Hotel
Marketing
Marketing hotel services include in its purview
everything and almost all the dimensions directly or indirectly helping in
promoting the business. This necessitates formulation of a sound marketing mix,
such as an aggregation of different sub-mixes such as product, promotion,
pricing, place, people and process.
Market
Segmentation for Hotel
The hotel professionals segment the market in such a
way to identify the changing needs and requirements of different segments to
make the marketing decisions effective.
The main bases for hotel segments are geographic,
psychographic and socio-economic. The geographic bases include hotel companies
located at different places and psychographic bases include life cycle, buying
motives and knowledge of prospects regarding the services. The social-economic
bases include women segment, weak-end segment and instant market segment. To be
more specific, the life-style segment is found to be more important.
Marketing
Mix for Hotel Industry
The term marketing mix is the combination of what
market offers and identifying the actual point where marketing actions can be
taken to improve the acceptability of hotel product and stimulate demand. The
combination of core and peripheral services, the creative promotional
decisions, the pricing strategies helping hotels in maintaining the commercial
viability, the efficient hotel personnel are important decision making areas
which gravitate attention on the formulation of a sound mix for the hotel
industry. It is against this background, the different sub-mixes of the
marketing mix are discussed.
Product
Mix
The product mix for the hotel services include
catering management, restaurant and cafeteria management, management of
bedrooms, management of convention halls etc. The boarding services are
considered to be an important part of product mix. In addition, the lodging
services also become significant.
Product
Mix of Hotel Services
Here it is essential that facilities like light,
water, electricity, ventilation, entertainment, sanitation arrangement of bed
etc. are also equally important. While formulating the product mix, the hotel
organisations are required to make possible a fair mix of all the above
services.
Promotion
Mix
It is not only sufficient to provide quality
services, but it is equally important to promote the business in such a way
that the prospects come to know about the quality to be offered to them. There
are number of components for promoting the business such as, advertisement,
publicity, sales promotion, personal selling and word of mouth.
Advertising
The hotel professionals make productive use of print
media, broadcast media and telecast media for advertisement. There are
significant developments in the print media and due to sophistication in the
printing technologies, it is possible to attract the attention of prospectus by
displaying attractive scenes, events, comforts etc. While selecting the media,
it should be kept in mind the magazines and newspaperspreferred by target
audience. The professionals
have to select
a suitable time
for transmission in broadcast media, when a majority of the
target audience are supposed to be close to the radio set.
Similarly,
in telecast media, while advertising due weightage to be given in selecting
sensitive hours,
when a majority of viewers are found before their
T.V. sets. The scenes of hotel location, the swimming pool, the shopping
complex, the personal car centres, the arranged bed rooms, the restaurants and
convention hall, the aesthetic management are required to be telecast in such a
way that attracts the target users.
Publicity
In the hotel industry, public relations activities
play an important role in informating the clients regarding the merits of
different services offered. The specialties of hotel are presented in such a
way that the prospects are motivated to avail of the facilities offered by a
particular hotel.
In the hotel business, there are number of events
which should be transmitted to the local press, such as menus for certain
functions held at hotel, particulars or certain important conferences or
exhibitions to be held, menus for special days of the year, photographs of
staff dressed up for special days and well-known people staying in the hotel.
Sponsored fashion-designing events, entertainment programmes, beauty contest
etc. can also be effective publicity tools.
Sales
Promotion
Like other organizations, the hotels also offer
incentives to the users vis-à-vis to the personnel and organizations evencing
interest in promoting the business.
Tools
of sales promotion
·Directed at Hotel
Staff: Travel, concessional accommodation for close relations, use of wedding
halls for staff, contests, gift.
·Directed at Tour
Operators and Travel Agents: Compliments (Pen, ashtrays, diaries, calendars,
brochure, trade exhibition, lunch, direct mail –letters, circulars) concessional
accommodation, contest.
·Directed at Guests:
Off-reason discount, point of sale, sales, literature, compliments (Pen,
ashtrays, diaries, calendars, gifts, contest, joint promotion with travel
companies, direct mail).
Word
of mouth
The word of mouth promotion is very much
instrumental in sensitizing the prospects. In the hotel industry it is much
more significant. The word of mouth promoters are those who are satisfied with
the service of hotels, who inturn motivate the prospects. The hotel professionals
bear the responsibility of identifying opinion leaders who can successfully act
as a publicist. Persons with high communicative ability, having a reputation in
the society are found suitable for publicizing the services of hotels.
Personal
selling
The hotel business is substantially influenced by
personal selling. The sales personnel are required to be friendly in dealings
and expression. They are required to be helpful and patient and work towards
generating more satisfaction to customers. For selling successfully, it is
essential that sales forces are professionally sound. A fair combination of
personal and social skill is found essential for the sales force to be engaged.
Price
mix
Pricing decisions are found critical and
challenging. The hotel professionals need to be intelligent while fixing the
hotel traffics since the service are of perishable in nature. In addition, the
seasonal fluctuation in demand and increasing intensity of competition also
complicate the task. So they need intelligence while making strategical and
tactical pricing decisions.
Tactical pricing is found instrumental in promoting
the hotel business. There are number of ways for practicing this tool:
·Seasonal Discounts: To charge lower prices,
especially during off-season.
·Trade Discounts: This is offered to tour operators
and travel agents
·Special Discounts: Special function room rates for
overnight conventions.
Place
Mix
In the hotel industry the distribution of services
is mainly related to the transmission of information by the related persons to
the ultimate users. As and when the bookings are made of a bed-room or a
function room or of a restaurant, the confirmation is found essential. A number
of factors are found influencing the distribution process, such as location,
point of sale, the cost of distribution, effectiveness of marketing resources,
image of hotels, tactical strategy and the motivational schemes.
The choice of location is the most important
business decision, specially for proprietor owned restaurants, guest houses and
small tourist attractions. With the introduction of computers and increasing
user of information technologies, a radical change has come in the distribution
system.
The middleman are wholesalers buying hotel rooms in
bulk and then selling the same to the retailers, known as the travel agents.
The tour operators are called the producers of services. The travel agents buy
the services at the request of their clients and provide a convenient network
of sales outlets which caters to the needs of the catchment area.
The strategic choice between internal and external
selling, domestic and international selling, direct and indirect selling occupy
a place of significance. The hotel professionals are supposed to make the
decision sound, so that the process of distribution is made cost effective.
People
The people working in the organisation are quite
important for the success of the business. In hotel industry, the
receptionists, the porters, the house-keepers, the waiters and waitresses play
an incremental role in promoting the business. The marketing managers take up
the responsibility of managing the frontline personnel in such a way that the
promised services reach to the ultimate users. If the hotel personnel in such a
way that the promised services reach to the ultimate users. If the hotel
personnel prove to be high performers, personally committed, professionally
sound, value oriented, aware of the behavioral management, familiar with the
aesthetic management, they can satisfy the users.
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