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1. Evaluation of the Saffire Freycinet Experience (approx. 1500 words) In this section you are required to analyse the Saffire Freycinet experience of Charles and Karen. Your analysis should focus on breaking down the experience Charles and Karen had at Saffire Freycinet, identifying all the elements that contribute to determine their experience. This section should contain the following elements and answer the following questions: i. One (1) Infographic visualising Charles and Karen’s Saffire Freycinet total experience (a customer journey map or a service blueprint are some of the best tools you can use to do this). ii. Utilising the case study as a reference point, reflect of the theatrical metaphor Hemmington (2007) provides to define the hospitality experience. Who is the audience? Who are the front stage actors? Who are the backstage technicians? What are the supporting activities? What constitutes the theatrical stage? How do these combined elements create the Saffire Freycinet experience? iii. Applying Walls et al. (2011) model of luxury hotel experience, identify and analyse all the elements that, in the case study, have contributed to create Charles’s experience at Saffire Freycinet Lodge? How do these elements make Charles’ experience a luxury experience? With proper references. Proper infographics must be there. A day in the life of guest experience stagers: The Saffire Freycinet experience Abstract This case study illustrates a day in the life of hosts and guests at Saffire Freycinet, a luxury lodge in Tasmania, Australia. It highlights key aspects in the co-creation and management of high quality accommodation experiences in a luxury lodge. The case study allows students to reflect on and apply the concepts of guest experience, experience quality, staging, management and co-creation of luxury accommodation experiences. Keywords Guest experience; Luxury lodge; Boutique accommodation; Service blueprint; Experience quality; Luxury accommodation; Co-creation Introduction Staging, co-creating and managing guest experiences is a business imperative for hoteliers (Gilmore & Pine, 2002). This case study allows future hospitality professionals to explore the guest experience from the perspective of both guests and hosts. Firstly, it encourages students to reflect on the complex and multidimensional concept of guest experience. Secondly, it allows students to analyse the guest journey holistically and the various operational levels embedded in each experience touch point. Thirdly, it provides a platform to understand how guests evaluate the quality of their experience. Lastly, the case study allows students to critically reflect on the crucial role operators have in staging, managing and co-creating quality experiences with their guests, and the challenges entrenched in this process. Luxury hotel experiences are co-created through the input and participation of guests and hosts. Guests use their own set of personal characteristics (such as personality, level of sensitivity, travel experience, expectations) as a lens to perceive and evaluate their experience. Hosts stage and manage the conditions for experience consumption (Gilmore & Pine, 2002). These conditions refer to a carefully curated physical environment, which stimulate emotional reactions and behaviours in the guest, and the management of a personalised interaction between guests and staff (Harkison, 2018). This interactive process and the environment where experiences take place is also influenced by trip-related factors (e.g. purpose of the trip, travel party, weather conditions), which affect the guest’s experience and increase the challenges for hosts to meet the guests’ individual needs (Walls, Okumus, Wang & Kwun, 2011). Central to luxury accommodation experiences is the concept of personalisation (Ariffin, Maghzi, Soon & Alam, 2018). Personalisation entails responding to guests’ needs in a customised way. To do so, hosts need to encourage their guests to participate in the creation of their own accommodation experiences as co-creators (Harkison, 2018). This means encouraging guests to participate in the design of their experience, facilitating guests in sharing information, and using this information to personalise the guest stay in all its touchpoints (Harkison, 2018). Co-creation also enables guest to achieve learning and emotional-related experiences (fun, entertainment, surprise, immersion and escapism) which guests seek in their accommodation experiences (Alnawas & Hemsley-Brown, 2019) though their interaction with staff and other guests. This analytic illustrative case study narrates the lived experience of two regular lodge guests, Charles and Karen, through the eyes of the staff working at the luxury lodge. The story is set at Saffire Freycinet, a small, multi-awarded luxury lodge located at the gateway to Freycinet National Park in Tasmania. Since its opening in 2010, the 20-rooms luxury lodge has been renowned for its contemporary yet organic design, and the unique experiences connecting guests with the Tasmanian nature, culture and produce. Voted “World’s Best Boutique Hotel” and “World’s Best Luxury Hotel” in 2014, Saffire Freycinet strives every day, through the efforts of its staff, blessed by its unique location, to set the scene for memorable guest experiences. Jonathan, the General Manager of the property, and the staff at the lodge know, nonetheless, that behind the scenes, just like in a theatrical play (Hemmington, 2007), great effort and resources must be employed to create memorable experiences for their guests. This process is not always easy, and it requires staff to understand how guests perceive and evaluate their experience, what factors influence these experiences and how to personalise and co-create experiences that engage each guest in an inherently personal way (Harkison, 2018). The Saffire Freycinet Experience – Instructions and case study Throughout the story narrative, students are encouraged to explore all the elements shaping the Saffire Freycinet experience and to investigate how this is staged and managed by the staff at the lodge. Students are also tasked to reflect on how experiences are co-created during the interactions between all experience participants (staff and guests). This case study provides opportunities to evaluate personalisation and co-creation practices adopted by Saffire Freycinet staff, and highlights the numerous challenges they encounter while staging and managing high quality guest experiences. Before arriving - Getting guests excited That morning, like every morning at 9am, Jonathan was heading to the staff departmental meeting. During these meetings, held twice a day, a member of each department met to discuss the “Saffire Today”, a report used to keep track of arriving, in-house and departing guests. This report was constantly updated to follow up on guests’ stays, their thoughts, feelings and needs. During these meetings, the staff shared information they had discovered about each guest and Saffire Feycinet aerial view Saffire Feycinet staff circulated it to other departments for them to create effortless and organic guests’ experiences. That day, among the arrivals, was Charles, a regular guest. Since his first time at the lodge, he had been so impressed with the care and attention given to every experience detail that now, every time he and his wife had a small break, they would jump on a plane and take the opportunity to spend some time at the lodge. Charles was the typical Saffire’s guest: a managing director of a medium-size firm in Sydney. He was very time poor and loved, from time to time, leaving behind his busy life, suit and tie, his phone and laptop, and heading to a place where he could be himself, able to wear jeans and a t-shirt, connect with nature and enjoy the finer things in life. Jonathan knew that Charles was a “True Luxury 2” guest. To better understand their guests’ needs, the lodge had conducted a survey and created guest categories based on their psychographic traits. Out of the survey, six guest categories had been created: Special Occasion; True Luxury; True Luxury 2; Indulger; Adventurer; Escapist. This had greatly assisted the staff in anticipating guests’ thoughts, feelings and needs and personalising their experiences accordingly. The “True Luxury 2” guest, for example, was used to describe a high-net-worth individual who held a position of great responsibility. Generally middle-aged, “True Luxury 2” guests were often people at the very top of their profession. Whatever their background, they were used to the finer things in life, but also the value of a dollar. Charles had built a close relationship with Jonathan and would never leave the lodge before catching up over a drink. This was not uncommon considering the small capacity of the lodge. Many guests, over the years, had grown to be friends not only with Jonathan, but also with some of the staff and with other guests. Knowing Charles was arriving, Jonathan made a mental note to free some space to have a glass of wine with Charles while his wife, Karen, paid a visit to Spa Saffire for her usual arrival massage. Stay details, of course, had already been organised. As Charles was a returning guest, all departments had already been informed and an itinerary had been curated for Charles and Karen’s stay before their arrival. This would have been different if Charles had been a first time guest. The lodge would have made contact with him sixty days before arrival to get him and Karen excited about their upcoming stay and to send a questionnaire to ask about their preferences. This information was vital to understand what the guests wanted out of their visit. Every Saffire guest arriving in Tasmania had access to a dedicated private airport lounge. Once they arrived at the lounge, the guests were offered refreshments and direction to reach the lodge. Most of the guests would decide to drive up to the lodge to take advantage of the scenic road. That day, Richard, the lounge guest service manager, saw Charles and Karen approaching from the airport gate. Even though a car had been pre- organised for them, Richard noticed they both seemed very tired and Saffire Airport lounge offered to arrange a driver to take them to the lodge. Charles declined: “Driving up there always relaxes me.” Richard bid them farewell and, once the two had left, rang Russell, the guest service manager at the lodge. “Charles and Karen are departing now. They are driving up with a white Ford and should be there at 2pm. They both look very tired. Make sure the check-in is fast. I have the feeling they just want to relax