Perceptions of Tourists to Manila Hotel free essay sample

The Problem and Its Background Introduction Unknown to many, the Manila Hotel is one of the attractions that the government can offer to both local and foreign tourists. It is a showcase of Filipino Ingenuity and the uniqueness of artistry that only a Filipino can do. Most of the Filipinos, particularly those in the provincial areas are not aware of the beauty of Manila Hotel. Lucky are those who have visited and toured citadel and personally viewed the eye-catching designs and the fantastic interiors. The Manila Hotel is a 570-room, five star hotel in Manila, Philippines, located in the heart of the Manila Bay area. It is the oldest premiere hotel in the Philippines, built in 1909 to rival the Malacanan Palace, the official residence of the president of the Philippines, and opened in 1912. It was built on an area of 35,000 square meters along Roxas Boulevard. Filipinos should be aware of the wealth and resources that abound in the country. We will write a custom essay sample on Perceptions of Tourists to Manila Hotel or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It may not only refer to natural resources but also includes those that were created or built for whatever purpose it may serve. The manila Hotel can be taken into account as one of them. However, only few have knowledge about this fortress; most of them are well-known personalities and government functionaries who have access to the place. Common or ordinary Filipinos have no information, unfamiliar and not interested on this important asset. Gracefully standing in one nook in the Bay Area is the Grand Dame of all Philippine Hotels, the Manila Hotel. Built in 1909 and opened to the public 3 years later, the Manila Hotel is a good reminder to the country’s colonial past as well as of days of a bygone era, of knights  and  maids, of gentlemen and ladies, of taste and temperance, of  quality and urbanity It was in the tenure of Governor General William Howard Taft when the beautification and planning of Manila were undertaken under the supervision of top architect and DC city planner, Daniel Burnham. Tasked of overseeing the development of Manila and Baguio, Burnham prepared a master plan for Manila that was slowly implemented. Some of the remnants of this master plan are the restored Neo-Classical corridor found along Roxas Boulevard (formerly Dewey Boulevard). In the same plan was the proposed construction of the Manila Hotel. However, it was Architect William Parsons who would make the Manila Hotel a reality. A graduate of Paris’ Ecole des Beaux Arts and a former professor of architecture at Yale, Parsons led the construction of the Manila Hotel. Built in the â€Å"California Mission† style, the Manila Hotel was basically a large, white-washed concrete house with a pitched roof colored green. Designed for the tropics, the steep roofs were built for the good interior ventilation as well as the easy run-off of rainwater. As one drives up the circular driveway leading to the main entrance, the guest enters into the grand lobby. Its original lobby (which is presently the restored Manila Hotel’s fore-lobby) was huge during its time and was gracefully appointed. The entire lobby was white and was accentuated with lush tropical green plants. Supported by twin white Doric columns, and separated by exquisite arches, the lobby showcased two grand stairways. The two  grand staircases led to the mezzanine where a music room, guests’ parlor, and Children’s dining room were found. The Children’s dining room was a very Victorian hallmark, which helped the adults in having comfortable and â€Å"worry†-free meals. The Manila Hotel was also the first Asian hotel to sport electric elevators. There were two elevators in the lobby, one for each side. There were also two private elevators and a servants’ elevator. The main dining room of the pre-war Manila Hotel spanned from the left end of the lobby towards the direction of the bay. It was semi-circle in order to insure each guest of an uninterrupted view of the majestic bay. Surrounded by an open veranda, the room was high and was witness to many lunches and snacks to so many of the old hotel’s guests. Parson’s also employed traditional Filipino materials, a manifestation of is respect for the local beauty of native things. The floors consisted of wide planks of local hard woods. The windows made resembled the traditional provincial Filipino house, with four-inch squares of natural  capiz. These were used to soften the vicious tropical sun’s rays (unfortunately, these were later replaced by conventional steel and glass windows). The beds had metal frames but many pieces of furniture such as chairs and tables were made of rattan, bamboo and grass fiber. The lobby was full of â€Å"peacock† white-painted rattan chairs, comfortable chairs that also gave a sense of grandeur to anyone who sat on those chairs. Nevertheless, Filipinos should be the first to know and should be the first to visit, see and experience the place. Unfortunately, majority can only see it on magazines, televisions and hear it from the radio. This study will help us learn more on the details of its design and on the manner of its preservation. Parallel to that is to discover its relevance to the Philippine history, culture and Tourism industry. The present study will pursue in attaining a wider-range of awareness to make the Grand Dame of all Philippines better well-known and be accessible to every Filipino. Setting of the Study The study was conducted in Centro Escolar University which is located at Mendiola Street San Miguel, and Manila. The researchers had chose the school because it is the most accessible locale for both the researchers and the respondents. Centro Escolar University is one of the most well-known schools in Tourism Management. Furthermore, a group of tourism students recently had their tour at The Manila Hotel. Conceptual Framework The study focused on the perception of tourists on the Manila Hotel and its significant contribution to the tourism development and the Filipino culture. The researchers have identified the factors that influenced them to visit the destination. The result of this study will help promote the Manila Hotel become a tourist destination. It gives them knowledge on how to preserve and improve the certain destination to attract more local and foreign tourist. It would be a great help in knowing their evaluation regarding the location, facilities, amenities, safety, security and affordability, so that the government would know what are the strengths and weaknesses of the particular destination. Paradigm of the study The paradigm illustrates the conceptual framework of this study which illustrates how the specific problems will be answered. This study will find out the perceptions of tourists on the Manila Hotel and its significant contribution to the tourism development and to the Filipino culture. INPUTPROCESSOUTPUT FEEDBACK Figure 1 FIGURE 2 Theoretical Framework Figure 2 shows the theoretical paradigm that illustrates the different theories adopted in this study. This study has thoroughly assessed the perceptions of tourists on the Manila Hotel as an important asset and its contribution to the Filipino culture. Corollary to this, the Management by objectives (MBO) concept of Peter Drucker was considered as frame reference for this particularly study. According to George Odiome, â€Å"MBO is a process whereby superior and subordinate managers of an organization jointly define its common goals; define each individual’s major areas of responsibility in terms of result expected of him and uses these measures as guides for operating the unit and assessing the contribution of each of its members. Likewise, John Humble defines MBO as a dynamic system which seeks to integrate the company’s need to clarify and achieve its profits and growth goals, with the manager’s need to contribute and develop himself. It is a demanding and rewarding style of managing a business. This principle basically applies in the management of the Manila Hotel as an important assest of the government and how it contributes to the Filipino culture and influence tourism industry in this country. Theoretical Paradigm The MBO concept is the most widely accepted philosophy of management today, as it emphasizes team work result and, is based on the assumption that people perform better when they know what is expected of them and can relate their personal goal to organizational objectives. This is very much applicable in the present dispensation of running the Manila Hotel where the team from the National Government from the executive department or from the Department of Tourism. MBO is a participative and democratic style of management provides subordinates higher status and positive participative role, making MBO both a philosophy and a management approach. Likewise, it allows people to control their performance, measure themselves and exercise self-control. Furthermore, it is a result-oriented philosophy that offers many advantages like employee motivation, high morale, effective and purposeful leadership and clearly defined objectives. Thus, MBO is gainful to this study for the reason that the objectives served as a guide for planning the work, setting priorities and evaluating performances. All of these have significance to this study and its application is vital to successfully determine the perceptions of tourists on the Manila Hotel as an important asset of the government and its contribution to development. The social and economic Theory of Hagen holds that there is a direct relationship between societal change and personality change of people and change must start an individual to attain the much awaited societal change and reforms. Behavioral and attitudinal changes and values formation among people are key elements that will bring reforms and economic progress. A positive viewpoint of the tourists of Manila Hotel could lead to their patronage and support to the tourism industry through social and societal and economic development aspects. Therefore, the behavior and attitude of the tourists influenced the Filipinos culture and industry. Procedural changes and adjustments give impetus for the government to synchronize efforts on tourism development programs with the doctrines emanating from the Department of Tourism to attain success, growth and maturity in managing government resources. While there may be significant changes and modifications in the tourism schemes and practices, these will produce better results in the end, both to the government and tourists. Viewed as a business process and prospect, the tourism administration must be founded on the ideals behind quality to achieve economic gains and excellence, making tourism industry as one of the centerpiece of revenue-generating schemes. Another theory that supports this study is the Total Quality Management (TQM) formally known as total quality control emphasize the crucial role of management in the quality process. Total means that everyone participates and that it is integrated into all business functions. Quality means meeting or exceeding customer (internal or external) expectation. Management means improving and maintaining business systems and their related process or activities. Milakovich and Gordon (2001), defined total quality management aslt; â€Å"A management approach that encourages organization wide commitment, teamwork and better quality results by providing incentives to increase the success of the whole enterprise. Elements of TQM include commitment to meeting customer-driven quality standard, employee participation or empowerment to make decisions at the point closest to the customer, actions based on data, facts outcome measure, results and statistical analysis, commitment to process and continuous quality improvements, and organizational changes and teamwork to encourage implementation all of he above elements. Total quality anagement gives support to the present investigation because there is a need for people to get involved in the management of the Manila Hotel to be committed and rational team player to attain better quality tourism industry. Finally, the Systems Theory greatly influenced this study which originates from Bertalanffy’s General System Theory (GST), used in the action theory of Talcott Parsons and the system-theory of Niklas Luhmann. System is used to refer specifically to self-regulating system, in effect, it is self-correcting through feedback. Self-regulating systems are found in nature, including the physiological systems of our body, in local and global ecosystems, and in climate – and in human learning processes. Relative to this, Manila Hotel is considered self-regulating as it is inherent upon the government as an autonomous entity. Tourism industry is an investment vested upon the state in order to support its continued existence and sustain the needs and deliver the services to the public. In this context, a system from this frame of reference is composed of regularly interacting or interrelating groups of activities. It was recognized that organizations arte complex social systems, reducing the parts from the center of individuals, structures, departments and units separate in part from the whole instead of recognizing the interdependence between groups of individuals, structures and processes that enable an organization to function. Laszlo explains that new systems view that organized complexity went one step beyond the organized simplicity in reducing the parts from the whole, or in understanding the whole without relation to its parts. The relationships between organizations and their environments became recognized as the foremost source of complexity and interdependence. Bela H. Banathy, argued that the â€Å"benefit of humankind† is the purpose of science, has made significant and far-reaching contributions to the area of systems theory. She defines a perspective that iterates this view. The systems view is a world-view that is based on the discipline of systems inquiry. Central to system inquiry is the concept of system. I the most general sense, systems mean a configuration of parts connected and joined together by a web of relationships. The Primer group defines a system as â€Å"elements in standing relationship†. The Manila Hotel has been offered to tourists for the benefit of mankind. Statement of the Problem This study aimed to determine the perception of tourist on Manila Hotel and it’s contribution to the Filipino culture. Objectives of the Study Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions: 1. What is the profile of the tourist, in terms of† 2. 1 Age 2. 2 Gender 2. 3 Nationality 2. What are the perceptions of the tourist on the Manila Hotel to the Filipino culture, in terms of: 3. Architectural Design 3. 5 Filipino Artistry 3. What are the perceived contributions of the Manila Hotel to the Filipino culture, in terms of: 4. 6 History 4. 7 Modernization 4. 8 Values Hypothesis This study is anchored on the hypothesis that there is a significant difference in the perceptions made by local and foreign tourist on the Manila Hotel as an important assets and its contribution to the Fil ipino culture and tourism industry. Scope and Delimitation This study is focused on the perceptions of tourists on the Manila Hotel and its contribution to the Filipino culture. The Manila Hotel as an edifice constructed during the time of Commonwealth, initiated by Governor General William Howard Taft and under the supervision of top architect and DC city planner, Daniel Burnham. Both local and foreign tourists shall be considered to determine their perceptions on the status of the coconut palace and how it affects the Filipino culture. Its focus shall include social and economic development in the country which the Manila Hotel has contributed and how it affects the history, modernization and traits of the Filipinos. More importantly, how it influenced the development of tourism industry in the Philippines by including the hotel as one of the most notably tourist destination. FIGURE 1 MAP OF MANILA FIGURE 2 MAP GOING TO THE MANILA HOTEL Significance of the Study The findings of this study will benefit the following Tourism Industry, this study may provide insights to the tourism industry in their promotion of the Manila Hotel as an essential and meaningful tourists destination in the Philippines. Department of Tourism (DOT), it will provide feedback to the Department of Tourism as to the effectiveness of considering the Manila Hotel as one of the government assets which upholds Filipino ingenuity and the uniqueness of an architectural design which makes a difference in the field of structural construction Centro Escolar University, this study will further strengthen the foundation of the university in the field of tourism tutelage, which would be comparable with other educational organizations. College of Tourism Management, it would be a centerpiece in the College of Tourism Management of CEU as tourism students and professors will be enhanced in executing and directing the academic and applied requirements of the course. Tourism Students, to students of CEU and other educational establishments could be given accurate report on the account of the Manila Hotel as an important asset and as an expressive t\tourist attraction. Future Researcher, they would be used as future reference especially to those who would make a research in line with this study.