Luxury Tourism and Hospitality Employees PDF

Chapter 10 Luxury Tourism and Hospitality Employees: Their Role in Service Delivery Tracy Harkison1 Abstract Delivering services that create memorable luxury accommodation experi- ences rely on frontline staff to engage guests on a sensory level rather than merely a functional one. This engagement includes cognitive, emotional, relational and behavioural. Hospitality and tourism industries are people- orientated – people are needed to serve people in order to create desired experiences – and it is very difﬁcult to create satisfaction or to revisit intention in every interaction that takes place. It is this intangible charac- teristic of the industries, provisions and tangible cues that play an important part in enhancing the overall luxury accommodation experience. Guests are very clear as to what they expect from luxury accommodation experiences: they feel that they are paying for a service that should be personalised, and that staff should realise what they want and need. The human interaction component and the co-creation that occurs between staff and guests is an essential dimension of the industry. The inﬂuence of these interactions on guest experiences and the delivery of services will be explored in this chapter. Keywords: Frontline staff; luxury; luxury accommodation experience; co-creation; hospitality; service Introduction Luxury tourism and hospitality services very much depend on employees. Not only do employees play a crucial role in the delivery of these services, but also they are central to the luxury accommodation experience that guests are now expecting. This chapter investigates and appraises the role that staff play in the delivery of luxury tourism and hospitality services and the luxury accommodation 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2409-231X The Emerald Handbook of Luxury Management for Hospitality and Tourism, 199–219 Copyright © 2022 by Emerald Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved doi:10.1108/978-1-83982-900-020211010 200 Tracy Harkison experience they anticipate will come with those luxury services. The role under- taken by frontline staff will be investigated and appraised in relation to their interactions with customers, as this interaction is one of the most critical elements in luxury service delivery. To achieve an improved relationship with their customers, tourism and hos- pitality organisations are choreographing or developing luxury accommodation experiences via human interaction dimensions. For example, the focus is being given to their frontline staff’s presentation, professional behaviour, temperament, demeanour, proactive service and how they foster the socialisation of guests in order to encourage the customer–employee relationship. In service industries such as tourism and hospitality, product quality has been replaced by service quality. This new approach is viewed as a stratagem by which luxury establishments can add value to the accommodation experiences of their guests and differentiate themselves from other offerings in their sector. In this new approach, the product becomes less important than the interactions between the customer and the producer, and in the luxury accommodation sector, this interaction is becoming more and more critical. There is now an emphasis on creating luxury accommodation experiences in which, rather than merely being a passive observer, the guest is an active participant. It is essential for frontline staff to enable this co-creation due to the continual interactions they have with guests. In the process of co-creating unforgettable and unique luxury accommodation experiences, it is crucial to scrutinise and assess the recruitment, selection, training and development of tourism and hospitality professionals, so they are better able to anticipate and accommodate guests’ requirements and desires. The Importance of Luxury Accommodation Accommodation is recognised as one of the most signiﬁcant elements of the tourist experience and is generally one of the ﬁrst services tourists demand when reaching their destination (Santoro, 2015). Furthermore, if they are happy with their accommodation, this may place them in a positive mindset, but if the accommodation does not live up to their expectations, it can ruin their entire experience (Dixit, 2020; Khoo-Lattimore & Ekiz, 2014; Kotler, Bowen, & Makens, 2010). Yet, despite the critical nature of accommodation to the tourist experience, this component has frequently been taken for granted or ignored completely (Chu, Tang, & Luo, 2016; Quan & Wang, 2004), and in terms of understanding guests’ emotional triggers, the accommodation experience has remained signiﬁcantly under-researched (Chu et al., 2016; Titz, 2008). Hospitality is one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in the world. The word ‘hospitality’ is an umbrella term that encompasses many sectors, and when researchers are determining a target for study, it is suggested that they should focus their research on speciﬁc sectors within the industry and also on the variability within those sectors (Ottenbacher, Harrington, & Parsa, 2009). Cetin and Dincer (2014) state that luxury hotels can give researchers more insight into experiences due to their challenging and knowledgeable clientele, as well as the Luxury Tourism and Hospitality Employees 201 importance that the luxury hotel places on their own products and services. Such hotels are service-intensive and maintain a high staff-to-guest ratio in order to ensure high interpersonal guest contact within a lavish environment (Brien, Ratna, & Boddington, 2012; Harkison, Hemmington, & Hyde, 2018). Researchers argue that luxury hotels form a portion of the ‘experience economy’, in which employees deliver the experience as part of their relationships with both the guest and other staff (Gilmore & Pine, 2002; Sundbo & Dixit, 2020; Tosti, 2009). However, producing an experience necessitates engagement from and some type of emotional (not just functional) participation of the visitor. This emotional engagement in experience formation depends on interactions (Snel, 2013) between the visitor and the organisation, which co-creates experiences through the resulting two-way interactions (Sørensen & Jensen, 2015). Developing an understanding of the engagement behaviours of customers, such as co-creation, has developed into a key research priority for marketing, tourism and hospitality researchers (Harkison, 2018; Marketing Science Institute, 2010; Verhoef, Reinartz, & Krafft, 2010). Luxury Hotels In prior years, luxury hotels tended to be well known for their premium locations, imposing dimensions, superior culinary offerings, spotlessness, exquisite beauty and the provision of security, privacy and exceptionally customised services (Kucukusta, Heung, & Hui, 2014; Sherman, 2007). But then, other accommo- dation organisations started to believe that it was necessary that they provide further amenities in their rooms (for example, a range of familiar brands of toi- letries). This trend, which was fuelled by highly competitive market environments, was called ‘the amenities creep of the 80s’ (Bell, 1989; Bernstein, 1999). However, by the turn of the next century, the availability of hotel facilities, for example, restaurants, bars, rooms and nightclubs, was no longer considered by guests as a luxury: for many people, these facilities had become a vital component of their lifestyle (Kandampully & Suhartanto, 2000). This raised standard for ‘average’ accommodation increased competition within the luxury segment and obliged organisations to give more consideration to customer satisfaction (Lu, Berchoux, Marek, & Chen, 2015; Mattila, 1999). Examining customer satisfaction from the customer perspective highlights how they develop connections between luxury hotels as a product and the relevance the product has to their lives (Dixit, 2017; Zeithaml, Bitner, & Gremler, 2006). Luxury hotels were found to provide strong emotional experiences for their guests, who were prepared to be charged more for this (Barsky & Nash, 2002; Han & Back, 2007). That knowledge led to some hotel organisations speciﬁcally upscaling their hotels to luxury. However, luxury hotels must determine whether guests are visiting for pleasure or business because guest perceptions can be affected by the purpose of their visit (Grifﬁn, Shea, & Weaver, 1996). According to Cetin and Dincer (2014), it is not realistic to presume that business travellers would demonstrate the same level of concern towards hotel experiences as would 202 Tracy Harkison recreational tourists. Another factor that can affect guests’ perceptions of satis- faction is the brand of the hotel. Hotel Brands The brand of a hotel is viewed as an implied promise of what types of amenities and levels of service guests could expect (Xu & Chan, 2010). The brand acts as the signature of a hotel chain, showcasing its services and products, and is often perceived as a mechanism for hotel organisations to distinguish and differentiate themselves in the minds of their guests (Mohsin, Hussain, & Khan, 2011; Xu & Chan, 2010). However, although a number of organisations, such as the Four Seasons and the Ritz Carlton, promoted their businesses as luxury hotels when O’Neill (2004) investigated the changing nature of luxury hotel brand values, he was unable to identify a clear deﬁnition for what ‘made’ a luxury hotel. In an attempt to provide some clarity, O’Neill used a retail analogy to explain the difference: ‘Luxury hotels are about as different from the average hotel as a Prada bag is from a duffel bag’ (O’Neill, 2004, p. 30). Presbury, Fitzgerald, and Chapman (2005) highlighted that luxury hotel managers needed to identify the distinguishing features, services, capabilities and strengths that they could deliver to guests in a consistent manner in order for their businesses to be seen as different from average hotels. Luxury hotels are also distinguished from other hotels by having well-trained and highly engaged staff (Bagnera, 2017; Cetin & Walls, 2016). Frontline Staff Employees, particularly those that have direct interactions with guests, are the ones who provide the service and manage the product that is the guests’ experi- ence. Given this fact, it is critical that organisations be careful to select and hire the ‘correct’ staff – those with personalities predisposed to delight customers. And once staff have been employed, the organisation needs to support their staff through training and development programmes and immerse them in the organisational culture (Torres & Kline, 2006). Walls, Okumus, Wang, and Kwun (2011) suggested that, in addition to travel- related factors (for example, whether guests are travelling for pleasure or for business), human interactions can signiﬁcantly affect the guest experience in luxury hotels. Given that the accommodation industry involves elevated levels of interaction between staff and guests, visitors’ emotions are frequently impacted by the services and actions of the staff they encounter (Han & Back, 2007; Lewis & McCann, 2004). Visitors want staff to display professional behaviour and a positive attitude, and to provide services in a proactive manner (Walls et al., 2011). Frontline staff interactions with visitors generally start with structured and rehearsed sequences of verbal exchanges (Scerri, Jenkins, & Lovell, 2017). Baum (2006) believed that frontline employees within luxury hotels must possess the ability to engage in conversation with visitors on any relevant matter (be it sport, Luxury Tourism and Hospitality Employees 203 music, movies, politics or any other subject), all with international awareness. However, this prerequisite relies upon employing educated frontline staff with a degree of international exposure, as well as a commitment from them to maintain up-to-date knowledge in these subjects (Baum, 2006). It has been proposed that luxury hotels must preserve high staff-to-guest ratios in order to guarantee that they can provide high levels of interpersonal guest contact in what is viewed as a lavish setting (Brien et al., 2012; Harkison et al., 2018). Bharwani and Jauhari (2013) believed that this increase in human interaction is essential for improving guests’ positive experiences. One of the major priorities in hospitality is the guest experience – hosting guests and developing the perception of hospitableness and being hosted. It has been suggested that hospitality exists within the lived experience – that the ‘host’ and the ‘guest’ partake in a ‘here and now’ experience that is experienced by both of them. O’Gorman (2007) described hospitality as a gift that is given and shared and that the truest gift was the act of kindness the guest experiences, turning a stranger into a friend, albeit for a short period of time (O’Gorman, 2007). The hospitality experience success rate depends on the ability of the host and guest to connect and also on how willing the guest is to engage in the experience offered by the organisation (Alcántara-Alcover, Artacho-Ramı́rez, Martı́nez-Guillamón, & Campos-Soriano, 2013; Walls et al., 2011). And, without question, visitors and staff have roles to play in the service experiences and service interactions (Carù & Cova, 2006; Lugosi, 2008). In endeavouring to create a connection with guests, organisations choreograph or produce experiences by means of human interaction dimensions (for example, the presentation, professionalism, proactiveness and demeanour of employees; and the attitude, behaviour, socialisation and presentation of the visitor) and/or the physical environment aspects (for example, the artefacts, function, ambience, symbols, space, signs and multisensory facets) (Walls et al., 2011). However, the multidimensional impression formed by encounters with products, services and businesses is mediated by the guest’s willingness to be affected by physical and/or human interaction dimensions (Walls et al., 2011). Within the context of a luxury hotel, the dimensions of a visitor experience include the human interactions with staff and fellow guests, the personal char- acteristics of those visitors and the physical environment (Arifﬁn, Nameghi, & Zakaria, 2013; Brien et al., 2012). Walls (2013) suggested that the hotel experience for guests should be managed by a detailed strategy that starts from the pre- experience expectations and continues through to the post-experience assessments of that hotel experience. In addition, Gilmore and Pine (2002) previously noted that an orchestrated and innovative design of experiences would gradually become essential core competence of successful hotel managers. Williams (2006) recognised that hospitality was very similar to the theatre, in that both contain an element of staging the environment and that it is necessary to stage-manage the experiences. With hotels and restaurants, there is a meticulous need to prepare the front of the house as a stage, and although this can be very time-consuming, it is vital to creating the experience (Williams, 2006). Within the hospitality industry, an example of this is the employment of ‘experience engineers’ by Starwood 204 Tracy Harkison Hotels and Resorts, their principal objective being to improve the service culture at their establishments, as an improved service culture has been found to enhance guest satisfaction and loyalty by delivering better guest experiences (Walls, 2013). In an attempt to provide improved experiences for their guests, Starwood used staging in the form of Second Life software in order to obtain valuable feedback from their visitors about new hotels they were proposing to build (Penfold, 2009). Hemmington (2007) proposed that hospitality organisations should aim to create their guest experience in a similar manner to that of good restaurants by introducing many little surprises. To develop such experiences, businesses need to rely on their employees – to utilise their ideas and creativity to repeatedly stim- ulate and excite their visitors throughout the entirety of their experience. How- ever, the delivery of hospitality products can be very dependent on retaining the customers’ perspective: customers do not buy service delivery, they buy experi- ences; they do not buy service quality, they buy memories; they do not buy food and drink, they buy meal experiences (Hemmington, 2007, p. 749). To achieve success in the hospitality industry, it is essential for organisations to be able to design and deliver unforgettable experiences (Yuan & Wu, 2008). Cetin and Dincer (2014) reﬁned this belief by recommending that luxury hotels with hundreds of rooms should focus more on their physical environment experiences and that smaller boutique hotels could concentrate more on the social interaction experiences within their businesses. Hotels as a Memorable Experience Knutson and Beck (2004) state that guests’ experiences consist of all the memo- rable encounters throughout the entire encounter with the business. For hotels, this encompasses everything from making a reservation via various channels right through to the billing at the end of the stay. Therefore, they should concentrate on managing the visitor journey by integrating it into their positioning strategy – the journey is critical because it progresses the guest from the expectations they held prior to their visit through to appraisals they make once it is ﬁnished (Knutson & Beck, 2004; Sturken, 2018). It has been suggested that if businesses want to take control of this journey, they need to recognise two sets of clues: the ﬁrst is the actual functions of the goods and services; the second is the emotions that are generated, which emanate from interactions with other things or people, for example, their perception of the perceptible aspects in the environment (Berry, Carbone, & Haeckel, 2002). Drewer (2005) further suggested that ‘rather than simply viewing the hotel as accommodation, clients are looking at the hotel to provide an experience itself’ (p. 6). This concept was also investigated by McIntosh and Siggs (2005), who concentrated on specialised accommodation since they believed that there had been little consideration given to the experiential nature of accommodation, particularly in the realm of specialisation. Their research establishes that the demand for specialised accommodation businesses might be related to the experiences of luxury uniqueness, host–guest interaction, personal touches, Luxury Tourism and Hospitality Employees 205 history and comfort that these establishments can provide (McIntosh & Siggs, 2005). It can be said that the hospitality industry possesses an intangible facet, and it needs people to deliver its product: Unlike most service industries, it is the manner in which the hospitality employee provides the service – as opposed to the service itself – which is critical to the customer’s overall enjoyment of the product or “experience” being purchased. (Dawson, Abbott, & Shoemaker, 2011, p. 290) Positive or negative encounters with other guests or with an organisation’s employees can trigger a guest’s emotions in various ways and impact on their overall experience (Barsky & Nash, 2002; Han, Moon, & Hyun, 2019; Sundbo & Dixit, 2020). Encounters such as chaotic arrival or departure processes, shabbily dressed staff members, or low hygiene standards might cause visitors to feel miserable with their visit (Barsky & Nash, 2002; Han et al., 2019). So it is important that hospitality organisations maintain the ‘customer perspective’ in mind when developing customer experiences or planning how to effectively deliver hospitality products and services (Bharwani & Jauhari, 2013). Service Quality In recent years, the hospitality industry, along with other service industry orga- nisations, has seen service quality slowly replace product quality – making improvements to the service quality components of their operations is being viewed both as a way for these businesses to differentiate themselves from others in their sector and to enable them to add value to the guest experience (Knutson, Beck, Kim, & Cha, 2010). Service quality can be viewed as appropriate or per- sonalised services – for example, hotel staff knowing a guest’s name or their personal information, the outcome of which contributes to the guest feeling important and that staff are treating them as something special (Arifﬁn & Maghzi, 2012). Personalised service can be accomplished via the interactions between frontline staff and guests, as the host–guest relationship is a fundamental aspect of the visitor experience (Lashley, 2008; OnsØyen, Mykletun, & Steiro, 2009). From the guest’s perspective, frontline staff in any service organisation are the brand and the service (Zeithaml et al., 2006). Quality service is synonymous with luxury hotels (Kim, Kim, King, & Heo, 2019). For hospitality businesses to create value, they need to be able to engage their guests throughout their entire hotel experience, and both the tangible and intangible characteristics of a hotel play a critical role in enhancing that overall experience (Khoo-Lattimore & Ekiz, 2014). For example, in terms of the tangible elements, facilities always need to be in excellent condition, appropriately main- tained and meticulously spotless and hygienic. In terms of the characteristics of the hotel that are intangible, staff should always attempt to highlight these to 206 Tracy Harkison guests – for example, if a hotel is blessed with an incredible view, staff could mention this when the guest is checking in, and whenever possible, they should aim to upgrade them to a room that provides access to that incredible view. With an experience mindset, quality service is recognised as a distinctive ser- vice (Pine & Gilmore, 2011) and is customised (Hung, 2018). This means that service is geared towards excelling at every opportunity (Walker, 2017). Luxury hotels excel in customising the services they provide to accommodate the needs of their guests (Harkison, 2016; Kimes & Ho, 2017). Service quality is the most signiﬁcant factor affecting the selection of luxury hotels (Low, 2012). A high level of service is standard for luxury hotels (Kim et al., 2019). Service, not the product, has the most impact on guests’ perceptions about their experience (Cetin & Walls, 2016), and good service has a positive impact on guests’ satisfaction in luxury hotels (Allan, 2016). Neuhofer, Buhalis, and Ladkin (2013) believe that hotel organisations need to stop viewing the guest experience as something that is a static part or created in isolation by the orga- nisations themselves, but rather as something that is dynamic, highly personalised and proactively co-created by both the guest and staff at speciﬁc service encounters in real time. Co-creating Experiences As mentioned above, it should be the organisation that enhances the guest experience by managing it from beginning to end, but the success of the experi- ence also depends on how much guests are willing and able to engage in their own experience (Walls et al., 2011). Organisations may be capable of creating the environment and circumstances in which it is possible for customers to have an amazing experience, but they are unable to guarantee that the outcome of a guest experience will be positive (Walls, 2013). These actions are seen as the basis of co-creation – the interaction or dialogue between the provider and customer to create value (Harkison, 2018; Shaw & Ivens, 2002). To sincerely gain an understanding of their customers’ views, businesses need to start with having a clear understanding of their customer’s world. They need to know what exact services they will co-construct, precisely what they are co-constructing and how their customers perceive those co-construction processes (Andersson, 2007). An alternative way to view co-construction or co-creation is as follows: a tourism service provider and a tourist assemble resources that, together with their own time and skills, will be able to provide a consumption set that includes skills, time, goods and services, which combine to create an experience (Andersson, 2007). Some researchers have stated that any experience could be regarded as a form of co-creation due to the customer gaining knowledge through the interaction of different components created by a service provider (Gupta & Vajic, 1999). However, Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2002) highlighted that there had been an increased impetus towards an environment where customers and companies were coming together to co-create experiences, and businesses were embracing the fact Luxury Tourism and Hospitality Employees 207 that customers were now becoming partners in co-creating their own experiences (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2002). Scott, Laws, and Boksberger (2009) suggested that experience had shifted from being something that is intrinsic to the guest to becoming a managerial matter, where it is developed and co-created by both the organisation and guest. To ensure staff have the ability to interact successfully with guests, businesses now need to engage them in the process of co-creating customer value (Ram- aswamy, 2009). Expanding on this point, Scott et al. (2009) suggested that the interplay between the customer and producer is not only becoming increasingly important, but it is becoming even more critical than the actual product itself, and that the emphasis must be placed on developing experiences that customers actively participate in rather than just passively observe. Echoing this, Santos- Vijande, Álvarez, and Rodrı́guez (2012) stated that frontline staff are becoming crucial to the enablement of co-creation activities, given the volume of interac- tions that they are now having with customers. Cases Studies Limited research has been undertaken on the topic of luxury accommodation experiences, and these have largely taken a unidimensional perspective on the issue – concentrating on either managerial or a customer perspective – while other crucial performers in the delivery of luxury accommodation experiences, partic- ularly service staff, have generally been overlooked. Although the subject of producing experiences has been highlighted as a signiﬁcant component in tourism experiences, it has also been largely ignored, particularly in relation to the accommodation sector and, more speciﬁcally, in luxury lodges and hotels. Despite conducting an extensive literature review, no previous research on developing luxury hotel or lodge experiences in New Zealand was found (Harkison, 2016). For this reason, my research aimed to examine and evaluate the creation of the luxury accommodation experience using case studies within New Zealand. The research adopted interpretivist case study methodology, which utilised a multiple case study approach to the examination and evaluation of guests’, employees’ and managers’ perspectives on producing a luxury hotel and lodge experience in New Zealand. In total, 6 luxury properties were used as case studies, and a total of 81 participants were interviewed while their ‘experience’ was in progress. The par- ticipants for this research included 27 managers, 27 employees and 27 guests. An analysis of the data produced two conceptual models that characterised what the luxury lodge and hotel experience entails within New Zealand and how it is created within New Zealand (Harkison, 2016). The ﬁrst model (case study one) clariﬁes the luxury hotel and lodge experience within New Zealand. This model reveals the luxury hotel and lodge experience as being characterised by the following elements: Being in the moment; Opulence; 208 Tracy Harkison The essence of the luxury hotel or lodge; The feeling of indulgence; The location and setting of the properties; The sensations and emotions of managers, employees and guests; The physical surroundings of the properties; Delivering tailored attention; Hospitableness; Activities available at the properties and Guests’ desires and expectations (Harkison, 2016). Regardless of whether they were hotels or lodges, across all properties, the three strongest themes that were identiﬁed by the participants were the ﬁrst three listed above: being in the moment; opulence and the essence of the luxury hotel and lodge. The second case study introduces another model, which deﬁnes how the luxury lodge and hotel experience is developed in New Zealand. The model identiﬁes how the luxury hotel and lodge experience is developed via the following themes: Setting the stage; The ethos of the properties; The actors’ performances; Co-creation between participants; Guidance; Comparisons between properties; Domestic and international comparisons; The brand’s values and beliefs and Projecting an image (Harkison, 2016). The four most prominent themes highlighted by all of the participants inter- viewed were the ethos of the property, co-creation between participants, setting the stage and the actors’ performances – and this held true across all of the luxury properties surveyed, be they hotel or lodge. Recommendations from the Case Studies A number of recommendations can be found in the present research outcomes that will assist managers when they are attempting to construct luxury hotel and lodge experiences. Although this chapter has been based on the role of employees, it is also the responsibility of the owners, management and the visitors to take part in the creation of the luxury lodge and hotel experience. An organisation’s vision or mission statement is a form of promise and sets certain expectations, so it is critical that they work hard to deliver on those promises and expectations. Therefore, it is vital that the mission or vision statement is inculcated into the thoughts and actions of all employees and managers and that a monitoring system is created and utilised to guarantee that what has been promised is actually being Luxury Tourism and Hospitality Employees 209 Case Study 10.1: What the Luxury Hotel and Lodge Experience Is in New Zealand? Fig. 10.1 presents the model of what the luxury hotel and lodge experience is and summarises the empirical research ﬁndings. The central area of the model exempliﬁes the collective opinions of the participants of what they thought were the most crucial components required in a successful luxury hotel or lodge experience. This ﬁgure could be considered a holistic ‘blueprint’ required to build such an experience. In the left area are two additional components that were considered to be unique to hotels in the study, and in the right area are three extra elements that were considered to be unique to the lodges in the study (Harkison, 2016). Fig. 10.1. Model of Luxury Hotel and Lodge Experience. In the central area, the elemental essence of the luxury hotel and lodge is at the top, and this includes all the foundation aspects of the properties; this includes the exceptional standards that are seen as the point of difference between any ‘ordinary’ hotel or lodge within New Zealand and a luxury hotel or lodge. Next is location and setting – this relates to luxury hotels and lodges being located in either the city or countryside, but always with attractive sites with beautiful surroundings. Participants agreed that New Zealand has a distinct advantage, as it has already received global recognition as a unique holiday destination for its diversity of landscapes, scenery and locations and is seen as already having an established luxury status. The next item is opulence, which encompasses the various unique elements that deﬁne a luxury venue: any venues that were missing some or all of these elements were considered to 210 Tracy Harkison be ‘ordinary’. So, the different degrees of opulence, therefore, deﬁne the standards of luxury experience (Harkison, 2016). Indulgence comes next and is seen as the convergence of the guests’ desires, expectations and requirements and the ability and willingness of staff to satisfy their guests – guests were pampered, spoilt and made to feel special, with the cooperation and input of the entire staff. Both staff and manager participants explained that there was an emotional aspect associated with guest interaction and peer interactivity, and by possessing the ‘right tools’ and operating environment, they were able to deliver an excellent standard of service. Being able to ‘get it right’ for their guests also enhanced their own personal sense of fulﬁlment and satisfaction. The guests’ sensations and emotions were experienced from different perspectives: here they were eval- uating the property, the frontline staff and all the tangible elements that were promoted and supported by the hotel or lodge. One of the most important beliefs was that none of the guests ever felt ‘short-changed’ or neglected by the properties they were staying in. The ﬁnal element, being in the moment, encompasses how the guests perceived the luxury hotel or lodge as a ‘lived experience’ – this perception did not include any preconceived ideas or retrospective judgements that they had of that hotel or lodge. Hospitality and accommodation are ‘lived experiences’, which involves an ‘inseparability’, because the production and consumption of these services are simultaneous, and they are also interconnected. As these services are perishable and are not able to be stored for sale at a later opportunity, properties have only one chance to impress their guests – they are not given a second chance if things go wrong (Harkison, 2016). External activities and guests’ desires and expectations are the two unique elements of luxury hotels. External activities are those activities conducted outside of the hotel environment and, in all likelihood, are arranged by the hotel concierge team, who generally outsource them to a third party (a business neither controlled nor owned by the hotel). Regardless of who conducts these activities, any unfavourable outcome from these activities will often affect the overall luxury hotel experience in a negative way. In general, hotels deliver more prescriptive experiences, as they are trying to deliver what they believe their guests expect and desire, in accordance with their own guidelines, operating standards and performance speciﬁcations (Harkison, 2016). Physical surroundings, delivering tailored attention and hospitableness are the three unique elements of luxury lodges. New Zealand luxury lodges are frequently situated in fairly remote areas, with rugged topography and breathtaking scenery. In contrast, the facilities are far from rugged or spartan – in fact, most are the last word in luxury. In these lodges, staff have the ability to exercise a higher level of autonomy, and the consequence of this is the greater ﬂexibility they have in effectively delivering tailored attention to individual visitors and thus further enhancing the luxury experience. Hospi- tableness, within the luxury lodge context, is a general concept that implies that Luxury Tourism and Hospitality Employees 211 all guests are being well catered to and that their well-being is the top priority of the lodge. In order to be a successful luxury property and to ensure hos- pitableness, it is essential that guests recognise and acknowledge these endeavours are happening in the luxury lodge (Harkison, 2016). Case Study 10.2: How the Luxury Hotel and Lodge Experience Is Created in New Zealand? Fig. 10.2 presents a model of how the luxury hotel and lodge experience is created in New Zealand and is based on the empirical research ﬁndings. The centre of the model represents the collective opinions of what the participants considered to be the six critical components that are required to create a successful luxury lodge or hotel experience. This model could be considered a holistic ‘blueprint’ for enabling the luxury accommodation experience to be developed. In the left area, there are two extra elements that are considered to be unique to the hotels that were studied, and in the right area is one extra element that is considered to be unique to the lodges studied (Harkison, 2016). Fig. 10.2. Model of How the Luxury Hotel and Lodge Experience Is Created. 212 Tracy Harkison In the central block, the element ethos of the property is at the top – this represents the philosophies that underpinned the founding of the business. Management of the businesses all began with a vision or mission statement, which declared expectations, intentions, promises and guarantees that would impact staff and guests alike. Comparison of properties was agreed upon by all interviewees as essential, as they felt that luxury properties need to have the ability to positively promote their differences with comparable competing organisations. Once a vision for the property has been determined, the element of setting the stage is required. This stage comprises everything a luxury property offers that is tangible: those elements with which the guests will physically interact, for example, the lobby, their room, the pool, etc. These ‘basic’ requirements are regarded as critical to the guests’ nourishment, entertainment and comfort, and therefore, there is no room for deﬁciencies in quantity, quality or availability (Harkison, 2016). Once this stage has been set, the play can begin – the actors (employees and managers) must perform their parts competently, efﬁciently and profession- ally, while the audience (guests) observe the actors’ performances. To guar- antee success, the audience (guests) must become involved and actively participate in the overall performance. This active involvement is an essential ingredient of the entire luxury stay experience (Harkison, 2016). All interviewees believed that in order to guarantee the long-term preser- vation and successful realisation of quality standards, there needed to be an ongoing commitment by the organisation to the guidance of all staff (frontline and back-of-house staff, and those in managerial positions). The interviewees agreed that having well-informed and highly trained employees at all levels of the organisation would ensure staff developed increased levels of self- conﬁdence, a higher feeling of purposeful responsibility and more positive decision-making. Co-creation has been described as a business stratagem that emphasises interactive relationships and customer experience – it not only allows increased levels of active involvement from the guest but actually encourages it (Harkison, 2016). The brand’s values and beliefs and domestic and international comparisons were two unique elements that were associated with luxury hotels. Guests and managers interviewed felt that wider global travel had exposed a variety of new methods that could assist in the creation of the luxury hotel experience. In general, in the beginning, guests are impressed with the heightened levels of luxury they experience, but after they have travelled for a while, and experienced a wider range of hotels (locally and internationally), those same people quickly become rather blasé and expect equivalent levels of luxury anywhere they stay. Staff and management highlighted what they saw as a deﬁnite beneﬁt of being a member of a bigger international organisation, the fact that they were able to instil the same accepted values, beliefs and stan- dards as the other hotels in their international group, which then ensured the creation of the same level of luxury experience (Harkison, 2016). Luxury Tourism and Hospitality Employees 213 Projecting an image was considered a unique component in the luxury lodge experience. Prior to selecting a lodge, guests frequently undertake a thorough screening of the options, commonly reviewing the full range of media available to them, including websites, social media and even any hard copy material still published by the lodges. And all participants agreed that the projection of an attractive image, accompanied with extensive information, was essential to them in their decision-making process. Indeed, they argued that the starting point for the entire luxury lodge experience was the initial contact with the lodge, which was its portrayal in that media (Harkison, 2016). delivered. The business needs to know what their points of difference are, and it is essential that they utilise these as part of their competitive advantage – man- agement must recognise what it is that makes their properties different from others, and then underscore and highlight these factors to all of the guests, be they regulars or potential visitors (Harkison, 2016). The businesses must set the stage for their visitors because this will provide the basic underpinning structure upon which employees will be able to build the luxury lodge or hotel experience for them. Ensuring that all the intangible and tangible components present at the properties are available for all visitors, with no exceptions, helps to achieve the setting of the stage – and businesses might have to develop checklists to ensure that it happens. It is very difﬁcult, perhaps even impossible, to deliver a luxury experience if these ‘building blocks’ (the stage) have not been put in place, as they are the foundation on top of which the entire experience is constructed. Businesses must concentrate on choosing staff with what they see as the correct appearance, behaviour, attitude, demeanour, ability to be proactive, and social skills. They also need to concentrate on attracting, developing and retaining employees who are proﬁcient in creating and implementing luxury lodge or hotel experiences that are successful. This may require businesses to review and re- evaluate the staff-related policies and procedures that they might (or might not) currently possess. There must be clear communication of expectations from management to the staff so that they can correctly produce the promised luxury experience for guests, and this might require the development of a blueprint that details how to fashion and deliver what is required (Harkison, 2016). Organisations will have to explore the variety of ways in which co-creation occurs within their lodges and hotels and facilitate and support increased levels of interaction and co-creation among all participants. This co-creation takes place within the properties between at least two of the participating parties (visitors, staff or management) and, frequently, external to the properties, with outside third parties (business neither owned nor controlled by the hotel or lodge). Encouraging and supporting further opportunities for co-creation to materialise is likely to impact the creation of the luxury experience in a positive way. An example of this is seen when the organisation encourages and makes it possible for 214 Tracy Harkison employees to visit local producers of food or wine: this empowers those employees to converse conﬁdently and knowledgeably about those matters with visitors. Providing dedicated employees (ambassadors) to interact with visitors throughout the entirety of their visit encourages improved relationships to develop, leading to greater levels of meaningful engagement, thus enabling successful co-creation. And the constant benchmarking of their own organisations with national and international counterparties will allow owners to constantly improve the experi- ences that they can offer their guests. Organisations must ensure that the beliefs and values associated with their brand are adhered to and promoted by all staff, and by doing so, they will help them to ﬁlter through to their visitors. Constant employee training and support is required to ensure that the brand’s beliefs and values are maintained and sus- tained. The image that properties portray via the various channels available to them, be they traditional or modern, needs to be carefully cultivated and managed, as it is this image and the message that it conveys that is the beginning of the creation of the luxury experience – it is sending visual and verbal signals to existing and potential visitors. The models that have been presented through the two case studies might assist organisations to understand what a luxury experience really is and what is involved in its creation. The research demonstrates that the overall luxury lodge and hotel experience can be extremely complex, emotional and personal for all groups involved, and that if organisations are able to gain a greater appreciation and understanding of this fact, then they and their staff will more easily be able to successfully deliver positive and memorable experiences at their own luxury property (Harkison, 2016). Conclusion The accommodation aspect of any tourism experience is essential and can make or break the entire experience. Guests no longer want a luxury accommodation stay: they want a luxury accommodation experience. As can be seen throughout this chapter, in order to create this experience, employees are not only crucial but also central to the process. Generally, luxury lodges and hotels possess highly trained and engaged employees, but the properties must make sure that they are attracting and recruiting the ‘correct’ staff. These staff members must possess personalities predisposed to delighting visitors, and they must exhibit professional behaviour, appearance, demeanour and attitudes that match the property’s culture. Given that there is an increased level of interaction with visitors at luxury hotels and lodges, businesses must make sure that frontline staff possess the conﬁdence and ability to converse knowledgeably with visitors on a wide variety of domestic and international matters. 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