3.2 Government Legislation & Regulation

Australia is considered to be an attractive investment destination for business. A country analysis report by Datamonitor observed that Australia has one of the most open economies among members of the OECD and was rated first in terms of the lowest overall level of regulation (Datamonitor 2008 a). It was found that Australia also follows market friendly policies and has a very liberal legal regime (Datamonitor, 2008 a). These factors encourage international chains such as Hilton to bring their franchises to Australia.

Government legislation and regulations on an international level are more difficult to characterise due to their extreme variations and for the purposes of this report, are considered irrelevant to the Hilton Hotel Brisbane.

3.3 Population Demographics

The population demographics relevant to the Hilton Hotel Brisbane will be considered on a national scale as opposed to a global scale. The trends most characteristic of Australia are the ageing population, reduced labour force, stricter immigration policies and general decrease in population growth.

Over the next 40 years, the government predicts that the number of people over the age of 65 will double to almost 25% of the overall Australian population (Datamonitor, 2008 a). This means that more people are of retirement age and could increase the market for luxury retirement-age travellers for Hilton. Because of this shift, the labour force will also reduce significantly over the next few decades. Other Australian demographic trends include an implementation of stricter immigration policies, reducing the number of immigrants living and working in Australia and a general decrease in population growth (Datamonitor, 2008 a).

3.4 Economic Environment

The global marketplace has taken a major setback in the last couple of years due to the global financial crisis and subsequent recession. Australia has been no exception to this economic downturn, but despite this, the hotel and tourism industry in Australia continues to grow and overall the tourism industry contributes around $78.7 billion to the Australian economy (Datamonitor, 2008 a). Other trends that are apparent are the strong mining and infrastructure industries, rising inflation rate and an increased dependency on imports with exports becoming weaker.

3.5 Technology

The rapid advancements in technology worldwide have been taken advantage of by the international Hotel industry. Current updates include online booking systems, more efficient staff communication systems, internet advertising opportunities and more sophisticated facilities for business customers (CBS Interactive, 2009). Current technologies are now considered a bare minimum requirement for the luxury hotel sector. If hotels such as the Hilton Brisbane do not continually stay at the forefront of the industry with technology, they risk losing competitive advantage to other hotels and a large portion of their business, particularly business clients.

4.0 Driving forces and Porter’s Five Forces

4.1 Key Success Factors

The most successful hoteliers of today have a framework on which their successes are based. It is not enough to be at the right place at the right time, successful hotels are also expected to provide high quality service at competitive prices, which are factors that the Hilton takes into account.

Nevertheless, expansion and growth in the hotel business without capable and efficient human resources is unfeasible. Attracting, educating, and retaining exceptional employees are required to sustain the operational side of the company. The Hilton Brisbane addresses this through continual training of its service providers. In addition, the use of technology and software’s for e.g. streamline hiring & booking, is becoming increasingly important to successful hotel operations.