Hospitality Industry Marketing - Research Paper Example

Task: Hospitality Industry Marketing In hospitality, marketing is very important because it helps the employees in the industry to know their customers needs. For those working in hotel management, understanding what the customers need is vital. Better hospitality services; involve maximum cooperation between managers and leaders of both hospitality, and human resource. It is important for them to have an agreement that, for them to achieve their goals, they should recognize their customers and do their best to please them. Through successful marketing, the leaders of the hospitality industries can find ways to please their clients hence; they can be in a better position to compete in the marketplace. All hospitality industries should make sure all their employee have done marketing courses, since it will help them to conduct marketing researches and analysis, which are an essential tools for the development of strategies for an organization. For the success of every hospitality industry, understanding how to make analysis, and developing planned strategy based on marketing research is very important. In addition to understanding the ways of satisfying their customers through marketing, the hospitality industries can also develop skills necessary for handling of their competitors. Moreover, marketing can help the industries make important decisions that will affect them positively. For this reason, it is vital to examine case studies. Those who work in the marketing departments within the hospitality industries have to collect information, about their customers’ behaviors. Furthermore, they should study their competitors by using the marketing research strategically. Additionally, studying marketing can enable one to know how people have solved marketing issues in the past, and this can take an organization to another level. Marketing enables an organization to know the useful ideas by studying the customers’ reactions. Therefore, for an idea to be functional, it has to meet the costumers’ expectations. The process of finding out the customers’ preferences, and implementing the idea thereafter basing on that could result into discarding the original idea. Through studying marketing, the hospitality industries can know why some ideas work, while others do not work even though, they sound good. If one has some knowledge about marketing in the hospitality industries, it is recommended to develop the skills further, by taking some of specialized marketing courses, to enable them to work in any organization. Generally, it is vital to understand the importance of marketing. For people working at the hospitality businesses, they have seen the importance of having the marketing skills. If an organization has the best marketing ideas, it can be successful at satisfying its customers (Barrows & Powers, 164). Marketing processes used to attract the potential customers to a hotel For a successful marketing, an organization has to develop a sound marketing plan. An organization’s marketing strategies are the ones that differentiate it from its competitors. Therefore, for a Company to win its customers, it has to have good marketing strategies. Marketing is not just about selling what is produced, but it involves making a choice on what should be produced, and ways that the products will be sold. Marketing should be customer oriented rather that production oriented. For an organization to attract more customer than its competitors, it has to follow the following marketing process (Barrows & Powers, 164). First, the organization should know markets and market segments which when served; they can generate more profits. To do this, there has to be thorough marketing research methods from statistical analysis, to the observation of the current and prospective customers. The organizations should do this in order to understand the needs of different marketing segments, and the extent to which these needs are not being met currently. This therefore, requires that the products or services offered by the organization should be put onto segments, and should be very detailed (Young 322). The second process the firms use to attract their customers is making decisions according to the proceeding marketing analysis and the services that a hotel or any organization should offer in the market. Moreover, it should analyze the features of their products. This is the product or service planning. When analyzing the products features, their prices are the most critical. Planning of services and products is related to three aspects. Firstly, there has to be the identification of market needs. Secondly, the present and the future products characteristics of the competing organization, and finally the value of goods or services the organization is offering. Additionally, the marketing process is the selling of the organizations’ products, and services based on the marketing plan. This involves offering their services and products through sales offices, online sites, and direct outlets like the use of agents. For the attraction of customers, the market plan ought to have a comprehensive program of advertising and promotion activities. Marketing action data has a number of communications to customers, the number of delivered promotions, when a customer is contacted, and any followed activities that were done by the customer care. The direct sales marketers are the ones who keep this marketing data. Finally, the marketing plan involves, reviewing and examining how much an organization has met their service standards, as per what they had planned, and how their customers are responding to them. The organization on customer surveys, amount of weekly sales, and reviews of complaints can do such checking. These marketing techniques are important because, they will enable an organization to take corrective measures, before it is too late. Furthermore, it will enable the organization to take a sustainable solution to increase their customers (Dyro 43). Hotel amenities and facilities that attract customers Hotels offer many services, which ensure that people enjoy their leisure, and helping them to get to their destinations. Therefore, it is important, for those working at the hospitality industries try to help their customers to meet their goals as guests, travelers and people participating in recreation activities. Hotels should have good facilities like good lodgings and eating facilities to increase their customers. Apparently, a hotel can expect to have more customers if it has popular recreation facilities during major football games (Ada, Stalcup & Lee 159). Hotels like Hilton and Intercontinental Hotel have built more brand loyalty because of the better services and amenities. With internet, customers can research the hotels, which are good at a certain town (Hilton Hotels Corporation). This hotels use the online resources as a customer feedback mechanism to help in determining the amenities that lead to improved service offering. Furthermore, hotel brands can scrutinize this information to make them understand more about the travel behaviors of the business and leisure customers (Butscher, Vidal & Dimer 405). The Las Vegas Hilton has changed in the recent years because its rooms are refurbished and the porte-cochere remodeled. People have preferred their accommodation services because of their modern amenities. Their best rooms have luxurious pillow-top mattresses and bed linen, flat screen televisions and high internet access. A simple improvement has given the guests access to the modern experience of the resort Club lounge that, makes the guests to enjoy breakfast and afternoon snack. The hotel has the main casino, which entertain the customers more. Multiple companies Hotel groups around the world are planning to work together because they wants to develop an industry security frame work for handling sensitive credit and date. Examples of multiple companies are the Hilton hotel and Intercontinental hotels. Financial statement for Intercontinental Hotels-ADR Currency in Millions of U.S. Dollars As of: Dec 31 2007 USD Dec 31 2008 Restated USD Dec 31 2009 Reclassified USD Dec 31 2010 Restated USD 4-Year Trend Revenues 1,771.0 1,897.0 1,538.0 1,628.0 TOTAL REVENUES 1,771.0 1,897.0 1,538.0 1,628.0 Every year, Intercontinental hotels’ revenues have been escalating from 1.5 to 1.6 billion dollars. The company has reduced the percentage of sales devoted to cost of goods sold over the four years. The rise of revenues from the year 2009 to 2010 was because of the improved marketing strategies, and improved in the hotel amenities. Works Cited Ada, Lo, Stalcup, Lawrence & Lee, Amy. Customer relationship management for hotels in Hong Kong, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 22 Iss: 2, pp.139 – 159, 2010. Print. Barrows, Clayton. & Powers, Tom. Introduction to the Hospitality Industry. New York, NY. John Wiley and Sons, 2008. Print. Butscher, Stephan, Vidal & Dimer Charles. Managing Hotels in the downturn: Smart revenue growth through pricing optimization. Palgrave Maximillan. Vol 8, iss 21: p 405-409. 2009. Print. Dyro, Joseph. Clinical engineering handbook. New York, NY. Academic Press, 2004. Print. Hilton Hotels Corporation. Hilton Hotels Corporation Extends World's Greatest Hotel Name to Create Luxury Brand Line: The Waldorf=Astoria Collection. Press Releases. 2009, Print. IHG. Our Management. InterContinental Hotels Group. 2011. Web. 21st November 2011 Young, Laurie. Marketing the professional services firm: applying the principles and the science of marketing to the professions. New York, NY. John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Prints. 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