Other Hospitality, Tourism and Venue Managers
This unit group covers Hospitality, Tourism and Venue Managers not elsewhere classified. It includes Caravan Park and Camping Ground Managers, Hosted Accommodation Operators and Travel Agency Managers.
A full park on the first Saturday
You are the manager of a lakeside caravan park on the first Saturday of the school holidays, with every site and cabin booked and a long queue at reception. It is 2pm and the queue is out the door. Check-in is in full swing, the amenities block needs checking and your phone has not stopped. A few things are about to need your attention at once.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
The shower in our cabin is cold and the bathroom smells damp. We have just driven nine hours and I have three tired kids. I want a different cabin or my money back. What can you do?
Offer a refund straight away, because he is upset and the park is full anyway
Gavin gets his money back and leaves, which was not what he really wanted. The cabin is still broken, and the kids lose their holiday. A solution is better than an exit.
Check the cabin yourself, apologise, move the family to another cabin if one is free and send maintenance to fix the first
You find a vacant cabin, help carry the bags, and the family settles in. Gavin shakes your hand. Being seen to take a complaint seriously is often half the repair.
Tell him that cabin was inspected this morning, so it must be fine
He insists, and you finally look. The hot water has failed. Gavin tells everyone in the camp kitchen. Checking first would have saved the damage.
The group next door has loud music, it is nearly ten, and my grandchildren cannot sleep. I do not want to make a fuss, but I would like you to do something about it.
Go over, speak politely to the group and remind them of quiet time
The group turns the music down at once and apologises to Dot the next morning. A calm word works more often than a rule book.
Tell Dot that people are on holiday and a little noise is normal
Dot goes back to her caravan, still awake, and complains in writing the next day. A noise policy exists for good reason, and she has a right to expect it enforced.
Ask a staff member to put a printed notice on the group's site about quiet hours
The notice is read tomorrow, which is too late for Dot's grandchildren. It is polite, but tonight's problem needs a person tonight.
The water pump for the lower amenities block is making a grinding noise. I can keep it running for now, but I would prefer to replace it before it fails. That means turning the water off for two hours tomorrow morning.
Keep it running through the weekend and replace it after the holiday period
The pump fails on Sunday afternoon and a full block of campers is without water for half a day. A planned outage would have been far better than an unplanned one.
Do it tomorrow morning, warn guests and set up water at the camp kitchen
Most guests do not mind because they were warned, and the new pump is in by lunch. Planned inconvenience is easier to forgive than a surprise.
Do it tonight, after the quiet hour, without telling the campers
The water goes off at midnight and a few campers are woken by banging and have no idea what is happening. The job is done, but the surprise cost you goodwill.
How it went
By the end of the evening, the queue is gone, the pump is scheduled and the lake is quiet. Running a caravan park means looking after guests, buildings and staff in a place that never really closes. Would you enjoy living where you work?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The site that was booked twice
A fictional case set in a fictional lakeside caravan park and camping ground in the first week of the school holidays.
The situation
Ewa Kowalski managed Lakeview Caravan Park. On the first Saturday of the holidays, two families arrived at once, each with a booking for the same lakeside powered site. Both had printed confirmations. The park was full, and the nearest other park was an hour away. One family had a young baby, and the other was a group of grandparents who had travelled a long way to see their grandchildren camp for the first time.
What they did
Ewa did not argue about whose booking was valid. She checked the system and found it was her own error in a change two weeks earlier. She told both families what had happened, apologised, and moved a long-term resident to another site with his agreement in exchange for a free week. She then gave the second family a good site with a lake view and a free firewood bundle for the weekend.
How it turned out
Both families stayed. The long-term resident, Frank, was good-natured about it and enjoyed the extra week. Ewa asked her staff to check the booking list against the site map every morning in peak weeks.
What would you do?
- Why did it help that Ewa admitted the mistake straight away?
- How would you ask a long-term resident for a favour?
- What could the park do to stop this happening again?