UNIVERSITY OF TARTU

Pärnu College

Department of Tourism Studies

Irina Levoshko

Wellspa-2

Organization internship in aktia lounge hotel& spa

Report

Supervisors: Nina Turabelidze

Pärnu 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3

1. DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF AKTIA LOUNGE HOTEL & SPA 4

1.1. General Overview, Mission, Vision and Strategic Aims 4

1.2. Organization Structure and Operational Management 7

1.3. Positioning and Unique Selling Points 10

1.4. Customer mix 12

2. ANALYSES OF THE ORGANIZATION´S MACRO AND MICRO ENVIRONMENT 13

2.1 Macro and micro environment of Aktia Lounge Hotel & Spa 13

2.2. Sustainable Activities of the Organization 16

Spa and Wellness area Service Design, Culture and Quality 17

Body & Mind Spa benchmarking with two similar organizations by webpage information 20

3. INTERNSHIP SELF-EXAMINATION AND EVALUATION OF THE PLACEMENT 22

Introduction

The aim of this internship was to enhance the student knowledge about the industry they involve in by giving a hand on experience that will help students in the future. Upon completion of their internship the student is required to write an internship report. The aim of this report is to use the knowledge gained in lectures to deeply examine an organization as a case study situation in combination with theory presented from coursework as well as the author’s experience and knowledge gained from representing the organization, ultimately drawing conclusions and opening the field to suggestions.

The author has completed her organization internship at Body & Mind SPA at Aktia Lounge Hotel & Spa, which is a five star hotel located in a small town of Stalis in the northern coast of Crete island, Greece. This hotel has been operating for already 35 years since 1979 and for most of the previous years it used to be a part of Sentido Hotel Chain and was called Sentido Anthoussa Resort & Spa. Only since 2014 the hotel has been operating as an independently owned hotel under a new name of Aktia Lounge Hotel & Spa. At present this hotel positions itself as a fully equipped, luxury complex located directly on the long sandy Stalis beach.

This report will commence with a breakdown of the structure, which is divided by Description and Analyses of the Organization, Analyses of the Organization’s Macro and Micro Environment and the Internship Self-Examination and Analysis of the Placement. Within the structure, organizational aspects are examined within different areas as well as the placement itself.

According to the structure of the report, in the beginning the author will give the general overview of the company and analyze the organizational elements of the entity such as mission, vision, strategic aims and structure as well as positioning, customer segmentation and description of services related to spa. Continuing further, the report will analyze the organization in terms of its micro and macro environment, sustainable activities as well as further analysis focusing on elements of the spa. Finally, the report will conclude the author’s placement experience. This part will reflect the everyday learning process of the intern, her tasks and responsibilities. The author reflects on what she has learnt and experienced during her internship and on the basis of previously mentioned information will give her recommendations and suggestions for future development of the spa.

The theoretical and empirical information for this report was collected via observation, interviews with the spa manager and the hotel owner, web site analysis and literature review.