Transcript Chapter Notes

Selling Hospitality
Chapter 4
Unit Essential Question
How are hotels and
restaurants marketed?
Essential Question 1
How has the internet impacted
hospitality marketing and how
can it be used to increase sales
in hospitality businesses?
Marketing the Hotel or
Restaurant
Marketing Hospitality Properties
• Selling involves more than renting rooms or
tables.
• Image
– The sales team needs to decide the image the
hotel or restaurant will project.
Marketing the Hotel or
Restaurant
Marketing Hospitality Properties
• Ranking systems
– Most ranking systems use a star or diamond
system.
– 5 stars refer to the highest quality and best-inclass accommodations.
– Hotels or restaurants with more stars may charge
higher prices however, the services and
amenities offered must justify the higher costs.
Marketing the Hotel or
Restaurant
Marketing Hospitality Properties
• Customer satisfaction
– Requires the involvement of all employees and
staff.
– Begins with the front desk clerk or restaurant
host.
– A bad experience will result in an unhappy
customer who will tell potential customers about
being dissatisfied.
Marketing the Hotel or
Restaurant
Internet Impact
• The internet is having a major impact on
how individuals and businesses correspond
with one another.
• Infomediaries: Third parties used to make
reservations through the internet.
Marketing the Hotel or
Restaurant
Internet Impact
• What customers expect
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Convenience
Consistency
Information
High-speed access
Marketing the Hotel or
Restaurant
Changing Rules in Hospitality
Marketing
• Successful hospitality businesses have the
common traits of speed, flexibility, and
consistency.
– Speed is necessary to respond to a dynamic business
environment.
– Customers are very fickle, and brand loyalty is much
harder to accomplish today.
– Flexibility is necessary to survive in the competitive
marketplace.
Marketing the Hotel or
Restaurant
Changing Rules in Hospitality
Marketing
• New rules for resources
– Success in the hospitality industry depends on visionary
leadership and a strong commitment to customer
relations.
– Creativity and risk taking are characteristics necessary
for success.
– Finding, training, and keeping employees who can
respond to the demanding environment are becoming
increasingly difficult.
– The bottom line is customer satisfaction.
Marketing the Hotel or
Restaurant
Changing Rules in Hospitality
Marketing
• Traditional sales techniques
– Includes brochures, mailings, and bulk distributions.
– Brochures should clearly identify hotel and restaurant
highlights and must be readily available for prospective
customers.
– Targeted mailing lists are useful when sending out sales
promotions that revolve around sporting events,
honeymoons, family weekend packages, etc.
Marketing the Hotel or
Restaurant
Changing Rules in Hospitality
Marketing
• Tracking quality
– Customer feedback is important in maintaining repeat
customers.
– Psychographic information: Identifies reasons why
customers stay at a particular hotel or eat at specific
restaurant.
– Psychographic and demographic data are combined and
used to create successful marketing plans.
Marketing the Hotel or
Restaurant
Changing Rules in Hospitality
Marketing
• Restaurant sales
– Sales strategies for restaurants are based on upon market
trends, changing customer tastes, and competition.
– Restaurants cannot depend on past successes and must
constantly work to maintain customer loyalty.
– Excellent food, atmosphere, and service are major
factors when determining repeat business.
Essential Question 2
What are the various types of
reservations and how has
technology impacted the
reservation business?
Hotel Reservations
Reserving a Hotel Room
• There are many ways a guest can make hotel
reservations:
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Telephone
Mail
Fax
Email
Face-to-face
Web site
Hotel Reservations
Reserving a Hotel Room
• Computer reservation systems keep the latest tally
on available rooms.
• Desk clerks can readily see which rooms are
available, C/O, and occupied.
• Customer loyalty is built on the assurance of
reservation accuracy.
• Nonsmoking rooms and the size of beds are
important for different hotel guests.
• The hotel’s sales department may offer good group
rates for conventions or family reunions.
Hotel Reservations
Reserving a Hotel Room
• Types of reservations
– Regular reservation:
• A non-guaranteed reservation that is usually held until 6 p.m. on
the date of arrival.
• After 6 p.m. the room is made available on a first-come, firstserve basis.
– Guaranteed reservation:
• Requires the guest to pay for the first night prior to the guest’s
arrival.
• Held with a deposit or credit card.
• Gives guests the peace of mind that they have a room no matter
how late they arrive at the hotel.
Hotel Reservations
Reserving a Hotel Room
• Cancelled reservations
– Courteous travelers call when they do not plan on using
a reservation.
– Cancellation numbers are assigned so the customer is not
charged and the room is changed to available status.
– Stayovers or overstays: Persons staying longer than
their reservation.
– Due-outs: People expected to check out.
Hotel Reservations
Third-Party Reservations
• Third-party distribution channels
– Examples:
• Travel agents
• Internet
– Hotels have become increasingly dependant on
third-parties.
– The hotel will usually pay a commission to the
third-party.
Hotel Reservations
Third-Party Reservations
• Importance of communications
– The reservation process is also linked to the
data-gathering process.
– Advances in technology, shortages in clerical
employees, and consumers’ willingness to seek
the best deal on their own make a focus on easy,
accurate, and economically competitive
reservations essential.
Essential Question 3
What markets take advantage
hospitality event marketing and
what strategies can be used to
attract them?
Sales and Event Planning
The Big Business of Hospitality
• Hospitality Event Planning: Sales strategies that
attract the business of large conventions and
banquets.
– Some use a Conference and Visitors Bureau (CVB):
Promotes tourism and convention business. Typical
members include accommodation facilities, special
attractions, restaurants, and tour companies.
– Group sales: Involve renting multiple rooms and
meeting rooms.
• Awards Banquets
• Weddings
• Proms
• Reunions
• Conventions
• Social Events
Sales and Event Planning
The Big Business of Hospitality
• Sales staff
– Plans strategies for convention and banquet business.
– Must market the entire hotel product, including room,
food and beverage service, meeting space, and
recreational facilities.
Sales and Event Planning
The Big Business of Hospitality
• Advertising and research
– Necessary elements are advertising, direct mail, publicity,
and public relations.
– Alert sales departments take advantage of free positive
publicity in the newspaper.
– Sales departments use marketing research to determine the
best days of the year for business.
– Forecasts: Projections of potential business based on past
records of rooms sold, convention business, walk-ins, and
meals sold.
• Necessary for staffing, purchasing food, and ordering linen
supplies.
Sales and Event Planning
The Big Business of Hospitality
• Catering for hospitality events
– Catering has an enormous impact on the success of a
conference.
– Customer expectations rise with prices.
– Most catered meals at hotels are expensive, so it is
extremely important to have high-quality food and good
service.
– The catering department
• Helps clients determine a meal that meets their budget and taste.
• Has the task of making the customer’s experience a pleasant
one.
Sales and Event Planning
Potential Markets
• Every meeting or convention has a unique
personality with its own special needs.
• Professional organizations:
– Lawyers, doctors, teachers, or other skilled professionals
• Political conventions
• Special events:
– Kentucky Derby, The Player’s Championship (TPC),
The Super Bowl, etc.
Sales and Event Planning
Sales Strategies
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Brochures
Internet
Virtual tours
Mailing lists
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Chambers of commerce
State tourism offices
Tour operators
Newspaper articles