Tourism And Hospitality Marketing For Hospitality Industry

Analysis and Discussion

Discuss about the Tourism and Hospitality Marketing for Hospitality Industry.

The service sector in Australia is expanding and has been a major contributor in the growth of the economy. The competition of hospitality industry is rising and hence it is essential for the industries to innovate new techniques in its business in order to attract new consumers. Marketing is an activity of promoting its technique and service to customers in order to maximize its profit. The author chooses Park Hyatt to discuss the marketing strategies used by the hotel and the new experience product that it intends to incorporate in its  hotel. Park Hyatt in Australia is a franchise of Hyatt an American company. Park Hyatt is in Melbourne and Sydney. The hotel in Melbourne has a unique location and the concentration of hotel is on personalized services that it provides to its customers. The location of the hotel is in middle of city and the interior is designed in such a way that it helps in attracting customers. The new remote that controls all the activities in the hotel room is an innovation in the hospitality industry. The report discusses the strategies used by the organization to promote its brand experience (Huang and Hsu 2009). It mentions the target customers and the positioning strategies used by the organization to differentiate its service. It also mentions the promotion strategies used by the organization to communicate the new product to the desired target market.

Figure: Park Hyatt hotel in Australia

(Source: Melbourne 2016).

Park Hyatt in Melbourne plans to develop a remote control device that will control all the activities of customers in the room. The activities of the customers will be linked to the mobile phone from where the customers will be able to control its activities. This will helps the customer live a luxury life where the control of all the activities will be in their hand. The remote control that is connected with the phone and tablets can be use to browse the channels, control the air conditioner temperature, select favorite movies and order them, order favorite food from the menu of the restaurant and control other activities as well. This will help the customers lead a relaxed life and give a wide range of option for the entertainment. The activities in hotels can be controlled when the customer is not in room (Köseoglu et al. 2013). When the customer enters the room, they are treated with curtains automatically opening and a soothing music that is very relaxing for the customer. The customer can then control and operate television, air conditioner, lights, music and curtains with just one touch. The operations and control changes according to the mood of customers that is the light intensity, and the type of music. It captures the mood of customers and provides them with experience according to their mood. It is an innovation in hotel industry that is mainly done to attract customers and give them new experience (Hoque 2013).

Description of the Proposed Experience-Based Product

Figure: Remote controlling activities

(Source: Melbourne 2016).

As per my view, the main aim of hotel developing the remote control is to provide new experience to the customers and increase the customer base.  This is mainly done to achieve competitive advantage and fight over its competitors. The theme of developing a new product is to give a luxury life to its customers where they can enjoy their holiday to the fullest. As per my view, people mostly stay in hotel when they come of trip or for holiday. I believe that the customers expect to live a life that is relaxing and luxurious. Hence, the main aim of the hotel is to fulfill the desires of the customers and give them happiness. The second objective of launching the product is to attract larger customers and stand as the worlds lading hotel industry (Kandampully et al. 2015). The product is developed to make the travel of the customers more convenient as it gives the customer facility of booking the cars, ordering room service, get the luggage picked and various other facilities.

Remote controlling activities were developed by the hotel to provide new experience to the customers and make their travel easier. The decision of developing the product was done by the leaders and CEO of Park Hyatt by analyzing the lifestyle and behavior of customers. It was developed by an IT company in Australia to meet the needs of the customer and maximize their satisfaction. The decision of developing the product was not just taken by the CEO of the organization but by the employees as well. The customers were also involved in plan.

The aim to develop the new product was to increase the experience of customers. The product was mainly targeted to the travelers. The decision of developing the product was to provide quality service to the customers and achieve competitive advantage in the market. The experience that the customers get is to increase the pleasure that they get from travelling.

Target markets are the customers whom the organization targets to sell its products or services. It is essential for the organization to set a well defined target market in order to develop its brand and product and sell it in the market. Target market is created with customers that have same need and desires. The market is segmented on the basis of various factors and categories (Füller and Matzler 2008).

Theme of the New Experience-Based Product

These include:

• Geographic segmentation: customers that are segmented on the basis of area and region.
• Demographic segmentation- customers that are segmented on the basis of population, age, sex and gender.
• Social and cultural segmentation- customers that are segmented on the basis culture, religion, social status, income and attitude.
• Behavioral segmentation- customers that are segmented on the basis of beliefs, occasion, behavior and lifestyle (Fyall et al. 2003).

Targeting right customers is essential for promoting its brands as the success of a company lies in the hands of customers. Park Hyatt in Melbourne targets customer from all over the world. Its target market is broad that includes customers of all age and place. Hence, there is no geographical restriction. In case of Park Hyatt, customers are mainly from outside Australia such as Paris, India, United Kingdom and United States of America. Park Hyatt is a grand and luxurious hotel that provides new experience to its customers (Leonidou et al. 2013). Not all the people can afford to stay at hotel, as the price charged by organization is high. Hence, it targets customers that have high income and social status.

The customers of Park Hyatt are travelers that love to live a luxury life and experience new technologies. While developing remote control technique to control the activities park Hyatt will target customers that are technology friendly so that they are able to use the technologies without any confusion. The target customers are both male and female. It mainly targets couples that have just married and plans to spend their honeymoon in the hotel. Park Hyatt hotel aims at satisfying the customer. It mainly targets customers that stay in hotel for holiday purpose and not business purpose as people who travel for business purpose spend most of their time in doing work staying outside the hotel (Williams 2006). They do not have time to watch television or listen to music. Hence, those travelers are targeted who travel for holiday purpose and have income and social status.

Positioning strategy is a marketing strategy that is used to distinguish brand experience from its competitors. This is done by creating a distinguishable and suitable image through advertisement to attract customers and fight over its competitors. This is done by adding utilitarian and luxurious measures through advertising to distinguish its products and services from other services. Various ways can be used to distinguish its products and services from its substitutes. A service and product can be distinguished by using pricing strategy that is providing the service at a lower price than its competitors are. It can be distinguished on the basis of quality, price, service and experience that it is providing to its customers (Gilmore and Pine 2002). A new experience based product is developed by Park Hyatt in Melbourne to create a unique brand name and differentiate its service from other hospitality industry. Though the prices of Park Hyatt is higher than the other hotels across the world and Australia it does not use pricing strategies to fight over its competitors and create a unique brand image. The major concentration of Park Hyatt is to provide great experience and services to its customers. Hence, the strategy used by the hotel to create a unique brand image is on the basis of service that it provides to its customers (Ryan 1991). The main aim of developing a new experience based product that is remote controlling activity was to make a position in the hospitality industry and provide a new experience to the customers.

Decision Making Process and its Application

The major competitors of Park Hyatt in Australia are Hotel Windsor, Park royal and Swissotel. In order to create a unique position it is essential for the Park Hyatt to consider the strategies used by its competitors that help them attain a number one position and then formulate strategies accordingly. Incorporation and development of new remote control that controls the activities inside the room helps the hotel attain a unique position because such new experience based product has not been developed by any other hotel in Australia. Park Hyatt differentiates its services by providing customers new experiences and high quality service. The design and the interiors of the hotel is unique that gives new luxurious experience to the customers (Phillips and Moutinho 2000). Identifying the position of the hotel depends on the customers and pleasure that they derive by staying at the hotel. Since the new experience based product that is the remote control is expensive and hence the price charged by Park Hyatt is higher than other hotels in Australia. However the customer love to spend their holiday by staying at Park Hyatt because of the experience and service that they get from the hotel. 

Figure: Perceptual mapping of Park Hyatt

(Source: created by author)

Promotion strategies are the methods that are used to market the product or the service in the market to the target customers. Various promotion strategies are there to promote the product such as advertisement, word of mouth, direct sale, use of internet, promotion in social media, advertisements in magazines and televisions. Promotion strategies are the way of communicating the service and the products to the target customers and market. Developing a new product is not just the solution to achieve competitive position. It is essential to make the consumers aware of the product or the service that the organization has developed. Promotion strategies is not just used to advertise the product it is used to increase the consumer awareness and make the consumers aware that such product exists in sector (Heide and Grønhaug 2009). 

The new experience based product that Park Hyatt plans to develop will be promoted to the customers by the use of advertisement and social media. The information of the product will be published in the website of the hotel. Its pictures and information will be published and advertised in news paper and magazines and also in journals that is concerned with hospitality industry. Word of mouth is also one of the useful tool to promote the new experience based product or service (Buhalis 2000). If the consumers enjoy using the product then they will promote it by suggesting the product and services to other customers. Sharing the experiences of the services and products in internet will also be used by the organization to promote the service and product.

Target Markets

Conclusion

Developing new experience service based product is necessary for the hotels to achieve competitive advantage and give new luxurious experience to customers. Park Hyatt in Australia plans to develop remote control that controls all the activities of customers in room. The aim of the report was to analyze the strategies used by the hotel to promote its new experience based product. It analyzes the target customers that it plans to market its products and services. The main concentration of Park Hyatt is on the services that it gives to its customers.

References 

Aghdaie, M.H. and Alimardani, M., 2015. Target market selection based on market segment evaluation: a multiple attribute decision making approach.International Journal of Operational Research, 24(3), pp.262-278.

Buhalis, D., 2000. Marketing the competitive destination of the future.Tourism management, 21(1), pp.97-116.

Füller, J. and Matzler, K., 2008. Customer delight and market segmentation: An application of the three-factor theory of customer satisfaction on life style groups. Tourism management, 29(1), pp.116-126.

Fyall, A., Callod, C. and Edwards, B., 2003. Relationship marketing: The challenge for destinations. Annals of tourism research, 30(3), pp.644-659.

Gilmore, J.H. and Pine II, B.J., 2002. Differentiating hospitality operations via experiences: Why sellign services is not enough. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 43(3), p.87.

Heide, M. and Grønhaug, K., 2009. Key factors in guests’ perception of hotel atmosphere. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 50(1), pp.29-43.

Hoque, K., 2013. Human resource management in the hotel industry: Strategy, innovation and performance. Routledge.

Huang, S. and Hsu, C.H., 2009. Travel motivation: linking theory to practice.International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 3(4), pp.287-295.

Kandampully, J., Zhang, T. and Bilgihan, A., 2015. Customer loyalty: a review and future directions with a special focus on the hospitality industry.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(3), pp.379-414.

Köseoglu, M.A., Topaloglu, C., Parnell, J.A. and Lester, D.L., 2013. Linkages among business strategy, uncertainty and performance in the hospitality industry: Evidence from an emerging economy. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 34, pp.81-91.

Leonidou, L.C., Leonidou, C.N., Fotiadis, T.A. and Zeriti, A., 2013. Resources and capabilities as drivers of hotel environmental marketing strategy: Implications for competitive advantage and performance. Tourism Management, 35, pp.94-110.

Marinova, A., Murphy, J. and Massey, B.L., 2002. Permission e-mail marketing as a means of targeted promotion. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly,43(1), p.61.

Melbourne, P. (2016). Park Hyatt Melbourne | 5 Star Luxury Accommodation. [online] Melbourne.park.hyatt.com. Available at: https://melbourne.park.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html [Accessed 23 Sep. 2016].

Otto, J.E. and Ritchie, J.B., 1996. The service experience in tourism.Tourism management, 17(3), pp.165-174.

Phillips, P.A. and Moutinho, L., 2000. The Marketing Planning Index: A Tool for Measuring Strategic Marketing Effectiveness in the Hospitality Sector.Strategic Management in Tourism, p.283.

Pine, B.J. and Gilmore, J.H., 2013. The experience economy: past, present and future. Handbook on the experience economy, p.21.

Ryan, C., 1991. Tourism and marketing—a symbiotic relationship?. Tourism Management, 12(2), pp.101-111.

Williams, A., 2006. Tourism and hospitality marketing: fantasy, feeling and fun. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 18(6), pp.482-495.