Syllabus: HRIM 495 (010)- Hospitality Feasibility Studies
Proposed Syllabus

Instructor: TBD (To be decided)
Prerequisites: ACCT 207, ACCT 208, HRIM 380, HRIM 481, HRIM 381, HRIM 382, & FINC 311.
Course Format Interactive Lecture and Group Based Problem Solving
Credits 3
DLE This is a Discovery Learning Experience course

Course Description: Feasibility studies are significant business opportunities and serve as viable revenue streams for specialized hospitality consulting firms. The objective of this course is to familiarize students with the challenges in the development of a lodging site proposal. Students chosen to engage in such studies require a combination of a fine understanding of hospitality operations and business analysis skills in both quantitative and qualitative contexts. Students will work in groups of 3, and will be assigned to conduct market research of a secondary U.S. city that will enable them to identify a proposed location, select a franchised lodging product, and compile a forecasted statement of revenues and expenses that indicates that the commercial project is feasible in that local marketplace. Students will prepare, submit, and orally present the proposal to commercial investment professionals. Additionally, the course covers a review of feasibility methods and techniques, their pros and cons and how they are used in the industry

Proposed Course Organization and Project Outline
Interactive lectures will be conducted in tandem with project requirements as outlined below.
1. Market Area Analysis: Requires a detailed examination of the area where the project is being proposed. Demographics, economic, geographic and related factors examined here. Lodging market analysis also completed here.
2. Franchise Comparisons: Evaluation of available franchises, features, competitive analysis etc.
3. Product/Service Description: Proposed franchise and its salient characteristics
4. Operational Plans: How will the property operate? What will be the guidelines, standard operating procedures, training issues etc.
5. Marketing Strategies & Sales Plan: Will answer the issues pertaining to how to fill heads in beds. Partnerships, promotional mixes, sales strategies, packaging etc.
6. Project Construction Costs: Evaluation of the franchise guidelines, costs outlay, design and develop issues.
8. Project Management Action Plan; When and how to develop the property?
9. Sustainable Development: Environmental issues such as certification standards etc.
10. Financial Statements: Cash flows, revenue projections, etc.

Students will engage in reflection, which incorporates self-assessment and analysis of the learning that has occurred as a result of their participation in the DLE. At a minimum, students will be expected to examine and demonstrate what they have learned as a result of the DLE, how they have learned it, the impact of their learning on their personal and professional growth, and how to apply that learning in other situations or contexts.

Students taking the course will have to draw on their knowledge acquired in the domains of hospitality operations and business analysis skills from earlier. Here, they will put this combination to test in a real world project, which will make them reflect on the business realities of a hospitality operation. Instructors will meet students on a regular basis to reflect on their learning and development over the duration of the course, students will also be asked to maintain a journal of activities, which they will have to summarize as a paper at the end of the course. Upon completion of the course, students will be capable of evaluating hospitality business potential, which in turn will give them the confidence and credentials to actively engage with potential employers. Put differently, the course effectively blends in the two domains of hospitality operations and business analysis at the penultimate stages of degree completion, thereby making them effectively employable for consulting and related professions.