Material management in themed restaurants : Inspiring the experience economy / Farah Adibah Che Ishak, Philip Crang and Muhammad Shahrim Ab Karim

In tune with wider ideas of an experience economy, the hospitality industry has increasingly focused less on giving a service to its customers and more on offering them memorable, sensory experiences. This paper looks at one facet of this provision of experiences: the material engineering and management of the ‘affective atmosphere’ or ‘ambiance’ of a venue. It unfolds the exploration of theme restaurants in practicing the material management as an inspiration to stage an experience. This paper illustrates its arguments through one case study: the Indonesian theming of the Pondok Malindo restaurant, Selangor. Practically, the findings suggest that creating the desired ambiance needs proper planning and careful attention to a wide range of material elements. More broadly, the paper suggests that accounts of the experience economy should consider the powers and agencies of materials and objects

Material management in themed restaurants: inspiring the experience economy

In tune with wider ideas of an experience economy, the hospitality industry has increasingly focused less on giving a service to its customers and more on offering them memorable, sensory experiences. This paper looks at one facet of this provision of experiences: the material engineering and management of the ‘affective atmosphere’ or ‘ambiance’ of a venue. It unfolds the exploration of theme restaurants in practicing the material management as an inspiration to stage an experience. This paper illustrates its arguments through one case study: the Indonesian theming of the Pondok Malindo restaurant, Selangor. Practically, the findings suggest that creating the desired ambiance needs proper planning and careful attention to a wide range of material elements. More broadly, the paper suggests that accounts of the experience economy should consider the powers and agencies of materials and objects

Utilizing local food product at rural destination

Local food is considered as a symbol of culture destination and its people. Consuming local food is one of the memorial activities by tourists during the holiday seasons apart from fulfilling the basic needs and demands in rural destination. By participating in local food activities, it gives the opportunity to identify closely different culture and identity of a rural destination. Local food in rural destination does not only satisfy hunger, but also provides a major component of intangible heritage and becomes increasingly important attraction for tourists. Current research has found that local food at the rural destination helps to promote destination awareness, form destination identity, create tourist activity, and contribute to tourist satisfaction and experience. Thus, local food can be used as a tool to develop economies in rural destination. In tourism aspects, rural destinations tend to sell common attributes such as nature, historical sites, landscape, and cultural heritage. Integrating local food in rural destination may help to strengthen a tourist destination identity and competitiveness. Therefore, this conceptual paper provides the understanding of utilizing local food product for rural destination development domestically and globally

Can restaurant revenue management work with menu analysis?

Menu analysis and revenue management approaches contribute to improving a restaurant’s profitability. Yet, both approaches are often implemented independently with constraints. This paper explores the potential of integrating both approaches to improve strategy formulation. Hence, this paper identified the extent of applicability and synergies among both approaches. Findings highlighted that as both approaches become more sophisticated, the practicality of implementation will deprive. The synergies identified the potential to integrate both approaches’ performance indicators, cost efficiency data and strategies. Understanding the applicability and synergies of both approaches will lay the foundation for an effective integrated menu analysis and revenue management framework

Exploring the issues and challenges in managing themed restaurant in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Themed restaurant emphasizes the staging of the dining experience to attract its patrons. Its unique concept and décor excite patrons to explore new food consumption experience and make them a popular choice in the market. However, it appears that restaurants in this niche have shorter ‘shelf life’ due to various managerial issues that force them to close. These restaurants are also too dependent on trends and would slowly vanish when it is over. Therefore, themed restaurants are seen to have more potential problems and have a high risk of sustaining in the industry. Thus, this research aims to identify the internal issues in managing themed restaurants and explore the business operation's external challenges. A qualitative research approach was implemented through semi-structured interviews with ten managers of themed restaurants across the Klang Valley area. The interview sessions were recorded and then transcribed, coded, themed, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results concluded that the managers' internal issues are financial, sales and marketing, design and layout, location, and staff. On the other hand, customers, competitors, price of good fluctuation, and suppliers are the external challenges in managing themed restaurants. The findings of this study contributed to the theoretical knowledge of themed restaurants within the Malaysia context and benefited the restaurant owners. It may assist the existing restaurants in improving the business strategy to overcome the challenges and maneuver the new entry owners in the beginning stage of their entrepreneurial journey

A conceptual paper for development of halal food service system in Thailand

Halal certification for food service establishments is crucial when marketing them to the global travelers since the demand for Halal establishments is increasing every day. Many food service establishments are trying to be Halal certified because stringent Halal certification processes could give these establishments a competitive advantage which will result in higher revenue. Thailand has been receiving a high revenue from tourism industry. Meanwhile the food and beverage were the top five sectors that contributed 448 billion baht to the GDP in 2015. By having Halal certification, restaurants will be ensured Food Quality Standards that will guarantee the hygienic condition through implementation of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) and Halal certification. Nevertheless, currently the numbers of Halal restaurants in some areas are less than 20 establishments. This is not enough for visitors who wanted to consume Muslim foods. The main aim of this paper is to provide a literature review on Halal certification, thus proposing the conceptual framework on the opportunities of developing Halal Food Service system in Thailand. Finally, the findings will also provide recommendations on how restaurants? operators should strategize their business and focus towards acquiring Halal certification. These efforts could also help to better understand the current situations and efforts that could be carried out by tourism promotions bodies to promote these Muslim friendly locations to Muslim tourists around the world

The impact of modern technology towards Malay traditional foods preparation and cooking processes in Malaysia

The aim of this research was to explore the impact of modern technology, especially on convenience food and modern cooking equipment used in the preparation and cooking processes of traditional food in the daily lives of Malay households. A qualitative case study approach was applied in this study. The study also adopted in-depth semi-structured interviews with a total of ten informants comprising seven Malay mothers and three Malay daughters who practice Malay traditional food in their daily lives. The collected data were also supported with the participants’ observations. Results of this study revealed that modern technology had greatly influenced the preparation and cooking processes of the Malay traditional food in the following ways: (1) several Malay traditional cooking equipment are no longer suitable for use today, (2) modern technology cannot compete with the taste and aroma of the Malay traditional food that is prepared and cooked traditionally, and (3) modern technology can help sustain the Malay traditional food. These findings demonstrated the impact of modern technology in ensuring the sustainability of the Malay traditional food

Exploring the roles of local food in developing Lenggong Valley as a rural food tourism destination

Integrating the relationship between food and tourism destination has been an important issue in the current tourism scenario. More tourism leaders globally are recognizing the important role local food can play in strengthening a rural destination’s tourism product. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore the role of local food in developing Lenggong Valley as a rural food tourism destination. This study is applying a qualitative method using in-depth interview and participant observation. The finding identified four steps in developing rural food tourism destination; i) identifying local food components, ii) examining the capabilities of local food as tourism product; iii) evaluating local food as tourism product; and iv) selecting suitable marketing strategy to promote food tourism. This study contributes to expanding research on food tourism in constructing the rural food tourism framework. The information in this study leading to new ways of thinking about local food, by integrating local food and tourism resources to enhance rural destination attraction, since local food at rural destination attract little research in the field of tourism management

Demanded competencies of the entry-level position in the restaurant industry: employers’ perspectives

Researchers advocated that there are many issues of fresh graduates' competencies, including insufficient skills to meet the requirement as expected by the industry. The purpose of this study was to discover the entry-level competencies demanded by the restaurant employers towards fresh graduates. The dynamic workforce and the mismatch competencies claimed by employers are the issues that trigger education stakeholders, particularly in Malaysia. Responses were obtained from eight restaurant managers in Klang Valley, through a semi-structured interview. The data were then analyzed using thematic analysis. There were nine competencies emerged from this study, which reflect the entry-level competencies demanded by restaurant managers towards fresh graduates, namely: 1) attitude and behavior, 2) cognitive skill, 3) communication skill, 4) knowledge in the discipline area, 5) professionalism and work ethics, 6) technical skill, 7) teamwork, 8) leadership and 9) experience. It is anticipated that the findings will be able to fulfill the restaurant's needs by giving a clear picture of the essential competencies that need to be infused in the university's curriculum. Besides, both educators and fresh graduates will have an insight into the preparation for working in the restaurant industry

Exploring the competencies perceived by the hospitality undergraduates in public and private universities

Excellent academic performance does not ensure a job offer to the fresh graduates. Employers are now looking at the graduates’ competencies. There is a tense among undergraduates to compete in the battle of competencies, which are demanded by the industry. This study aimed to explore the competencies perceived by hospitality undergraduates in both public and private universities in Malaysia. The sample was selected using purposive and snowball sampling methods, where semi-structured interviews were conducted to the respondents. The findings of this study reveal eight core competencies perceived by the respondents: communication skill, lifelong learning and information management, teamwork skill, technical skill, moral and professional ethics, critical thinking and problem solving, leadership skill, and entrepreneurial skill. The most common skill delineated by the respondents was the communication skill, while the least was the entrepreneurial skill. This study is anticipated to give an understanding about the competencies obtained and possessed by the undergraduates, although there are various competencies infused in the curriculum. It is also expected by exploring the components of the skill, the effort to bridge the skill gap between university and industry will be less severe, which later enhance the quality of the fresh hospitality graduates