Strategic Improvement of Hospitality Marketing Techniques

The assignment delves into various aspects of hospitality management with a focus on marketing strategies, sustainability, and competitive advantage. It begins by evaluating the conditions necessary for successful community-based tourism enterprises and transitions into an exploration of luxury brand marketing experiences in the sector. The study then analyzes macro-environmental factors influencing rural tourism development using the Lithuanian case as a reference point. Strategic frameworks such as SWOT and PESTLE are employed to identify industry challenges and devise potential solutions, including budgeting techniques and breakeven analysis. Furthermore, it discusses resources and capabilities that drive hotel environmental marketing strategies for competitive advantage and performance, emphasizing the importance of social media in travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors. The assignment also reviews recent trends and future directions in hospitality marketing research, highlighting the role of sustainable tourism development strategies through SWOT analysis. Cross-sectional analysis of tourist spending dynamics in Algarve is included to provide a practical perspective on tourism economics. Finally, it investigates cross-institutional collaboration networks within tourism and hospitality research.

Running head: SERVICE SECTOR MARKETING
Service Sector Marketing
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Company background and situation analysis..................................................................................3
Linking situational analysis.............................................................................................................6
SWOT..............................................................................................................................................7
Definition of problem......................................................................................................................9
Selected issue.................................................................................................................................10
Identification of alternatives..........................................................................................................10
Evaluation of alternatives..............................................................................................................11
Recommended course of actions...................................................................................................12
Implementation plans and contingencies.......................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
The service sector marketing s concerned with the management of various processes of
manufacturing and production during the business activities within the tourism and hospitality
industry. This will include a situational analysis of the Travelodge Group of Hotels in UK and
the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company will also be assessed here.
The problems faced by the organisation will be illustrated here along with how it has created
complexities during the management of feasibility of a project (Armstrong, 2012). The
alternative solutions will be provided here along with suitable actions that can be undertaken for
making the implementation plan successful and even apply contingency plans for overcoming
the issues with ease and effectiveness.
Company background and situation analysis
Travelodge Group of hotels is a business organisation within the hospitality and tourism
industry that provides over 500 hotels to choose from for the customers and offer great value
with the upgraded rooms, good food and other services that can keep the customers satisfied and
come back for more to enjoy and relax. It is a great choice for the groups because of the
comfortable room services with shower and all these kinds of services are offered at great value
for money to meet the demands and preferences of the customers (Atwal & Williams, 2017). The
hotel chains are offered with free Wifi internet access with no booking fees as well by
Travelodge Group of Hotels, UK.
The situational analysis for Travelodge is done by using the 5Cs analysis and Porter’s
five forces analysis, which can further help to create a marketing plan. The marketing plan
creation would allow Travelodge to communicate the benefits of the products and services

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offered to the consumers’ needs and requirements. With the help of situational analysis, a proper
marketing plan is created for achieving the goals and objectives within the tourism and
hospitality industry (Barkauskas et al., 2015).
5C analysis
The 5C analysis is used for analyzing both the internal and external business environment to
identify the problematic areas of marketing and assess the changes that can be done. The
components of this model are company, customers, competitors, collaborator and climatic
conditions.
Company—The business organisation’s vision, strategies, culture and product line are
understood along with the potential problems that can create a negative impact on the business
functioning. The vision of the organisation is to deliver value for money services in leisure and
business travel (Bowie et al., 2016).
Customers—The situational analysis is done by using this framework and understand the
customers, whose needs and requirements keep on changing from time to time. The targeted
market segments, size of market and growth have been assessed too. Travelodge has a good
market share and it has provided its services to multiple market segments (E. Dobbs, 2014).
Competitors—The analysis of competitors is done t understand the external environment and
gain in-depth knowledge of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, positioning of services and
threats of competitors. Few competitors are Premier Inn, Holiday Inn, etc.
Collaborators—These are the external stakeholders including suppliers, business partners, etc.
who manage good relationships with the businesses and

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Climate—The climatic here means the macro environmental factors which has been done with
the use of PEST analysis for Travelodge Group of Hotels, UK (Kozak & Martin, 2012).
PESTLE analysis
Political factors
The rules and regulations followed at Travelodge are dependent on the political
environment and have been set by the Government to manage its operations. The Digital
Economy Act 2010 was introduced to reduce the inappropriate sharing of files and information
and prevent the infringement of copyrights and trademarks of the company too. The immigration
policies were utilized to ensure that the issues related to the lack of hospitality sectors resulting
from caps could be reduced largely (Leonidou et al., 2013).
Economic Factors
To maintain a stable economic condition, the organisation has provided good quality
services at lower prices through the hotel chains in United Kingdom for meeting the expectations
of the customers and ensured high level of customer satisfaction.
Social Factors
The online booking procedures have made it convenient for the service users and it has
become a major trend nowadays. Due to this, more customers are attracted and they have even
got discounts by booking the rooms in any of the hotel chains of Travelodge at a much
reasonable cost. Many individuals were also provided with employment opportunities in the
hotel chains of Travelodge, which has enhanced its brand image reputation too (Leung et al.,

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2013).
Technological Factors
With the advancement in technology and communication, booking hotels has become
faster and easier and the market is made more competitive as well. Various market segments are
attracted easily and with the involvement of social media, the company has created a good image
among the customers and made them informed about the kinds of services delivered at the
different hotel chains of Travelodge in UK.
Legal Factors
The laws, rules and regulations were implemented for managing the business operations
with ease while the introduction of new laws has helped the company to capture different market
segments, attracted new customers and retained the existing customers too (Line & Runyan,
2012).
Linking situational analysis
Porter’s five forces analysis
Threat of new entrants
The managers of Travelodge, UK have found it difficult to access credit because of the
inconvenience of finding the right hotels for the customers. The new companies within the
emerging markets have fewer resources to sustain in the marketplace, because of which, the
threat of new entrants is low.
Competitive rivalries

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The demands of consumers change from time to time and regardless of the changes in
costs of services, they will keep on consuming (Mok, Sparks & Kadampully, 2013). There are
rivalries in business such as Premier Inn, Holiday Inn, etc. which have given stiff competition to
Travelodge UK.
Threat of substitute products and services
There are numerous substitutes for the services related to the hotel chains nowadays
including camping, caravan clubs, country houses, which have changed the behaviors of
consumers too by shifting to those rather than availing the services of the hotels (Reihanian et al.,
2012).
Bargaining power of suppliers
The furniture and fittings present at the hotels are based on the quality of raw materials
and resources provided by the suppliers. As Travelodge is a large company that manages
services of a wide range of hotel chains, so the bargaining power of suppliers is quite high.
Bargaining power of customers
Travelodge do hold a huge amount of capital to develop new hotels and here the
bargaining power of consumers is comparatively low (Serra, Correia & Rodrigues, 2015). For
the smaller hotels, the bargaining power is high while for the larger hotels, the bargaining power
is high.
SWOT
Strengths

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The hotels chain services are offered at affordable prices and with the help of new
technologies, Travelodge UK manages account cards for the customers, which creates ease of
booking. The company is even committed to its sustainability campaign and has focused on its
vision properly to achieve the business goals and objectives.
Weaknesses
The luxury services are not up to the mark and the customers’ services are limited too.
The hotel chains are not suitable for family meetings and large parties, which may sometimes
require more space (Sigala, Christou & Gretzel, 2012). Being known as a luxury hotel chain
company, Travelodge is far behind the kinds of services that a luxury hotel offers.
Opportunities
There are enough scopes to expand business globally, especially the European market
where tourism is one of the major sources of income. The business partnerships with other
companies can attract more customers, enhance its reputation and generate more revenue in
business (Sotiriadis & Van Zyl, 2013).
Threats
Most of the budget hotels in UK are price competitive, because of which, customers can
get inclined to those. The competition by other rivalries is another threat whereas the enhanced
size and accommodation facilities can also make the customers avail the services of some other
hotels. Travelodge though has created a sustainable position in UK; still there are no signs of
international expansion, which is a major threat too.

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Definition of problem
One of the major problems faced by Travelodge group of hotels, UK is that the services
offered by the company are not up to the luxury standards that a luxury hotel offers. Another
problem is the lack of global business expansion outside UK, especially in the European market
segments, where tourism and hospitality is one of the major sources of income (Testa & Sipe,
2013). The bargaining power of suppliers and consumers can also create problems, because if the
suppliers are not provided with good amounts of money, then the raw materials and resources
will not be of good qualities, which might deteriorate the quality of services offered to the
customers and make them unsatisfied.
Opportunities Threats
 Introduction of new
hotel chains
 Good performance and
growth in economy
 Presence of
competitors
 Absence of luxury
services
Strengths
 Huge number of hotels
all over UK
 The customers’ needs
are known easily
 A positive brand name
and image
Consumers are more aware of
the changing environment and
so Travelodge needs to be
innovative and maintain
sustainable approaches to
recycle wastes, prevent
pollution and maintain
ecological balance in nature
The company needs to
enhance to quality of services
to obtain competitive edge and
even maintain a good culture
within the organisation for
promoting good working
conditions (Ye, Song & Li,
2012).
Weaknesses Technological advancements The stakeholders’

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1. Lack of expansion in
international market
2. Stakeholders’ requirements
were not met properly
3. High competition
have eased the ways of
booking and enhanced the
sales for the company too
requirements must be met to
create positive mindset among
the customers by enhancing
the quality of services.
Selected issue
The issue selected here was the kinds of services that could not meet the standards of a
luxury hotel. Customers expect luxury services from the Travelodge hotel chains, UK and so the
company must provide them with the best quality services to keep them satisfied and create a
positive mindset among them to influence their buying behaviors (Armstrong, 2012).
Identification of alternatives
The issues that are being faced by the Travelodge group of hotels is based on the services
that are being provided by the hotels. The hospitality industry to which the hotels belong mainly
focuses on the services that are being provided. Therefore, in order to make improvements in the
situation of the hotels in the market, the certain steps that the hotels might focus on are being
discussed in this section of the analysis. The most important consideration, which must be
undertaken by the hotels, is based on the requirements of the consumers (Mok, Sparks &
Kadampully, 2013). The industry survives on the services that are being provided to the
consumers; therefore, the hotels must improve the quality of the services based on the
expectations of their external benefactors, the consumers.

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Providing the information of the hotel to the clients
The information lays a major role in making the clients aware of the whereabouts of the
hotel and the facilities that are being provided by the hotel to their clients (Testa & Sipe, 2012).
It helps the people to judge the situation of the hotel and make a choice from among the others in
the market.
Planning the services according to the needs of the consumers
Proper planning of the services must be done to make sure that the promised services are
delivered. The planning process also enhances the integration of the internal and the external
departments of the hotel, which helps in maintaining the quality of hotel services and keep the
customers satisfied (Atwal & Williams, 2017).
Evaluation of alternatives
Among the various alternatives, the break even analysis can be the most suitable to
determine the volume of sales and identify the remaining capacity when the breakeven point is
reached. The budgeting procedure would also be useful for creating a plan about how to invest
money and make necessary changes and improvements to enhance the quality of services and
ensure that the luxury standards of the hotels are met. The organization must make sure that the
clients receive the correct information through the appointment of the manager or a team of
experts who would be looking after the information technology of the line of hotels (Bowie et al.,
2016). The organization must make sure that the clients receive the correct information through
the appointment of the manager or a team of experts who would be looking after the information
technology of the line of hotels. Technological implementations would drive the business

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processes and make the organisation achieve the desired positive outcomes with ease and
effectiveness as well.
Recommended course of actions
The group of hotels can bring in the improvements through the modification of their
services in a number of ways. The ways are being enumerated in order to better understand the
organizational needs of the hotels.
Monitoring over the services
Monitoring over the services is an important steps that the organization must take in order
to assess the services being provided to the clients. Monitoring the services helps the
organization in understand the basic requirements of the clients based on the feedback that the
client gives after receiving the service (Brotherton, 2012). The feedbacks will be helping the
organization in modifying the services according to the client’s needs.
Implementation plans and contingencies
The implementation plans help in making the services more efficient based on the plans
that are being formulated to undertake the development of the organization. For implementing
the strategies, the organization must take steps that were enumerated in this section of the
analysis.
 The organization must identify the challenges faced in the communication process and
make modifications in the channels of communication. It helps in making the most of the
human resource that works for the company.