Hospitality Business Strategy for Marriott: SWOT, PESTEL, and Porter's Analysis

This report analyzes the business strategy of Marriott Hotels and Resorts, including SWOT, PESTEL, and Porter's analysis. It also evaluates strategic directions with Porter's generic strategies and recommends appropriate platforms for growth strategies with Ansoff matrix.

Hospitality Business Strategy

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY.......................................................................................................................................4
PART A.................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 SWOT Analysis of Marriott ......................................................................................................4
1.2 PESTEL Analysis of Marriott ...................................................................................................5
1.3 External environment analysis in the strategic management of Marriott-.................................6
1.4 Internal analysis of Marriott using VRIO framework-..............................................................7
1.5 Analysis of hospitality sector using Porter's framework-..........................................................7
PART B.................................................................................................................................................8
2.1 Evaluation of strategic directions with Porter's generic strategies............................................8
2.2 Recommendations of appropriate platforms for growth strategies with Ansoff matrix............9
2.3 Strategic management plan process.........................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Business strategy is defined as the action plan that help businesses to achieve a set of the
objectives that are pre decided by the organization. Today, hospitality has become one of the fastest
growing sector In the world economy. This report is going to address the concept of the different
business strategies that are required to grow business in the context of the one of the largest hotel-
Marriott Hotels and Resorts.
Marriott international is an American multinational company that operates worldwide and
provides hotel and residential properties. Company operates with 30 brands and has 8000 properties
that are located in almost 131 counties. The company was formed in 1993 and today has become
one of the largest hotel chains in the world. Marriott t still faces difficulty to work in the external
environment of different countries. Marriott can form good business strategy in order to survive in
difficult conditions that keep on generating in different countries worldwide.
MAIN BODY
PART A
1.1 SWOT Analysis of Marriott
SWOT analysis stands for strength, weakness, opportunities and threats to evaluate the framework
of company to find its strategic position in the Market. This analysis gives competitive advantage to
the company.
Strengths- Marriott company looks at the key aspect of the business in every way that has given its
competitive advantage over the other companies that are operating in same market. Brand's strength
includes following factors-
 High brand positioning in the market.
 Technical innovations of the company has enabled to company to improve consumer
experiences.
 Employee retention is the another biggest strength of the company. Marriott today has
workforce over 150,000.
 Various brands are interested in collaborating with Marriott

Weakness- Marriott has certain weakness as well that needed to be improved in order to increase
its position in the market. This weakness are also the reason behind decreasing performance of the
company and the weaknesses of the Marriott are as follows=
 Competition from establishes hotel that has large chains all over the world are limiting the
market share of the company.
 Worldwide expansion can lead to brand dilution if all the hotels do not performed up to the
expectation of the company.
Opportunities – The different market opportunities available to the company will help Marriott to
strengthening its positioning in the market. The Opportunities that company has are as follows-
 Innovations in the various services that it provides to the consumer.
 Higher potential of increasing profits by expanding business into the emerging market like
India.
 Better interiors of hotel will definitely increase consumer experience in the hotels.
Threats- Marriott definitely has certain threats as well that are impacting performance of the
company negatively. The factors like changing government policies, activity of the competitors has
negative impact. The threats that Marriott are as follows-
 Competitions from the international brands that are working in this industry since many
years.
 Availability of the alternate products and services.
1.2 PESTEL Analysis of Marriott
PESTLE analysis involves all the external factors that impacts the performance of the
company. Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental are some factors
that affects the performance of the organization (Perera, 2017). The PESTLE analysis of Marriott is
as follows-
Political factors- Today, hotel industry is being monitored by various government policies in order
to comply them and earn better revenues than the other competitors. This factors directly impact the
performance and the position of the Marriott. It has been currently facing with the inflation that has
been spread all over the world after the impact of covid-19.

Economic factors- Marriott has been able to witness higher grow because of the economic policy
of the government. People are already has been into the space that they like travelling and this
increases the dominance of hotel industry all over the world. Sometimes the economy stagnation of
the company lowers the purchasing power of the people in that country which impact company
negatively.
Social Factors- Understanding the needs of the consumer and their purchasing power also impact
hotel industry in positive way. The company has been facing competition from many such large
hotel chains in the market and this is the most basic reason that Marriott is providing those services
to the consumers that are demanded by them.
Technological factors- Marriott is using various kinds of technologies in order to provide quality
services to the consumer. Technological innovations like the website development, reservation by
online methods, use of database system has been the reason behind the strong performance and
good positioning of the company.
Environmental factors- This is need of every business today to conduct their operations In such a
way that it does not have much impact upon the environment. Taking environmental concerns in the
mind Marriott is trying to avoid plastic and plastic related items by doing its operations in eco-
friendly manner.
Legal factor- Legal framework of country also impacts hotel industry. Different countries has
different legal laws that are needed to be complied. Marriott is trying to increase its consumer base
by adhering to all such rules-regulations.
1.3 External environment analysis in the strategic management of Marriott-
PESTLE analysis helps businesses to form business strategy that works in the direction and
the goal of the company. Today, every company use this environment analysis for planning an
strategic management of the Marriott. This factors affects the positioning of the company (Alanzi,
2018).

Marriott can also from different strategy by taking in concern macro-environment factors.
For example now that the company has PESTLE analysis, Marriott can easily manage its all the
fiscal issues and can also form those strategies that have less impact upon the environment in order
to form sustainable environment. On the same side hotel can comply all the rules-regulations of
different countries that will in turn will help the company to maintain its position and attract
consumes from different countries (Pratiwi and Sudiarta, 2019).
1.4 Internal analysis of Marriott using VRIO framework-
VRIO Is the acronym that stands for the Value, Rarity, Instability and last the organization.
This is used for the internal assessment (Jugdev, 2016).
VALUE- The hospitality sector is one of those sectors that gets impacted due to the economic
crises. This industry has witness instability as hospitality sector is connected with the flow and
demand in the economy. As the purchasing power of individuals gets impacted because of economy
recessions. Marriott should try to use all the human resources effectively.
RARITY- At the time of economic crises no tourist desire to like travelling and this factors are
referred as the superficial factors that plays major role in instability and act as a hurdle In the
growth of the business. This problem can only be solved by innovative solutions and employee
management programme.
IMITABILITY- all the businesses running in the hospitality sector need to have proper crises'
management strategy that will allow them to stabilize their business at the time of economic crises.
Hotel chain must follow an effective HR strategies in order to avoid such situations.
ORGANIZATION- The efficient management system is the need of the every organization today
as it increases the internal performance of the organization. Marriott can use all the adequate
resources and should make them available.
1.5 Analysis of hospitality sector using Porter's framework-
The competitive analysis of porter's five forces framework is as follows-

Competition in industry- There is higher level of competition being involved in this sector. There
are big rivals that are providing same services in the international market. The competition has
impacted Marriott in negative way but because of its services the company ha able retain elite
consumer in the market (Bruijl and Gerard, 2018).
Potential threat of the new entrants- The threat of new entrants is less than as it requires huge
amount of financial capital in order to start business in hospitality sector. Further, risk associated
with starting new businesses is quite high compare to starting business in any other sector. New
businesses needs heavy advertising as well.
Threat of substitutes- the services that Marriott provide in market are also provided by other
competitors as well. That means there are a good amounts of substitutes available in the market. For
avoiding that Marriott charges low prices from its consumers for the same services that can be
provided by other competitors (Dobbs, 2019).
Power of supplier- Marriott has high amount of suppliers that decreases their bargaining power of
the supplier. The hotel has also been able to secure large network of contacts because of which
suppliers have no ground to settle its bargaining power. The less power of supplier has also been the
reason behind constant and continuous services Marriott provides in the market.
Power of consumer- Bargaining power of consumer is very high because of the product and
service availability. The different competitors are providing same services to different consumer in
the market and that has increased power of the consumer. Further, this can only avoided by charging
reasonable cost for the products that company provides in the market.
PART B
2.1 Evaluation of strategic directions with Porter's generic strategies
Each business organization requires competitive advantage within the marketplace, Mariott
hotel has to use some best strategies that are recommended as below. The hospitality business needs
to emphasize on three very important and effectual strategies which are as follows:

Cost leadership strategy
This strategy is one of the most known and efficacious business approach permitting Mariott
hotel to lower its prices as minimum as possible for achieving competitive edge in industrial
market. The hotel has to utilize this methodology to lessen its accomodation cost to achieve
competitive market position, its management could attract customers from all over the world given
of its cost reduction (Kharub and et.al., 2018).
Differentiation strategy
It is secondmost effectual technique that comprises substantial risk factor as well; here
Mariott needs to distinguish its products from services of its rivals. It basically means either
differentiating new characteristics to existing goods or launching innovative service-options for
meeting consumer demands. Mariott hotel could resort this strategy for differentiating its room-
provisions and unlike its competitors it can insert new features in its rooms and attract clients.
However, it needs further additive or reductive room cost to attract prospective guests all over the
UK.
Cost focus strategy
This particular strategy permits the mentioned hotel business to reduce its cost of available
products prior to entering the niche market. In this way Mariott hotel can effectively cover niche
market areas where the audience has already been acutely segmented. Hospitality sector in context
needs to be cautiously transparent concerning its present market price sensitivity since it pertains to
adding something new, productive, and cost effective to the current market.
Differentiation focus strategy
This differentiation focus strategic measure pertains to a generic focused approach which
puts higher emphasis on the niche markets but at the same time offers excellent products and
services that are unique in surrounding marketplaces. The rising importance needs to be given to the
product features instead to their costs. For example, hotel Mariott's business could carry its
hospitality management by using the proper mixture of low cost strategic directions along with
innovatively and uniquely designed rooms (a differentiated approach) which can cater to client's
customized needs (Knight and et.al., 2020).
2.2 Recommendations of appropriate platforms for growth strategies with Ansoff matrix
Introduced by Igor Ansoff in year 1957, Ansoff Matrix model is known for its
product/market extension grid. This technique could be efficiently used for analyzing and help
suggesting useful strategic growth factors for the Mariott hotel.

Market penetration
This is a prime strategy that aims at raising the market growth share of Mariott hotel and
puts no sudden threats since the hotel brand could enter extensively in its existing markets. It
illustrates a stable platform when it is about further promotional business methodologies of the
UK's hospitality businesses to the favoured customer segments. The hotel yet has growth
opportunities within its specific niche markets thereby making this a penetrative market growth
strategy a lesser fit for the suitability of a holistic development (Yu, 2019).
Product development
It's a secondary strategy regarding product and service development that can assist the UK's
hotel sectoral chain. This is a bit more risky as a company launches a novel product in the present
market spheres. Such move requires inclusive research and service development. This could be
implemented via several ways like striking strategic partnerships in other sectors for gaining the
access to each other's supply-chain channels. With the adaptation of such a strategy Mariott's
business could offer its varied clientele with more developed enriched products.
Market development
Whenever a distinguished organization enters an unexplored business sector, the associated
share of the existing products within the new marketplaces takes time for expansion due to
jurisdictional limitations. The diverse nature of the customer tastes and product variations also pose
certain derailing fluctuations. Hotel Mariott could benefit from such supporting strategy along with
reasonbale costs, powerful trademarks, and much renewed emphasis on broadening its products in
unidentified market areas. This could be done through generating new consumer segments, and
entering into different domestic markets, etc (GIRGEN, 2021).
Diversification
It is yet other supporting strategic approach where the mentioned Mariott hotel's business
invests into the new marketplaces with an entirely distinguished product. This is the toughest and
riskiest technique for the business. The product market developmental growth strategies are needed
in this that leads to more revenue because it widely unlocks an entirely unique revenue stream. But
it also has its individual risk of launching a new or untested product in a total new market area of
which the hotel may not posess much knowledge.
Recommending most advisable strategy for Mariott hotel: This can be critically observed with the
abovementioned analysis that the first prime stage of its growth and expansion model namely of
'Market Development' strategy appropriately suits as the foundation of hotel Mariott's strategic
directions. This is because such a variant extends a better opportunity towards the business for a

considerably inclusive developmental growth plan.
2.3 Strategic management plan process
Vision: Hotel Mariott known as one of the top leading hospitality brand within the UK hotel sector
was founded by J.W. Bill Mariott, Jr. in the 90's. Before known as a lodging company, this hotel
comprises one very distinguished and exotic hotel chains almost all over its global landscape with a
focused vision of building a stable client base. Mariott's far sighted company logo 'travel briliantly
in the Mariott way..' makes its business one profitable venture.
Mission: This hotel aims at staying central to its mission which is becoming as well as growing as
the singular best opted hospitality brands along with a consumer centered approach for conducting
business. It initiated as one simple lodging place and over some period of time extended itself
within multiple diverse industries.
Aims and objectives:
The Mariott hotel channel aims at significant 35% appraisal in its sales and advertising aside
from giving a range of additional comfort to the client base. It specifies this objective with equal
focus on the social recognition, merchandising activities and sponsoring strategies with electronic
and social media. This hospitality business particularly aims at its business strategy in growth areas
apart from its homeland region. Moreover it places good amount of focus onto other resource areas
like pipelines and fuel storage (Bindra and et.al., 2019).
Internal environmental analysis
Hotel Mariott's internal business strategy could be assessed with a concise and analytical
overview of the SWOT analysis which is displayed with the following.
Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
Dominant business
brand in UK
hospitality sector
Major focus on
proficient customers
Using financial assets
for novelty
Legislativel risks from
the agreements with
Trade union
High rate of satisfied
customers
Geographical
restriction in native
regions only
Positive collaborations
for business expansion
Competing rivals in
hotel sector
Service provision with
detailed, segmented,
High level of
competitors in
Broadening its client
base with reasonable
Absence of
appropriate fiscal and

customized and
distinguished USP
industry prices legal solutions
Strategizing planning
Strategic planned management comprises both the internal (micro) and external (macro)
business environmental aspects that impact a specific business, in present scenario the Mariott
hotel. Entering an already existing market combined with an emphasized approach can extremely
benefit the mentioned hotel for locating with widening its business processes for revenue
maximization. In case of reaching the short term plus long term aims and objectives, Mariott can
also use the approach of enlarging its client base with the medium-class consumers too. The below
examined analyses of the comprised frameworks show where such famous UK hospitality chain
resides and which strategies it requires to include in its parameters (Alvarez and et.al., 2021).
Extrinsic strategic analysis
After having conducted the PESTEL as well as SWOT of the Mariott hotel service sector this
could be fairly iterated that the hospitality business sphere can maintain a proper record of the
existing and arising competitions with Porter's Five competitive Forces. The hotel has a
surprisingly good incidence in the aspect of the removal of its future industrial competitors by
providing a broad scope of novel product procurement and development strategies. The PESTEL
analysis of the mentioned hotel displays a critical overview of the external issues like political,
economic, and sociological disadvantages along with marketing and operational dimensions.
Applied strategic models were followed by above four distinct variants of Porter's Generic
strategies for growth which identified and examined the Mariott hotel's business management
approaches (Cavaleri and Shabana, 2018). The most advantageous of it is the focused differentiating
strategy as this is based on the dynamic scope of the Mariott hotel. It could apply lower cost method
strategy in combination with an effective differentiation focused technique that can assist the hotel
in offering the customers with diverse and uniquely customized service goods at low costs.
Intrinsic environmental analysis
Mariott can use the Ansoff matri to strategize its current and future strategies. For example,
market penetration tool could certainly help the hotel business for focusing on expansion of existing
goods and services in the existing and new markets. This can result in more enhanced and
developed customer service record and might also open new opportunities for market extensions of
the hotel for further investments.

Key Performance Indicators
The KPI's for the Mariott hotel shows an average good percentage rise of its personnel's
comprehension of their firm's aims and goal accomplishments. It could also be observed that the
hospitality business has placed good efforts into augmenting its utilization of innovative
technologies so that company can reach the desired goal regarding a 35% hike in the advertising
section and promotion of sales.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be accurately observed that it has critically analyzed the
complete conceptual framework of the key issues related to the hospitality industry of the United
Kingdom. For the same purpose the large scale UK based and globally recognized hotel sector
business of Mariott has been chosen to conduct this specific research study. It has analyzed both the
internal and external environment of the business organization by applying SWOT and PESTEL
models. Next it has examined and explored the firm's strategic capabilities with the assessment of
its business factors. Certain varied models such as VRIO, Porter's five forces and generic strategies
along with Ansoff matrix have been also applied for the discussion of its competitive market
aspects. Finally the report hs concluded on the extensive portfolio presented through the different
strategic directions for the development and growth of the hotel business.

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