Project Management of Hotel Opening Processes: Exploring better ways to manage new hotel openings is the very descriptive title of a unique book. It is unique because it deals with two common processes: project management and hotel openings, but until the publication of this book, the two have really never been seen associated together in recent practice. As the author has mentioned, more than 85 occupations across a wide area of industry use project management, except the hotel industry. Also, hotel development and openings, especially in the Greater China region, are experiencing a growth that has not been seen before, and delays are certain unless proven PM approaches are used.
Book Details
This first edition paperback was published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform in October 2014. It contains 186 pages and is about 0.4 inch thick. The front cover shows a jigsaw photo of a hand inserting a card key of what seems to be a hotel room door. The title is placed on the card key, the subtitle below on the lockset, and the author’s name even lower at the center-right portion of the door. ISBN-10: 1495459373; ISBN-13: 978-1495459375
Price
$41.87 for the paperback edition
Target Audience
Project Management of Hotel Opening Processes is for hotel management company CEOs, managing directors, hotel owners and asset managers, corporate officers, hotel general managers, hotel project developers and project managers, consultants, contractors and vendors.
What Customers Say
A customer from Hong Kong described it as an excellent book that reveals opportunities to hotel owners and operators of the advantages of adopting formal PM practices.
Raoul Gransier stated that the text book should be a mandatory read in all hotel schools.
Content, Approach, Style
Project Management of Hotel Opening Processes is divided into five chapters and an appendix. The first chapter is the Introduction, which describes the past and the present situation in the hotel industry in China, as well as the future outlook. It also introduces the idea of the lack of co-relation between opening delays and an absent PM culture. Chapter 2 details the causes of hotel opening delays in Greater China. Chapters 3 and 4 discuss the five principles or building blocks that will address the root and intermediate causes of delays, as well as obtaining the components to improve project performance. Chapter 5 presents the conclusion as well as the cost of not embracing PM.
The book is very systematic in its approach, giving a brief history, a current lay of the land, as well as mentioning future trends. It goes on to identify the problem, then gives the solutions. It presents not only a conclusion, but also the effect if the suggested solution is not implemented. The paragraphs are of readable length, and the vocabulary used is easy to understand, with a few business- and industry-specific terms. The book is organized well, with adequate figures and tables that are properly labeled.
Why Buy the Book
The author has established clearly that a hotel opening is indeed a project, a temporary endeavor that is not part of an on-going hotel operation. The noticeable absence of project management in the hotel industry, the opportunities and advantages it can bring, and the lack of reading material about PM as applied in this industry are all good reasons to have
Project Management of Hotel Opening Processes as a reference for its targeted audience.
Books that Complement
The Simple Guide to Project Management by Pacheco-Vega is another good reference that focuses on the commercial construction industry, which is also related to property and hotel development.
Alleman’s Performance-Based Project Management gives a good discussion of what a successful project should look like, and how PM principles, practices and processes play a linked, crucial part in those projects.
Author
Gert Noordzij graduated from Hanze College Hotel Management School in Zwolle, the Netherlands. He also holds an MBA, majors in strategic management and marketing, and financial and business analysis from the University of Saint Joseph in Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) in China. He is an organizational PM subject matter expert and a doctoral candidate. Gert has occupied various property-based operational and management roles in the hotel industry for ten years in different countries. Since 2005, he has held corporate roles and responsibilities, particularly focusing on hotel pre-openings and project management. Gert is a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) and holds a Financial Advisor’s International Qualification (FAIQ) from the Chartered Insurance Institute.
$41.87 for the paperback edition
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