The Adoption of Budgets by Hotels: A Field Study of Al-Madina Al-Munawara

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the factors that may affect the preparation of budgets in hotels sector in Almadina Alnunawara, and to highlight the principles which are considered when preparing the budget. The predicting methods for estimats revenues and expenses and the comparison between actual figures and estimations are also investigated. The data for this study were collected using a questionnaire which was distributed to the large hotels in Almadina Almunawara, Saudi Arabia. The results of this study suggest that most hotels prepare their budgets annually and also most hotels use statistical methods for predicting their revenues and expenses. The guest (customer) of the hotel was found to be the basic element for preparing the budget in more than half of hotels surveyed. On the other hand, the study revealed some negative findings regarding budgets. The most noticeable ones are that staff do not participate in preparing the budget in most hotels and about half of the hotels do not compare actuals with budgets. The study also pointed out other factors which significantly affect the types and the preparation process of budgets in hotels. These factors include hotel age, hotel size, number of accountants - especially cost accountants, hotel ranking (number of stars), ownership, participation in the budget process, approval procedures, and the budget time span.