T HE IMPORTANCE OF S TANDARDS AND B RANDING FOR S MALL H OTELS SUB - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

THE IMPORTANCE OF STANDARDS

AND BRANDING FOR SMALL

HOTELS SUB–SECTOR OF THE

REGION

PRESENTATION

 The importance and impact of Standards

and Branding in general for the small hotel sub-sector

 The Brands and Standards of the STEP

Programme

 Credible Brands and Standards for small

properties

 Sharing of recommendations based on

finding of from the Report Updating Brands and Standards, Small Tourism Enterprise Network (STEN) Project July 2011

INTRODUCTION

 Hotels are expected to provide their guests

with the best of everything

 Small hotels in the Caribbean are aiming to

provide the best service they can and the people factor will make the huge difference

 It is crucial that the design of the hotel and

service it offers, follow concepts of quality standards implementation.

MAINTAINING THE LEVEL OF

SERVICE THAT IS REQUIRED

 through understanding guests’

expectations,

 setting service standards to meet these

expectations,

 training the staff to follow these service

standards,

 guiding the guests’ experiences,  and identifying and closing service gaps.

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF

ESTABLISHING STANDARDS?

 To determine the level of performance

required

 And how that performance should feel

to the guest.

 Guests are seeking consistency and

quality at the right price

STANDARDS

 Standards act as a quality minimum

not a steadfast rule

 Standards create cohesiveness

necessary to the survival of a hotel brand

 Standards are critical in creating Brand

Equity

 Standards are hard to maintain but

without them where would the brand be?

SOME CRITICAL AREAS

WHERE STANDARDS CAN BE APPLIED

 Reservation services  Arrival services  Check-in  Evening housekeeping  Wake up call  Room service (ordering and delivery)  Check-out  Departure services

IMPORTANCE AND IMPACT OF STANDARDS

 Service standards should be set, implemented,

and evaluated or DIM with the guests in mind.

 These Standards also help give the guests an

idea as to what they should be expecting from the small hotel

 The service standards provide the staff with

guidelines as to what they should be doing for their guests.

 Standards help to identify and close service

gaps.

THE SMALL HOTEL

 Cottage  Villa  Bed and breakfast  Small resort  Inn  These hotels should hold a certain mystique

that invites their guests to continually return

PULL FACTOR: QUALITY STANDARDS

 It is important that the service standards

small hotels provide their guests meets or exceeds their expectations, by doing so, the guest will leave satisfied.

 Standards are hard to maintain but without

them the Brand would be lost

 Standards act as a quality minimum not a

steadfast rule

 Standards are critical to maintaining

Brand Equity

 Standards create cohesiveness

necessary to the survival of a hotel brand

THE CONCEPT OF BRANDS

BRANDING

The term branding has traditionally been used with the promotion of products

• Modern day meaning “ to implant on the mind”
• American Marketing Association Definition
• “ A name term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of

them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those

• f the competition.”

BRANDING DOMINANT TREND

IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY

 Branding/ re-branding can positively

impact customer purchase preferences and intentions, satisfaction and loyalty and a firm’s financial performance.

WHAT IS A BRAND



The product or service of a particular supplier which is differentiated by its name or presentation



A brand is actually a promise given by the company to its consumer about what the product can give to the consumer.

HOTEL BRANDS

 Travelers expect more than comfort

and convenience

 Looking for an experience that look

and feel different from the traditional branded hotels

 Era of Boutique Hotel- experience with

members of the hotel staff e.g. A Caribbean small hotel

 Effective branding strategies can

increase customers’ satisfaction and strengthen customer loyalty, which in turn contribute to a company’s financial performance and as a result a potential source of strategic advantage.

IMPORTANCE AND IMPACT OF

BRANDING

 A product brand is not only a name for

that product or for a hotel. A brand will always be connected to a company’s identity which will remind the consumer about its performance.

VALUE OF THE BRAND

 The value of a brand is based on the

awareness of the brand, its quality perception, and overall customer satisfaction (Aaker, 1991).

 Satisfied customers of a BRAND tend

to buy more, be less price conscious, and to generate positive word-of- mouth, thus contributing to bottom- line profit

 From the hotel owner’s perspective,

affiliating with an appropriate brand with the correct position can allow them to leverage on the brand’s established name to increase awareness of their property and market value (O’Neill & Xiao, 2006).

 This is especially useful if the hotel is

rebranding in reaction to changes in market demand or market segment.

 Effective hotel branding can also increase the

level of reliability and risks associated with the hotel perceived by the consumer, and positively influence their consumption behavior as consumers will tend to purchase from brands they trust and are more familiar with (Bateson & Hoffman, 1999; Berry, 1999).

 In turn, owners can enjoy stronger customer

loyalty and charge higher rates for greater financial returns (Kayaman & Arasli, 2007).

 Due to this intangible nature of the service

“product,” consumers are “forced” to anchor their decision based on relatively dependable cues such as the firm’s image and reputation

 Brands in the Hotel industry today are more

than the concrete symbols associated with them…today they represent a lifestyle choice and create a whole new meaning system

 Branding prescribe the look feel and

function of the hotel

 Brand create a psychological and

emotional experience for the guest

THE FOUR CONSTRUCTS OF CUSTOMER-

BASED HOTEL BRAND EQUITY HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED TO BE  brand loyalty,  brand awareness,  perceived quality  and brand image (Aaker, 1991; Bailey

& Ball, 2006; Prasad & Dev, 2000; Yoo & Donthu, 2001)

BENEFITS OF BRANDING

 Introduces stability in the business  Helps guard against competitive imitation  Allows consumers to shop with confidence  Reduces marketing cost  Decreases operating cost  Increases referrals  Provides competitive advantage

 Hotel operators should recognize that

• nce they've developed a clearly

defined brand, they need to work hard to maintain the standards and qualities associated with it.

CARIBBEAN EXPERIENCES

STEP

 The Small Tourism Enterprise Program (STEP)

was designed to provide assistance to small tourism enterprises and Hotels to enhance their competitiveness.

 STEP provided training in  product and services delivery,  a mechanism to embrace international

standards,

 avenues for cost-effective marketing.

 Updating and Revise The Caribbean

Experiences Brand, under Small Tourism Enterprise Network (STEN) Project July 2011

MAJOR FINDINGS

 STEP implemented activities and resources

were off the radar and most tourism officials in place today were not familiar with the Project or its outputs

 That it appeared that there was a waste of

resources as stakeholders were not utilizing the resources already in place.

 In several of the countries personnel are

busy creating standards for the sector without the benefit of the standards produced under the STEP Programme

 In terms of STEP project implementation  By the time the Caribbean Experiences Brand

Website had been introduced and promoted, many of the smaller properties had already gone ahead and got their individual Web Sites done. There was therefore little or no utilization.

 In most of the STEP Countries there was the

need for real public/private sector

• partnership. The term was being applied but

in actuality the partnerships were either weak or non-existent

RECOMMENDATIONS

 An awareness, education campaign be

launched to review/launch STEP/STEN activities – This could be a national campaign using peer leaders, testimonials, flyers and radio and television promotions. The Campaign must emphasize the evocation of a genuine Caribbean Experience.

 That the Coordinator role be defined to

ensure sustainability. Use of a performance based job description could be used to help to determine the coordinators that are assigned.

 That the OAS puts a mechanism in place for

performance management of the coordinators to include goals, communication, contact with stakeholders, quarterly reports etc.

 A workshop is conducted for key

stakeholders on the STEP resources and their uses e.g. Caribbean Experiences, The Innkeeper

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STANDARDS AND BRANDING ARE PRINCIPLES FOR ATTAINING WORLD-CLASS STATUS

 There must be a shared company vision  Management must do more than simply what is necessary  Managers must know how to play host to all people  The community must value the hotel  Culture must be seen as a resource

 Human resources must be treated as assets  Training must be continuous at all levels  Communication must be systematic  The delivery system must meet the promises

made by marketing

 Details matter  Management must continuously find ways to

improve the hotel’s image

CREATE THE BALANCE

THROUGH STANDARDS AND

BRANDING



Balance between marketing, operational procedures, and brand asset value in the small hotel industry sub-sector through great hotel management and leadership

Q AND A