Successful hotel, lodging & resort management:

The delivery of an exceptional customer experience is critical to the long-term success of a hospitality enterprise—whether that enterprise is a full-service, luxury resort or a select-service, economy hotel. 

Delivering the Guest Experience covers all aspects of successful lodging and resort management, including guest services; housekeeping and laundry management; facilities maintenance; food and beverage operations; meetings and conference support; sales, marketing, and revenue management; human resource management; administrative and accounting functions; recreation management; and real estate investment, owners relations, and asset management.

Ultimately, a hotel or resort is a real estate investment that must deliver solid financial returns to its investors; however, long-term financial success can only be achieved if the business consistently meets or exceeds customer expectations. Consequently, the focus of Delivering the Guest Experience is on the application of sound customer service theory and best industry practices within the context of a hotel, lodging, or resort setting. Simply put, exceptional customer experiences and financial returns are interdependent—Delivering the Customer Experience explains this synergistic relationship.  

Research publications and projects.

Michael's research focus is on applied research-- reviewing existing research, designing studies, and collecting and analyzing data in order to address real world challenges.  Dr. Collins has completed research projects and published peer reviewed journal articles on a variety of topics including human resources management, measuring service quality, hotel pricing, and perceptions of a destination's image in an effort to help business enterprises, as well as non-profit organizations, improve performance and business outcomes. Please see his current Curriculum Vita.pdf for additional details. 

Michael is always looking for problems to solve-- please reach out to Michael today if you have a research question that you believe he may be able to help you answer utilizing the link below.

Copyright © Michael Collins. All rights reserved.

Internship handbook:

Employers agree—to be successful, graduates of Hospitality Management programs need to have meaningful, hands-on industry work experiences to complement their classroom education. Consequently, nearly all Hospitality Management degree programs require students to complete an internship or practicum experience prior to graduation. The challenge is that the quality of these work experiences vary widely.

Make It Count! Getting the Most from a Hospitality Internship provides step-by-step guidance through the entire internship process, from identifying opportunities through the intern’s final evaluation of the internship site. This handbook may be utilized as a complete, turnkey internship guide from start-to-finish or simply utilize the appropriate sections of the text to help students, coordinating faculty, and employers outline and deliver meaningful experiential learning activities and outcomes.

Publications and Research.

Academic textbooks: