Strategic Hospitality Management: Britannia Hotel Case Study Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Britannia Hotel's strategic hospitality management. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the identification of core stakeholders based on a PESTEL analysis, emphasizing the significance of government, customers, and the workforce. A SWOT analysis reveals the hotel's strengths, such as its strong brand value, and weaknesses, like its UK-centric operations. The report evaluates the importance and implications of the SWOT analysis, detailing how Britannia Hotels leverages its strengths and addresses its weaknesses. It further discusses the hotel's mission, vision, and objectives, emphasizing customer satisfaction and ecological responsibility. The analysis includes a stakeholder assessment, identifying key groups and their influence using a power/interest matrix. Ultimately, the report aims to provide insights into the strategic decisions and operational effectiveness of Britannia Hotel within the competitive hospitality industry, with the original document being contributed by a student and available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources.

Strategic Hospitality Management
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Executive summary
The report delves into the functioning of the Britannia Hotel. Based on the PESTEL analysis
conducted, the core stakeholders and their significance in the business operations of the
organisation have been identified. The power/interest matrix shows that government, customers
and workforce are the key stakeholders having high level of interest in the firm whereas society
has low power and low interest. On the other hand, the SWOT analysis of the firm has helped in
realising that it has a strong brand value and customer reputation within UK, however the same
fact that it operates only in UK proves to be a weakness for the organisation.
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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 4
Mission........................................................................................................................................ 5
Vision of the organisation.........................................................................................................5
Objectives................................................................................................................................ 5
Stakeholders................................................................................................................................ 6
PESTEL Analysis..................................................................................................................... 6
Identification of stakeholders....................................................................................................7
Significance of stakeholders.....................................................................................................7
Stake holder Analysis..................................................................................................................8
SWOT Analysis............................................................................................................................ 8
Critical Evaluation of SWOT Analysis:.........................................................................................9
Importance/Significance of SWOT analysis tool:.........................................................................9
Evaluation and implications of SWOT Analysis:.........................................................................10
Future Fulfilment of its mission...............................................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 12
References................................................................................................................................ 13
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Introduction
“Strategic Hospitality Management” is the process of formulating a set of rules and
regulation, which are adhered to create a proper forecast, analysis and also used to give an
organisation the most profitable direction and a fixed set of objectives.
In this report, a critical analysis is done with regards to the Britannia Hotels and how an efficient
strategic system has helped the organisation over the years in becoming one of the most
successful hotel chains of the British Isles. A critical scrutiny is being done to ensure the safety
and reliability for a private investing company to invest and analyse whether or not the capital
will be properly utilised by.
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Mission
Background of the organisation
Britannia Hotels is one the premier private hotels in the United Kingdom. Established in 1976, it
has its headquarters in Hale, Greater Manchester, England. With over 12000 employees across
52 hotels in England, this organisation generates 55.8 million pounds of revenue and has a net
income of 8.138 million pounds and an operational income of 8.172 million pounds
(Britanniahotels.com, 2018). It has many prominent subsidiaries some of which are Britannia
hotels Leeds Ltd., Britannia Hotels Bolton Ltd., etc.
Mission of the organisation The mission of the organisation is to become one of the most
respected leaders in the hospitality industry by providing un-matched stay experience and
service of the highest level (Bertozzi et al, 2016).
Vision of the organisation
It intends to stay at the top of the mountain in the intensely competed field by coming up
innovative ways to serve their guests and innovating new and efficient ways to do so. It wants to
lead the sector not only in the U.K. but in other countries both in its proximity and far away
(Harrington et al, 2014).
The organisation shows incredible responsibility and sincerity when it comes to taking
responsibility for maintaining the ecological system. It does not believe in wasting food and
donates any excess to the poorer sections of the society. With customers as its top most
priority, the Britannia Hotels has a strict policy towards maintaining utmost honesty, ethics and
fairness. It wants to hold on to the vision that their founders had by staying true to these values
(Harrington et al, 2014).
Objectives
The objectives of the organisation are:
 To provide maximum guest satisfaction
 To be a leader of the hospitality and tourism industry
 To stay true to its core value system
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Stakeholders
PESTEL Analysis
Political: The hospitality industry is perhaps the most crucial contributor to the economy and
also conducts large scale employment ever year. However, political tensions may hamper the
business of a hotel as was the case during the BREXIT chaos. Britannia Hotels endured a
severe crunch in its average footfalls not only from U.K. but more so from the countries in the
European Union. Apart from this global terrorism has also forced the hotel authorities to bring
about several policy changes, and the government are responsible to allocate sufficient security
to the major tourist attractions. (Madera et al, 2017)
Economic: During the financial crisis of 2007-2009 the footfall of hotels across the world had to
take a devastating blow, and the Britannia Hotels was no different, as its sales dropped by 20%.
Again, during the Olympics of 2012, the Britannia Hotels and all of its subsidiaries generated
huge business and made astounding profits. But the story when the games were over was
completely different.
Social: Ceremonies and other social gatherings always improve the business the Britannia
Hotels. Recently, the lodging preference of travellers has changed. They prefer private
accommodations, and this change in preference has allowed the Britannia Hotels to bulk up its
profit scale (Abrate and Viglia, 2016)..
Technological: The Britannia Hotel uses Eptica e-mail and fax processing technology and this
has resulted in 16% increase in productivity in three months. Mobile bookings and room
bookings has also given the industry a vital boost.
Environmental: The environmental factors which affect the business of a hotel are storm,
earthquakes and heavy rain. It is during these periods that the hotels applies various terms and
conditions to regulate its availability to the wider publics however, it does not promote any policy
that might hamper its reputation.
Legal: Only hotel that falls within the legal goodwill of the state attracts large number of tourists.
The Britannia Hotels, despite all of its successes has one blemish, as in 2013 the hotel was
successfully prosecuted for exposing its guests and workers to asbestos fibre. (Turner, 2016)
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Identification of stakeholders
According to the PESTEL Analysis the following core stakeholders have been identified and
represented in a power/interest matrix:
1. Employee
2. Manager
3. Owners
4. Service providers
5. Society
6. Government
7. Creditors
8. Shareholders
9. Customers
10. Specialised media
Keep Satisfied Manage closely
 Government
 Customers
 Owners
 Managers
 Employees
 Shareholders
Monitor Keep Informed
 Society  Service provider
 Society
 Specialised media
Figure 1- Power/Interest Matrix of stakeholders of
(Source: Created by author)
Significance of stakeholders
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High
POWER
Low
Low INTEREST High

Keep satisfied- The stakeholders under these categories are responsible for the survival of the
hotel. Customers, which forms the backbone of the industry has to be given special attention as
they create the bulk of the revenue
Manage closely – They are crucial for the administration and proper functioning of the hotel.
They need to taken under special consideration as the run the hotel. The Britannia Hotel takes
special care of its administration and that is one of the reason for it being the biggest privately
owned hotel chain in England.
Monitor- For any organisation to stay in the business it must necessarily follow the social trends
and must cater to their immediate needs.
Keep informed – They do not need much pandering to but needs to be kept informed about the
organization’s prospects.
Stake holder Analysis:
SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis is normally used at the beginning of making strategic planning exercise. The
structure is considered as potential support for decision-making process because it helps an
organization to identify its future threats and opportunities so that they can easily suspect their
difficulties and resolve it when required. Following are the SWOT elements that are followed by
Britannia Hotels:
Strengths: A company always thinks their strength as their market value and capabilities. The
strengths of Britannia Hotels include:
 Largest privately owned hotel chain in the UK
 Good reputation among customers
 Exceptional access to distributive networks
 Cost benefits from proprietary know-how
Weaknesses: When the company’s strength gets reduced due to some economical or other
factor then it can be considered as their weakness. The weaknesses of Britannia hotels are as
follows:
 Only UK based.
 excessive cost structure
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 Lack of communication when it comes to distribution channel.
Opportunities: The company take their opportunity very seriously because this can be one the
only way to improve reducing the future risk and this can transform to profit and growth. The
opportunities of Britannia hotel are:
 Fulfilling the customers desires and needs
 Arrival of new technologies
 Consider high end of the market
 Non – performance report of competitor
Threats: Changes in the external environmental also may prevent threats to the firm. Following
are the threats which hotel normally faces are as follows: :
 Changes in consumer preference away from the existing products.
 New regulations
 Introduction of substitute products
 Travel lodge (near major airports)
 Competitor names like Hilton hotel, JW Marriott
Critical Evaluation of SWOT Analysis:
SWOT analysis is a well-known analysis tool used in different way that help not just in business
but also in project formulation and career development. In strategic planning, authors have
expanded the concept that well planned strategy means keeping a smooth line between the
outer situations; a hotel faces along with the inside capabilities. SWOT analysis comes from
meeting with the consultant or managers to contribute the final analysis.( Grant, R.M., 2016 )
Importance/Significance of SWOT analysis tool:
A SWOT analysis can be seen as one of the crucial analysis in the context of strategic
management that every company follows. The word SWOT stands for strength, weaknesses,
opportunity and threats. By scrutinizing a SWOT analysis, the organization can easily
identifies its current position and identify the future opportunities and risks.
Simple value is can be considered as traits to make a SWOT analysis more important in
strategic planning. The main purpose of this tool is to utilize the entire process which involves
sorting all items in each category in a chart or table considering the person who performs the
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analysis, It is normal to involve business or hierarchical leaders, regular workers and even
clients.
Forward planning makes SWOT more potential as its usefulness in setting a course to take
focus of prime business upcoming, without a help of strategic planning, companies can just
unethically drift around without infrastructure. In case of highly competitive market, failing for
openings is almost as similar as making a major mistake. Self –preservation and protection is
one of the most important tools, which minutely scrutinize the weaknesses, or lacking part
where the top companies know where they stand in all critical areas relative to the competition.
Threats are another key SWOT element, which tries to cover the risk. A company faces many
difficulties when they do not follow a planning tool as SWOT. Effective way or using of SWOT
helps a business to adjust and prepare for pending or future threats. Some companies wait until
the revenue goes down, other potential threats identified through SWOT include shifting
customer’s preference, technological advancement and environmental issues.
Evaluation and implications of SWOT Analysis:
Britannia hotels use their strength and weaknesses strategically. Their strength part is that they
have a largest privately owned hotel chain in UK and they have a good exposure in the market
as well. Customers mainly prefer this hotel because their exceptional services and outlook in the
market. Over the years, they have built the trust among the customers and this has helped them
to solidify and built credibility among customers. They provide free services to genuine
customers and pays special attention to details and tastes of the customer can go a long way
towards building their reputation in the market.
Their weakness part Is that they have a geographical boundaries that means it is only a UK
based hotel and haven’t expanded their business chain worldwide. Moreover, they have a lack
of accessibility in distribution channels and that is the reason they faces many difficulties in
distribution network. They take their opportunity very wisely while planning strategically because
they try to fulfil all the criteria, which are supposed to fulfil like fulfilling the guest satisfaction,
changing the internal system when customers taste and preference changes from time to time.
They continuously focuses on technology as they know very well that without technology it is not
at all possible to set their plan smartly , that’s why they recruit their employees who are efficient
to handle the technical part in a hotel.( Baycheva-Merger, T. and Wolfslehner, B.,2016)
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The hotel always keeps their threats in their mind while developing their market growth or while
executing any sort of promotion in the marketplace. Although Britannia hotels are still generating
money for the chain of guest’s bookings, they are not getting as much money as they could be
for regular room rates and it is reducing their profit margins.
Future Fulfilment of its mission:
Britannia hotels is strictly committed to their improvement of services, guest relationship,
attaining maximum quality level required by their customers and also adding value to their brand
so that they can fulfil their mission successfully. Their main objective is to achieve customer’s
trust, which is beneficial for their business asset and the foundation of their future growth.
(Grant, R.M., 2016) Their management system is the backbone of their operations and they
provide a comprehensive set of tools that allow them to fulfill their mission more effectively.
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Conclusion
The report provides us with a detailed analysis about the Britannia Hotel’s functioning,
administration and the responsibilities. It shows that the hotel has a reputation of sufficient
reliability of capital usage. The PESTEL Analysis provides solid evidence for this conclusion.
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References
Abrate, G. and Viglia, G. (2016). Strategic and tactical price decisions in hotel revenue
management.
Baycheva-Merger, T. and Wolfslehner, B., 2016. Evaluating the implementation of the Pan-
European Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management–A SWOT
analysis. Ecological indicators, 60, pp.1192-1199
Bertozzi, F., Ali, C.M. and Gul, F.A. (2016) Resource Based View of an Organization and
PESTEL Analytical Tool; An Analysis of Hotel Corallo, Rimini.
Britanniahotels.com. (2018). Britannia Hotels Official Website - UK Hotel Breaks. [Online]
Available at: https://www.britanniahotels.com [Accessed 25 May 2018].
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.
Glass, J.R., Kruse, G.H. and Miller, S.A., 2015. Socioeconomic considerations of the
commercial weathervane scallop fishery off Alaska using SWOT analysis. Ocean & Coastal
Management, 105, pp.154-165.
Grant, R.M., 2016 Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wile y & Sons.
J. Harrington, R., K. Chathoth, P., Ottenbacher, M. and Altinay, L. (2014) Strategic management
research in hospitality and tourism: past, present and future. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management
Madera, J.M., Dawson, M., Guchait, P. and Belarmino, A.M. (2017). Strategic human resources
management research in hospitality and tourism: A review of current literature and suggestions
for the future. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
Romero-Gutierrez, M., Jimenez-Liso, M.R. and Martinez-Chico, M., 2016. SWOT analysis to
evaluate the programme of a joint online/onsite master's degree in environmental education
through the students’ perceptions. Evaluation and program planning, 54, pp.41-49.
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Ryan, C. (2015) Trends in hospitality management research: a personal reflection. International
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
Turner, E. (2016) Evaluating the feasibility of creating a viable business of a new Boutique Hotel
in Cardiff (Doctoral dissertation, Cardiff Metropolitan University).
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