014). The organisers will promote this event by different social media platforms and also use email marketing and invite guests for event.

Measure – Once, the event is over, the event planner will evaluate the supposed value with EVS (experience value score). The organisers will also seek for the feedbacks and reviews from the guests and other participants (Tan and Zhu, 2022). It will help to evaluate the overall performance of this seasonal event.

Analyse – After measurement, event planners will perform a review process in order to analyse what went well. They will also review which things could have performed in better way and what kinds of things they require to change so that they can perform better in future. They will also examine the guest’s feedback and EVS scores.

Share – At last, the event organisers will document their findings. They will share the outcomes of the event along with the actions points with their team members. It will useful to change the methods to operate events.

Event concept

The event planner want to organise the event named as Hot Chocolate Hospitality Event. The event concept evolve around offering a hot chocolate to the customers in order create experiences at the winter hotels, restaurants, cafes and hotels (Wilcox, 2023). Basically, it is a kind of seasonal event and this kind of strategy is used by many event planning companies in high manner to increase the sales and profit margins. The main focus of this event of this hot chocolate event on shaping a memorable and unforgettable experiences to the guests who like travelling in winter season (Getz and Page, 2019). The event planner will conduct the event at the popular tourism destination of the London. Event planner choose particular places for event because many local as well as foreign guests come London for spending their vacations especially Borough Market and Covent Garden.

This event will begin at the starting of the winter season and continue for 3 months so that, all winter guests will enjoy the hot chocolate event. Organiser will book the event venue before one month so they will not face issues at the end. The management team will provide instructions to all team members to prevent from any misconducts. Furthermore, managers will allocate resources, roles and duties among workers (Bohne and Jolliffe, 2021). The event will start at evening after 4 pm and serve hot chocolate to the guests. The event will charge amount from £1 to £4 for cup of hot chocolate. Guests will choose cup of hot chocolate in different flavours such as; vanilla, vegan toffee, peppermint, brown sugar, chili powder and many more. The prices will depend on the different flavour of the hot chocolate. The music will be also hired so that they can take this event to the next step by entertaining all guests (Kesgin, Murthy and Lagiewski, 2022). The information regarding event will be provided on website and social media pages. All activities and operations will be supervised regularly to achieve the desired outcomes.

Aim and objectives of the event

Aim

• To crafting the memorable experience to the guest in the winter season by organising Hot Chocolate Event.

Objectives

• To increase customers by 5% to the event through marketing activities in 1 week
• To achieve growth in sales by 8 % by offering delicious beverage within the 1 month
• To boost revenue by £ 12,000 through selling beverages within 3 months

Event management

Required skills

For making event successful and offering great guest experience, many skills will be required. Communication skills are required to communicate the event related plan to team members. It will also help team to interact with the foreign guests in confident manner (Lee, Shin and Jeong, 2020). Time management and organisation abilities will help to manage the plan from market research and setting goals to carry out marketing activities and conduct event on time. Decision-making ability will need to make inform decisions related to activities and arrangements (Fajaryati and et al, 2020). The team will solve problems during the event by using problem-solving skills. So, problem-solving skills are also necessary for accomplish the business goals.

Resources

For this event, suitable and potential team will be hired to execute the different activities. Candidates will be selected for interview based on their qualification and working experiences. Hired employees will perform different duties including production, marketing supervising etc. Physical resources regarding event involve sound, catering, chairs, tables, decorative arrangements, transportation, photographer and supply of raw materials (Mancini, 2023). The company will pay high attention on distributing resources to reduce any kind of issues. Managers will obtain resources in adequate amount and will not overbooking the resources. It will help to reduce the operational costs which benefit event.

Marketing activities

The team will conduct market research to know the demand of the market and to gain valuable customer insights. This information will be utilised by the team to make advertisement posts and relevant content. Promotion factor of the 7P’s of marketing mix will be utilised to plan the marketing activities of Hot Chocolate event. The marketing team will prepare content for the event host which is essential to attract the guests. ‘Pure Chocolate Bliss’ campaign will conducted before event in order to spread awareness regarding the event. Separate social media account or business page will created on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook (Kwiatkowski and et al, 2024). The team will post about the event information, photos and stories to grab the attention of the guests. This event will collaborate with different hotels and resorts. They will help the event organiser by informing about hot chocolate event and encourage them to go to the venue and enjoy their trip. If all these activities will perform by team in an effective manner then this event will surely achieve the goals and earn high income.

Event budget

Analysis of cost of event

The approximate cost for this Hot Chocolate Event will be £ 10,000, which will be utilised in order to organise the event systematic manner. The event planners will carefully utilise this capital so that they will not face any difficulties like budget issues etc. The breakdown of the overall budget is given below:

Expenditure

Particulars	Amount (in Euro)
Catering and seating arrangements	£ 2000
Decoration	£ 1000
Contingency capital	£ 1500
Entertainment activities	£ 1500
Transportation and electricity bills	£ 1000
Marketing activities	£ 800
Venue rent	£ 1200
Equipment and raw materials	£ 1000
Total money	£ 10,000

Income

Particulars	Amount (in Euro)
Sales of products	£ 7000
Sponsorships	£ 2000
Advertisement	£ 2000
Parking of vehicles	£ 1000
Total money	£ 12,000

Recommendations

Although, the event management distribute their limited capital to perform different activities effectively. But it is recommended to the event management to increase their budget on equipment and machinery so that they can obtain advance machine that easily make and blend the hot chocolate. It is also recommended to the event management to hire employee who is expert in accounts and overseas all financial expenses.

Funding sources

There are various funding which can be utilised by the event planners so that they can acquire capital for the winter event. The detail of each funding sources is described below:

Personal savings – Personal savings is first source of getting fund for the event. The event organiser can utilise own money to conduct the different activities (Mukova, 2023). This will help to start the project on time and achieve the objectives.

Bank loans – Loans are provided by the many bank in the United Kingdom for business project in order to fulfil the financial requirements (Crawford, Cui and Kewley, 2024). Event planners will need to repay the amount according to a set interest rates.

Angel investor – Another source of funding is angel investor which will be utilised by the firm (Mason, 2022). Angel investors are businessmen or private investors that provide money for projects in exchange of equity.

Income generation sources

Event planners will earn the income and profit margins through different activities which include sponsorships, advertising and sell ad space.

Selling hot chocolate – Sales of hot chocolate is the main income source of the event. The company will generate high profits through offering tasty hot chocolate which will be prepared by fresh ingredients.

Sponsorships – It will offer rewarding revenue stream to the event planners for events (Koronios, and et al., 2020). It will allow event organisers to improve the event experience, balance costs and making lasting impact.

Advertisement – This event will advertise other company’s products or services in their event in exchange of money. It will allow the company to make more money from advertisements.

Vehicle parking – Money will be charged from the guests or customers for parking their vehicles (Ahmed, 2024). It will increase the profit margins and help to accomplish revenue related event objective.

Industry trends, issues and impact

Industry trends

Industry trends involves the new and advance technologies, new competitors and different preferences and demand among the customers (Mair and Smith, 2022). Regular changes in the different industries including MICE industry can impact the business performance. Current trends in the MICE industry are mentioned below:

Integration of advance technology – With the emerging technologies, many event companies change their working ways and business processes. Stay relevant with the industry trend is essential to achieve high competitive advantage in the market (Anas and et al, 2020). This event will follow the trend of investing in advance technologies to stay competitive in the industry. The event will use big data technology to get the valuable customer insights.

Adoption of sustainable practices – Increasing pressure on the business organisations by the UK government due to environmental impact put pressure on companies. It forced the companies to adopt sustainable practices and eventually it becomes industry trend (MICE Hospitality, 2023). Event planner will carry out business operations in decent way and source raw materials ethically.

Issues

There are some issues that can be faced by the event planner while organising the event in winter season.

Budget issues – An event planner may face budget issue in their in future if they will overspending on some activities (O’Toole, 2011). They can also face financial issues if things will not go according their strategies and planning.

Ineffective backup plan – It is crucial for any project to develop backup plan in order to reduce the risk of project failure. Challenges are common in business and if event planner will not develop backup plan then it will negative impact their Hot Chocolate Event.

Lack of work experience – If event planners will hire unexperienced workers then it can be challenge and get negative outcomes. It is crucial to recruit experienced workers for making event successful.

Impact

It is high possibility that this Hot Chocolate Event can face any issue while hosting event in London. The company may face budget issues, work related issues or backup plan problems. These challenges will highly impact the event and can create negative impression among guests. If workers will fail to serve the beverage on time because of budget problem or if they will offer poor customer service then it will create difficulties (Mair and et al, 2023). It can ruin the memorable moments of the guests and they will leave the event as soon as possible. It can impact the sales and revenue and this event will not be able to achieve their goals.

Situational and cultural considerations

Situational and cultural considerations can be explained by PESTEL analysis which is given below:

Political – This event can face the legal problems if they will organise the event without any permissions of higher authorities (Černá and et al, 2022). They need to apply for permit in government office to host the event.

Economic – Because of high inflation rate, customers can cancel their plans to visit London because it can be costly for them. It will reduce the number of guests and the will not be able to generate desired revenue.

Social – Many customers especially couple, adult people and children kike and enjoy this kind of event in their holidays. So, it will be beneficial for the event planner and they will be capable to sale more beverages.

Technological – New technology like big data and digital marketing can be helpful for the event (Berliandaldo and et al, 2023). Big data and marketing tools will provide the valuable insights regarding market and customers and promote event.

Environment – This event will perform activities in sustainable manner and also source materials from trusted suppliers to protect the environment.

Legal – The event planner will comply with all legal rules like employment act, health and safety act and consumer protection law to avoid legal problem (Rosemberg, 2020).

It is important for the event organisers to use the PESTEL tools and identify the possible factors that can impact the event. The event need to address problems as well as identify the opportunities to make this event memorable for guests. The team need to focus on some cultural aspects such as; language, music, values, beliefs and attitudes.

Conclusion

As per above report, it can be concluded that events are helpful for the travel and tourism sector to generate the revenue and develop the hospitality industry in the United Kingdom. This report has explained about the strategic planning and delivery of Hot Chocolate Event which was based on winter season theme. It has described about the event cycle and its application of winter event. This report has also presented the complete concept of event including delegates, guests and many more. Furthermore, this report has developed the aim and objectives that helped the event to stay on the track throughout the process. This report has also identified that an effective management of the event required a valuable set of skills that involves marketing skills, communication skills, organisation, time management and many more skills. It has also included the budget planning regarding this event which helped to organise event in an effective manner.

References

Books and journals

Anas, M.S., and et al, 2020. Key success factors toward MICE industry: A systematic literature review. Journal of Tourism, Hospitality & Culinary Arts (JTHCA), 12(1), pp.1-34.

Berliandaldo, M., and et al, 2023, October. The Implications of External Factors on Indonesian Tourism Human Resources Resilience Using PESTEL Analysis: A Preliminary Mapping. In Proceeding Book of The International Conference on Manpower and Sustainable Development: Transformation of Manpower in the Changing World of Work (Vol. 1).

Bohne, H. and Jolliffe, L., 2021. Embracing tea culture in hotel experiences. Gastronomy and Tourism, 6(1-2), pp.13-24.

Černá, J., and et al, 2022. Transformation of Marketing Macro-Economic Environment of Tourism with Emphasis on Changes in Mobility During COVID-19 Pandemic. LOGI–Scientific Journal on Transport and Logistics, 13(1), pp.186-197.

Crawford, J., Cui, Z.Y.A. and Kewley, D., 2024. Government finance, loans, and guarantees for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)(2000–2021): A systematic review. Journal of Small Business Management, 62(5), pp.2607-2637.

Davahli, M.R., and et al, 2020. The hospitality industry in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic: Current topics and research methods. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(20), p.7366.

Fajaryati, N., and et al, 2020. The employability skills needed to face the demands of work in the future: Systematic literature reviews. Open Engineering, 10(1), pp.595-603.

Fox, D. et al. 2014 Doing events research: from theory to practice. Routledge: Oxford

Getz, D. and Page, S. 2019 Event studies: theory, research and policy for planned events. 3rd Edition. Routledge: Oxford

Kesgin, M., Murthy, R. and Lagiewski, R., 2022. Profiling food festivals by type, name and descriptive content: a population level study. British Food Journal, 124(2), pp.530-549.

Koronios, K., and et al., 2020. Online technologies and sports: A new era for sponsorship. The Journal of High Technology Management Research, 31(1), p.100373.

Kwiatkowski, G., and et al, 2024. The entrepreneurial orientation of exhibitors and vendors at food festivals. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 16(2), pp.207-226.

Lee, S., Shin, H.H. and Jeong, M., 2020. Are students ready for their future career in the event and meeting industry? Lessons from a comparative study between students and event and meeting professionals. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 32(2), pp.77-87.

Mair, J. and Smith, A., 2022. Events and sustainability: why making events more sustainable is not enough. In Events and sustainability (pp. 1-17). Routledge.

Mair, J., and et al, 2023. Social impacts of mega-events: A systematic narrative review and research agenda. Methodological Advancements in Social Impacts of Tourism Research, pp.140-162.\

Mancini, M., 2023. A Sustainable Approach to the Planning, Organization, and Management of Big Events in the Music Entertainment Industry. In The Role of Design, Construction, and Real Estate in Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (pp. 187-207). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Mason, C., 2022. Business angel investing during the Covid-19 pandemic. In The COVID-19 Crisis and Entrepreneurship: Perspectives and Experiences of Researchers, Thought Leaders, and Policymakers (pp. 105-120). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Mukova, G.A., 2023. Sources of Funding for the Social Sector: Case of the COVID-19 Pandemic Period. Open Access Library Journal, 10(2), pp.1-14.

O’Toole, W. 2011 Events feasibility and development: from strategy to operations. Elsevier: Oxford

Rosemberg, M.A.S., 2020. Health and safety considerations for hotel cleaners during Covid-19. Occupational Medicine, 70(5), pp.382-383.

Tan, Y. and Zhu, Z., 2022. The effect of ESG rating events on corporate green innovation in China: The mediating role of financial constraints and managers' environmental awareness. Technology in Society, 68, p.101906.

Online

Ahmed, N., 2024. How to Make Money by Hosting Events Online: 10 Best Practices. Online Available through < https://themewinter.com/make-money-by-hosting-events-online/ >

LYYTI, 2021. Introducing the Event Cycle – The core of Event Success Management. Online Available through < https://www.lyyti.com/en/blog/introducing-the-event-cycle-the-core-of-event-success-management?gclid=undefined >

MICE Hospitality, 2023. MICE Trends 2023: Adapting to the New Normal. Online Available through < https://www.micehospitality.com/blog/mice-trends >

Wilcox, L., 2023. Seven Winter Themes for Your Next Event. Online Available through < https://www.northstarmeetingsgroup.com/Planning-Tips-and-Trends/Event-Planning/Event-Programming/Winter-Event-Meeting-Themes >