UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

FACULTY OF COMMERCE

DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM,LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

STUDENT NAME JULIUS LEEROY. T

STUDENT NUMBER R184976D

PROGRAME BACHELOR OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY

MANAGEMENT HONOURS
CELL NUMBER 0773879474 / 0719220127
SUPERVISOR

TOPIC

Executive Summary

The main objective of this report is to provide an analysis and evaluation of the operational activities in
Carry out a study of Holiday Inn covering all operational activities in all
all departmentsdepartments;
of Holiday Inn Harare.
bring Therenotable
out clearly are various departments
strengths, weaknesses of a hotel which help in the
opportunities
smooth and efficient andof
operation threats, then give
the hotel. Firstrecommendations and
four departments are the core and important
conclusion.
department in the hotel, which are directly responsible for day to day operations.
The major four departments of Holiday Inn are:

1. Housekeeping Department
2. Food and Beverage Service Department

3. Food Production or Kitchen Department

4. Front Office Department
These four departments are the operational departments of the hotel. But not only operational
departments but secondary department also plays a significant role to ensure general administration of
hotel and they are:

1. Marketing
2. Human resources
3. Account and finance
4. Security and engineering

5. Purchase and store

This report also covers areas like company background, organisational structure, departments and major
objectives. Furthermore , this report shall give results of a SWOT analysis carried out by the writer and
give possible recommendations and a conclusion. The operations standards are the key path defining
elements in any business. Without set procedures optimal results can not be obtained.
The operational activities at Holiday Inn have multifaceted challenges and opportunities. The standards
and procedures for doing business are well defined but some of the possible factors can cause
deviations and variances.

Those possible factors can be eradicated through extra efforts into the process. However the small
chances of variance will remain the same because the real business scenarios may vary some times than
the forecasted one.

Acknowledgements
Despite the fact that the name on this report belongs to me, many individuals took a great part in its
compilation. Great gratitude is given to Holiday Inn Harare who amid economic hardship in the nation
and the Covid-19 pandemic that the whole world is facing afforded me the opportunity to undertake my
research covering all operational activities in all departments at their establishment. Special thanks to
Miss Chisadza an intern at Holiday Inn for giving me first hand information of different departments
within Holiday Inn.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the University of Zimbabwe for their in-depth theoretical knowledge of
the corporate environment which was significant in compiling this report. Sincere gratitude extends to
my loving family and friends for the outpouring love and encouragement that they provided during hard
and good times. Then ultimately l thank my heavenly Father for His sufficient grace, love, protection,
guidance and wisdom.

CHAPTER 1

1.1 Introduction

This final report was prepared in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the BACHELOR OF COMMERCE
IN TOURISM, LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT HONORS DEGREE. The writer was attached at
National Handling Services but failed to complete the mandatory months required to compete the
attachment period due to the covid-19 pandemic. The writer then opted to compile this report of
research undertaken on Holiday inn Harare.

1.2 Background Information

Holiday Inn is a British-owned American brand of hotels, and a subsidiary of InterContinental Hotels
Group. Founded as a U.S. motel chain, it has grown to be one of the world's largest hotel chains, with
1,173 active hotels and over 214,000 rentable rooms as of September 30, 2018.The hotel chain's
headquarters are in Denham, Buckinghamshire. Kemmons Wilson, a resident of Memphis, Tennessee,
was inspired to build his own motel after being disappointed by poor quality and inconsistent roadside
accommodation during a family road trip to Washington, D.C.

The name "Holiday Inn" was coined by Wilson's architect Eddie Bluestein as a joke during construction
of the first hotel, in reference to the 1942 Christmas-themed, musical film Holiday Inn, starring Bing
Crosby and Fred Astaire. Their first hotel/motel opened in August 1952 as “Holiday Inn Hotel Courts" at
4925 Summer Avenue in Memphis, then the main highway to Nashville. In the early 1990s it was
demolished, leaving behind a plaque commemorating the site.

Holiday Inn is a subsidiary of IHG which stands for InterContinental Hotel Group. This is one of the
world’s largest hotel chain with more than one thousand and one hundred active hotels. The Hotel chain
headquarters are in Denham, Buckinghamshire. It was founded by Kemmons Wilson in 1952. Holiday
Inn Harare is under the management of African Sun limited, which is hospitality management established
in 1968. Under African Sun there are a number of hotels,resorts,casions, and timeshare operations all
around Zimbabwe.

African Sun limited is a leading hotel management company in Zimbabwe operating internationally
recognized brands such as holiday inn. African sun can be listed as one of the fast growing hospitality
group in Africa. It was listed on Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in 2003.

Under African Sun are other prestigious hotels such as The Victoria Falls Hotel, Great Zimbabwe Hotel
and the Caribbea Bay Resort.

InterContinental Hotels Group plc, informally InterContinental Hotels or IHG, is a British multinational
hospitality company headquartered in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England has about 889,582 guest
rooms and over 5,900 hotels across nearly 100 countries. IHG owns several brands, including
InterContinental, Regent Hotels, Six Senses Hotels, Kimpton Hotels and Resorts,Hualuxe, Crowne Plaza,
voco Hotels, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn club vacations, avid, Candlewood
Suites, EVEN Hotels, and Stalybridge Suites. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent
of the FTSE 100 Index.
As of 2012, of IHG's more than 5,400 hotels, 4,433 are operated under franchise agreements, 907 were
managed by the company but separately owned, and eight were directly owned. As at 31 March 2019,
IHG has 842,759 guest rooms and 5,656 hotels across nearly 100 countries.

1.3 Holiday Inn Harare

H
oliday Inn Harare was officially opened in 1984 by the late former President CDE Robert Mugabe but by
then he was the prime minister of Zimbabwe. The world famous Holiday Inn brand with its hallmarks of
“a great sleep”, “a great breakfast”, “a rewarding stay”, and “a can-do friendly staff”, can be sampled in
Zimbabwe’s capital city Harare – in the form of Holiday Inn Harare. This well laid out 201-roomed hotel
is ideally located on the perimeter of the city’s central business district making it an oasis of comfort and
tranquillity in the busy capital. The hotel provides ample and secure guest parking 24 hours a day.
Holiday Inns are about convenience with comfort and Holiday Inn Harare is no exception. Not only does
it uphold world-class standards of service provision, but it also adds a “can-do” culture when it comes to
guest requests and preferences.

The Vumba Restaurant offers buffet-style meals which guests can make as quick or as relaxing as they
wish. Breakfast, from full-English to Continental, is a specialty and is designed to nurture and sustain
guests who are leaving for another destination or just exploring Harare and its environs. Holiday Inn
Harare takes the traditional view of breakfast – the most important meal of the day. The swimming pool
area adjourning the restaurant has been recently tastefully redone with a modern feel and environment,
quality furniture to complement the outdoor pool and coffee bar. Business travellers are particularly
well catered for by Holiday Inn Harare’s Business Centre which offers “office away from the office”
services.

The rooms comprise of :

 55 standard rooms
 96 king leisure rooms
 29 business plus rooms
 17 executive rooms
 4 suites
 105 of these rooms are non smocking rooms
.

The rooms contain the following facilities

 Safe deposit box

 Wardrobe/ room shelf and bag rack
 Resting chair
 Writing desk and telephone
 Private bathroom
 Writing desk and telephone
 Coffee and tea making facilities
 Bed lamps
 Holiday Inn rooms come with the following amenities and Services
 Laundry services
 Free Wi-Fi
 Cleaning services
  Free Parking
 Guest supplies in rooms( soap, lotion, shower gel, shampoo, coffee, milk, tanganda,
sugar)
 DSTV in every room
 a shower
 Iron and ironing board
 Bath
 Shaver socket outlet
 Hairdryer
 Mineral water and other things.

Guests have access to internet services in their rooms and they have access to all channels on DSTV
premium bouquet and a few channels on compact DSTV bouquet. Holiday inn Harare provides the
following facilities and services, limited room services as they only have 201 rooms available, special
meals on request, conference facilities, bar on premises, restaurant, parking , WIFI and a swimming pool.

It is 25 km away from the airport and provides shuttle 24 hours a day on request. Holiday in Harare
provides resources to facilitate to even conferencing and meetings. They offer catering services to both
event held on the premises or off the premises which is viewed as outside catering. There is a restaurant
and bars at holiday inn namely the Vumba restaurant which overlooking the pool deck and the bars
operate at the same time as the restaurant for lunch and dinner.

1.4 LOCATION

Holiday inn Harare is located corner Fifth Street and samora Michael, making it exactly 0.5 miles from
the centre of Harare. The location is not only best as it is located near the road port to make it convenient
to the travellers coming in by bus from other countries but also the fact that it is 25 km away from the
airport is an additional plus. The location of holiday inn is also a good one as it located near

1. Botanic gardens
2. Harare museum
3. The cultural gallery
 4. Snake Park
5. Lion and Cheetah Park
6. Mukuvisi woodlands
7. Domboshava rock painting and many more places of interest for recreational activities.

Location map for Holiday Inn Harare

1.5 Problem Statement

1.6 Goal

• To bring out notable Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Holiday

• To give recommendations on how holiday Inn can improve their operational activities

1.7 Objectives

The objective is to study the total operational activities of different departments within holiday Inn as
well as to conduct a SWOT analysis.

1.7 Justification of the research

 Chapter 2

2.1 Literature Review

A literature review is an account of what has bee published on a topic by accredited scholars and
researchers. It is a way of avoiding plagiarism and know what is already known about the area of
interest to avoid past mistakes by other scholars. My literature review helps to define the specific
research question. It is a description of the literature relevant to the topic which is, “Operational
activities in all departments as well as notable strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of
holiday Inn.