Report: Strategies Used by Hyatt to Enhance Guest Experience

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the strategies employed by Hyatt Hotels Corporation to enhance guest experiences in a competitive market. It begins with an overview of Hyatt's history, market share, and revenue, followed by an examination of the competitive landscape, including emerging brands like Airbnb and traditional competitors such as Hilton and Marriott. The report delves into the concerns managers face in delivering top-class guest experiences, highlighting strategies like seamless service, brand marketing, and coordinated initiatives. It also explores global trends affecting consumer behavior, such as technological advancements, environmental awareness, globalization, and the influence of social media, and how these trends impact the hotel industry. The report concludes with recommendations for Hyatt to maintain and improve its success, including strengthening brand value, boosting customer value, focusing on operational quality, and incorporating personalized services, along with suggesting a separate program for customer engagement. The report emphasizes the importance of adapting to evolving customer needs and leveraging technology to stay ahead in the dynamic hotel industry.

Running head: STRATEGIES USED BY TO ENHANCE HYATT GUEST EXPERIENCE
Strategies Used By Hyatt to Enhance Guest Experience
Name of the University
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STRATEGIES USED BY HYATT TO ENHANCE GUEST EXPERIENCE
Executive summary
The main objective of the report was to analyze the strategies used by Hyatt in increasing guest
experience. The report commenced with an introduction providing an overview of the entire
report. It was followed by an overview of the company – Hyatt Hotels Corporation. The report
provided statistics that reflected the current market share of Hyatt and its previous revenues.
Further, the report gave a detailed explanation of the concerns faced by managers in providing
top class guest experiences and the strategies used by present day hotels to ensure enhanced
guest experience. In addition, the report presented an evaluation of the global trends that affect
consumer behavior. In doing so, it highlighted the various trends that are utilized by managers to
ensure profit. The report concluded with an overall gist of the entire analysis and
recommendations for the company to follow.

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STRATEGIES USED BY HYATT TO ENHANCE GUEST EXPERIENCE
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Overview of Hyatt...........................................................................................................................3
Competition within hotel industry...................................................................................................4
Concern for managers in enhancing guest experience....................................................................5
Strategies used by Hyatt as a brand.............................................................................................5
Global trends affecting consumer behavior.....................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References:......................................................................................................................................9
Appendices:...................................................................................................................................11
Appendix A................................................................................................................................11
Appendix B................................................................................................................................11

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STRATEGIES USED BY HYATT TO ENHANCE GUEST EXPERIENCE
Introduction
Doing business in the present world is becoming tougher each day owing to various
factors like advancement in technology, globalization and changing needs of consumers. The
hotel industry in particular faces stiff competition mainly due to increased mobilization of
people. In these hard times, the role of managers becomes even more crucial in ensuring
consistent success for the company.
The present report aims to provide a critical evaluation of the present scenario concerning
hotel companies with particular focus on Hyatt International Hotel Company. The report will
begin with an overview of Hyatt followed by an analysis of the competition facing hotel
industry. Further, it will shed light on the concern managers are facing today to enhance guest
experience in their hotels. In addition, the global trends that affect consumer behavior in
choosing hotels will be focused as well. Recommendations for the Hyatt shall also be provided in
order to tackle the growing competition.
Overview of Hyatt
Jay Pritzker founded the Hyatt Hotel Corporations in 1957 in Los Angeles, USA. Within
a decade, jay Pritzker, along with his brother Donald Pritzker expanded the hotel’s operations
and in 1968, the Hyatt International was formed ("Hyatt History", 2018). Today, it boasts of over
800 properties in 52 countries across the globe with more than 550 in US alone. Services
provided by Hyatt include luxury hotels, resorts and spas, unique stay experiences in historic
landmarks, urban gems and others. Currently, the corporation has a total market share of 3 billion
dollars in US alone (Nasdaq.com, 2018). In regions of Asia Pacific and South Asia, the
corporation has a good performance record. A look at the increase in its revenues in the last

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STRATEGIES USED BY HYATT TO ENHANCE GUEST EXPERIENCE
decade further confirms the company’s good performance. The revenues generated in 2016 stood
at 4.43 billion dollars, a 100 million dollars increase compared to previous year (Statista.com,
2018) (See Appendix A). These stats reveal that the corporation has managed its business
successfully over several decades.
However, the recent years have seen an evident decline in the corporation’s profit
probably due to consistent slides in the international market. In spite of these short-term
downfalls, the corporation believes that it will continue to expand and grow.
Competition within hotel industry
The hotel industry in the present day faces tough competition with new brands emerging
and traditional brands transforming to meet new age demands. Hotel franchisers like Airbnb and
other boutique hotels have further increased the competition for luxury hotels like Hyatt (Zervas,
Proserpio & Byers, 2017). Airbnb introduced an innovative platform for customers especially
travelers to have a homely feeling away from home by staying with people in their own homes.
This unique concept became popular overnight and posed a great threat to the already established
luxury hotels. Nieves and Segarra-Ciprés (2015) define competition in the hotel sector as the
contest between brands. The author further argues that political and economic changes within the
last few decades had triple-folded the competition within this sector. Hotel giants like the Hilton
group, the Marriot International and Starwood Hotels and Resorts amongst others are coming up
with strategies like least cost for maximum comfort (Nasdaq.com, 2018) (See Appendix B).
In this age of technology where consumers are getting everything they desire within an
affordable range, luxury hotels are coming up with unique features to lure and keep customers.
Hyatt Corporations have been in the industry for more than six decades and each year they have

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come up with newer ways to attract travelers. In order to stay ahead in the competition, the
company has utilized technology to the maximum by introducing apps like Hyatt Event
Concierge App. The growth in the number of repeat customers has seen a rise of 125% as per the
company statistics that demonstrates the success of strategies employed. Apart from that, the
‘World of Hyatt’ platform that began in 1987 providing easy access to guests worldwide
continues to provide impetus to company revenues ("World of Hyatt", 2018).
Concern for managers in enhancing guest experience
Hyatt Corporation is known for its outstanding guest services everywhere in the world.
The company operates brands like Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency and Andaz amongst
others. All these names resonate to the grandeur and luxury associated with the company.
However, changes in the needs of customers are unpredictable and hence must be assessed
continuously. The manager has to be on his toes to come up with new plans and innovative ideas
to stay a step ahead always.
Strategies used by Hyatt as a brand
Starting from the search for hotels to the booking, checking out, everything has been
customized, and digitized. Hyatt Hotel Corporations is up to date with the changes taking place
in the industry and it has devised and implemented various strategies (Liu etal., 2014).
The first thing managers have done is to ensure completely satisfied guest experience by
providing seamless service. Seamless service refers to the services that are received by guests
without any flaws at any level (Edition.cnn.com, 2018).

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STRATEGIES USED BY HYATT TO ENHANCE GUEST EXPERIENCE
Hyatt is known for providing exceptional personalized services to its customers. These
include direct interactions with guests by hotel executives, fulfilling customer needs prior to their
visit with the help of technology and catering to customer needs irrespective of time and place
(Xie, Zhang & Zhang, 2014).
Hyatt managers realize the value of the brand and hence they have employed unique
strategies to do brand marketing (Huang & Sarigollu, 2014). The company shelters and
maintains brand value while articulating particular business needs of operations.
Another strategy applied by Hyatt is coordinated marketing initiative. It gives advantage
to a subset of resorts and hotels and to regional programs as well (Warnaby & Medway, 2013).
As per this strategy, the revenues earned by Hyatt Regency are shared by the subsets and thus
enhances the corporation’s overall business.
Hyatt also has a unique strategy to do field marketing that allows managers of respective
hotels to market for their individual property (Kownatzki et al., 2013). By utilizing the business
requirements, targets and issues of the individual property, the managers assist in enhancing the
company’s brand value.
Global trends affecting consumer behavior
Businesses today are exposed to the opportunities and challenges of technology and the
rise of internet. The customer-client relationship has reached new heights where the customer
can now directly interact with the client. This unfathomable reach of technology and the internet
also influences hotels like Hyatt. In addition, customers have become more aware about
environmental degradation and hence they scrutinize the services provided by hotels. Owing to
this, managers have now become more careful not to include anything that could cause any

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STRATEGIES USED BY HYATT TO ENHANCE GUEST EXPERIENCE
potential harm to the environment. In addition, people have also become stricter in their response
to environmental degradation by big companies in order to succeed and sustain in business. This
has led to firms adopting the Corporate Social Responsibility policy (Kumar, 2014).
The impact of globalization cannot be ignored as well because it has led to
diversification of businesses. The recent trend visible globally is the intermixing of cultures and
traditions and the growing acceptance of long neglected communities. Due to this, people have
become more critical of companies that show even signs of hostility towards any race or
community. Political and economic changes in the world are also affecting consumer behavior.
The increasing influence of the social media and customers’ dependence on these platforms has
reshaped their perspective about business. Negative campaigns that target big firms are
sometimes easily accepted b customers thus affecting business.
Another trend that has reshaped the way consumers purchase a product or service is the
ease of financial transactions. This trend is attributed to the integration of technology. The trend
has even provided opportunities for the B2Bs to thrive. Offering special cards like World of
Hyatt in case of Hyatt Corporations shows the mold in strategy by companies to meet changing
consumer behaviors.
Recommendations
To a well established and reputed brand like Hyatt, very little could be recommended that
would contribute to its continuing success. However, businesses must not be satisfied with
success, they must thrive to achieve more and be consistent in providing customers with the best
experiences.

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STRATEGIES USED BY HYATT TO ENHANCE GUEST EXPERIENCE
 It is recommended that the company managers must assemble the franchise. They should
elevate the brand name because it reverberates with the customers.
 It is also recommended that the Hyatt Corporations must boost customer value because
the present day customers expect each of their pennies to be worth spending.
 Further, managers at Hyatt should focus more on their operational quality to make sure
that the customers do not face any break throughout their stay.
 Managers should incorporate personalized services at an advanced level where customers
do not have to search for their needs.
 In addition, it is also recommended that the hotel should have a separate program for
customers where they could be a part of something noble; like a fundraising activity or
event.
Conclusion
To conclude, it ca n be stated that factors like changing trends in the world, technological
advancements and globalization have had a great influence on the hotel industry. The Hyatt
Hotel Corporation, a name that is synonymous to grandeur and luxury, also faces threats owing
to these factors. However, managers at Hyatt must be well aware of these facts and are capable
enough to meet the challenges. The given report tried to provide an overall scenario of the hotel
industry by evaluating the performance and strategy of Hyatt. Further, the report presented an
analysis of the changing trends in the world and the ways these affect consumer behavior. The
report provided recommendations to the managers at Hyatt that could be followed to ensure
consistency in success. However, it is suggested that further readings on the performance of the
company and its chief competitors be carried out extensively for deeper insights.

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References:
Edition.cnn.com. (2018). World's most luxurious chain hotels. CNN Travel. Retrieved 20 March
2018, from https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/luxury-chain-hotels/index.html
Kumar, R. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility-A study on hotel industry. Asian Journal of
Multidisciplinary Studies, 2(4).
Nasdaq.com. (2018). Hyatt Hotels Corporation (H) Stock Report –
NASDAQ.com. NASDAQ.com. Retrieved 20 March 2018, from
https://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-report.aspx?symbol=H&selected=H
Nieves, J., & Segarra-Ciprés, M. (2015). Management innovation in the hotel industry. Tourism
Management, 46, 51-58.
Statista.com, R. (2018). Hyatt Hotels: revenue 2016 | Statistic. Statista. Retrieved 20 March
2018, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/257362/revenue-of-the-hyatt-hotels-
corporation/
Zervas, G., Proserpio, D., & Byers, J. W. (2017). The rise of the sharing economy: Estimating
the impact of Airbnb on the hotel industry. Journal of Marketing Research, 54(5), 687-
705.
Xie, K. L., Zhang, Z., & Zhang, Z. (2014). The business value of online consumer reviews and
management response to hotel performance. International Journal of Hospitality
Management, 43, 1-12.
Liu, W., Guillet, B. D., Xiao, Q., & Law, R. (2014). Globalization or localization of consumer
preferences: The case of hotel room booking. Tourism Management, 41, 148-157.

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Huang, R., & Sarigöllü, E. (2014). How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand
equity, and the marketing mix. In Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors (pp. 113-
132). Springer, New York, NY.
Warnaby, G., & Medway, D. (2013). What about the ‘place’in place marketing?. Marketing
Theory, 13(3), 345-363.
Kownatzki, M., Walter, J., Floyd, S. W., & Lechner, C. (2013). Corporate control and the speed
of strategic business unit decision making. Academy of Management Journal, 56(5),
1295-1324.