What Customers Needs to Be Improved so as to Attract Travelers while Searching for Accommodation - Research Paper Example

Introduction Nowadays, the use of data to explain a point, justify a claim and to influence a decision has become the order of the day. Tangible and reliable data is usually used in this case while making decisions. Marketing is all about understanding the needs of the users of your goods and this only happens once one has carried out a research study; a survey, to understand the requirements of the customers and their alternatives when they are not using your goods. In order, to come up with reliable and tangible information which can be used to come up with good decisions, then a study needs to be performed and all the necessary information collected and analyzed so as to shed light to the top management of any business venture so that, they can have reasonable decisions. In this regard, a survey will be carried out to know exactly what customers needs improved so as to attract travelers while searching for accommodation. Background Each and every business venture in the world aims at making profits. These profits accrue from what customers spend or buy from such ventures. Thus, it is the obligation of the management of the venture to know exactly what to offer to the market in this world full of competition in order to gain an edge over the other competitors. According to Jim, R (2003), some travelers look for the little things which some hoteliers think they are not necessary. To him, things like swimming pools, hot baths among others are maiden requirements by customers. According to a research he did in 2002, the findings show that, the 96% of the those who took part indicated that, they will not take accommodation in a place without a swimming pool even if all the other facilities were well functioning. In the research, they indicated that, they were not willing to go to a place were they will just stay indoors and that is all; they would like to have some breeze as they swim. Maryanne, R (2006) adds some voice to this by arguing that, travelers are people on transit and would like to spend each and every single minute of their time in enjoyment thus, some things which are often taken for granted count a lot to them and it should be the obligation of the management to carry out regular surveys which rely on the existing customers since to maintain customers is the first and foremost aspect in marketing. She supports her assertions by arguing that, this is the same reason as to why in any hotel one visits, there is always a questionnaire dealing with the most touching aspects of the hotel and further requesting whether the respective customers would like an improvement on any of the services being offered by its staff; things ranging from foods, drinks, staff conduct as well as the beddings. However, she points out that, the existing customers may be not that reliable since they are most likely to have some thing in mind which makes them want to visit your hotel/premise continuously and not because they are being satisfied by your services. She cautions that, the best practice ever should be to deal with non-customers; mostly first time customers since they are likely to be sincere with you. To Maryanne, R (2006), the way a venture shows the customers that, they are the final in terms of how the venture should be run determines a lot on their visiting behaviours. According to her, a research done in 2000, shows that, travelers are people not well known to the management and that, they should always be considered while preparing for their arrival. She says that, the way one customer perceives the accommodation in a certain premise is not the way another will view it. Due to this, she recommends a constant survey on their needs so as to be at par with the market needs. Maryanne, R (2006) and Jim, R (2003) both agree to the fact that, customers as the bosses of the various ventures need better treatment as each and every boss feels that, he/she should get the best from his/her sweat. In this regard according to them, the best for the customers should be the motivating factor in marketing the venture. Marketing should only be led by some facts from collected data from a research study/survey. Statement of the problem The research has been occasioned by the fact that, maintaining customers to take a venture higher is the maiden purpose of its existence. To maintain them and to bring new ones, the management should be ware of what they require on arrival, otherwise a rival venture will have a upper hand in terms of numbers, reputation and profits. Research questions In order to have tangible and reliable decisions, the research will aim at answering the following questions; Who are travelers? What are they looking for? Where do they expect to get it? How do they pay for the services? Where do they buy? Why do they buy there? What improvements do they want done to the existing services? How long do they take in the premises? Where are they from-country? To answer the above, data will be collected and analyzed. Methodology This study will be carried over a period of one month were travelers will be requested to give some information. The research will be carried out using a questionnaire. A questionnaire is a data collection tool used to get information from a research participant (Judith, G & Nicki, T 2004). It is a tool which the highly used to collect data in many research studies. In this case, the tool will be administered to the participant through the attendants. They will be required to just place this questionnaire in the rooms of the travelers. It will have different sets of questions all aimed at getting much information from the respondent/participant. Closed questions will control the participant on the kind of an answer he/she is supposed to give while open ones will make him/her answer as he/she so wishes. In collecting data, questionnaires are the highly used due to the fact that; the participant/respondents give more information than they would have given in any other method. Also, the designer has the freedom and will to control some responses making it easy to analyze the data so as to come up with tangible decisions; decisions with no exaggerations. In this case, the open-ended questions will be more useful since they will give more information. Further, it is a method selected for this research work since, the traveler can answer them at his/her own pace since there will be no strict deadline on when to deliver the filled questionnaires. Also, it has the potential to get information from a large group of travelers from all representations. The questionnaires will be collected and the questionnaire that is half filled will be disqualified from the research study. After they are collected, the open ended questions will then be coded in numeric which can be analyzed to create a picture of the whole scenario. These data will then b entered into a computer and then analyzed. Questionnaire design The first consideration while designing this questionnaire will be to have a consent form as the first page. This form will be to inform the traveler that, taking part in the research study should be as per his/her own liking and that, it is not mandatory but as a way of trying to serve him/her better. Further, he/she will be assured of the security of the information which he/she will have given to the researcher. Further, he/she will be informed the importance of the data provided both to the premise and him/her as a customer. The research tool which will be used in this case will be designed by the researcher so as to be aware of the requirements. The researcher will then convene a panel of experts in questionnaire design so that, the panel can fine tune it so as to gain the required rigor. After it has been designed, it will be test-retested in the field by some respondents so that the researcher can ascertain whether it will give the necessary information required for the objective of the study. After, that the researcher will then fine tune it based on the results of the pilot study. The questionnaire will have a part dealing with the personal information of the traveler e.g. information about his/her home country and the climatic conditions at home as well as how things are done at home. This is the part that which will actually form the basis of the consent form. Another part will be aimed at answering research question two. It will have question like; as a traveler, what do you really require to find in the accommodation you seek for? This will also answer questions 3 & 4. On payments, credit cards are the most used and thus, the management will tailor their payment needs based on such practices. Further, a part on where they usually visit and why they visit there will carry some weight and will have some subordinate questions so that the competitors’ information can be well documented. Sampling techniques Sampling is an inferential statistics technique where a sample is collected its findings used to draw inferences about the whole population. It is used in many cases since it is easy to carry out in terms of time, scope and money as it is cheap than complete population count/observation. Sampling has different techniques namely; random sampling where a sample is drawn any how since each and every element has an equal chance of being selected. It is mostly used when the data elements are homogenous. In this case, it cannot be used since the travelers are not of the same backgrounds or financial class. Another technique in stratified sampling where the population is subdivided into strata and then a random sample drawn from each strata. A stratum has homogenous elements. The third method is the systematic sampling technique and it entails selecting elements of the population in an order. In this case, this is not tangible since an order may mean a certain class. Lastly, we have cluster sampling where the population is put in clusters and it cannot be used in this case. In this research study, not all travelers will be required to take part in the study as that will be equivalent to a complete count which is expensive and which. The travelers visiting a certain premise are not at all of the same class; financial class. Thus, stratified sampling will be used. Here, the various hotel suites will be noted. According to the class, then they will be given codes; say 1, 2, … After that, the rooms will then be assigned values and then random numbers will be generated based on the rooms numbers. After that, the attendants will be given the questionnaires in the marked rooms so that the travelers may fill to aid in the course of the research work. Limitations of the study No research study that can go on till it is complete without some challenges. In this research study, it is expected that, some travelers may fail to fill the entire questionnaire citing security reasons. In this regard, questionnaires which will not be fully filled will not be used in the analysis, thus the study may end up with so few fully answered questionnaires. Further, it is anticipated that, the respondents may fail to see the questionnaire due to some unavoidable circumstances; maybe due to tiredness or due to the feeling that, it is not necessary to his/her stay and may not be willing to stay there again in the near future thus, no need. The framing of the questions though done with the help of experts may be viewed by others as probing prompting one not to participate in the research. Further, the attendants may fail to place all of the questionnaires or may place them during odd hours since man is to error. These are some of the limitations expected in the study. Reference Jim, R (2003). Marketing-Accommodation: How to go about it. Nairobi: General Printers John, M. (1999). Questionnaires: Advantages and Disadvantages. [Online] Available from: http://www.icbl.hw.ac.uk/ltdi/cookbook/info_questionnaires/index.html Judith, G and Nicki, T (2004). Qualitative Methods for Health Research. London: SAGE, p. 156 Samuel, K (2002). Introduction to System Analysis and Design. Nairobi: Envision Publishers. Maryanne, R (2006). Traveler Satisfaction. Ohio: Akron University Press. Appendix Dear customer, please help us serve you better. Kindly note that, it is not a must to fill this questionnaire. Further, the information you give here will not be used for any other purpose other than the one stated above. 1. What is your Gender? Male Female 2. Age: 44 3. Your country of citizenship Kenya 4. Have you visited this country before? No Yes 5. If yes, have you been accommodated here before? No Yes 6. a) If yes, what improvements have you seen Good Pool, hot bath b) what do you like to be included as part of the accommodation? Laundry services 7. How long did you stay here? 1 week 8. If no, what do you think is lacking in our accommodation (list as many as possible)? Laundry services 9. Have you been accommodated in any other hotel in this country? No Yes 10. How the services do compare with ours? Theirs were better since my clothes were washed and ironed by the staff there Thank you. Read More