Strategic Trends in the Hotel Industry

This assignment focuses on strategic trends within the hotel industry. It examines how organizational characteristics influence strategic planning practices in Jordanian hotels. The analysis also delves into talent management strategies, positive and negative corporate social responsibility impacts, and marketing strategies employed by hotels in turbulent times. Various academic sources and news articles provide insights into these contemporary issues facing the global hospitality sector.

CONSULTANT
COMPARATIVE REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
Comparative overview of companies..........................................................................................1
Major trends impacting the strategic options..............................................................................4
Comparative assessment of the ability of company....................................................................5
Developing strategic results........................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing and developing sectors of the world.
The large strategic business units and investors are currently analyzing the best performing
companies in order to link the personal growth with the growth and development of pre-setup
business (Aaker, 2008). Investors are pinning hopes on an economic revival to justify their
investment commitments in the hotel sector. This demands an effective and in-depth analysis of
the industry and performance of companies in order to evaluate the strategic performance and
growth prospects of these business units (Lin, Lee and Wu, 2009). The present report focuses on
analyzing the strategic performance and comparative analysis of growing hotels of UK in order
to investigate their strategic positioning in this highly competitive market. The study also focuses
on analyzing the best performing units on the basis of upcoming environment and developing
trends within market.
Comparative overview of companies
The hotel sector is widely growing and developing its business prospects to enhance the
growth and development opportunities within current competitive market. The increasing trends
of tourism and growing needs for luxurious experiences have increased the demand of
individuals for luxurious hotels and accommodations (Harrington and Ottenbacher, 2011). This
has promoted global expansion for the strategic group of hotels to enhance the growth and
development within market. The leading and fast growing up-range strategic groups of hotels
include:
 Ramada group of hotels and resorts
 Holiday Inn
 Radisson Blu Group
These strategic groups widely operate and grow their business ventures to enhance the
growth and development opportunities within market. The extensive services and luxurious
experiences to its consumers make this group prominent and highly developing within market.
Table 1: Comparative Analysis
Axis/Strategic
group
Ramada Holiday Inn Radisson Blu
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Company
overview
Large and luxurious
range of hotel and
resorts providing
upscale amenities and
services (Enz, 2009).
World's largest hotel
chain providing
luxurious hotel
services to millions of
guests each year.
Upper upscale brand of
hotel providing variety
of services to enhance
the guest experience.
Founded 1989 1952 1960
Parent company Wyndham Worldwide InterContinental Hotels
Group
Radisson Hotels
Area of
operations
Internationally World wide Europe, Asia and
America
Service range Luxurious
accommodation, high
quality services, tourism
and entertainment
Offer restaurant, pools
at most locations, room
service, an exercise
room and functional
but comfortable rooms
(Aldehayyat, 2011).
Complete hotel and
guest entertainment
services to offer
memorable experience
to the guests.
USP Consumer services and
prompt response
Availability of hotel in
every part of the world
Effective and modern
infrastructure
Growth prospects High (wide untapped
market)
Moderate (enhancing
service quality and
range)
High (International
market expansion)
Table 2: SWOT Analysis
Axis / Strategic
group
Ramada Holiday Inn Radisson Blu
Strength - High quality and
prompt services
- Enhancing marketing
- High market reach
-Well established
brand image
- High street brand
image
- Well developed
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demand
- Well developed
infrastructure
-well established
parent company (Darcy
and Pegg, 2011).
infrastructure
- High range of quality
services
Weakness - Low brand recognition
- Increasing competition
-Increasing
competition
-Low range of services
- Low level of market
promotion
- Quichly changing
needs and preferences of
guests
Opportunity - Market expansion
- Aggressive promotion
- Wide market
promotion and
development of
services
- Enhancing quality of
services to increase the
market demand and
consumer loyalty
(Maxwell and
MacLean, 2008).
- High market promotion
- Increasing market
growth and development
Threat - Fierce market
competition
- Changing market
environment
- Increasing price wars
- Consumer perception
as motels rather than
luxury hotel
- Fierce market
competitive
- Changing consumer
needs and preferences
The comparative analysis of companies thus represents that mentioned business units
have a well established brand image within market however; they have high growth and
development prospects within market. As per the comparative analysis, it can be seen that
Radisson and Ramada has high growth prospects within market by enhancing their market reach
(Kang, Lee and Huh, 2010). However, Holiday Inn has well established market within economy
but the brand image of organization has developed a consumer perception of motels in their
minds. Hence, it demands effective range of consumer services and amenities within
organization.
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Major trends impacting the strategic options
The hotel industry is highly dynamic. The major focus of industry is to fulfill the
consumer needs and preferences in order to enhance the market demand sales. The changing
trends within market have a direct and effective impact on the performance of companies and
consumer preferences as well (Martin and Isozaki, 2013). The upcoming trends within market
have a direct and effective impact on the growth and development of companies. The upcoming
trends within industry which has impacted the performance of firms are effectively explained
through following five dimensions by respective business units:
Axis / Strategic
group
Ramada Holiday Inn Radisson Blu
Tangible Effective and well
developed infrastructure
and physical amenities
within company has
been developed.
It has developed well
structures measures and
physical resources to
meet the needs and
preferences of consumers
(Brotherton, 2012).
Has established the
brand image by
developing unique and
exclusive infrastructure
and physical amenities
within economy.
Reliability Consumer reviews and
reports have revealed
that company’s
reliability factor lacks at
different locations
(Darcy and Pegg, 2011).
Prompt and effective
consumer services with
well developed brand
image have helped the
business wide prospects
of growth.
Quality of service is
high however; the
promptness is low
which has impacted the
performance of
company.
Responsiveness Untrained staff and
slow services
Strong and committed
team of employees results
in delivering quick and
prompt services to the
guests.
Service quality and
management is
effective but
comparatively slow
(Kim, Shin and
Swanger, 2009).
Assurance Company is developing It has established a well Has developed high
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the brand image developed brand image
within market. The
effective performance of
company has helped in
boosting the profits of
InterContinental hotel
group.
street brand image
within market.
Empathy The quality of staff is
moderate. The training
and development
measures of company
need to be developed to
attain high success
measures.
The well trained and
supportive staff helps in
delivering quality
services to consumers.
The employees help in
providing individual
attention to the guests to
enhance their experience
(Yeh, Chen and Hu,
2012).
Company has
developed a caring
environment which
helps the guests in
seeking memorable
experience.
Comparative assessment of the ability of company
The overall analysis of company’s performance helped in analyzing that all respective
business units that has created unique and effective brand image within economy. This has
resulted in attaining effective growth prospects for the business operations of companies.
Adopting innovative measures and practices has a wide impact on the overall growth and
development of business units. On the basis of above analysis and by comparing the performance
of companies, it can be efficiently analyzed that all the business units has developed the capacity
to adopt innovative means of working within economy.
Holiday Inn has been effectively working and operating the business operations in order
to gain wide success and growth within economy. This has helped the business units in creating a
wide growth measures for company (Holiday Inn performance boosts InterContinental, 2009).
The organization has developed innovative means of practices in order to attain the competitive
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edge within market. Effective services and facilities have helped the business in gaining high
market share. The financial resource and internal policies and procedures help companies in
effectively adopting the changing needs and preferences. The founder of Holiday Inn has
adopted the policy which states to adopt the changes as soon as possible in order to avoid
ineffective impact on the business performance. Hence, all the above measures has helped
company in creating a wide and effective impact in the growth of firm by developing new and
innovative means of working. Similarly Radisson Blu has adopted the measures to attract
consumers by developing unique and effective infrastructure for its entity (Radisson turns Blu
for the holidays, 2015). This has helped the business in creating a unique brand image within
market. The working measures of company however have limited impact on the growth and
development measures. Ramada brand has however developed a limited access to innovative
measures of working and operating business operations.
Developing strategic results
The above analysis and evaluation clearly represents that out of mentioned three
companies, Holiday Inn has developed an effective and most bright measures to enhance the
growth and development in the competitive market. The well established brand image and
effective measures of working will help company in creating wide and effective measures for the
growth within market. Moreover, the firm has adopted innovative and effective means of
working in the competitive environment (Investment in hotel sector more robust than ever,
2014). This will help the business unit in enhancing the growth and development measures by
creating a competitive edge in the market. A well developed brand recognition and wide market
share has enhanced the growth and development prospects of company which makes Holiday Inn
as a well developed and strategic option for the investment. The present performance of business
units reflects the growth and development prospects of business unit in the highly competitive
environment.
CONCLUSION
The above report provides a deep insight about the performance of hospitality industry
within this highly competitive and dynamic business environment. The report utilized various
tools and measures to evaluate effective measures to compete within changing market. The
performance of a range of business units such as Radisson blu, Ramada and Holiday Inn was
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analyzed and compared in order to evaluate its business position within market. This measure
helped the business organization in creating a wide and competitive position in the market as
well.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aaker, D. A., 2008. Strategic market management. John Wiley & Sons.
Lin, C. T., Lee, C. and Wu, C. S., 2009. Optimizing a marketing expert decision process for the
private hotel. Expert Systems with Applications. 36(3). pp.5613-5619.
Harrington, R. J. and Ottenbacher, M. C., 2011. Strategic management: An analysis of its
representation and focus in recent hospitality research.International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management. 23(4). pp.439-462.
Enz, C. A., 2009. Hospitality strategic management: Concepts and cases. John Wiley and Sons.
Aldehayyat, J. S., 2011. Organisational characteristics and the practice of strategic planning in
Jordanian hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 30(1). pp.192-199.
Darcy, S. and Pegg, S., 2011. Towards Strategic Intent: Perceptions of disability service
provision amongst hotel accommodation managers.International Journal of Hospitality
Management. 30(2). pp.468-476.
Maxwell, G. A. and MacLean, S., 2008. Talent management in hospitality and tourism in
Scotland: Operational implications and strategic actions.International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management. 20(7). pp.820-830.
Kang, K. H., Lee, S. and Huh, C., 2010. Impacts of positive and negative corporate social
responsibility activities on company performance in the hospitality industry.
International Journal of Hospitality Management. 29(1). pp.72-82.
Martin, D. and Isozaki, M., 2013. Hotel marketing strategies in turbulent times: Path analysis of
strategic decisions. Journal of Business Research. 66(9). pp.1544-1549.
Brotherton, B. ed., 2012. International Hospitality Industry. Routledge.
Kim, H. J., Shin, K. H. and Swanger, N., 2009. Burnout and engagement: A comparative
analysis using the Big Five personality dimensions. International Journal of Hospitality
Management. 28(1). pp.96-104.
Yeh, C. Y., Chen, C. M. and Hu, J. L., 2012. Business diversification in the hotel industry: a
comparative advantage analysis. Tourism Economics. 18(5). pp.941-952.
Online
Holiday Inn performance boosts InterContinental. 2009. [Online]. Available through: <
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/5314091/Holiday-
Inn-performance-boosts-InterContinental.html>. [Accessed on 25th December 2015].
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