231BTHEF3AMICE1002E00CB Hotel Conference Operation
The Rolling Green Resort Case Study
The Rolling Green Resort is a 320-room property located forty miles north of St. Louis, a
metropolis of over three million people. Situated on the banks of the Pritchard River, it is
in a renowned vacation area featuring high wooded hills, picturesque fruit and dairy
farms, country estates, historic battlefields, and a national cemetery. A small community
nearby, Forest Glen, serves as a shopping center for the approximately 1,200 rural
residents of the valley.
The resort is about two miles off U.S.16, a main four-lane north-south highway that is
fairly heavily traveled by tourists going south in the winter and north in the summer. This
transient trade constitutes the bulk of the resort's business, which is good in the peak
summer months and for a few weeks in the winter. But business is generally poor in the
spring, fall, and late- winter months.
The Rolling Green Resort's revenues currently consist primarily of room sales to
individuals and a minimal amount of banquet business-despite the fact that the property
has an excellent dining room and boasts a ballroom that can accommodate 600 people on
the second floor. Both the first-floor dining room and the ballroom overlook the river, and
both feature charming outside patio/balcony areas. On the lower level, there are several
rooms of varying sizes which are now being used only for storage.
Property recreational amenities include a large swimming pool, three lighted tennis
courts, and riding stables. The resort is in close proximity to a number of riding, hiking,
and biking trails, and bicycle rentals are available in Forest Glen. In addition, there is a
small dock that is adequate for three or four small boats and can be used for fishing,
although the resort does not offer any organized river activities.
The general manager of the resort is an elderly gentleman who knows the hotel business,
but he is unable to come up with any ideas to increase occupancy. The property's board of
directors has appointed you as their marketing manager, and it is your job to create a
marketing plan that will meet the property's goals of attracting additional businessperhaps including the meetings market, which has not previously been targeted-and
increasing occupancy during the property's slow periods.