The YMCA line-up and hotel guest - what do they have in common?

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Erickson, A. and Losekoot, E. and O'Gorman, Kevin D. (2009) The YMCA line-up and hotel guest - what do they have in common? In: The New Zealand International Hospitality Management Conference, 2009-11-16 - 2009-11-17.

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Abstract

This paper is an investigation of the impact of an explicitly Christian culture and ethos on the operational management of a hospitality facility. It was stimulated by the experiences of academic faculty members over almost a decade who stayed in the property being researched, the YMCA Salisbury hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The paper discusses previous research conducted at the property and reported in academic journals (SD, 2002; Pun and Ho, 2001) and explores the historical links between religion and hospitality or hospitable-ness, including literature on the Rule of St Benedict (Morrison and O'Gorman, 2008). Having established that there is a long tradition between religion and hospitality, the paper goes on to pose the question of whether it is possible to be 'hospitable' at the same time as being efficient and commercially successful. Heracleous and Johnston (2009) illustrate using two case studies in Singapore that there are examples of public and not-for-profit organisations being extremely innovative, efficient, technology-led and focused on customer as well as employee satisfaction while at the same time delivered to challenging performance targets. Findings suggest that the YMCA Salisbury certainly appears to meet customer and employee expectations, while at the same time delivering surplus revenue which can then sustain community activities. Some suggestions in terms of further (possibly quantitative) research are made in the final section.

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