ROLE OF PARKING IN THE HOTEL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Background: Supply chain management in tourism has only recently become the topic of the scientific research. The hotel product as a tourist product presents a specific mix of services and products The focus of this study has been placed on the hotel company, that, in order to create such a product, builds its own network of partners (companies, co-workers), to bring together and coordinate activities intended to result in the desired features of the hotel product.
This study was evaluated as a scientifically relevant because until now the position of parking services in the hotel product has not been analyzed from the perspective of the hotel efforts and abilities to provide parking places for their guests by analyzing to which extent a good and available parking space really affects the quality of the hotel product.
The aim of the study was to define the framework in which the supply chain management acts with reference to the parking service and stakeholders in the network.

Methods: The method of interviewing hotel managers was used to obtain necessary data. Through the simple numerical calculations including the number of parking spaces and the capacity of the hotel accommodation we tried to identify the interrelationship, i.e. the degree of alignment of the respective sizes.

Results: It turned out that towns of Rijeka and Opatija are faced with a shortage of parking spaces, especially during the tourist season. The trend of providing parking services for guests in hotel-owned garages or car parks is typical for the everyday hotel operation and the shortage of such an option, is resolved through the lease of a certain number of parking spaces in public garages and car parks. These parking spaces are away from the hotel, the guests' dissatisfaction is a normal consequence of such a decision and it is mitigated through the commercial measures. Hotel management considers a provided parking space an important element of the hotel product quality, although they mostly do not have concrete proposals to provide a sufficient number of parking spaces for hotel guests.

Conclusion: The research confirmed the set hypothesis about the importance of parking in the quality of the hotel product. Hotels should persist on providing a sufficient number of parking spaces for their guests. In situations when there is no an available parking space they should opt for the construction of the underground garages, which are expensive solutions, but the investment can pay off through the increased occupancy of hotel capacities and a higher price for the better quality of  product. The cooperation with local authorities is of great importance.
Solutions with remote private car parks or public car parks regularly cause guests' dissatisfaction, however its real nature and its consequences could not be shown in this research. Another problem has been pointed out in the study - coach parking, which also deserves the interest of a scientific research.