Hotel Management - Assignment Example

Investigating Sales Development and Merchandising and Section # of Here is where the thesis or the writer's main points are written, in the form of just one paragraph. Introduction This assignment is based on sales management and merchandising. It will enable students to understand sales in the context of hotel management and to evaluate the effectiveness of sales and merchandising activities of the chosen hotel. It will depict clearly the activities involved in the hotel business from products and services to sales promotion and merchandising. The hotel chosen was Holiday Inn International. It was chosen because of its easy accessibility. I know the manager of the local branch very well and therefore I was able to get all the information needed to give this assignment a complete picture. The first source of information was primary data collected from hotel staff, brand managers at the head office at Holiday Inn customers. The secondary source of information was the brochures and promotional material that the hotel manager provided as well as various hotel guides, reviews on the internet and the corporate website. I also stayed at the hotel for a day to get a feel of its environment, ambience and service and to understand its positioning fully. All the information and observations were recorded and classified into various subtopics. These included general information, consumer insights, desired positioning and image for Holiday Inn and communication strategy. These were then analyzed and feedback was incorporated into the assignment to give it a logical finish. Even though access to the hotel was fairly easy, certain problems were encountered in doing the assignment. Often customers had highly skewed perspectives of the hotel. Most had a very good opinion of the hotel while few also hated the international chain. However, it was alarming that no one considered the hotel to be moderate or average. To eliminate this skew ness from the sample, customers were encouraged to present a balanced picture of the hotel, detailing both the pros and cons. Sometimes this required prompting on part of the interviewer. Secondly certain formats and samples were needed from the hotel which the management considered highly confidential. Even though I stressed on the importance of the information, the management was highly unwilling to furnish me with the same. Therefore I asked them to erase the confidential information and just present me with format of documents such as the order form format etc. Hotel Summary Holiday Inn is a 5-star hotel with all the services that make it a pleasure to stay at. It offers facilities and features which are exclusive to holiday inn and are not offered anywhere else. These include indoor water parks which provide an opportunity for relaxation and enjoyment within the premises of the hotel. It is a highly unique feature. It has a feature of kids eating for free which exists for most hotel packages and offers a discounted rate for senior citizens. It also has a unique reward program for group meetings. The hotel comes across as a convenient refuge for people. Its sup is mainly convenience with a bit of relaxation thrown in. In all its offers such as advance booking and park, stay and go for hurried travelers. The hotel is offering packages in line with its current sup and positioning. All its communications focus on the convenience aspect with some depiction of the relaxation opportunities as well. This can be deduced from the website which has related links for traveler's right on the main page, so that customers do not have to look elsewhere. Also, the information on the website is highly organized. and well classified. There's a lot of focus on corporate customers which again endorses the convenience positioning. It also has an image associated with being economical and being good value for money. It does not target the elites or very rich people. It offers services of Wife, spacious guest rooms, full service restaurants serving a huge range of cuisines, flexible meeting spaces and comfortable work spaces. Other facilities include iron, hairdryer and coffee machine in the room which against points to it being convenience oriented. 3 The hotel is in its maturity stage for now. It has been in the business for quite sometimes. Its position has developed, reached maturity and the decline can occur within five to six years. Its positioning has strengthened and has resulted in a good overall image. Its business has grown over the years and today it's considered a good hotel for those who want value for money. Behavioral Models The consumer behavior model includes certain steps. It begins from the input stage. This is where the consumer recognizes one's need for a certain product. There are certain specific factors which are responsible for this. The first one is the firm's marketing efforts, the external sociological influences on the consumer and other informal and non-commercial sources. Both play a highly influential role in eliciting a need for the product in the consumer. For the hotel industry, the need is recognized due to factors such as being tired and wanting a vacation, an irresistible offering/ vacation package by a hotel or a special occasion. Non-commercial sources such as word of mouth play a very important role in shaping up the image of a hotel so that it is considered in the consumer's choice set. Many people want to go to a tried and tested or a famous hotel. Second is the process stage. The psychological factors present in every individual determine largely how the inputs are perceived by the consumer's recognition of a need and pre purchase evaluation. The consumer therefore makes use of the experience gained from prepurchase evaluation to help in the process of selecting the right hotel. The output stage is the decision making stage for the consumer. Lastly, the output stage consists of two key activities. The first one is purchase behaviour and the second one is post purchase evaluation. For the hotel industry the purchase behaviour comprises registration at check-in. The post purchase evaluation aspect is interesting. It depends on consumer behaviour after the purchase. Since the hotel is in the service business the customer experience from the time that he checks in till the time that he checks out is very important and highly influences the post purchase evaluation. If the evaluation is good the customer is likely to return to the same hotel and spread positive word of mouth. On the other hand if the evaluation is not good it will result in the customer not wanting to ever come back to the same hotel and negative word of mouth.2 The corporate buyer behaviour model also has the same components i.e. input, process, and output; however its sub heads are different. In the input stage for a corporate buyer half of the works is already done, i.e. the need has already been recognized. This is because corporate buying results due to executives traveling for meetings or other work reasons. Therefore the need portion ahs already been handle by the executives. The second task is left though. If they want to stay in a hotel, a hotel's marketing activities must ensure that they chose their specific hotel and not anywhere else. Other arrangement for promotion work for corporate consumers. They require a good relationship of the company management with the hotel. Many hotels have bill to company and corporate rates to entice this particular group of clients. The process stage is again based aspects other than cognitive thinking which is unique to individuals. Often these decisions in companies are mechanical and predetermined. If they like you they are stay with you forever, if they don't they will never send an employee to your hotel. Holiday Inn Hotel has been marketing itself well. During the input stage of a consumer such efforts are highly useful and have good pay-offs. Its reward programs have generated loyalty and has lead to positive worked of mouth. Likewise in the output stage the hotel has initiated the idea of giving free giveaways to preserve a feeling of goodwill and satisfaction with the brand.1 Revenue Centers Revenue centers such as rooms, night clubs and restaurants are found in abundance at Holiday Inn. For the rooms the sales development opportunity is corporate. Corporate is the way to go for holiday Inn. With mushrooming of businesses, increased trends of franchising, licensing and going international; a lot of traveling is involved. Therefore going corporate should be the new buzzword for Holiday Inn. It will also require a change in image of the hotel which is currently viewed as being for families. To promote corporate stay-ins at the hotel, there should be policies are rules which facilitate executives. A promotional campaign should be designed such that the target market is attracted to the package. Hence, an idea is the presence of a corporate floor and conference packages. Often delegates that come to attend a conference like to stay at the same hotel. Therefore the promotional package should promote conferences and corporate events at Holiday Inn. It should give a package to companies and provide them additional benefits such as decoration, complementary breakfast and furniture. Such a facility will attract businessmen who are looking for convenience and economy in a classy atmosphere. For the gym there is very huge opportunity that comes from the increasing health consciousness in all types of people of all ages. Therefore, Holiday Inn should capitalize on this opportunity and make sure that people come here to enjoy the facility of the gym. Although certain packages will include free membership to the gym, the gym will be open to membership as well as one time usage on the payment of a certain fee. The promotional offer will center on the policy of 'A Healthy You'. It will entail having nutritionists and exercise experts at the gyms for consultation once a week. It will also include weighing the people who visit the gym and having timed exercises. Lastly, the restaurant will be designed to offer quick meals which are healthy as well as convenient and tasty. Therefore it will capitalize on the in-hotel market as well as develop its reputation as a good restaurant otherwise. Therefore its promotional activity will center on distributing flyers and brochures to hotel guests and creating an image of a high-class restaurant for everyone. This will be done by partnering with certain brand ambassadors who will conduct tasting and feedback sessions all over the area, thereby generating trial and eliciting an interest in the restaurant. External Merchandising External merchandising for HolidayInn is highly focused and well formulated and executed. The external design of the hotel is modern. It comes across as a good piece of architecture. However, it is not elaborate and traditional. Instead it is simpler with tones of white blended in. The dcor is elegant and classy although again not very elaborate. There are a lot of plants in the external view making the hotel look elegant and cosy. I believe that these elements of the hotel blend in well with its current target market of families who are away on a holiday. It also sides well with its brand promise of being the most cosy and economical hotel. It is located near the airport thereby providing easy check in and check out facility. Since it is located near the airport it also provides a range of transport from the airport to the city. This includes bus, taxi, train and tube. The car parking faculties are extremely proper thereby strengthening the convenience aspect of the Holiday Inn brand. No matter what time of the day it is, no matter what day; there will always be parking available for you. Only on rare occasions is parking unavailable at Holiday Inn. Internal Merchandising and Design Since the hotel industry has a lot to do with aesthetics the internal design and merchandising is very important. It is true that many customers come to a hotel just to get a feel of the ambience and decoration. For many it's a source of relaxation and gives them a sense of happiness to be surrounded by beautiful things. Therefore at Holiday Inn the internal environment and design has received a lot of importance. There are will light corners with a lot of artificial and real plants. The internal dcor is again simple and elegant with a lot of whites in the collection. It looks grand but not gaudy. More than being grand it looks charming and sweet. If the layout of any place is appealing one wants to wander around and spend time at that place. The flooring is marble, which gives a rich and picturesque look to the place. The work floor space is very well managed. AN open and well lit area induces shopping and thereby spending. Physical attractiveness is a key reason when one buys a certain product, In this way we cam see the relationship between spending and saving. To improve the otherwise excellent product. Holiday Inn international must hire an interior decorator and redecorate. There could be various ways in which the whole campaign will happen. To make the dcor more appealing the lights should be enhanced. These should be fancy lights which are pleasing to the eye. The use of carpet to be made on stairs and main hallway. Effectiveness of Internal Merchandising The internal merchandising has been the same for years. It must be changed and made into something new. The internal brochures are directed mainly for the primary target market which includes people who have come on a holiday with their family. An example is that of travel brochures and material so that no matter where travel, their country will always be fair. The strategy goes with the current brand image of being homely and cosy. It also highly appeals to the target market. Conclusion Holiday Inn is a well poised and well positioned hotel that is synonymous to comfort and family. Its initial focus has always been on families coming for a holiday. However, it needs to reposition itself in order to capitalize upon the real job opportunity. Bibiolgraphy 1. Boomer.L. Hotel Management: Principles and Practice. Harper 2. Rutherford.G. (2001). Hotel Management and Operations. John Wiley and Sons 3. n.p. Holiday Inn official website. Web title [Internet]. Available from [Accessed 26th November 2007] Read More