Main topics of study:

The Approach to Economics:

• The Definition & Meaning of Economics
• Scarcity & Choice
• The Importance of Marginal Analysis
• Capital & Income
• The Business Firm
• The Financial Features of Businesses
• Business Perspectives

The Market:

• The Market System
• Market Stability
• Government Controls
• Change in the Market
• Changes in Demand
• Changes in Supply
• Market Changes in Practice
• Short-term & Long-term Effects of Change in Demand
• Short-term & Long-term Effects of Change in Supply
• Elasticity & Its Application
• Applying Supply & Demand
• Implications for Management

Economic Trends Affecting the Hospitality Industry:

• Defining the Economy
• Measuring the Economy
• Measuring Changes in Output
• Trends in the Economy
• Economic Growth
• Reasons for Economic Growth
• Structural Change in the Economy
• Economic Trends & the Hospitality Industry
• Time, Cost & Economic Change
• Economic Growth & Household Changes
• Economic Growth & the Hospitality Industry

Structural Change in the Accommodation, Food and Drink Sectors:

• A Note on Spending & Income
• The Accommodation Sector
• The Eating Out Sector
• The Drinks Sector
• Contract Services

Macroeconomic Fluctuations & the Hospitality Industry:

• Boom Follows Slump Follows Boom: Stages of the Macroeconomic Cycle
• Aggregate Demand & Supply
• Why Fluctuations in Output Occur
• Government Macroeconomic Policy
• Views on Macroeconomic Policy
• The Impact of the Macroeconomy on the Hospitality Industry
• Predicting Macroeconomic Changes
• Implications for Management

The Hospitality Industry & the Local Economy:

• Tourism Life Cycle & Local Development
• Multiplier Analysis of the Local Impact of Tourism
• The Multiplier Process
• Multiplier Studies

Costs & Market Structure:

• Market Structure
• Economies of Scale & Scope & Experience
• Sources of Economies of Scale & Scope
• Economies of Scale & Scope in the Hospitality Industry

Market Structure & Market Control:

• Pricing for Profit
• Comparing Monopoly & Competition
• Dominant Firms & Oligopolies
• Market Structure & Social Efficiency
• Government Control of Monopolies

Strategic Product Development & Delivery:

• Goods & Services
• Costs of Production
• Planning the Production of Hospitality Services
• Production Planning in a Changing Environment
• Service Quality

Business Operations:

• Efficient Production
• Use of Labour
• Investment Decisions
• Organising Production: The Economic Role of Firms

Business Development:

• Risks & Financial Requirements of a Business During Development
• Vertical Integration
• Mergers
• Franchising: Solution for a Dispersion Market
• Internationalization

Pricing & Product Development:

• Strategic Development & Pricing
• Pricing Methods for Hospitality Services
• Differential Pricing for Demand Management
• Price Discrimination
• Load Pricing
• Application of Differential Pricing
• Hotel Occupancy & Capacity Utilisation
• Pricing in Special Situations

Maintaining & Developing Your Economic Skills:

• An Analytical Framework
• Planning Reading
• Reading the Industry Literature

Reading List

Main Text:

Economics for Hospitality Management – Peter Cullen (Thompson Business Press)