Hotel Katajanokka's Anniversary Experience - the Event Plan
Villanen, Anni (2017)
Villanen, Anni
Haaga-Helia ammattikorkeakoulu
2017
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2017052410050
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2017052410050
Tiivistelmä
There is no other place in Helsinki that can offer its guests the unique experience of staying overnight in what once was a real jail cell, other than Hotel Katajanokka. This historic gem agreed to take on the role of the commissioning party, expecting to receive a detailed anniversary event plan in return. Its theme and atmosphere are dictated by the building’s exceptional prison background, so that it fits perfectly with the gloominess lurking in town around the suggested date; Halloween weekend. Guests are encouraged to let go of their everyday lifes and to assimilate to the despair and pain of former inmates and officers during their stay. However, no promises have yet been made regarding the actual implementation of the event plan and so for now, it is merely a suggestion.
The aim of the event plan is to increase the number of customers at the restaurant, intro-duce the meeting rooms as viable venue alternatives for the future, have the hotel fully booked, turn the event into a yearly tradition and encourage guests to embody a curious attitude and continue exploring their surroundings even after they have returned home.
The theoretical framework kicks off with an introduction to event management. Working in the industry is then narrowed down to the applicability of three experience tools to the event planning process. They are the four realms of an experience, the experience pyramid and the event canvas. Their ideologies provided the base and needed guidance for the creation of the final product of this thesis. The necessary secondary data was gathered using the deductive approach by researching for previously published books, news, articles and re-ports relatable to this thesis. The primary data, on the other hand, was acquired through a valuable qualitative, semi-structured interview with the general manager of Hotel Katajanokka.
The roadblocks standing between the desired outcome and success are the limitations, which are the boundaries set by the hotel’s values, the confined physical spaces, lack of interest from the behalf of potential customers and costly tickets. Success is challenging to evaluate because of the fact that the event is not really taking place. Nevertheless, comparing and contrasting it to similar events from the past and to the three experience tools can provide insight on how successful the event could be expected to be if executed.
Overall the entire thesis process from submitting the subject plan to publishing took 13 weeks, of which only 6 were used for writing. The slow start and rush towards the end could have been avoided if only a strict schedule would have been arranged earlier. The product itself, the anniversary plan enclosed as an appendix, follows the steps of the event canvas, addressing each of its blocks in words before the visual version of the canvas is presented. The plan is concretized with suggestions for a task timetable for the event management body and an event program for the guests.
The aim of the event plan is to increase the number of customers at the restaurant, intro-duce the meeting rooms as viable venue alternatives for the future, have the hotel fully booked, turn the event into a yearly tradition and encourage guests to embody a curious attitude and continue exploring their surroundings even after they have returned home.
The theoretical framework kicks off with an introduction to event management. Working in the industry is then narrowed down to the applicability of three experience tools to the event planning process. They are the four realms of an experience, the experience pyramid and the event canvas. Their ideologies provided the base and needed guidance for the creation of the final product of this thesis. The necessary secondary data was gathered using the deductive approach by researching for previously published books, news, articles and re-ports relatable to this thesis. The primary data, on the other hand, was acquired through a valuable qualitative, semi-structured interview with the general manager of Hotel Katajanokka.
The roadblocks standing between the desired outcome and success are the limitations, which are the boundaries set by the hotel’s values, the confined physical spaces, lack of interest from the behalf of potential customers and costly tickets. Success is challenging to evaluate because of the fact that the event is not really taking place. Nevertheless, comparing and contrasting it to similar events from the past and to the three experience tools can provide insight on how successful the event could be expected to be if executed.
Overall the entire thesis process from submitting the subject plan to publishing took 13 weeks, of which only 6 were used for writing. The slow start and rush towards the end could have been avoided if only a strict schedule would have been arranged earlier. The product itself, the anniversary plan enclosed as an appendix, follows the steps of the event canvas, addressing each of its blocks in words before the visual version of the canvas is presented. The plan is concretized with suggestions for a task timetable for the event management body and an event program for the guests.