Sales and Merchandising Commons^™

Two Hundred Hour Internship For A Las Vegas Convention Sales Department, Kristen Kostis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In order for a company to be profitable, whether it is a hospitality company, a technology company or a small business, sales must be high and continue to grow over time. Companies rely heavily on their sales staff to bring in revenue to keep the company growing and profitable. So, where does this knowledgeable and aggressive sales staff come from? How often do college students take a class that is strictly related to the sales industry?

Many undergraduate hospitality programs do not include courses directly related to sales, leaving students with little knowledge of this department. In fact, some students …

Understanding The Decline Of Sales Of Destination Club Products, Heidi Goetz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Purpose:

The purpose of this paper is to identify and confirm factors leading to the decline of sales of Ritz-Carlton Destination Club products.

Research Study Proposal For Nightlife Company (San Francisco, Ca), Trevor Hewitt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction:

This research proposal proposes a study to evaluate the differences in consumer spending amongst a company’s three types of customers (pre-sale ticketed, paid admission, free admission) once granted entry to one of the company’s nightclub venues in order to evaluate the optimal supply mix of customer type to maximize revenues. Since the company’s venue has a finite customer capacity limit due to safety and fire regulations and laws and it generally reaches these legal capacity levels on the vast majority of the nights it is open for business (leaving surplus customers unable to enter the venue), the proposed research …

Financial Performance And Capacity Analysis For The Mice Industry In Las Vegas And The United States, Li-Ting Yang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The meetings, incentive travel, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) industry is comparatively young and diverse. As a result, there has been limited research conducted in this field, especially from the financial performance and capacity management perspective. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap by analyzing the MICE capacity optimization issue in Las Vegas, a leading MICE destination, and in the U.S., a leading MICE country in the world. The findings and results of this study should help industry practitioners better understand the current status of the U.S. MICE industry in terms of assets efficiency, operational costs, and profitability. …

Cultural Tourism Products: A Case Study In The Xi’An City, Yining Zhang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Nowadays, culture has been a major driver of tourism. Cultural tourism is another form of tourism by involving cultural elements. Some people traveled specifically to gain a deeper understanding of the culture or heritage of a destination. In order to satisfy tourists’ cultural needs and wants, cultural tourism products typically attracts consumers by the cultural attributes. A cultural attest is not a cultural tourism product unless it transforms itself into products that could be consumed by tourists. The market value of cultural tourism can be realized by cultural tourism products. This paper is to explore the development and evaluation of …

Mystery Shopping In Singapore’S Retail Sector: A Case Study, Iynee Low

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As mystery shopping becomes an increasingly popular tool to measure service quality, there is a need to ascertain its return of investment for the company. However, there is a paucity of academic research on the impact of mystery shopping results on a company’s sales performance. This professional paper develops a case study on two retail companies in Singapore which adopted and implemented mystery shopping to improve service quality and sales performance. The case study identifies the key service interventions implemented to improve mystery shopping results, and explores the relationship between mystery shopping results and sales performance. The findings in this …

Examining The Value Of Word Of Mouth As A Marketing Tool For Poker Book, Jeffery J. Hwang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the spring of 2003, the poker world saw the launch of the World Poker Tour; that same May, an amateur poker player and online qualifier named Chris Moneymaker won the Main Event of the World Series of Poker and the $2.5 million first prize, demonstrating that virtually anyone can win at poker. The result of these two events was a “poker boom” that, by September 2005, had the two largest poker book publishers on the planet reporting ten-fold increases in sales. And yet, outside of their own company websites, most of the largest poker book publishers on the planet …

A Study On Eco-Friendly Merchandise In A Resort Retail Environment, Lindsey C. Patrick

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to determine consumer purchasing habits of ecofriendly apparel in a retail resort environment. In order to find the rationale behind purchasing decisions, this study measured sales and survey responses based on the choice of two tee shirt options, eco-friendly tee shirts and regular cotton tee shirts. The survey was given to all customers purchasing these tee shirts in order to determine specific demographic information as well as their personal opinions on eco-friendliness, and willingness to pay a premium for eco-friendly products. Due to a lack of previous research in this field, this study is …

Recommending A Productivity Model For Singapore Hotels: A Critical Review Of Productivity Models Adopted By Researchers And Hotel Operators, Hwee Noi Goh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The business challenges and intensely competitive environment in today’s economy make productivity a key factor for organizational survival. This paper examines what productivity means to the services industry, in particular, to the hotel industry. This is underpinned by an investigation of the fundamental differences between goods and services and the implications on productivity measurement and control in the manufacturing and services industries.

The purpose of this paper is to critically review productivity measurement and control methods used by researchers and hotel operators in order to find a model suitable for the hotel industry in Singapore, taking into consideration the local …

The Gap Of Event Markets Between The Us And China — Exploring Application Prospect Of Event Software In China’S Hospitality And Tourism Market, Ying Zhao

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research paper compared scenarios of convention and event industry between the US and China, and explored application prospect of event technology in China’s hospitality and tourism market. The study reviewed the landscape of event market in these two countries, examined performance of event software in the US, and figured out existing technology gap between the two markets. A typical application, www.certain.com was employed as sample of event software in testing tasks fit of the technology, and analyzing demand from end-users. The result indicated that there was a significant technology gap existing between event markets of the US and China. …

Equipping Women For Food Service Sales, Robert Stegall-Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to develop a training program which will equip women for success in foodservice sales. It will determine if women have greater sales skills in the current business environment. Research will be done to determine what role product and operations knowledge plays in sales success in addition to natural ability. Finally based on the findings it will be determined in what format to deliver the training

Exploring The Impact Of Economic Downturn And Method To Increase Hotel Sales Department Revenues, Amy Forss

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how hotel sales are affected by the weak economy and determine a business plan for hotel sales departments to survive through the current economic downturn. The goal is to suggest ways that the sales department can increase revenues and survive through the downturn to come out ahead of the competition. Suggestions will be provided to, in particular, the sales departments of hotels to continue to increase revenues despite travel being down in the United States and internationally. In doing so, it will be important to discuss how down economies have an impact …

Exploring Marketing And Sales Opportunities: How Companies Reach Their Target Market Using Hospitality And Tourism Venues For Distribution Of The Product Or Services, Ricardo J. Rodriguez-Canales

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many companies unrelated or semi-related to travel and tourism have found their niche within the hospitality and tourism industry. Companies who primarily focus on fashion, retail, weddings, outdoor adventure, real estate, sports and entertainment have successfully negotiated space to promote their products and services to hospitality and tourism clientele. This can be seen at the many resorts and casinos that have retail shops in their facilities as well as golf courses, restaurants and clubs that market directly to and make their profits from hospitality patrons. This complimentary mix makes up the diverse experience travelers encounter. To narrow the focus of …

The Logic Of Movement: Consumption Logistics On The Las Vegas Strip, Robert Dean

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The omnipresence of consumption in advanced societies is indisputable; spaces designed to facilitate consumption (or means of consumption) are one aspect of that presence. On the surface, these spaces appear to be quite harmless dreamworlds full of possibilities, but at another level they are highly instrumental, composed of various mechanisms that work to sell commodities through the manipulation of consumer behavior. I argue that consumption spaces express a logic of movement, and a consumption logistics, that is based on the commodity form and relatable to warfare that works to domesticate consumers into the commodity system. I engage in an exploratory …

Strategic Sourcing For A Competitive Advantage In The Hotel Industry, Debbie J. Pattni

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In order to remain competitive in an intensely competitive business environment, many companies have resorted to cost-cutting, lay-offs, restructuring, and increased productivity measures to manage expenses and to increase profits. Senior executives in organizations have realized that on average, 50% or more of an organization’s operating budget is spent on purchased goods and services. Therefore, the decisions made by purchasing professionals can help to determine the financial viability of the organization (Ball, 2005). Firms can increase the so-called “bottom line” by either increasing revenues or by decreasing costs. Under economic conditions of strong competition and uncertainty, it is often difficult …

Multi-Brand Hospitality Operations Branding Strategies, Rikki Tanenbaum

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this professional paper is to identify the optimal brand architecture for MGM MIRAGE’s Project CityCenter through synthesis of a review of branding strategies throughout the hospitality industry and a review of Project CityCenter’s goals. As Project CityCenter represents such a massive undertaking from both a financial and marketing perspective, a review of strategies external to MGM MIRAGE is critical; this paper endeavors to highlight branding strategies for potential adoption at Project CityCenter. The project’s significance is affirmed by Terri Lanni, Chairman and CEO of MGM MIRAGE, “Project CityCenter confirms a cultural and lifestyle revival of city living, …