SnowHotel - Hospitality

This simulation game models the operation of a Hotel located in an alpine ski resort. The business operation of the Hotel is dual, it provides both hotel-related and ski-related services.

By launching projects, the students can expand, develop and specialize in the services and capacities of the hotel or ski resort, there are currently 13 projects in the simulation.

SnowHotel differs from our other simulations, among other things, in the fact that competing hotels (players) can cooperate with each other by mutually accepting each other's ski passes, so that they can offer their guests a better deal.Cooperation can be understood as a kind of marketing tool, direct market competitors can start cooperation by entering the same password.

The measuring tool of the game is the Performance Index, which is a complex indicator consisting of 4 sub-indicators: cumulative profit, market share, customer and employee satisfaction.

How SnowHotel simulation software works:

The students, individually or in teams, take over the management of the virtual Hotel modeled by the software.

The virtual Hotel is managed by making strategic decisions for annual periods. The software provides a written report on the results of the decisions (Balance Sheet, Cash flow, Income Statement), and the simulation also has a large set of graphs, which provides additional analysis options.

The software can model up to 8 periods, i.e. 8 virtual years.

The goal of the game is to maximize the Performance Index defined on the interface. Cumulative profit, market share, average customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction are also included in the final index, with different weights.

In the simulation, it is possible to start unique projects and cooperate with competing hotels in connection with the acceptance of ski passes.

The decisions:

Services: In the simulation, we sell 5 different services, all five services are chosen by the customers based on different preferences (price, marketing, commission, customer satisfaction).

HR: In order to be able to provide the right quantity and quality of services, an important task is the accurate planning and allocation of human recources. For this, we define three different jobs in the simulation.

Marketing: Well-planned marketing is necessary in order to preserve the reputation of the corporate and service brands that have been built so far. The distribution of the marketing budget can be done between 3 different channels. In addition, the sale of products can be encouraged with commissions and cooperation.

Project: Projects play an important role in the game, with their effects having a significant influence on the company's performance, but they also require financing. With these, it is possible to make the company and its products more efficient and unique. Currently, players can choose from 13 different projects.

Loans: Adequate financing is essential for effective operation. It is also possible to attract foreign capital, so players can choose between two types of loan in the simulation.

Advantages and learning points:

The software provides an opportunity for the simulation participants to apply basic hotel management skills in a practical way and gain insight into the strategic matters of hotel management.

The simulation gives an opportunity for competitors to cooperate with each other, which helps practice various argumentation and negotiation techniques.

SnowHotel requires the operation of several factors at the same time, as is common in the business world. Careful, vigilant planning is essential during this game as well.

As participants need to filter out relevant data from various financial and market research reports (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow, market research report), the game significantly tests and develops their financial and analytical skills.

Due to all of the above, achieving successful teamwork is as essential here to perform well in the game as it is in real life.

References:

University of Technology and Economics of Budapest
Budapest Business University
University of Pécs
University of Cluj
Babeș-Bolyai University
Universidad del Istmo (Guatemala)
Tamási Áron High School in Székelyudvarhely (Romania)