Hospitality Report: Marriott's Guest Service Experience Strategies

This report examines Marriott's guest service experience within the hospitality industry, focusing on the company's strategies for appraising guest satisfaction and delivering high-quality services. It explores the sector's significance, Marriott's products and services, and the strategies employed, including customization, pricing, and distribution. The report delves into service quality, service settings, and the overall service delivery process. It highlights Marriott's unique selling points, emphasizing its global market leadership and strong financial performance. The report also analyzes the company's approach to personalization marketing and its impact on enhancing customer experience. The findings underscore the importance of these strategies in maintaining a competitive edge and achieving customer loyalty within the hospitality sector. The report concludes with a summary of the key takeaways and the overall effectiveness of Marriott's guest service approach.

Hospitality and Guest
management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
The sector within the hospitality and tourism industry...............................................................1
The selected organisation............................................................................................................1
Products and services of Marriott...............................................................................................2
Strategies for appraising guests service experience....................................................................2
Service quality.............................................................................................................................4
Service setting.............................................................................................................................5
Service delivery by Marriott.......................................................................................................5
Guests service experience...........................................................................................................6
FINDINGS.......................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality and guests management can be defined as the management of a business
organisation which is related with providing services of accommodation and food and beverages
for those who are away from their home. In the hospitality industry various service industries is
included such as accommodation, food and drink, transportation, theme parks, event management
and many others. For this file, the selected organisation is Marriott which is an American
multinational diversified hospitality firm and offering a range of services to their customers. This
study will cover about experience of guests with the services of hotel. Also, it will consider all
those strategies which is using by the organisations for appraising their guests and providing
them the higher quality of services.
MAIN BODY
The sector within the hospitality and tourism industry
The hospitality industry within the UK considered as one of the biggest engine for growth
in the economy as because it able to get the attention of government, customers and employees in
the business. The various sectors are covered under the hospitality industry such as travel and
tourism, food and beverage, lodging, recreation, entertainment, transportation, meeting and
events etc(Kapiki, 2012). As the UK attracts a range of tourists in the country also it provide a
huge business opportunities to the investors in order to get the higher income. The contribution of
the hospitality industry in economy is higher which can be determined by the percentage of it in
rising the GDP which is 3.6%(Hospitality & Tourism, 2019). Due to this the UK government is
also providing funds to the all those organisations which are operating their activities under the
hospitality industry so that they can easily promote their brand at the both national and
international level which will direct impact on attracting foreign investment. Along with this, the
continually increment in the investment of this sector contribute in creating the higher
employment opportunities to the people. For this aspect, the UK government also adopt various
policies to promote the tourist industry in order make UK one of the leading country across the
world.
The selected organisation
As the chosen organisation for this report is Marriott which is operating their business
activities under the hospitality sector. This company is formed by J. Willard Marriott in 1927
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which headquarters is situated in Bethesda, Maryland and U.S. This firm is listed as the third
largest hotel chain in the world. Marriott has almost 30 brands and 7003 hotels in 131 countries
This business organisation is well-known for offering a range of quality services to its guests as
per the latest technologies and current market segments. These services include accommodation,
food and drinks, education, health, recreation, attraction and many others facility to their guests
in order to provide the higher satisfaction to their guests and earned higher profitability in the
marketplace(Kim, Stonesifer and Han, 2012).
Products and services of Marriott
Marriott is categorised under the most prestigious and famous brand due to offering a
number of luxurious products and services to its customers. This hotel is mainly concern for
providing higher satisfaction to their guests so that the higher brand value and recognition can be
gained in the limited period of time. The main products and services of this industry are hotel
groups, resorts, boutique hotels and hospitality management company. Other the major products
of this organisation are accommodation, food and beverage, leisure services and others. The core
services of this hotel is providing lodging with rooms, valet, reception, restaurant and subsidiary
services. The accumulation of the organisational services depends on the three characteristics
which are customers participation, accessibility of services and interaction with service
organisation(Ryan, 2015).
USP (Unique Selling Point): It can be define as a feature of a product which makes it
different from the other competitors products and services on the basis of their quality, price and
other aspects. The USP of Marriott is global market leadership in which they give their focus on
covering a big market share by use its dominance in order to compete their competitors in the
marketplace. The core strength of Marriott is that it has good returns on capital expenditure as
they are successful at execution of new project. Along with this company is able to expand in
other nation because they have strong free cash flow. In global market firm has high brand
recognition due to which huge profit is maximized. Company with hold skilled and capable
employees with their effective tactics which aid them to achieve set goals and objectives
(Lampinen, 2016).
Strategies for appraising guests service experience
In order to sustain the business position for a longer period of time the manager of
Marriott hotel give their major focus on espousing the effective strategies which enables them to
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attain the higher customer satisfaction and retain their interest and attention for a long span of
time. For operating all the functions smoothly they are adopting that marketing strategies which
are more suitable as per the culture and custom of the nation. They usually work on the basis on
this approach which is “one size fits all” in which they are operating various marketing
transactions wherever it is placed. The marketing activities include advertising, branding,
marketing, promoting and other. For better understanding this concept there are define various
points which will describe about all those strategies that are adopting by the manager of the
Marriott to give their guests best experience:
Customization strategy: As in the present world scenario, each and every person is
different due to which the hotel industry have to give their focus on identifying each guests
demand and needs. This strategy has followed in the Marriott in a well manner as it will enables
the manager of Marriott to ascertain the competitiveness in the marketplace so that they can
effectively operate their activities in order to compete the competitors. Along with this, this
strategy also helps them in providing various products and services as per the customers demand
or expectations so that needs of their guests can be satisfied and the profitability of the business
can be increased(Lashley, 2015).
Pricing strategy: This is the most important factor of a business as it is related to the
price of various products and services of the business organisation. The pricing strategy of
Marriott hotel comprises the strategy of selling the right product to the right customer at right
time so that the satisfaction of the customers can be raised. The pricing of their services has been
determined by considering the factors of quality and demand of the customers. Along with this,
Marriott also consider the competitive pricing strategy sometime which enable them to set the
price of their services as per the situation and competitors strategies. But they always set that
price which will not able to create the risk on their brand value and customers attention. This help
the manager of the Marriott to provide a great experience to their guests by providing them the
luxury services at affordable price(Kim, Knutson and Vogt, 2014).
Distribution strategy: The distribution channels plays a huge role in the organisation as
it open up the revenue resources for the business and paves ways for attaining higher growth in
the marketplace. In order to provide the higher experience to their customers Marriott is adopting
the both direct and indirect distribution channels. The indirect channels is conducted by them
with the help of third parties, travel agencies and wholesalers which helps them in providing the
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services to their customers on time with higher efficiency. Other, the Marriott hotel is adopting
the central reservation system is directly related with the external channels this system assist the
manager in enhancing the inventory distribution infrastructure. All these strategies provide the
benefit to the manager as lowering the costs and cover a big market share with higher satisfaction
of customers(Nunkoo, Gursoy and Ramkissoon, 2013).
Personalisation marketing: It is another most effective strategy for the business to
attract a range of customers in the company services and to enhance their customers experience.
Personalisation marketing refers to the that strategy which is adopted by the organisation in order
to deliver the necessary information or content to the recipient through the data collection and
using the mechanization technology. The main purpose of Marriott behind adopting this
marketing system is to engage the loyal customers towards the organisation by communicating
with them effectively about their demand, needs and expectation from the hotel. This will help
the manager of Marriott to improve the customers experience, enhance the brand value, create
uniformity across channels and increase the overall revenue of the business.
Service quality
Marriott is listed under one of the most famous brand which provide premier and luxury
facilities to their customers in order to attain the higher customer satisfaction. For maintaining
quality of their services they are using high innovative techniques in their business operations so
that they will be able to deliver effective services to their customers. The effectiveness of their
services can be seen by their rooms, the cleanliness of their property, quality of the amenities like
food, exercise rooms, gym facility and pool. Due to render the quality services to their customers
the organisation is able to attain the leadership position in the marketplace(Stierand and Zizka,
2015).
In this aspect, they are adopting various effective strategies or plans to maintain the
effectiveness of their services. Like in this aspect they are taking the various strategies into the
account like ability to pay, market conditions, competitors actions, input cost, trade margins and
others. These all helps them in determining the marketing situations and customers perceptions
which enables them to provide various services accordingly. As the targeted customers of this
hotel industry is high class people so in this case it become more essential for them to maintain
the quality of services so that they can satisfy their customers needs significantly. This will help
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them in attaining the higher profitability in the marketplace which results higher recognition and
brand value in the marketplace.
Service setting
As the hospitality industry considered as a lucrative business industry as it provide huger
growth opportunities to the economy. Service setting refers to the environment and ambience of a
hotel in which the business organisation is operating their business activities and offering the
services. So it is crucial for an association to set the boundaries for their subordinates to behave
with the customers in a significant manner. As the Marriott is conducting their activities at global
level so it is necessary for them to create an effective culture and ambience in their hotel as this
will help them to retain their customers for a longer period of time. In order to create the positive
environment within the organisation they are following the flat culture which increase the free
flow of communication in the business which enables them to maintain the healthy relationship
with the customers which results higher support of the employees in achieving the organisational
goals and objectives. Also, service setting refers to the way of render the services to the
customers such as how they are serve food to their customers, how effectively they are organising
parties or other formal events to their customers as these reflects the culture and ethics of the
organisation which they following while rendering the services. In the Marriott hotel, all the
employees are highly skilled and trained which demonstrate the excellent services to the
customers(Chan and Hsu, 2016).
Service delivery by Marriott
Service delivery refers to the act of providing the services by an hospitality organisation
to its customers. It is an important factor in the hospitality industry so it is essential for the
organisation to give their focus on the effectiveness of service delivery process as it helps firm to
meet the requirement and needs of the customers on time. In Marriott hotel, the manager give
their major focus on maintaining the service delivery. For this, they have divided it service
delivery process into two parts which is front and back service. The front service include the
reception and restaurant service as these both are visible to the customer. In this aspect, they have
employed most highly experienced employees who can better deliver the information to the
customers and for enhancing the restaurant experience which is related to deliver the food they
are adopting the TQM approach. That is mainly concerned with quality of the food at restaurant
which enables them to deliver the best quality of food to the customers in order to create the
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positive image of the hotel on the customers mind. Other, in the back services include cleaning
services, security facility and other which are not represented but essential to taking care of those
facilities in order to enhance the customers service experience. All these help the Marriott in
getting the higher success and growth in their business along with the higher
profitability(Lashley, 2015).
Guests service experience
Consumers experience is a perception and related feelings caused by the one-off and
cumulative effect of interaction with the supplier of goods and services. In the present case
experience of three consumers who had enjoyed their stay in the Marriott hotel is mentioned.
This experience will be based on the services that are provided by hotel.
Consumer 1:
Basis Rating 1 Rating 2 Rating 3 Rating 4 Rating 5
Hotel staff
service
- - - ✔ -
Cleanliness - - - - ✔
Food - - - ✔ -
Variety of
amenities
- - - - ✔
As per this consumer hotel staff was quite friendly and efficient in performing all the
services that are assigned to them. Only delay in service for few minutes was a small issue. Hotel
rooms, pool, play area, working area and reception area was quite clean and providing positive
vibe. Food offered by Marriott was delicious in taste but variety was not as per consumers
requirement. Variety of amenities such as play area, pool, conference room, spa and gym all are
available in the hotel(Rauch and et. al., 2016).
Consumer 2:
Basis Rating 1 Rating 2 Rating 3 Rating 4 Rating 5
Hotel staff
service
- - ✔ - -
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Cleanliness - - - - ✔
Food - - - ✔ -
Variety of
amenities
- - - ✔ -
Consumer two while staying with Marriott was not satisfied with the hotel staff service as
one that particular day hotel staff was ineffective to entertain them in the mid night with some
specific drinks that was ordered. Cleanliness was rated full as all the hotel was finely cleaned and
hygiene is maintained. Food was rated good as taste was nice and as per consumers preference.
Variety of amenities was market as good as all the facilities was available but their was only one
pool and this consumer was of the opinion that more pools must be prese4nt in the hotel.
Consumer 3:
Basis Rating 1 Rating 2 Rating 3 Rating 4 Rating 5
Hotel staff
service
- - - - ✔
Cleanliness - - - ✔ -
Food - - - - ✔
Variety of
amenities
- - - - ✔
Hotel staff services rated by this consumer was with the highest ratting as he find hotel
staff very friendly and all the services provided was on time and in best manner. Cleanliness of
the hotel was very good as all the rooms, wash rooms, play area and pool side was very clean and
well maintained. Food served by hotel was given full marks for its taste, appearance. Food menu
was full was variety of dishes that belongs to different cultures and all were served in their
authentic taste. Marriott was full of amenities that are available free for their consumers as
service like spa, pool and gym was quite impressive. All the facilities was luxury and quality of
services are worth the value paid for the stay in Marriott(Chen and Law, 2016).
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FINDINGS
According to the above discussion about the Marriott hotel it has found that they are
operating their all operations or functions with great efficiency and effectively. But in order to
getting more recognition and success in the business the manager must consider some efficacious
plans in their functions as it will enables them to provide higher customer experience which will
open up paths of the success and recondition in the marketplace. They should focus on increasing
the food variety so that customers can order as per their choices and needs. Also, they give their
main concern to organise live shows in their hotel so that customers can feel their stay more
convenient and enjoyable. For enhancing the guests experience in their hotel they should also
focus on appointing more experienced employees in their organisation which can also deliver the
basic essential during their working hour either it be a day or a night shift.
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CONCLUSION
As per the preceding study, it can be concluded that hospitality industry have a huge role
in growth of the economy. The scope of this industry is very high as it is diverse in nature as they
are not only providing the food and accommodation facility but they are also rendering the
various facilities like gymnasium, night clubs, internet, conference, sauna, parking and many
others. The organisations which are indulging in hospitality industry like Marriott are concerning
for adopting the effective strategies for their business operations which enables them to deliver
the higher customer experience to their guests and attain higher recognition and growth in the
marketplace.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journal
Candea, M. and Da Col, G., 2012. The return to hospitality. Journal of the Royal Anthropological
Institute. 18. pp.S1-S19.
Chan, E. S. and Hsu, C. H., 2016. Environmental management research in hospitality.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 28(5). pp.886-923.
Chen, Y. F. and Law, R., 2016. A review of research on electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality
and tourism management. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism
Administration. 17(4). pp.347-372.
Kapiki, S., 2012. Quality management in tourism and hospitality: An exploratory study among
tourism stakeholders. International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories. 2(2).
Kim, M., Knutson, B. J. and Vogt, C. A., 2014. Posttrip behavioral differences between first-time
and repeat guests: A two-phase study in a hospitality setting. Journal of Hospitality
Marketing & Management. 23(7). pp.722-745.
Kim, W. G., Stonesifer, H. W. and Han, J. S., 2012. Accommodating the needs of disabled hotel
guests: Implications for guests and management. International Journal of Hospitality
Management. 31(4). pp.1311-1317.
Lampinen, A., 2016. Hosting together via Couchsurfing: Privacy management in the context of
network hospitality. International Journal of Communication. 10. p.20.
Lashley, C., 2015. Hospitality and hospitableness. Research in Hospitality Management. 5(1).
pp.1-7.
Lashley, C., 2015. Hospitality studies: escaping the tyranny?. Quality Assurance in Education.
23(4). pp.364-377.
Nunkoo, R., Gursoy, D. and Ramkissoon, H., 2013. Developments in hospitality marketing and
management: Social network analysis and research themes. Journal of Hospitality
Marketing & Management. 22(3). pp.269-288.
Rauch, E. and et. al., 2016. Lean Hospitality-Application of Lean Management methods in the
hotel sector. Procedia CIRP. 41. pp.614-619.
Ryan, C., 2015. Trends in hospitality management research: a personal reflection. International
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 27(3). pp.340-361.
Stierand, M. and Zizka, L., 2015. Reflecting on hospitality management education through a
practice lens. Quality Assurance in Education. 23(4). pp.353-363.
Online
Hospitality & Tourism. 2019. [Online]. Available
through:<http://www.investinuk.net/industry/hospitality-tourism/hospitality-tourism>.
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