International Hospitality Management

This assignment analyzes the strategic decisions taken by Marriott International, Inc. in the hospitality industry. It includes a SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, and Porter's five forces analysis of the global hospitality market. The assignment also discusses the implementation of the strategy and moving forward.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
International Hospitality Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

1INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Executive summary
The purpose of the assignment is to develop an understanding of the hospitality industry as well
as determine the strategic management of organisation that operates in the industry. In this
assignment the organisation in the tourism industry that is going to be analyzed in the assignment
is Marriott International, Inc. It has focused upon the strategic decisions taken by the
management of the organisation in order to achieve the strategic objectives. In order to do that
both the internal and the external business environments are analyzed with the help of several
management theories. It is concluded that the company has the resource and capability to expand
the market with the policy of organic exapansion.

2INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background to the Hotel Company...........................................................................................3
2. Strategic Position of the Marriott................................................................................................4
2.1 SWOT Analysis of Marriott in the emerging market............................................................5
3. Global Hospitality market............................................................................................................8
3.1 Analyzing macro environment of Iceland.............................................................................9
3.2 Porter’s five forces...............................................................................................................11
4. Implementation of the strategy and moving forward................................................................12
4.1 Market Growth Strategy......................................................................................................13
4.2 Corporate Strategy Directions.............................................................................................15
4.3. Choosing the market entering mode...................................................................................16
4.4. Implementation of strategic management...........................................................................18
5. Conclusion and Recommendation.........................................................................................18
6. Reference List:...........................................................................................................................20
7. Appendices................................................................................................................................25
Appendix 1.................................................................................................................................25
Appendix 2.................................................................................................................................26
Appendix 3.................................................................................................................................27
Appendix 4:...............................................................................................................................28

3INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
1. Introduction
The tourism and hospitality industry contribute a significant amount to the economy of a
number of countries around the world. There are countries that run on tourism and hospitality.
The industry not only helps in employment and increase in the inflow of foreign exchange it also
helps in spreading the culture and heritage of the areas (Buhalis and Crotts 2013). According to
Xiang et al. (2017), the companies that operate in the industry are in the service sector and hence
they have to strategies in a way that improves their relation with the customers and build better
opportunities in the future. Business organizations formulate the policies and decisions in a way
that it is aligned with the objective of the company.
1.1 Background to the Hotel Company
Marriott International is an American multinational organisation that operates in the
hospitality industry. The company has over the years of operation gathered significant goodwill
among all the stakeholders (Marriott.com 2018). The organisation operates in more than 127
countries and has over 6500 properties all over the world. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland,
the company has been established by J. Willard and Alice Marriott in 1927 (Marriott.com 2018).
The company has established itself as a leader in the industry and has set a number of pioneering
benchmarks in the process of operation in the hospitality industry. The core values that have
been followed by the company since establishment revolves around the people who are
associated with the company, the stakeholders are the first priority for the management. Apart
from that excellence, change and integrity are some of the value that is followed in the

4INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
organisation, based on these values the strategic management decisions are taken and
implemented (Marriott.com 2018).
2. Strategic Position of the Marriott
The new market where the company is strategized to invest in Iceland, the company has a
number of properties in Asia, Africa and America, however Europe especially the Nordic
countries the company has properties in just four countries: Denmark, Norway, Finland and
Sweden. Therefore the company is planning to further expand in the Nordic territory.
Segmentation is an important part of the marketing strategy in the hospitality industry in order to
understand the guests and their needs and requirements. The hotel will be established in the
Capital Reykjavik, which draws a number of tourists who are both for leisure as well as business
purposes.
 Geographic Segmentation: The company in other countries hosts both domestic and
international guests, as a luxury chain of hotels the company offers a number of
complimentary services like airport transportations and sightseeing facilities (Camilleri
2018). Therefore, it can be said that the hotel should be prepared to serve guests from
various nationalities and cultures (Weinstein and Cahill 2014).
 Demographic Segmentation: being in the hospitality industry it is important to serve all
the guests who have checked in to the hotel equally, thus there is no discrimination in
terms of gender or age (Müller and Hamm 2014). However based on the luxury nature of
the service the lifestyle of the people are expected to be high profile and accustomed to
be around luxury therefore it can be said that the customers belong form the medium to
high or the elite class of the society. The income groups of the guests are high as the rent

5INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
of the room and the services provided by Marriott are also on the higher end (Cross et al.
2015).
 Psycho-Graphic Segmentation: As the company has been operating in a number of
countries all around the world, over the years there has been a lot of loyal customers of
the brand who would like to associate with the company at every part of the world
(Camilleri 2018). The customers like the services or have already heard good reviews of
the company before booking the services. As the city of Prague is famous for its medieval
charm and gorgeous landscape, the guest who will be visiting the city are also expected to
have an understanding and appreciation towards culture and heritage (Camilleri 2018).
 Behavioral segmentation: The people are expected to lead a luxurious life as described
above and thus they are accustomed to have high quality, premium services. Marriott also
have provisions for events such as conferences or informal events like weddings etc. as a
luxury line of hotels the services are targeted towards guests who are used to leading an
elite lifestyle. Therefore, it can be said that the guests can be divided into the following
groups Leisure travelers, business travelers, premium travelers (Müller and Hamm 2014).
2.1 SWOT Analysis of Marriott in the emerging market
Strength: The goodwill of the company on an international scale is one of the biggest strengths
that the company has while establishing the operations in a new market. Marriott is renowned for
its customer friendly premium services and its values. Thus, it can be said that the company has a
goof brand value among the previous as well as on the target market (Marriott.com 2018).
Another major strength of the company which will help the company to establish the hotel
successfully in Iceland is the fact that the company embraces the local culture of the area where
the property has been established, this provides the guests a sense of welcoming to a new place

6INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
where they have arrived as visitors (Bull et al. 2016). Acceptance of diversity in the process of
operation will help the company to establish and align with the Psycho-Graphic and Behavioral
segmentation of the venture.
The company operates on large scale economies and thus there are opportunities for the company
to conduct market research in order to understand the needs and requirements of the guests who
visit the country and develop the services in a way that will suite the requirement of the visitors.
The revenue of the company was $22 billion in fiscal year 2017 (Marriott.com 2018).
Weakness: One of the major drawbacks of the company is that the market is completely
unknown for the management and considerable amount of market research is required.
Strategies of establishing the property on the European grounds have not been strongly
established (Bull et al. 2016).
The culture that the company has is very different from the new market that is being targeted.
The company has been subjected to a number of controversies thus, impacting the reputation in
the market.
Opportunities: Prague is a country where there is a high rate of tourism; the government of the
country also encourages and facilitates foreign investment as well. Travel & Tourism contributed
ISK885.3bn (USD8, 464.1mn), of GDP of Iceland (Wttc.org 2018), which is 34.6% percent of
the total GDP in 2017 (Wttc.org 2018). This is forecasted to rise in the following year. Some of
the other facts are stated in Appendix 2 and 3. Apart from this there are also significant amount

7INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
of investment in the industry, in 2017 ISK100.3bn was invested in the industry which amounted
to 17 percent of the total investment (Wttc.org 2018).
The unique architecture and rich cultural heritage of the country draws a number of tourists from
all over the world making the country an appropriate expansion option for one of the leading
hospitality organisation (Bull et al. 2016).
The economy of the country is developed therefore it will encourage domestic tourists who will
visit Reykjavik also to choose the services of Marriott over any other organisation as they have
the means and they taste for luxury.
Picturesque location of the country and the weather also permits large number of tourists’ inflow
all around the year (Wttc.org 2018).
There has also been an increase of international tourists in the country which is an opportunity
for the company as it serves as Marriott have a number of loyal and advocate customers all over
the world (Wttc.org 2018).
Marriott has been focusing on personalizing the services of the hotels based on the country, the
acceptance of cultural difference has always been a part of the company but developing services
based on the country of operation is an opportunity to draw the attention of the target market.
Threat: The market already has an intense competitive environment and it will be a challenge
for Marriott to establish the brand in the way it has in the other parts of the world (Bull et al.
2016).

8INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
According to triadvsor some of the top rated luxury hotels that are established in Reykjavik are
the Hilton group, the Grand hotel etc who are also some of the major competitors on an
international level. Seasonal tourists in the region are another threat to the company.
3. Global Hospitality market
There has been a significant rise in the international hospitality industry owing to the fact
that there is a growth in the international travelers as well. Foreign exchange is a significant
means of economic development and this has encouraged the government of several countries to
motivate and invest in the tourism and hospitality industry. With advancement of technology and
improved means of communication and transportation, the global hospitality market has
witnessed a boom (Buhalis and Crotts 2013). Marriott is one of the leading companies operating
in the hospitality industry and over the years the company has established four properties in the
Nordic region, and choosing Iceland is a good option for the company as part of expansion plan
as the country has a significant amount of tourist both domestic as well as international (Thakran
Verma 2013). Following is a PEST analysis which will help in establishing the feasibility for the
brand to build a property in Iceland, furthermore, with the help of the porter’s five force analysis
the competition in the environment can be analyzed. Since the external business environmental
factors are not under the control of any organisation the management has to undertake research
and critically evaluate the situations in order to ensure that the strategies that are undertaken
align with the objectives of the business.

9INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
3.1 Analyzing macro environment of Iceland
Political: The country follows a parliamentary democracy constitution that was adopted in 1944.
The country enjoys a stable government that encourages investment and business in order to
provide the people as well as the economy to grow and develop. The export law, taxation etc
liberal as the government of the country always encourages investment. The country is a member
of the European Union thus the policies of investment and trade are according to the ones that
are equal to all the members of the union. The country also enjoys the several treaties and
agreements with other countries this is mainly governed by European Economic Area (EEA)
with the exception of agriculture and fishery industry. On November 2017, Katrín Jakobsdóttir
was elected as the prime minister of the country. 61.5% of the total trade of Iceland in goods is
from the EU which is then followed by the United States, Norway and China (Chamber.is 2018).
Economy: The economy of the country is developed and the disposable income of the people of
the country is also high. As per the forecasts of the International monetary fund the country has a
growth trend in economic development. This is an opportunity for foreign investors to invest in
the country. About 7.2 percent of the total employment in the country is generated through the
tourism and hospitality industry (Chamber.is 2018). The GDP of Iceland in the year 2017 is $23
billion and is expected to grow therefore, making the decision of expansion in the economy
feasible for the Marriott for expansion (Chamber.is 2018). The economic crisis of 2008 has led
to some important changes in the economy of Iceland, there has been rapid progress and
investment in the economy improving the standard of living and increasing the purchasing power
of the people. Today the economy of Iceland has proven to be one of the most productive in the
world.

10INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Societal: As the country is developed and is on the rising trend of development, the standard of
living and the quality of life among the citizens are high. Iceland is one of the most sparsely
populated countries in the continent. There is also acceptance of other culture and religion
among the people and thus making it easier for foreign investors. According to the United
Nations Human Development Index, Iceland continues to be on the top of the list. Along with
this the society also gives importance to education along with compulsory education and higher
education facilities for students. It can be said that the characteristic of the society is progressive
and modern. Hospitality industry in the country is also on a growing trend as the number of
domestic travelers in the country has also increased over time (Wttc.org 2018). 27.4% of direct
Travel & Tourism GDP was generated from the domestic travel spending and is expected to
grow further in the future (Chamber.is 2018). Refer to Appendix 4 for the info-graphic
representation of the international and domestic visitors in the country. Apart from that the
country is also responsible towards the environment and development of the society at large, the
Country has been listed as one of the greenest in the world. The culture of the country is strong
with its legend and literary that dates back to the centuries back and this is something that draws
a number of tourists to this region along with the picturesque geography of the region.
Technology: in order to ensure the convenience and the premium quality experience the
company assures to provide the customers, technology plays an important role. Iceland has the
facility and infrastructure to install some advance technologies such as digital hotel room keys,
facility in booking and cancellation (Wttc.org 2018). The technology of Smart room access
systems enables the guests to use their mobile phones as keys to access all the controls of the
room. This technology has solved the issue of many guests who misplace the keys or
demagnetization of the plastic key card (Wttc.org 2018).

11INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
3.2 Porter’s five forces
Porter explains that there are four aspects in the external environment that leads to
competition in the industry.
Threats of new entrants: Marriott has a very prominent brand name that has been associated
with goodwill, since the company has properties in more than 127 countries and over 6500
establishment it is difficult for new entrants to pose a threat to the organisation. However in
order to establish a new company in the hospitality industry the venture would require a major
capital investment making the process of setting up a new company. Therefore, it can be
concluded that the threat of new entrants for an establishment like Marriott would be low (Dobbs
2014).
Bargaining power of the suppliers: The Company considers the people associated as the most
important stakeholders and thus the suppliers are also equally important. Due to the brand value
of the company the suppliers would like to stay associated with the brand, hence it can be said
that the bargaining power of the suppliers are less. Also there are an abundance of suppliers in
the hospitality industry, which therefore lowers the switching cost of the suppliers (Dobbs 2014).
Intensity of competition: There are a number of luxury hotels with similar profile of the target
market in the capital city of Iceland, there are also international competitors like the Hilton hotels
and the grand hotels in the city, therefore it can be said that the intensity of competition in the
country is high (Yunna and Yisheng 2014).
Bargaining power of the customers: As discussed above the intensity of completion in the
industry is high and therefore there are a number of choices in terms of taking a luxury option for
accommodation in the country. As the options of the customers are more it can be said that the

12INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
switching cost of the customers are low as they would get similar services form other luxury
hotels in the vicinity as well(Cetindamar and Kilitcioglu 2013). Only for the loyal customers of
Marriott the switching cost are high, it can be therefore concluded that the bargaining power of
the customers are high to medium. This makes the company always create strategies and policies
which would keep the customers or guests engaged and wanting to return to the services over
and over again (Yunna and Yisheng 2014).
Threat of substitute: for a company that operates in the hospitality industry, the major substitute
is when a person chooses to stay with a family or a friend instead of availing the hotel services.
Air Bnb is the new substitute that the hospitality industry such as a hotel face, this website allows
a person to choose a host from the city instead of choosing to live in a hotel room (Ikkala and
Lampinen 2015). This website operates in the hospitality industry as it connects the house
owners with the guests, thus proving a substitute to the traditional hotel business. It can be
concluded that the threat of substitute is medium as the website and the concept of AirBnb is
relatively new and there are a number of travelers who would like to choose the traditional way,
as far as family or friends are concerned that is not always possible for a traveler to have in every
country or city that they travel (Guttentag 2015).
4. Implementation of the strategy and moving forward
For a company to expand in a new market there are a number of factors that has to be
considered as discussed in the above section. Based on these factors analysis the management
has to decide upon the strategies which would be best suited for the expansion of the company
(Eden and Ackermann 2013). The ways in which the company can emerge over the other
competitors in the market has to be discussed along with communicating with the target market

13INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
regarding the expansion of the service. There are businesses as well as corporate strategies that
are required to be formulated in order to ensure that the strategies are aligned with e objectives
and are based on the values and principles of the company. In order to determine the market
growth Porter’s generic strategies are going to be implemented on the other hand, Ansoff matrix
is going to be used in order to determine the corporate strategies that the company can use in the
new market.
4.1 Market Growth Strategy
Figure: Porter’s Generic Strategies
Source: (Tassabehji and Isherwood 2014)

14INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
There are three ways that was directed by Michel porter for organizations to device business
strategies.
Cost leadership is when a company offers the customers the service or product at the
lowest price; this is not possible when it comes to a luxury product or service which is in the case
of Marriott hospitality services (Tassabehji and Isherwood 2014).
Differentiation is the strategy where the company offers a product or service that is
different from what the other competitors are offering. In order to ensure a differentiation
strategy the organisation must have analytical and innovative back up to support the strategy.
Along with this the company should assure that the product or service that is being delivered is
of premium quality or the customers will not be interested in availing the same (Salavou 2015).
The strategy should also be backed up with effective marketing in order to communicate with the
people the facts that make the service different from the ones that are offered by the competitors.
The Management of Marriott cannot take this strategy as the company is a luxury service and the
is more resource and capability for the company to undertake the focus strategy rather than just
differentiation (Alstete 2014).
Lastly is the focus strategy is what the management should adapt in order to attract the
target market. The focus is on differentiation, the company can focus on the rich cultural heritage
of Iceland while building the property in order to provide the customers with an experience of a
life time. Marriott is known for its hospitality based on the cultural background of the country
where the property is established (Teeratansirikool et al. 2013). For example: The Marriott of the
Chinese territory is very different in the way of service and architecture than the Marriott of
India or France. Over the years of operation the company has gathered good name in the industry

15INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
which is a part of the differentiation strategy as well. As a brand the company has established
itself as different in the minds of the target market (Tansey et al. 2014).

16INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
4.2 Corporate Strategy Directions
Figure: Ansoff Matrix
Source: (Hussain et al. 2013)
For Marriott the product and services do not change, the company does not diversify in
order to grow as it is known for its hospitality services (Elmes and Barry 2017). The brand value
of the company is significant hence the corporate strategy that the company takes is based on the
existing services. The strategy of market Penetration is also undertaken by the company they
have established a number of properties in China and also in India where the market does not
change with the help of the loyal project and new and innovative marketing strategy (Elmes and
Barry 2017).
The corporate strategy that the company has to establish in order to ensure expansion and
development can be established with the help of Ansoff Matrix (Morden 2016). It is clear from
the above diagram that the company is strategizing for market development as a growth strategy,

17INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
with keeping the products and services in the existing; the market is new and emerging with the
idea of establishing a property in Iceland. The company has always used this strategy in order to
grow, for a company to keep a stable growth trend has to grow and establish properties in various
markets (Jenkins and Williamson 2015).
4.3. Choosing the market entering mode
There are four strategies that a company can undertake while taking decisions of
emerging in a new market. Following are the four strategies:
Acquisition: in this strategy the host company takes over the rights and ownership of another
existing company in order to grow, this can be international companies as well (Forsgren and
Johanson 2014).
Merger: According to Bastié et al. (2013), here two companies have equal rights and equity as
they amalgamate their operations.
Strategic Alliances: when two or more companies share their capabilities in order to pursue or
achieve the objectives of the business (Brouthers 2013)
Organic Growth: the resource and capability of the company is the major source of this strategy,
here the company exclusively uses its own strengths and capabilities in the expansion
(Daszkiewicz and Wach 2014).
This is the strategy that Marriott is going to undertake while expanding in the new
market. The profit as well as the resource capability of the company assures that the feasibility of
this strategy. According to Clarke et al. (2013), the advantage of organic growth is that there is
no third party involved in the expansion; however, the investment in the new market requires

18INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
strong capital back up (Laufs and Schwens 2014). There have been successful mergers in the
history of Marriott example: Marriott and Starwood.

19INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
4.4. Implementation of strategic management
The three factors that the management of an organisation has to consider while
implementing the strategies are:
Resource and strategies: This can be segregated in two sections tangible and intangible,
resources. Tangible resource: Finance, human resource and equipments are the most important,
the revenue of Marriott was $22 billion in 2017, therefore it can be said that the company has
resources to invest in a project in Iceland (Greco et al. 2013)
Arrangement and configuration: in order to implement the strategy of emerging in the Iceland
market, the company has to adapt to the cultural heritage of Iceland in order to maintain the
competitive advantage and the differentiation focus strategy that has been discussed above. But
the strategy that has been undertaken is in sync with the existing structure and principle of the
company (Hill et al. 2014).
Change: Management should be employed in order to take care of the new venture, this change
is initiated form the scratch and thus organisation should be implemented in such a way that the
process is streamlined (Rothaermel 2015).
5. Conclusion and Recommendation
It can be thus concluded from the above discussion that the feasibility of the expansion
strategy of Marriott to Iceland is feasible and logical. The company initiates market expansion as
a strategy for growth and development and Hilton which is one of the direct competitors of the
company already has its property established in the country. The target market that has been
explained is available in the country. The macro environment analysis show that the external
factors of the country is favorable of the company to expand to the country. With the help of the

20INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
business and corporate strategy tools it is clear that the strategy is feasible and the company has
the resource and capabilities to ensure that the strategy is implemented successfully.

21INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
6. Reference List:
Alstete, J.W., 2014. Strategy choices of potential entrepreneurs. Journal of Education for
Business, 89(2), pp.77-83.
Bastié, F., Cieply, S. and Cussy, P., 2013. The entrepreneur’s mode of entry: the effect of social
and financial capital. Small Business Economics, 40(4), pp.865-877.
Brouthers, K.D., 2013. A retrospective on: Institutional, cultural and transaction cost influences
on entry mode choice and performance. Journal of International Business Studies, 44(1), pp.14-
22.
Buhalis, D. and Crotts, J., 2013. Global alliances in tourism and hospitality management.
Routledge.
Buhalis, D. and Crotts, J., 2013. Global alliances in tourism and hospitality management.
Routledge.
Bull, J.W., Jobstvogt, N., Böhnke-Henrichs, A., Mascarenhas, A., Sitas, N., Baulcomb, C.,
Lambini, C.K., Rawlins, M., Baral, H., Zähringer, J. and Carter-Silk, E., 2016. Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: A SWOT analysis of the ecosystem services
framework. Ecosystem Services, 17, pp.99-111.
Camilleri, M.A., 2018. Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. In Travel Marketing,
Tourism Economics and the Airline Product (pp. 69-83). Springer, Cham.
Cetindamar, D. and Kilitcioglu, H., 2013. Measuring the competitiveness of a firm for an award
system. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 23(1), pp.7-22.

22INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Chamber.is (2018). The Icelandic Economy: Current State, Recent Developments and Future
Outlook. [online] Chamber.is. Available at: https://chamber.is/%C3%BAtg%C3%A1fa/sk
%C3%BDrslur/the_icelandic_economy_2017_report.pdf [Accessed 22 Aug. 2018].
Clarke, J.E., Tamaschke, R. and Liesch, P.W., 2013. International experience in international
business research: A conceptualization and exploration of key themes. International Journal of
Management Reviews, 15(3), pp.265-279.
Cross, J.C., Belich, T.J. and Rudelius, W., 2015. How marketing managers use market
segmentation: An exploratory study. In Proceedings of the 1990 Academy of Marketing Science
(AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 531-536). Springer, Cham.
Daszkiewicz, N. and Wach, K., 2014. Motives for going international and entry modes of family
firms in Poland. Journal of Intercultural Management, 6(2), pp.5-18.
E. Dobbs, M., 2014. Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry
analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), pp.32-45.
Eden, C. and Ackermann, F., 2013. Making strategy: The journey of strategic management.
Sage.
Elmes, M. and Barry, D., 2017. Strategy retold: Toward a narrative view of strategic discourse.
In The Aesthetic Turn in Management (pp. 39-62). Routledge.
Forsgren, M. and Johanson, J., 2014. Managing networks in international business. Routledge.
Greco, M., Cricelli, L. and Grimaldi, M., 2013. A strategic management framework of tangible
and intangible assets. European Management Journal, 31(1), pp.55-66.

23INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Guttentag, D., 2015. Airbnb: disruptive innovation and the rise of an informal tourism
accommodation sector. Current issues in Tourism, 18(12), pp.1192-1217.
Hernández, V. and Nieto, M.J., 2015. The effect of the magnitude and direction of institutional
distance on the choice of international entry modes. Journal of World Business, 50(1), pp.122-
132.
Hill, C.W., Jones, G.R. and Schilling, M.A., 2014. Strategic management: theory: an integrated
approach. Cengage Learning.
Hussain, S., Khattak, J., Rizwan, A. and Latif, M.A., 2013. ANSOFF matrix, environment, and
growth-an interactive triangle. Management and Administrative Sciences Review, 2(2), pp.196-
206.
Ikkala, T. and Lampinen, A., 2015, February. Monetizing network hospitality: Hospitality and
sociability in the context of Airbnb. In Proceedings of the 18th ACM conference on computer
supported cooperative work & social computing (pp. 1033-1044). ACM.
Jenkins, W. and Williamson, D., 2015. Strategic management and business analysis. Routledge.
Laufs, K. and Schwens, C., 2014. Foreign market entry mode choice of small and medium-sized
enterprises: A systematic review and future research agenda. International Business
Review, 23(6), pp.1109-1126.
Marriott.com (2018). About Marriott Hotels | Marriott Corporate Business Information. [online]
www.marriott.com. Available at: https://www.marriott.com/marriott/aboutmarriott.mi [Accessed
22 Aug. 2018].
Morden, T., 2016. Principles of strategic management. Routledge.

24INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Müller, H. and Hamm, U., 2014. Stability of market segmentation with cluster analysis–A
methodological approach. Food Quality and Preference, 34, pp.70-78.
Rothaermel, F.T., 2015. Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education.
Salavou, H.E., 2015. Competitive strategies and their shift to the future. European Business
Review, 27(1), pp.80-99.
Tansey, P., Spillane, J.P. and Meng, X., 2014. Linking response strategies adopted by
construction firms during the 2007 economic recession to Porter’s generic
strategies. Construction management and economics, 32(7-8), pp.705-724.
Tassabehji, R. and Isherwood, A., 2014. Management use of strategic tools for innovating during
turbulent times. Strategic Change, 23(1‐2), pp.63-80.
Teeratansirikool, L., Siengthai, S., Badir, Y. and Charoenngam, C., 2013. Competitive strategies
and firm performance: the mediating role of performance measurement. International Journal of
Productivity and Performance Management, 62(2), pp.168-184.
Thakran, K. and Verma, R., 2013. The emergence of hybrid online distribution channels in
travel, tourism and hospitality. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 54(3), pp.240-247.
Weinstein, A. and Cahill, D.J., 2014. Lifestyle market segmentation. Routledge.
Wttc.org (2018). THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TRAVEL & TOURISM: ICELAND. [online]
Wttc.org. Available at: https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic-impact-research/
countries-2018/iceland2018.pdf [Accessed 22 Aug. 2018].

25INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Xiang, Z., Du, Q., Ma, Y. and Fan, W., 2017. A comparative analysis of major online review
platforms: Implications for social media analytics in hospitality and tourism. Tourism
Management, 58, pp.51-65.
Yunna, W. and Yisheng, Y., 2014. The competition situation analysis of shale gas industry in
China: Applying Porter’s five forces and scenario model. Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews, 40, pp.798-805.

26INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
7. Appendices
Appendix 1
Figure: Basic information of Iceland
Source: (Chamber.is 2018)

27INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Appendix 2
Figure: Total contribution of the tourism industry on GDP of Iceland
Source: (Wttc.org 2018)

28INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Appendix 3
Figure: Business vs Leisure
Source: (Wttc.org 2018)

29INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Appendix 4:
Figure: Domestic and international visitors comparison
Source: (Wttc.org 2018)