EG704 MSc International Hospitality Management Assignment Sample
EG704 MSc International Hospitality Management Assignment Sample
Introduction
Hyatt Hotels was founded by Jay Pritzer, after pursuing family business interests and having to grow up in a line of family businesses has led to the growth of the organisation into a North American Management and hotel Ownership Company. The family-owned business of Hyatt Hotels starting from the founding year of 1957 has empowered the brand image of the organisation to provide importance to family and care, with the strength of about 50,000 skilled employees (Hyatt.com. 2023). In 2021, the organisation earned revenue of about $3.03 billion, having Hyatt’s Portfolio including more than 1,150 hotels and all-inclusive properties across 70 countries (Statista.com. 2023).
Critical analysis of the target market segment of Hyatt Hotels and identifying expectations and characteristics
Implementation of STP model to analyse Hyatt Hotels’ target market segment
Segmentation
In terms of segmentation, Hyatt Hotel has given importance to identifying the major market segments among the UK upper-scale population based on trends and travel habits. For Hyatt Hotels there have been three most crucial segments of consumers in the UK which are Transient, group and Corporate (Valenzi, 2019). Hyatt has improvised the STP model in gaining a good identification of the segmentation competence which has led to effective pricing and customer value offering opportunities for revenue growth and customer satisfaction. At Hyatt Hotels, the segmentation of the target consumers is directed towards the upper class population with high occupational standards and are willing to avail the services at optimal price range with high expectations of service quality (WALLELIGNE, 2022).
Targeting
Hyatt Hotels serves consumers in retail as well as in the corporate segment, in the segments the consumers range from national and international companies organizing conferences, and corporate tie-ups with companies and government organizations. The target consumers of Hyatt Hotels are identified to be in the upper-middle and upper-income class groups which fall majorly within the age group of 30 to 55 years (Czinkota et al., 2021). The Psychographic profile of the target consumers of Hyatt Hotels is stated to be living a healthy lifestyle, value quality, tending to favour quality with moderate pricing and pursuing an interest to be affluent in every social aspect.
Positioning
Hyatt Hotels have focused on positioning the marketing aspect for the target consumers in the UK hospitality industry to provide the best of services and products and provide luxury in terms of customer experience. The differentiated services in terms of luxury, and hotel services catering to the upper-upscale and upper-class categories have provided Hyatt Hotels with a competitive market position in the UK hospitality industry (Khosla, 2019). The competitive positioning of the brand is created by providing high-quality and unique experiences along with catering to specific demands and wants of upper-class target consumers.
Identification of characteristics and expectations of the Target market for Hyatt Hotels
The main characteristics identified among target consumers such as business professionals, celebrities and socialites in Hyatt Hotels as part of the hotel industry in delivering services with commitment, the importance given to consumer value over security, quality maintenance and customer services. In the hospitality industry, consumer behaviour impacts the choosing of hotels and the services offered, and Hyatt Hotels have focused on increasing customer-perceived impression management towards employee development and skill enhancement (Kim and Baker, 2022). It is observed that the main expectations of the upper-middle and upper-class target consumers of Hyatt Hotels towards the services offered as based on integrity, responsibility, respect, trust and care. Furthermore, the expectations are also directed by the target audience in experiencing the best luxury services to be offered while maintaining high quality in terms of entertainment, infrastructure and food services (Sundram et al., 2022).
Evaluation of internal and external trends influencing consumer demand in the hospitality industry and influential factors for Hyatt Hotels
SWOT analysis
Strength | Opportunity |
1. Collaboration with top corporates
2. Technological updates all year round 3. Brand awareness 4. Maintenance of hygiene and high-quality customer services |
1. Expansion into new booming tourist sites
2. Improvement in customer loyalty programs 3. Higher standards in management for room allocation and division 4. New onset of consumers through online marketing platforms |
Weakness | Threats |
1. Limitations in market share due to international and domestic players
2. Raised salary based issues among employees increased attrition 3. Weakness in technological investment in global market penetration |
1. Improved and diverse room facilities offered by competitors
2. Loss of business travellers to domestic hotel groups in the UK |
Table 1: SWOT analysis of Hyatt Hotels (Source: Self-Created)
Porter’s five analyses
Industry Forces | Impact of forces |
Bargaining power of Consumers | High |
Bargaining power of Suppliers | Low |
Industry Rivalry | High |
The threat of new entrants | Low |
Threat of substitutes | High |
Table 2: Porter’s five analysis of the hotel industry in the UK (Source: Self-Created)
According to Porter’s Five Forces analysis, the bargaining power of suppliers in the UK hospitality industry is low, as for the organisations such as Hyatt Hotels the financial strength may lead to obtaining highly skilled employees from emerging nations at a cheap rate. However, the bargaining power of consumers in the UK hotel industry is high, as the target consumers of the upper class and business professionals may opt for switching brands based on needs (Czinkota et al., 2021). The threat of new entrants in the luxury hotel industry in the UK is low, as for the requirement of huge financial investment and the presence of brand loyalty among the target segments. In the UK, Hyatt Hotels have high industry rivalry as for the presence of huge brand names such as Marriott, Hilton and Taj hotel chains offering similar luxury accommodations and services (Dick, 2019). Similarly, the threat of substitutes for the luxury hospitality industry in the UK is high, as for the growing popularity of Airbnb and domestic hotel chains offering similar services and competitive price ranges (Lu and Tabari, 2019).
Customer Demand Theory
According to Customer Demand theory, it is stated that the demand decreases over time, the businesses are required to emphasise the maintenance of the relationship between consumer demand and prices offered to the services within the market to maintain relevance. The key influential factors for Hyatt Hotels identified in the above analyses highlight the strength of the organisation in maintaining hygiene and quality over the services offered along with brand awareness which leads to maintaining the brand image among the competitors. Another influential factor which may provide the hotel chain with an opportunity to meet trends in the change in consumer demands is the imposition of digital marketing platforms such as social media to attract potential consumers. The influencing factors marketing is to be used by Hyatt Hotels in increasing the proposition of service demand to be compatible with the price range expected based on the upper-class target consumers’ habits and preferences (Tan, 2021).
Critically evaluate innovative technologies and collaborative strategies which increase the potential of Hyatt Hotels to enhance customer experience
It is to be stated that improving the failings in employee satisfaction which have led the organisation to face the issue of high attrition has resulted in being one of the biggest weaknesses of Hyatt Hotels as identified in the SWOT analysis. This has resulted in recommending the organisation the imposition of a Collaborative Framework ensuring open and real-time communication and feedback mechanisms to ensure transparency in the organisational functions. Furthermore, the implementation of the framework for the company as part of the collaborative strategy may foster collaboration as value, establish strong communication conventions and allow co-creation to mitigate employee dilemmas (Lohrenz et al., 2021).
The collaborative strategy implemented in the form of a company-owned portal for employees to share grievances and gather input through a transformational leadership style may also foster improvements in cross-functional activities in Hyatt Hotel. Additionally, it has been identified that Hyatt Hotels have faced weakness in technological investment which has limited the market share of the organisation within the highly competitive market environment in the hospitality industry. It is suggested that the organisation should invest in technological innovations such as Big Data technology and Cloud computing in analysing the varied needs of consumers to pave way for global penetration. Moreover, the input of new innovative Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) should be useful for the company in gathering information about new consumers in the emerging market and gathering comparative analysis of the market to devise unique marketing strategies (Dash and Sharma, 2022). Hyatt Hotels may be benefited from the use of The Concept of Technology Interdependence theory application, in obtaining guidance to use technological innovations in forming a digital marketing strategy to attract potential consumers in the luxury hospitality industry. The implementation of the theory may also lead to getting data generated through consumer information online in developing social media marketing activities to increase profit margins (Linde et al., 2021).
Conclusion
From the above report, it may be concluded that the target market segment of Hyatt group of hotels by implementing the STP model or framework for defining the target market and its characteristics and expectations evaluated. The assessment of the external and internal trends within the hospitality industry regarding the influence on the buyer trends for the Hyatt group of hotels is done with SWOT and Porter’s five force analysis. The critical evaluation of the innovative technologies and strategic collaboration for increasing the potentiality in customer engagement of the Hyatt hotels for the enhancement of the consumer experiences is also being done in this report.
References
Czinkota, M.R., Kotabe, M., Vrontis, D., Shams, S.R., Czinkota, M.R., Kotabe, M., Vrontis, D. and Shams, S.R., 2021. Market segmentation, positioning, and branding. Marketing Management: Past, Present and Future, pp.283-340.
Czinkota, M.R., Kotabe, M., Vrontis, D., Shams, S.R., Czinkota, M.R., Kotabe, M., Vrontis, D. and Shams, S.R., 2021. Pricing Decisions. Marketing Management: Past, Present and Future, pp.451-497.
Dash, B. and Sharma, P., 2022. Role of Artificial Intelligence in Smart Cities for Information Gathering and Dissemination (A Review). Academic Journal of Research and Scientific Publishing, 4(39).
Dick, T.J., 2019. The impact of branding on hotel sales prices: A study of upper upscale and luxury hotel properties from 2007 through 2017 (Doctoral dissertation, Iowa State University).
Hyatt.com. 2023. Hyatt Hotels . Available at: https://www.hyatt.com/brands/hyatt (Accessed: February 22, 2023).
Khosla, R.P., 2019. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATION CULTURE AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: HOSPITALITY SECTOR.
Kim, K. and Baker, M.A., 2022. Luxury branding in the hospitality industry: The impact of employee’s luxury appearance and elitism attitude. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 63(1), pp.5-18.
Linde, L., Sjödin, D., Parida, V. and Wincent, J., 2021. Dynamic capabilities for ecosystem orchestration A capability-based framework for smart city innovation initiatives. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 166, p.120614.
Lohrenz, L., Michalke, S., Robra-Bissantz, S. and Lattemann, C., 2021. Fostering visibility, commitment and trust on digital platforms: Insights into personal engagement platforms from the DACH region.
Lu, L. and Tabari, S., 2019. Impact of Airbnb on customers’ behavior in the UK hotel industry. Tourism Analysis, 24(1), pp.13-26.
Statista.com. 2023. Published by Statista Research Department and 17, M. (2022) Hyatt hotels revenue 2021, Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/257362/revenue-of-the-hyatt-hotels-corporation/ (Accessed: February 22, 2023).
Sundram, S., Kumar, V.R., Muthukrishnan, K.B., Naved, M., Dani, R. and Khatri, E., 2022. The Impact of Entertainment Amenities Availability on Hotel’s Performance. Webology, 19(1), pp.3989-4005.
Tan, Y.S., 2021. Harvesting a New Synergy: Exploring ‘Smart and Green’Hotels within the Context of the Irish Hospitality Industry.
Valenzi, A., 2019. Luxury hôtellerie: a study of the new high end hospitality trends.
WALLELIGNE, B., 2022. THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON BRAND AWAERNESS: IN THE CASE OF HYATT REGENCY HOTEL ADDIS ABABA (Doctoral dissertation, ST. MARY’S UNIVERSITY).
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