Challenges of Hotel Management in Historic Buildings

Abstract

This study consists of an exploratory approach on the problem of historic hotels and, more specifically, the identification of the main challenges facing hotel management in these spaces with very specific architectural and functional characteristics. The process of adapting historic buildings to become accommodation establishments is seen from the perspective of innovation, market differentiation and increased quality of service. However, this adaptation process brings challenges inherent to hotel management, not only from an operational but also from a conceptual perspective. The study that forms the basis of this critical reflection is based on work carried out in the classroom, involving teachers and students from different curricular units, structuring what is known as an interdisciplinary project. The research work with the respective students consisted of applying the scientific method and developing an empirical study of a qualitative nature, opting to collect data by conducting a series of interviews with directors of hotels with these characteristics. The students worked individually on the problem of hotel management in historic buildings from different perspectives, namely: conservation strategies for historic buildings that house this type of tourist enterprise; the profile of employees most often associated with this hotel segment; the sustainability and accessibility challenges inherent in this type of building; as well as the type of marketing strategies applied by this segment of hotels, being a very small sample collected so far. As this is a work in progress, this article aims to present the framework of the work carried out in the classroom, how it is interconnected with the professional sector and what results are expected from this study, albeit in an exploratory way.