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| Continuing the family tradition |
| Portions of this article were written from an interview conducted by www.askmando.com in June 2008 (http://community.askmando.com/mandotv/view/395) |
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by Brian Welch
askMANDO.com
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Most of us have started out to do one thing and ended up doing another. That’s exactly what happened to Lawrence Welk one day back in 1964. The popular television personality went for a drive in the country north of San Diego where he planned to invest in an orange tree grove.
Something happened on the way to the grove. Welk ended up buying a motel and a nine-hole golf course instead. After the entertainer staged one of his shows at the site, it became a popular tourist spot. Later Welk added a theatre, more golf and eventually timeshare. Today the Welk Group operates properties in Escondido, Palm Springs, and Branson, Missouri, as well as a theatre and resort hotel in Branson. It all started as a family business, and Welk’s grandson Jon Fredricks, president of Welk Resorts, continues the family tradition.
As director of operations at Welk Resorts, Sean Coogan echoes the importance of a family environment. “The Welk family is still very hands on, and they are always expressing the importance of family at every level,” Coogan explains. “I think from the management team down to the front line associate, people here have that sense of family and community when they come to work.”
Sean says this has created the best base foundation any organization could hope for. “I like to really work closely with individuals, and find out if they have any challenges throughout the day. I try to troubleshoot with them instead of just delegating it off to somebody else. So we really work together closely as a team,” said Coogan
“As for day-to-day operations, we have a number of policies and procedures that we have in place to always exceed the guest expectation, because that is our daily goal. We have guest comment cards and mystery shoppers, so we are always trying to have feedback from our guests and make sure that if it’s something that’s happening while they are on property, we’re immediately acting on the challenge and resolving it before they leave,” Coogan said.
The current economic situation has Sean and his team coming up with creative ways to deal with the fact that families have less money to spend. “We are definitely feeling it, more in the amenities. We have live theatre, we have two golf courses, and we have a restaurant. So the impact there is more substantial than our actual room occupancy. Our occupancy continues to be high, which shows that people are still dedicated to their vacation, which is great,” said Coogan.
“I think what’s happening, though, is that they are not doing as much outside of that. They are going to the pools, they are in the villas, and they are enjoying the grounds. But to spend the money at the theatre and the golf course is what we are not finding. So we are trying to find effective ways to package things to entice them into these areas. We’re adding some comedy and magic and other events that are a little bit more affordable for the families,” Coogan explains.
Sean said Welk has made a commitment to environmental sustainability, and they encourage everyone to get involved. “This is important to us. We have a recycle program in place throughout the property, and we invite our guests to recycle and reuse, Coogan said. “Also, we just contracted with a new laundry service that has green processes in place. They are actually building their first green plant up in the L.A. area. We’re partnering with them, and we’ll continue to grow in that area, as well as others.”
www.welkresort.com
MandoTV interview http://community.askmando.com/mandotv/view/395
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