Tourism Websites Analysis - Research Paper Example

? Lecturer’s Submitted: Letter of transmittal Street: November 10, of recipient: Company: Address: City: Dear Reader, It is my pleasure that I present to you the Annual report of the marketing research on tourist websites. This report is prepared in accordance to the instructions given by my instructor that requires that I provide a marketing research, providing a research problem and developing a research question. It involves developing a research proposal addressing the research methodology. The report also reflects the structure of marketing objectives, is prepared under the accrual, and outputs framework. Yours sincerely, Name: Executive summary The introductory part of this study shows the need for having marketing research. This is through analysis of tourism websites showing that taking a marketing research is necessary in order to formulate decisions and strategies for business success. In carrying out a marketing research, there is need to develop skills needed in seeking information about the market and marketing issues. This helps in assessing quality of information linking it with the business goal to make it stronger. It is also necessary to understand the competitive environment as it helps in seizing market opportunities in places where they exist making the market productive. The analysis shows that every business is analysed by the factors that affect its functions and these factors attribute for the success or failure of the business. In conclusion, hotels are valued as a strategic community partner due to its mission of enabling people to save money to better their lives. Table of contents Introduction …………………………………………………………………………. 5 Background to the problem ………………………………………………………… 6 Methodology…………………………………………………………………………. 8 Results and discussion……………………………………………………………… 9 Tourist hotel analysis…………………………………………………………………11 Findings …………………………………………………………………………… 15 Limitation & Future research …………………………………………………………18  Recommendations ………………………………………………………………….. 20 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………… 21 Introduction Marketing in every industry involves change, as change is inevitable in every business practices, as business people believe that change is able to maintain a competitive position. Hiatt (2010) describes that change is an essential factor to consider for surviving in today’s market. Organisational change involves adding new people or modifying programs it also include change in mission and restructuring operations such as restructuring self managed teams or layoffs, improved new technologies and mergers. Change occurs not for any reason but to accomplish an overall goal and it is usually provoked by outside driving force such as addressing new markets or need for dramatic increases in productivity. The above study shows the impact of marketing in the tourism industry. The study will also show how organizations and among employees undertake the role of human resource in managing change. A review of tourism websites shows that taking a marketing research is necessary in order to formulate decisions and strategies for business success. In carrying out a marketing research, there is need to develop skills needed in seeking information about the market and marketing issues. This helps in assessing quality of information linking it with the business goal to make it stronger. It is also necessary to understand the competitive environment as it helps in seizing market opportunities in places where they exist making the market productive. Companies having the right information use their knowledge in achieving marketing objectives. Marketing research involves the aspects of satisfying requirements, as market research focuses on specific marketplaces describing users in the markets and products available, marketing research assists management function of marketing department. Background to the problem Why do organisations needs marketing research? To understand why organizations need to change, one should analyze the benefits of change and the effects. Hiatt (2010) puts it that organisations need to change in order to keep up with the ever increasing trends in the market and to maintain their competitive position. Businesses also need to change in order to empower their employees and to build their skills in various aspects. This is because change develops people and facilitates learning. The internal causes of change include change in leadership, decline of profitability, change in employee profile and low morale. Change occurs in various ways for example there can be strategic change, operational change and transformational change. Strategic change involves broad and long-term goals or changing the purpose and mission of the organisation. It also involves quality change, values, competitive position, and product market development. Best (2009) states operational change involves change of new systems, procedures, organizational structures, and technology that influence a change on working arrangement. There are various external factors driving change within the organisation, these include global or local change, external analyses, changing needs, or the demand of customers, and finally change can be driven by change in economic conditions. This involves the external factors that drive change within an organization, for example, choosing a team that will be responsible for the implementation of change. According to Best (2009), communication is also very important while implementing change within an organisation. This is because people will need to express their views and it also helps individuals to adapt as fast as possible. According to Nigel (2006), to determine the market entry strategy and the key decisions to be addressed by tourist hotels before entering the market it will be necessary to analyse the capabilities of the company. The hotels capabilities include a number of structural and institutional factors. These enable them to shape the strategic response necessary to keep up with the new rules introduced in the industry and be capable of dealing with the short-term challenges in the market that include competitor’s strategies. The hotels’ human resource department has to ensure that they employ individuals capable of meeting the needs of clients. This is where workers have skills necessary to build a product according to how the customer prefers. Capabilities are developed through training or being involved in more activities therefore learning through experience (Michael & Thomas 2009). Before entering into the markets, tourism industry should also consider using market segmentation strategy. According to Trout and Rivkin (2006, p. 11-20) market segmentation is necessary to use in an industry where there are many kinds of customers, for example, the tourism industry. These different customers become numerous. Customers may also become more distinct in the products they prefer and may be large in numbers. Creation of market segmentation is not easy since every segment has to comply with the type of product that the customers prefer. Trout & Rivkin (2006) shows globalisation and increased competition are major factor that makes segmentation difficult. E-commerce also contributes to exposing customers to diverse markets. To determine a market segment, there are factors that have to be considered such as homogeneity of people. The people in the market may have similar preferences or may be different and this affects segmentation. For learning programme age of the student, level of education, geographical location and past education experience could be used to segment the market. Methodology Research Design and Data Collection This study will use a qualitative research design, as it will be appropriate. This involves collecting data from various participants. The data collection methods will include taking samples from different countries and preparing semi structures interview. This method of data collection will yield much result, as it will provide much data on the reasons what various like in tourism hotels. Another sample of the participant will be from tourism industries in interviewing hotel management. The major expectations will be to know whether they have mechanisms for increasing the market share and the distinct features in the hotel. The participants of the study will include research companies and citizens all over the world. Data will be collected from various sources such as books, journals, newspapers and websites. Data analysis method The aim of the interview will be to analyse the ways of marketing tourist hotels and in management to meet the needs of their customers. The data analysis method includes a qualitative analysis that will enable the researcher to have a better understanding about the impact of marketing on tourism industry. This information will help various hotels in all countries in the world to undertake the initiatives for marketing. Since this is a qualitative study and requires researcher interpretation of the data gathered from the interview, a more objective position will be taken in analysing the data, with bits and pieces of relevant respondent words used in order to ensure valid and viable results from data gathered from the interviews. Results and Discussion How social networking services help tourist hotels To promote marketing in the major tourist hotels, the marketing managers may choose to advertise its services through social networking services. The recent trending topic in online marketing is the increase in social media marketing. This has influenced most companies to engage themselves in various social media channels. Arikan (2008) shows if well planned it can be one of the cheapest and effective mode of online marketing and promotion of organisational products but if not well planned it can get a company into a disaster. The reason why companies need to turn around social media is due to certain reasons that include hotel profile, its products, customers etc. Social media marketing involves a practice where organisations follow to connect with their target markets. It is an integrated marketing communications that coordinates various promotional elements such as advertising, personal selling, publicity, sales promotion and direct marketing. According to Alicia (2011), the growth of social networking has a great impact in the way hotels communicate to its customers especially with the emergence of Web 2.0, which is a tool that allows people and organisations to build social and business connections. This increased communication fosters brand awareness and improves customer service. Social networking is a platform that is easily accessible to any person who has access to internet, for example, with emergence of channels such as Twitter, Facebook, You Tube and blogs. These sites promote products on an individual level and the uses of products are explained in short messages where the messages have a link to the product’s websites. This link gives followers an opportunity to spend more time therefore offering advertising opportunities, for example, the integration of Sporting News website increased visits by over 500 percent (Alicia 2011). Social media benefits tourist hotels and people through the provision of channels that support customer as they act as a means to gain a competitive insight, recruitment, retention on new customers and it is a method of building reputation online. Day by day, the importance of social media marketing increase in all hotels and the five major important reasons include branding where most tourist hotels use social media channels in order to increase their goodwill and trustworthiness, therefore, resulting to better branding. Conversations with customers through social channels create a great amount of credibility among a company’s customers unlike in the traditional media types such as television where customers lack trustworthiness of the company (Arikan 2008). Lead generation is important as it helps a company in targeting strategies and enables it to decide the relevant lead generation therefore improving company’s success. Dheeraj (2010) argues social media allows companies to engage with its clients, as this is important as it helps to retain the existing customers and increase brand credibility. Customers are able to communicate with companies and express their opinions about certain brands therefore enabling companies to provide products according to the needs of their clients and according to their requirements. It also generates relevant traffic as the sole purpose of all online marketing campaigns in for traffic generation. Dheeraj (2010) describes that social media sites are necessary as they generate relevant and quality traffic to the websites. Customers are, therefore, able to engage much easier and receive feedback about the company. Finally, the adoption of new products and services creates awareness about an existing product or service in the market. This is the cheapest and better method of informing target audience about the trends in the market, therefore, enhancing company’s products and improving return on investment unlike in the traditional methods of advertising. Social networking is therefore the best media to use in the market, as its effectiveness is much better due to the use of Twitter, Facebook, You Tube and Blogs in advertising tourist hotels. This is effective as more people will be reached and the method is more advanced and with the recent growth of internet users, it able to reach more target customers through networking sites. Some of the targeted tourists spend most of their time in social networks and it will be easy to communicate a message across various countries. There are various ways of marketing distance learning, for example, once the hotel develop a collection of designs the other step is to find customers. This will be by use of a marketing approach successful for online bookings with effective web design and targeting potential clients. Tourism websites analysis Luxury Hotel According to Luxury Hotel (2012), the tourist hotel is in Agadir in Morocco. The hotel is located on a sand golden beach showing contemporary luxury. The structures of the hotel combine both modern and traditional aspects offering an unrivaled service. The contemporary style in Morocco including the riads and fountains ensures that tourists have an unforgettable stay at the hotel. The hotel also has a private beach and spa dedicated for relaxation and serenity. The other tourist hotel includes the Riyadh that involves connection of super dining, recreation, accommodations and services in a leading location. The hotel has an artistry featuring open kitchen plans allowing customers to watch, as their meals are prepared. There are ballrooms present for weddings with custom-designed menus and a well-decorated bridal suite (Macy 2004). The Grand Hotel Tremezzo The Grand Hotel Tremezzo includes a tourist hotel, the oldest, and the most luxurious in Lake Como. The hotel is an authentic offering an Art palace with warm and inviting welcome. It is located near the lake and offers an unparallel view of the Ballagio as well as the Grigne mountains. The Tremezzo hotel’s history is dated back in 1990s in the era of romantic tours, long voyages and memorable travelers. Most international tourists had to stop over at Lake Como, as it was the favorite place for visitors from Germany, England, Austria and France. Hotel Grand Pacific This is the favorite choice for a lifestyle traveler as it offers a large branded hotel experience. The Grand Pacific relaxes senses as one breathes sea air from the private balcony in the rooms. The ingredients include cuisine prepared with other local foods. There are leisure and health facilities that renew the energy enabling the client to experience genuine intuitive service. The hotels aim is to make the stay memorable and personalized. There is also customized mini bar, a pet to pamper and yoga and fitness classes available at the Victoria Athletic Club. The Club is near the Legislature and downtown restaurant near the Victoria Conference Centre (The Hotel Grand Pacific, 2012). Hotel Delano The Hotel is located in the center of the South Beach and on the ocean. It forms the ultimate excellent urban resort hotel. It involves original and distinct features boasting the first indoor and outdoor lobby. It also offers a flow between various unique outdoor and indoor environments. There are nine distinct areas in the hotel with difference in form and functions but all create a feel of a village where guest find much activities and peaceful retreat. There are well-assembled and stunning international collection of furniture and decorations such as artwork from renowned artists like Antonio Gaudi, Charles and ray Eames. There are rooms for meetings and events, a spa, gallery and rooms and suites. Tartaruga Beach Resort This is located in Unawatuna in Sri Lanka. It is located at the beach and perfect venue for lazing around and relaxing the mind. The beach provides an ambience, lovely and soft music and has the best seafood around the area. The best include grilled giant crab and calamaris. The Hotel is best recommended for young singles, for amazing and memorable honeymoon, for girlfriend getaway, older travelers, and families with teenagers, families with small children and for pet owners. Al Falsaliah Hotel This is a rosewood hotel located in a graceful city with a sophisticated style. It defines the modern elegance and melds traditions. It involves a 24-hour service offering al the guests the best and has eminent art of personal service to new levels in Middle East. It is located in Riyadh’s Olaya district. The hotel also hosts the largest column-free ballroom in Saudi Arabia with other six different award-winning restaurants in the country such as the Globe hotel and new La Cucina. This fact delights various tourists as well as locals. The property’s stunning new area comprise of blending international and contemporary luxury furniture. It also has a local design throughout the five-star rooms. The hotel has about 330 rooms and suites and has two distinct wings with different character and style. It is the leading hotels in Middle East and involves various standard designs with lavish sophistication (Al Faisaliah hotel, 2012). Little Palm Island Resort & Spa This involves a piece of paradise located off the fabled Florida coastline. The location is remote and can be accessed using a boat or seaplane. The resort is well reserved secrete place for US presidents and other celebrities. There are no phones, TVs but full of romance and fun. The Hotel is best for getaways because of the tropical paradise. There are also special values on selected occasions and dates. There are tempting offer rates, limited nightly rates that sell out fast. The night rates include valet parking, having complementary for motor yacht transfers, getting to fitness centre with non-alcoholic beverages and other amenities by the beach. Chacha inn Chacha Inn covers over 2 acres of land which is filled with beautiful green landscape with lotus ponds, park for children and waterfalls. Chacha Inn (2011) shows customers find comfort and luxury in the hotel and they can shop at Chacha Museum that has been operational since 1955. The garden retreat has beautiful pathways and green landscape. The garden has waterfalls that invite clients for an outdoor relaxation for many hours due to the hypnotizing effects. Barmer (langa), singers, music show and puppet shows make customers remember the good moments during their holiday in the hotel. This study involves analysing the external and the internal environment of the Chacha inn Hotel. The hotel has parks for children and a rocky garden for trekking. The services in Chacha Inn include; room service all hours of the day and night, laundry, travel assistance, guided trekking and banquet preparation for 500 guests among others. The hotel offer exclusive parking, indoor games, and accepts major credit cards. There is a restaurant and bar in the hotel that is opened all hours for customers. Chacha Inn located in Mount-Abu, India started its operations in 1955 as a museum at first. Chacha Museum has a show room that has been operational since 1955 and guests shop at this museum when they visit Chacha Inn (Chacha Inn 2011). The mission statement of the hotel means that the hotel takes important measures to meet the wants and needs of the customers to keep loyal customers and attract potential customers worldwide. The corporative objective of Chacha Inn is to expand to new markets both locally and internationally. The short-term objectives of Chacha Inn include; having frequent customers every day, improve the hotel’s profits and improve their services. The hotel deals in entertainment services in the hospitality industry. The products for this business include; parks for children, green and rocky gardens, waterfalls and buffet for business or personal meetings. There are rooms for all visitors with affordable price tags on all products that make visitors enjoy a holiday, a wedding or a business meeting. These products make the hotel’s objectives a reality. The hotel has also adjusted the products portfolio to reflect new priorities in the hospitality sectors hence having a competitive advantage over other competitors. Findings Dominant economic characteristics of tourist hotels Hotel’s resources The hotels face a tight competition from other hotels in the industry. This is because of the increasing market competition and due to threats of new entrants, for example, the increasing markets from Middle East and China for example hotel Leela palace and Taj Krishna Hotel in Mumbai. The other threat that the hotel is exposed to is the risk of movement for example in the price of raw materials used by the Hotel. These include food and fuel (Hanson et al. 2008). The hotel’s resources include human resources and physical resources. In human resources, hotels such as the Chacha Inn directly employ about 1,200 employees because of the large investments in the area (WREC, 2010). The value chain analysis The value chain analysis groups the hotel’s activities into two that include the primary activities and the support activities. These activities determine the competitive advantage if a firm, for example, in Chacha inn hotel the value chain analysis determine global strategies that would give the firm a competitive advantage. Ohmae (2002) argues that the hotel has to set strategies to beat other foreign operations of the Hotel. Chacha inn also focuses on recovering its competitive position in the local market that makes the hotel survive in the competitive market. The issues that apply across the value chain include population growth, urbanization, poverty and others that attends to in order to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage (Moore 2010). Capabilities According to Macy (2004), the Hotels’ capabilities include a number of structural and institutional factors. These have enabled the hotel to shape the strategic response necessary to keep up with the new rules introduced in the industry and be capable of dealing with the short-term challenges in the market that include competitor’s strategies. The Hotels’ human resource department has to ensure that they employ individuals capable of meeting the needs of clients. This is where workers have skills necessary to build a product according to how the customer prefers. Capabilities are developed through training or being involved in more activities therefore learning through experience. Core competencies Various core competencies make the hotel gain advantage in the market and gain market leadership. Moore (2010) describes that one of this is the brand management where the brand is known globally even in parts where cars are not the common mode of transportation. The other core competency is supply chain management. The hotel maintains a steady supply of its products such as food, booking rooms and beverage therefore drawing more people to purchase products from the hotel. The logistic system of the hotel has been outsourced to various dealers therefore improving inventory management as well as scheduled production activities. Financial condition The hotels’ financial condition involves income statement, cash flows, balance sheet and statement of retained earnings that they have been operating. The financial conditions of the Hotels have been stable for a long period due to the production of various brands, for example, in 2006; Chacha inn was among the best hotels in Mumbai. Moore (2010) describes that the Hotel aims at attracting more customers through offering products for holidays, wedding events or business meetings. These products have significantly increased revenues from the financial service and the operating income rose significantly. This represented a satisfying increase in revenues and profits for the Hotels. Limitation & Future research  The current strategies for tourism hotels include optimizing their capital on investment in order to transfer technology more effectively. The manufacturing and the material handling processes will be removed from their original use and factories will be equipped and designed with other consulting engineering firms. The hotel industry will then focus on forming strategies of being competitive in the market since competition will be rigorous as more hotels are emerging from the area. More attention will be focused in profit making processes, maintaining customers and marketing (Development Capital Management, 2008). These hotels have been a powerful hotel brand and, therefore, have a good reputation for its value for money. Its convenience and the provision for a wide range of products have contributed to its strengths in the market. Development Capital Management (2008) puts it that development of tourist hotels grows substantially over the recent years therefore has experienced global expansion. The hotel has a core competence which involves the use of improved information technology that supports international logistics systems for example the hotel carries out a market research that enable the hotel to see how the products perform countrywide and store by store. The improved technology is also necessary as it supports the hotel’s efficient procurement. The other strength that enables the hotel to survive in the competitive market is having a focused strategy for human resource management and development. The major key factor to hotel business is people where the hotels invest time and money in training, development and in retaining employees. As the garden retreat in India and despite the advantages its offers to its customers and the economy, for example, Tremezzo hotel is weak at certain areas because of its huge span of control. Since the Hotel provides its services across various sectors such as leisure, food and rooms it becomes flexible to its more focused competitors. The hotel’s other weaknesses include language barrier as various visitors coming from all over the world find difficulty in communication. Some of the opportunities that has enabled the hotel to position itself in the hotel industry in India for example through the various competitive advantage such as having a beautiful flowing plants, pathways and shrubs that are suitable for leisure activities such as camping, walking and picnics. Chacha Inn has incorporated the Indian culture because of the geographic location and local customers. There is an opportunity of future business expansion to other consumer markets (Palmatier 2006). The availability of affordable products offers opportunities for exploitation of market development that enables the hotel to diversify. Located in Mount-Abu which is 750 Kilometers away from Mumbai and Delhi means that there are various target of competition both locally and globally and is exposed to various political issues the operate in different countries. These factors include the threats the hotel faces while trying to market and position its stores globally. The intense price competition that results from reduced cost of production and manufacturing cost is also a threat to the hotel (Venetis & Pervez 2004). Strategic marketing Much of hotels’ successes attribute to their stockless warehouse and the use of Just in Time (JIT) distribution system, for example, Luxury Hotel enjoys economies of scale by purchasing full truckloads from various suppliers therefore gaining about more cost advantage over other competitors. The goal of the hotel is to give customers the best value and therefore customers trust the hotel for its lower prices and for the best selection of quality rooms, food and other services relevant to their needs and provision of the most convenient leisure experience. Chacha inn also attracts its customers by offering unbeatable prices and exciting surprises, which builds loyalty between the hotel and its customers (Trout & Rivkin, 2006). Recommendations  Every business is analysed by the factors that affect its functions and these factors attribute for the success or failure of the business. In light of this, certain techniques are considered to contribute to improved competition in the market. These include customer orientation and coordinated marketing and profitability. In market penetration, Chacha inn focuses on its market and the products its offers to the public. It also has good information on competitors and customers’ needs. Luxury Hotel has a Museum that offers a one-stop shop for all consumer needs and this improves reliability to its customers. Luxury Hotel does not produce any brand but is an exhibitor and, therefore, its huge network globally is because of discount packages that are attractive and tempting to its customers. It is an economic force as it runs the pricing policy where it provides low rates that are not available in any other store. The culture of the hotel is also the benchmark of the hotel and a major achievement of the hotel as it provided power shift from other Indian competitors. Hanson et al. (2006) describes that the prices offered by Luxury Hotel is lower and this acts as a competitive advantage for the hotel. A relaxed environment with luxurious foods, fashion clothes and entertainment will be provided in the hotel as the new marketing strategy. Luxury Hotel is located between major towns that include Mumbai and Delhi in India. The market demographic is composed of households with two to four children. These children are either in school or at home and the parents are educated. The market psychographic consists of ethnic Indian communities who have small family owned businesses that have been successful for many generations. The community considers green garden as peace and tranquility and this means that the hotel contributes in environment preservation (WREC 2010). Conclusion According to the analysed tourism websites and tourist hotels, it is clear that they major driver is improved technologies that have enabled the hotels to introduce new service delivery systems. The other business objective is developing creativity and innovation. The essential objective is to maintain market positions and developing new techniques of attracting potential customers. The hotels are valued as a strategic community partner due to its mission of enabling people to save money to better their lives. The hotels also aim at maintaining the aspect of availability. This is by opening series of stores in different locations of one country. This improves convenience and hotel’s image and has contributed to the reasons why the hotels are doing very well in the industry. References Alicia, D 2011, The importance of social media marketing, viewed 6 November 2012, Arikan, A 2008, Multichannel marketing: Metrics and methods for on and offline success, Indianapolis, Ind.: Wiley Technology Pub. Best, R 2009, Market-based management: Strategies for growing customer value and Profitability, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Chacha Inn. 2011, Amenities and Facilities, viewed on 12 August 2011 Chacha Inn. 2011, Chacha Garden Retreat, viewed on 12 August 2011 Development Capital Management, 2008, Investment proposal banyan tree luxury villa and hotel development, pp. 1-12. 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