Faculty & Research
Cornell Quarterly discusses: Being in two places at the same time: Managing real and virtual waits
Contact: Joe Strodel, Jr., 607-255-4646, js343@cornell.edu
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Cornell Quarterly discusses: Being in two places at the same time: Managing real and virtual waits
ITHACA, NY, February 16, 2005 -- Because service businesses cannot build sufficient capacity to handle customer demand at all times, a wait for service is sometimes inevitable. But as an article in the current issue of Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly points out, Walt Disney World is using new technology to make waiting much easier on guests. The theme parks use a virtual-wait system, known as Fastpass TM, to allow guests to be simultaneously in a queue for a popular ride while they are physically elsewhere in the park.
The article, by Duncan Dickson, Robert C. Ford, and Bruce Laval is published in the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly (February 2005 issue). Dickson, a '77 and '00 Cornell graduate, Ford, and Laval recount Walt Disney World's experiments with queues, which led to the development of Fastpass TM. In that system, which has been used since 1999, guests put their name on a computer list for a particular ride and are given a time slot to return to that attraction. In the meantime they are free to visit other attractions in the park, thus spreading demand among the most popular and less popular rides.
Drawing on Walt Disney World's experience, Dickson, Ford, and Laval propose the following principles hospitality organizations can use to improve customer experience when a wait for service is unavoidable:
- Understand how customers perceive waits and manage their perceptions.
- Make waits invisible by developing computer-based, virtual queues. These will allow customers to participate in other activities while they wait for an appointed time.
- Use techniques that enable better matching of capacity with customer demand.
The Cornell Quarterly article can be accessed at: http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/quarterly/featured/.
The Cornell Quarterly (CQ) is the premier journal of applied research serving hospitality practitioners and scholars. The award-winning CQ is published by The Center for Hospitality Research at the Cornell Hotel School. For more information on the CQ, see: http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/quarterly/.
About the Center for Hospitality Research
A unit of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, The Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) sponsors groundbreaking research designed to improve practices in the hospitality industry. The CHR also publishes the award-winning hospitality journal, the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. Under the lead of CHR's 37 corporate supporters, experienced scholars work closely with business executives to discover new insights into strategic, managerial and operational issues. To learn more about CHR and its projects, visit http://www.chr.cornell.edu/.
The Center's supporters are leading organizations in the hospitality industry. Partners & Sponsors - AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp., Bartech Systems International, Cendant Corporation, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, HVS International, JohnsonDiversey, Kohinoor Group, Marsh's Hospitality Practice, Nestlé, Thayer Group of Companies, Willowbend Golf Management, and Wyndham International; Friends - ARAMARK Corporation, D.K. Shifflet and Associates, Ltd., ehotelier.com, Gerencia De Hoteles & Restaurantes, Global Hospitality Resources, Inc., hospitalitynet.org, Hospitality World, Hotel Asia Pacific, Hotel China, Hotel Interactive, Inc., Hotel Resource, Hsyndicate, International CHRIE, Lodging Magazine, Lodging Hospitality, Mobile MoneySaver, National Hotel Executive Magazine, Resort+Recreation, RestaurantEdge.com, Shibata Publishing Co. Ltd., Smith Travel Research, The Hospitality Research Group of PKF Consulting, The Lodging Conference, TravelCLICK, and UniFocus.