国际营销和定位策略-Marketing and Positioning Strategies for International

Abstract: From the beginning of 19 century, hospitality culture have play a siginificant role to the human activity. With the era of economic globalization and the popular of travel or tourism industry, the hospitality industry has achieve their rapid improvement. Every year, the hundreds of the hotels or motels or restaurants in the whole world are built or renovated to meet the rapidly growing needs of the travelling public. Thus the management of the hospitality indutry become popular and very important, especailly in a international century. This paper is firstly introduce the development status, and then demonstrate some helpful marketing and positioning strategies for the future international hospitality management

摘要：从19世纪初开始，酒店文化在帮助人类活动发生了显著的作用。随着经济全球化和旅游产业的流行，酒店业已经实现快速改善。在全世界每年数以百计的的旅馆或汽车旅馆，或餐馆都在新建和改造，以满足广大旅客的快速增长的需求。因此，酒店的管理在国际化的世纪变得流行和非常重要。本文首先介绍了发展现状，然后表现出一些为未来的国际酒店管理有用的营销和定位策略，。
 

 Key word: Hospitality Management; Strategies; Marketing  关键词：酒店管理;战略;市场营销

 

1 Introduction  引言
 

Today, we live in a more global society than 100 years ago, or 50 years ago, or 20 years ago. Products and services are offered on a global basis. Human societies across the globe have established progressively closer contacts over many centuries, but recently the pace has dramatically increased. Today, unprecedented changes in communications, transportation, and computer technology have given the process new impetus. Transportation advancements allows us to travel anywhere in the world within 24 hours. Technology has increased information sharing and allows us to communicate with each other from anywhere. Increasingly transparent capital markets are spreading the same concepts globally. These are just some examples of our more homogenous world. This process, or fundamental shift, is referred to as globalization. Whatever the business is, the hospitalityindustry in the world have been moved by the wave of globalization, changes have taken place to in this industry with the growing population changes of distribution.

今天，我们生活在一个比100年前或50年前或20年前更加全球化的社会。产品和服务在全球范围内提供。世界各地的人已经逐步建立了密切联系，最近速度也大幅提升。今天，在通讯，交通，计算机技术前所未有的变化注入了新的动力。交通运输的进步，使我们在24小时内能去世界任何地方旅行。技术增加了信息共享，使我们能够与对方在任何地方进行通信。越来越透明的资本市场正在全球范围内蔓延。这个过程中根本性的转变，被称为全球化。无论企业还是酒店业在世界上已经移到了全球化的浪潮，已经发生了变化，本行业分布日益增长的人口变化。#p#分页标题#e#
 

Generally, hospitality field is considered part of the tourism industry. Looking back to the whole 20th century, each year hundreds of hotels and cruise ships (floating hotels) are built or renovated to meet the rapidly growing needs of the travelling public. So it is considered that the hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world with hotels, motels, and restaurants remaining open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to meet the demands of our traveling society. Some of the newest are luxurious beyond your wildest imagination - you could just find yourself working in this fast paced and rewarding environment. In the United States, hotel-keeping ranks seventh among service industries, coming only after such giants as public transportation and restaurant management. There are approximately 51,000 hotels in the United States with a total of 3.9 million rooms, and the number is increasing related to the development of the travel and immigration.

 

In china, the rapid growth of tourism industry led to increasingly prosperity of hotel subsidiary industries, especially after SARS of 2003, star-level hotels and budget hotels in China's major cities developed rapidly. By the end of 2005, China's star-level hotels totaled to 12930, increasing 2042 with a year-on-year rate of 18.75%, hotel rooms reached 1.37 million, increasing 132.1 thousand with 10.67%, beds amounted to 2.55 million, increasing 183.4 thousand with 7.75%. During the past three years, budget hotels have kept a rapid growth of above 50% and entered a continuous growth period. In Oct of 2006, Home Inns was listed in American NASDAQ, which also attracted capital to China's domestic budget hotels. Considering the current investment enthusiasm in hotel industry, the estimated amount of star-level hotels will reach 13500 by the end of 2008.

 

Maybe this is a temporary development highlight for the hospitalityindustry. But it is must be admited that now is the developing new era. In the globalization process, every business or industry all have to face the facts that it is necessary to expand their products or services to the global market for the more competitive status and more profit. And in the other hand, a multicultral workforce environment in globaling world family. Thus to a global or local hotel, a excellent strategy have a strong need for its future development. And in every country, there are more and more hospitality management training school or institution.

 

2 Importance of hospitality industry  酒店业的重要性

 

The hospitality industry, one of the largest industries in both global and national contexts, is composed of fifteen segments including lodging (hotels), commercial food service (restaurants and catering), institutional food service, casinos, cruise lines, travel agency services, event services, convention hosting, arena services, sport complex management, resorts, parks, clubs, tourism and transportation services related to the other segments of the industry. It offers more jobs, sales and tax revenues than any other single industry in most countries and how the segments of the hospitality industry are interdependent and rely on one another for overall success. According to the National Restaurant Association the food service industry employs more than 11.3 million workers. This makes the food service industry one of the leading generators of job growth in the United States.#p#分页标题#e#

 

In Greece, the tourism industry bears an enormous influence on the wellbeing and the development of the Greek Economy as it generates, directly and indirectly, between 15 and 20% of GDP and employment. It is now well understood by all tourism industry players, especially in the post-Olympic era, that this influence is mutual and can lead to a renovation in the hospitality industry, forcing all involved to accept the results of their own actions in the short as well as in the long run. In the post-olympic years, the number of hotels or restaurants are increased by one fold, and the Greek hospitality industry have form a especial cultureal symbolize.

 

Besides the employment and revenue from the hospitality industry, the Hospitality sector plays a key role in this industry with over 8.500 units of all types and categories. It is, therefore, necessary to understand the opportunities and challenges that the management in hotel establishments is facing. These issues are obviously prominent not only in operations but also on a strategic level. To facilitate this process, JBR Hellas launched the Hotel Study a few years ago with the aim to gather as much information as possible, so as to provide a reliable amount and quality of statistics on an annual basis. And in China or Unites States or in every country in the world, the experts analysis many researches and report to improve the development of hospitality industry, including the reviews for the advances of international hospitality industr, the methods or strategies of hospitality management and revolutional tactic to the global hospitality industry. More and more training institutions or schools are help you to perceive this develolpment in the hospitality field

 

3 Marketing and Positioning Strategies for International Hospitality Management  国际酒店管理的营销和定位策略

 

Along with the global economical development, the market proposed to the hotel or hospitality industry the new request, the market competition included quality competition, service competition, brand competition, cooperation competition and so on, even in today`s multicultural business environment, cultural competition is more imporant for the development of a hotel or restaurant. In this part, firstly, an review for the international hospitality industry to help to a hotel mangers plan his or her marketing and positioning strategies in international investment environment.

 

3.1 A status and trends for international environment

 

It was definitely put forward in China's 11th Five-Year Plan to actively develop culture and tourism industries with huge demand potential. Meanwhile, China National Tourism Administration also clarified the program to comprehensively develop domestic tourism, boost inbound tourism and regulate the outbound tourism according to the 11th Five-Year Plan so as to realize the goals of inbound overnight tourists 68.8 million and domestic tourists 1.78 billion with a total tourism income of USD 156.5 billion. According to the forecast of WTTC, After joining WTO, China tourism industry will keep an average annual growth rate of 10.4% in the coming ten years, among which individual and enterprise/government tourism consumption will increase by 9.8% and 10.9% respectively. On the other side, Chinese hotel industry also faced with domestic and foreign markets’ fierce competition.#p#分页标题#e#

 

This situation is happen to other countrys and even in the global hospitality market. The development of hospitality industry in th world faced the challenge and chance in the same time. Competitions from the foreign market or international hotel and the domestic rivals in the same field. This is one results of globalization, and the other result is the people. Along with the process of globalization, worldwide immigrants is more gradully, and more person have the trend to find fortune and employment opportunity from the oversea workforce market. So as a manager or recruiter in the hospitality industry, it must take consideration to the multicultural workforce market while planning the strategies for recruitment and selection.

 

Therefore, how to plan a competitive marketing and positioning strategies in the international investment environment became very necessary for the managers of a hotel or restaurant.

 

3.2 Marketing and positioning strategies

 

“Creating a competitive edge”is like saying 'pursuing a good strategy' - it is no god unless you define the tactics, why the strategy is going to work.

 

3.2.1 Earn more customers

 

“The overall success of any business is not determined by the producer, but rather by the customer” (Peter F. Drucker). Customers are the lifeblood for a hotel for the hospitalityindustry. Earn the customer, earn the future. In other words the volume of customers determines the productivity and the value. There are four things that should be remember always.

 

1 Get customers - In the current economy slow down. Does that mean the number of travellers have come down? If so where are we going to look for more customers? From competiution? For attracting the target customers, some necessary and unique tactics must take into pratice immediately.

 

2 What kind of customers? Busines travellers? Holidayers? Executives? Families? just married,?young people? It is very easy to ask the Airport cab drivers to bring them to your hotel? And also to ask the travel agents to book rooms in your hotel? There are big corporates who go with preffered brands. Are there preffered brand? If not, estabish one according your hotel?

 

3. Manage their experience: It's almost impossible to manage relationships! All we can do is set the right expectations and kill ourselves to meet them. There are numerous ideas here as to how to do it.

 

4. Bring them back again: Feedback on the experience is critical. Try and provide them enough reasons to bring them back? Can we have a free accommodation for their spouses? Reward programs? Sweepstakes? Value adds?

 

3.2.2 Excellent service

 

Excellen service is one strategy, but it could also be expensive. Finding customers is very expensive. In some areas, specially those traveled by business people, a good strategy could be making sure that your hotel is the preferred destination for business travelers.

 

How? little things often make the biggest difference, here is an exmple: Most business people die for a high-speed internet connection to stay in touch with the office. Most other hotels charge you an extra $10. per day. The recent introduction of Internet technology to general businesshas led to its wide-scale application in the hotel industry.Besides the business travelers, some common consumers have been increasingly using the Internet to searchfor accommodation-related information on hotel Websites. Tofacilitate a better understanding of e-commerce, hospitalityand tourism researchers have shown the importance of establishingcontent-rich and user-friendly Websites. The existing hospitalityliterature, however, has a very limited number of publishedarticles that investigated the perceptions of hotel Websiteusers on the importance of specific features on hotel Websites.The absence of prior studies on assessing the importance ofhotel Website dimensions and attributes is particularly truein the comparison of online browsers who only search for informationand online purchasers who have made online bookings. Some studies that examined these two groups of internationalhotel Website users on their perceived importance level of specificdimensions and attributes on hotel Websites. Empirical evidenceindicates that there was no significant difference in most ofthe included dimensions and attributes between these two groupsof users. In addition, the respondents viewed that the includeddimensions and attributes are important on Websites of 3-staror above hotels.

 

There is another idea that is to give business travelers a free ride to the hotel, newspapers, or maybe a better breakfast than the typical donuts and cheap coffee.

 

Some very effective bub or strategies which has a very competitive hospitality marketing. For example, during the slower summer months, market to the locals. Offering deeply discounted room rates, kids stay free, specials on dinner (weekend packages) enhance the water programs and programs for the kids, open the pool and water feautures to locals for a small charge (and then recoup it in food and beverage sales) offer discounted dinner ($15 meals, regular $30-$40) in their gourmet dining rooms.

 

Then during the tourist season all the locals recommend these places for their guests to stay! Also, guests like to do things that don't always require money like the tours do. 4 hour $100 Jeep tours get expensive. For example, the concierges should keep a list of events like going to local wine shops for complimentary wine tastings, hitting a cheap but tasty happy hour in a fun bar/restaurant. So the idea here is provide them with plenty of alternatives that don't require them to dress up and spend a lot of money and to mix with the locals a little bit more.#p#分页标题#e#

 

Target the customers with very good rates if they utilise your place for accommodation of group bookings during conferences that they run. Target maybe 30 or so associations and find out when they have their annual gathering and pitch them for business. That way you get big chunks of bookings and may even attract a full venue usage if you also have conference facilities. If you don't at least you'll be able to piggy back on those venues providing the conference location and pick up some business for the stays.

 

There are Gerardo's tactics about the little things a hotel can do to seem better than the competition is right on. Small things like he mentioned, in the interest of your customers, can make a big difference. Good service including huge and small have the customer. Indeed, it works well.

 

3.2.3 Cultural difference

 

In the global economical environmen, the market proposed to the hotel or hospitality industry a new developing request, the market competition transforms gradually from the quality competition to Cultural competition. Analyzing the feature of enterprise culture and the problem in the modern hotel management, many research studies have point out the enterprise culture play a vital role in the hotel management, it favors sets up the good hotel image, enhances the hotel the overall benefit, advances the hotel the effective development, pushes forward the hotel development and direct，unites and inspires the hotel staff．

 

For the hospitality industry, cultural difference have cause two sides to must be considered in the planning for strategies. One is the development cultural brand. Because globalization, the customers for a hotel or reataurant maybe not the local or native person, the customers are foreigner, he or she has a different culture with the local. So there is perhaps should a unique culture environment to attract these customer. There are two tactics to deal with this situation. Either have the exotic atnosphere room or design the local or native cultural room, because a foreign traveler usually want to experience some exotic culture, or is a conservative just because business for traveling. So it is obvious the unique cultural room is not attractive for the conservative. Then it is need some bub mentioned above.

 

In the other hand, the cultural diversity also have cause the employees exist some extent to diversity. When the managers or bosses want to have some new members in their hotel or restaurant, the recruitment and selection must be very careful planned especially in the multicural environment. Because effective recruitment and selection are critical to future success. They enable the hotel or restaurant to have high-performing employees who are also satisfied with their jobs, thus contributing positively to the firm’s bottom line. On the contrary, poor recruitment and selection often result in mismatches which can have negative consequences for the organization. A misfit who is not in tune with the organisation’s philosophies and goals can damage production, customer satisfaction, relationship with suppliers and the overall quality of work. He can also adversely affect the morale and commitment of co-workers and negate efforts to foster team work. Training your way out of a wrong hire can be very expensive. Effective recruitment and selection are therefore not only the first step towards organisational excellence, but are important cost control mechanisms as well.#p#分页标题#e#

 

3.2.4 Price

 

Developing a competitive strategies is the way to go. However, price war is a no-no. Careful market segmentation and realignement might be a first approach. The focus could be on delivering superior service: create a unique experience for the customer, train the staff, etc.

 

For customers, the price is however the most concerned about in the decision to which hotel choosed. The hotel or restaurant should offer the best service with the cheapest price, it sounds maybe impossible. However, the decision the customers made is a balance the service, environment and the price, in other words, hotels want to earn more customers, they must balance the relationship of service ,environment, price and cultural value and so on.

 

4 Conclusion  结论

 

Today hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world with hotels, motels, and restaurants remaining with other industries such as the IT information, and biology. Taday, you could see some of the newest are luxurious beyond your wildest imagination - you could just find yourself working in this fast paced and rewarding environment.Every country in the world, more and more institution on the hospitality management course have been offered. With the process of globalization, the managements of hospitality culture are popular with the hotel. Hence, there is the necessary to research the marketing and positioning strategies for the international hospitality industry.

 

Reference  参考文献

 

Brotherton, B. (2006) International Hospitality Industry.London: Butterworth Heinemann

 

Crotts,J.C.& March, D. (2000) Global