RESEARCH PROJECT ON GUEST SATISFACTION IN HOTELS

SUBMITTED BY: SUSHANT CHUGH BBA IIND SHIFT ROLL NO. 028

SUBMITTED TO MISS. KHUSHBOO GUPTA

Asst. Prof.(management)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take immense pleasure in thanking my faculty guide Mr. Rohit Malhotra for giving me his time and able guidance, which helped me in completing my dissertation. He has been an immense source of motivation for the completion of this dissertation.

Special thanks to staff of Hotel Le Meridien, Hotel Vasant Continental, Hotel Oberoi & Hotel MBD Radisson who gave a lot of valuable information about their respective hotels and also allowed me to interact with their customers without which this project would not have been completed successfully. In the end, I would like to thank all the respondents for their co-operation, without them the primary analysis could not have been carried out.

Thank you. Rohit Malhotra

Student Undertaking

This is to certify that the dissertation titled Guest Satisfaction in Hotels submitted by Mr. Sushant Chugh has been completed under my supervision and guidance. It is an original piece of research work done by him. This proves the candidates capacity for critical examination and sound judgment over the problem studied by him. The work is satisfactory and complete in every respect and the thesis is in a suitable form for submission.

KHUSHBOO GUPTA (ASST. PROF. {MANAGEMENT})

Faculty/Project Guide

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This project in aimed towards accomplishing the objective of a comprehensive and comparative study of the consumer perception and satisfaction in 5 star hotels established in New Delhi & Noida. A hotel industry is primarily a service sector and emphasis in given on the role played by relationship marketing. You are nothing without your customers. It is important to understand that your organization exists for no other reasons than to meet customer needs and expectations. It is imperative to develop proactive methods for understanding what your customer like and dislike. If you believe other wise, just look behind yourself at the long queue of competitors lined up and waiting for the opportunities to prove you wrong. A Hotel caters to a wide range of guests and offer services and amenities to individuals with an infinite number of desires and expectations. Due to the diverse population of travelers, it would be no surprise if one hotel brand were perceived very differently from another. However, a recent analysis of online traveler discussion between January 1 and October 31, 2005 shows the opposite guest perceptions toward different hotel brands are similar, leading to the belief that travelers are not inclined to become loyal to one brand. Based on an analysis of consumer comments, it was found that, in general, hotel corporations such as Oberoi and Taj have an opportunity to further differentiate themselves from their competitors and build more brand loyalty. Hotels are missing out on upwards of $20 billion spent by frequent travelers who are not loyal to specific brands. Travelers are offered comparable services by multiple hotel brands, all of which aim to provide value to their guests hotel brands have similar personalities. For example, leisure travelers perceive Oberois and Taj hotels as similar, despite the possible argument that Taj is a luxury brand while Oberoi is more mid-range. This demonstrates a lack of differentiation between hotel brands.

INTRODUCTION
Customer satisfaction is defined as the individuals perception of the performance of the product on service in relation to his or her expectations. Hotel industry is a service industry. It sells its services and the more quality services it provides, the more is going to be its revenue. This industry doesnt sell any tangible assets to its customers and while making sales calls on presentation the property cannot be taken to the potential customer, in reality creating customer satisfaction is not something an organization does simply to satisfy, it is something an organization does to stay in business. Top management embraces this reality by acknowledging communicating and acting upon three basic truths:Customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal: There is no higher achievement than to satisfy the customer whom an organization has committed itself to serving. This doesnt mean that the organization become a not for profit industry. Profits and revenues are nothing more than the outcomes of fulfilling customers needs and expectations. Customer satisfaction to an investment: Customer satisfaction process does not often produce results in the very short term. Rather the pay off are usually realized in the medium on long term. Everyone must be involved in customer satisfaction: All personnel have the capability, at some level, to influence customer satisfaction. Top management must communicate exactly how personnel should interact with the customers to achieve higher customer satisfaction level. In hospitality each customer relationship has values and should manage effectively. There is a possibility for repurchase and recommendation from each past customer. There are various contact points where the hotel comes in direct contact with the customer that are known as "Touch points". These touch points are considered important as there is direct interaction with the customer and they provide valuable input to the hotel and this input provided by the customer has to be captured in such a way that it becomes information and can be used by various process within the hotel. This can be done with the help of technology and the aim is that whenever there is a customer interface with any of those processes they are able to use that information in servicing the guest in a most efficient manner.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objective of this project is comprehensive and comparative study of the guest satisfaction in 5 star premium hotels established in New Delhi & Noida. The study was conducted to find out about the guests satisfaction towards the level of services offered by 5 star hotels namely

Le Meridien Oberois Vasant Continental MBD Radisson The study measures how satisfied the customers are along relevant attributes of the services and the relative importance of the attributes. This study tries to find out what resources the organization should determine and provide to enhance customer satisfaction.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
As mentioned in the beginning, the players of the hotel industry chosen are: Le Meridien The Oberois Vasant Continental MBD Radisson I have interviewed people who were using the services of these hotels. This approach is exploratory in nature. A balance between both structured and unstructured method of interviewing is adopted. It is structured, because we had some predetermined guidelines based on which the interviewed were conducted. It is unstructured because the questions were asked according to the answer given by the interviewed. The balance of structured and unstructured interviews are done in a flexible manner which was essential and at the same time it lowered out missing, any important point that should be covered under measurement of customer satisfaction levels. In getting more information, that too in greater depth. Greater flexibility, as the opportunity to meet the guest at his and my ease.

Following a personal interview method helped us in the following ways: -

- To able to create a relationship with the interviewed. The research is conducted to achieve the before said objectives was both exploratory and descriptive in nature and involved personal interviews based on the questionnaire format. Sample Design Target population Those who frequently visit hotels. Sampling unit Delhi and Noida market is treated as sampling unit. Data Collection Method:Data will be collected through both primary and secondary approach.

A) PRIMARY RESEARCH => The data will be collected by the

administration of a systematically planned simple questionnaire. Data is also gathered by informal chats with the employees of the organization, mainly the marketing and public relations dept.

B) SECONDARY RESEARCH => Secondary data is collected from various journals/Brochure of different hotels, Published Reports, Books, Business Magazines and Internet

INDUSTRY PROFILE
Hotel Industry Q3 FY06 Review- "Exceeding expectations" Industry OR and ARR continue to rise Tourism industry in India witnessed a healthy growth in 2003-04, followed by the continuation of the up trend in 2004-05. As per figures released by the Ministry of Tourism, foreign tourist arrivals increased by 24% in 2004 and this figure may reached a level of 4 million foreign tourists in 2005-06 compared to 3.54 million in the previous financial year. We expect this growth to continue during the next 2-3 years if no adverse incidents or circumstances happen in India and the South East Asian Region, which may affect the sentiments of tourists traveling to this area. In fact foreign exchange earnings from tourism may touch the level of Rs. 25,000 crores this year, showing a growth of about 20% over the previous year. An overall booming hotel industry and Q3 FY05 being the peak season, hotels across the country witnessed strong growth in ARR and OR. During the quarter under review, average room rates in the seven major cities rose by 25% year on year to Rs 6,034 while OR grew by 9% year on year at 72%. Aggregate revenues of the 5 leading players in the sector have registered a 29% CAGR. Higher occupancies and firm ARR have driven revenue growth.

Growth in ARR and OR in major cities during FY05

Strong revenue growth driven by higher room rates

A large part of the growth in Q3 for the universe under our coverage has come through ARR increases. ARR for Indian Hotels Company grew by 35% yoy at Rs 8150 while occupancies were down a percentage point at 74% in Q3 FY05 due to companys focus on improving RevPAR, Similarly, Hotel Leela Ventures closed Q3 FY05 with a 27% yoy growth in ARR at Rs11485 while OR was down 4% yoy at 74%. For 9M FY05 EIH Ltd reported ARR of Rs7, 550 with 64% occupancy against 62% in the same period previous year. Our universe of 5 companies posted a 29% yoy growth in revenue at Rs7.6bn in Q3 FY05.

Growth in revenue during FY05

Margins expand on the back of higher revenue growth Operating profit of the companies under our coverage grew by 47% yoy at Rs 2.9bn in Q3 FY05. This growth is mainly attributed to the strong revenue growth led by higher room rates. Our universe has reported a 490bps OPM expansion to 39%, as fixed costs get spread over higher revenue base. Hotel Leela ventures remains the best performing company at the operating levels with OPM of 54.5% for Q3 FY05 and 49.2% for 9M FY06.

Declining interest cost due to global fund raising There has been a sharp fall in the interest cost burden for most of the companies, as they have successfully raised low cost funds from international markets and restructure or repayment of old debts. During the quarter under review combined interest cost of our universe declined by 17% yoy at Rs367mn.

Robust profit growth Operating profit of our universe grew by 47% yoy at Rs2.9bn in Q3 FY05. Other income grew by 63% yoy, which helped PBT growth of 83% yoy at Rs2.3bn. However, during the quarter under review, effective tax rate was higher (36% in Q3 FY06 vs 29% in Q3 FY05), partly due to high tax outgo on extraordinary one time income of EIH. EIHs net profit before extraordinary income displays a flat trend due to the higher tax outgo, however profit growth has been robust (PBT up 60.8%). Aggregate net profit growth was higher by 63% yoy at Rs1.4bn.

Growth in APAT during Q3 FY06

Tourist arrivals remain healthy The hotel industry in India is witnessing a new high in all respects. Tourist arrival, occupancies and room rates have touched an all time high. Success of "Incredible India" campaign, introduction of low cost airlines, growing infrastructure thrust by the government and Indias emergence as an outsourcing hub has led to a 13.2% surge in foreign tourist arrival in calendar year 2005 over the previous year.

Month wise tourist arrival

ARR expected to rise further With growing business, domestic and international leisure travel, room demand is going to rise further. Though there is a huge room capacity addition lined up by many companies and which are under various stages of construction, the demand supply mismatch is expected to continue at least for the next two years. By the middle of 2008 we might see some capacities coming in. Till that time room rates are expected to rise further. Our top picks in this sector are Indian Hotels Company Ltd (CMP Rs1268). Among the other stocks that we are upbeat on include Hotel Leela venture (CMP Rs315). Taj GVK (CMP Rs228) is another stock to watch out for.

Hotels in India
Tour to India is perhaps the most talked about tour in the world. A holiday without a comfortable stay seems to be incomplete! Here is where the importance of hotels and Indian hospitality industry comes into picture. The India tour has gained momentum with time on account of its efficient and professional hotel services. With time, India has made an indelible mark in the area of hospitality. The deluxe / luxury, first class & budget Hotels offers various accommodation options along with the contemporary facilities at par with world standards and comes with expected comforts. From a business traveler to a leisure traveler, the hotels in India offer a wide choice of rooms for short as well as an option for long stay. Some of the top end hotels of India have also been honored with international awards and now - a- days lot of Indian Hotels are featured by reputed top International travel magazines as must stay city hotels or beach resort. The various Group of India hotels and Chains like Taj Group of Hotels, The Oberoi Group, ITC Welcome Group, The Park group, Sarovar Park Plaza Group, Oberoi Trident Chain, Welcome Heritage, Radisson India, Le Meridian India, Ambassador group of hotels, HRH Group of Hotels to name a few others have carved their niche in the arena of Indian hospitality industry and thus have placed India as one of the most happening tourist destinations in the world. Some of the well known Indian Chain of Hotels / groups of Hotels are adding newer properties within India but they have also expanding their reach by opening their properties at par with world standards abroad, thus creating a hallmark in the hospitality industry at an international level. India offers you various India tour packages by recommending properties from the list of hotels mentioned here as well as in the following pages. The recommended hotels are known for their quality / location advantage and also offers value for money with superior service standards. For the discerning travelers we also provide accommodation in advance to avoid un-necessary inconvenience caused by seasonal tourist flow to destination of choice. In a nutshell Hotels in India are a synonym to comfort, luxury and sheer elegance.

HOTEL LE MERIDIEN - HISTORY

Founded in 1988, under the able guidance and leadership of Late Mr. Charanjeet Dua, this hotel has blossomed into a world-class 5-star super deluxe hotel liability. After facing rough weather, this hotel has acclimatized itself well to meet the needs of the Indian consumer. This hotel has an unwritten philosophy it follows - not to follow standards set by other hotels but to establish benchmarks of excellence. There can be a lot said about Le Meridien's excellent services, its image, the ambience, its functioning and the people responsible for building the hotels reputation, but I would suggest that the quality of Le Meridien is reflected in the services it offers and the standards it has set. Next to the Capitals fashionable shopping commercial and cultural center and just 17kilomertes from the international Airport. All of which make it the profiteered destination of the discerning traveler. The hotel's exquisitely designed 355 guestrooms include 7 tastefully decorated designer suites, 91 new exclusive Le Royal Club rooms and 44 specially decorated designer suites each based on a unique contemporary theme are designed to suit guest's requirements. The view from the room is breathtaking overlooking Lyutens Delhi, covering the presidential estate, India Gate and Parliament of India. Be it in well-endowed Conference/Banquet Halls, the modern Business Center the well-equipped health club the numerous sports facilities you can be sure of a responsive personalized service. And of a distinguished atmosphere thats best exemplified at Club President offering a very exclusive set of privileges reserved for a select few. One can savor the celebrated cuisines of five gourmet restaurants. Consider Le Belvedere for the finest continental and Indian specialties, Golden Phoenix for authentic Szechwan and Cantonese Cuisine and Pierre for the classic French cuisine. You can also enjoy North-West Frontier Cuisine at Pakwan or have a quick bite at La Brasserie the 24hour coffee shop. Overlooking Lutyens Delhi the Parliament house India Gate Lawns the hotel is also in close proximity to historical and cultural sights like Red Fort The National Museum & the Old Fort to name a few. TARGET AUDIENCE The Le Meridian has divided its hotels into several categories on the basis of the customers they target and the city in which it is located. There are luxury hotels such as the Le Meridian in Bombay, Delhi, Jaipur etc. for the rich tourists and senior business executives who demand very high levels of service. Then, there are Business hotels such as Le Meridian, New Delhi etc.; which are typically situated in India's key commercial towns and serve the needs of the business travelers.

Tourists are the prime customers at the Le Meridian, even though they host some business conventions, which are clubbed together with a holiday destination. Fisherman's cove, Madras, Em-Boo-Dhu Fin-Olhu Island Resort in Maldives etc. are a few examples. Then there are Le Meridian Hotels such as Lake Palace, Udaipur etc. that provides the guests with the luxuries and royal experience of ancient times.

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT IN LE MERIDIEN Relationship Management is a business strategy to select and manage the most valuable customer relationships. RM requires a customercentric business philosophy and culture to support effective marketing, sales and service processes. Tactically, where do we start? The of customer relationship management in Le Meridian is typically looks like: Statistically valid customer satisfaction measurement. From the very top of the organization, there is a commitment to CRM including customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and a desire to have one voice to the customer. Integration of customer information. The process of extracting customer data from legacy systems (i.e., the property management system) and integrating all the databases in the property that contain guest information is complex and time consuming. The data sources may include guest history, external guest profiling systems, restaurant club programs, sales and catering system information and other data. At Le Meridian Hotels identifying customers begins at the Web site. Meridian selected ATG (www.leMeridian-newdelhi.com) to provide the relationship-management framework for www.leMeridian-newdelhi.com and Le Meridian North American network of 120 property Web sites.

Le Meridien liked ATG's Scenario Personalization capabilities and commitment to open standards. Scenario Personalization can be used to create Web experiences and interactive marketing programs based on each user's relationship with Le Meridian. The Meridien Name High brand awareness throughout the world. International travelers have high awareness and recognition of the media name. Well known and well connected in the travel trade. Increased International Business Differentiated from the American brands

Le Meridien has the ability to deliver reservations to your property Le Meridien around the world Over 80 hotels 40 countries New openings planned Commitment to expansion

Le Meridien is truly global and represented worldwide.

5 year objective: Double today's portfolio and manage 150 Le Meridien Hotels and Asserts around the world. These product standards sit along with the Welcome Charter, and used together, the documents outline: What they deliver Product Standards Welcome charter The manner in which they deliver it Examples : Signage Amenities Standards Welcome Charter Basics Appearance Language Posture The smile Responsibility Efficiency Offer a choice Reliability

Consideration Listen Be available

Provide information Nurture a team spirit

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression"

THE CORPORATE CULTURE work closely with owners and partners open communication framework empowered management/flat hierarchical structure Focus on training and development

The company began with a simple philosophy; to provide excellent services to the travel industry and the corporate world at a price one could easily afford. The dream of providing total satisfaction in all its spheres of activity, put consumer in excellent service at a competitive price, to give employees a fine quality of life and to offer business associates a total sense of belonging, a thorough understanding of fastchanging consumers behavior, new market segments and product opportunities and a marketing mix sensitive to changing customer needs form the core strategy and philosophy. This is essentially a completely customer driven approach. Thus, the changing consumer needs and never static technologies, which provide fresh challenges every day and at Le Meridien the progress, continue to turn. QUALITY Quality at Le Meridien is not just modern services and equipment. It is an everyday discipline. It is technology in experience that spans a decade of excellence. It is an attitude that masters the challenge of growth and changes. Change in consumers perceptions about products and new aspirations arising from a new generation of buyers. By tradition, conformance to quality at Le Meridian begins at the reception with every employee ensuring at each stage of service that nothing faulty passes through his hands. Total quality is ensured from arrival to the departure of the guests. Constant service up gradation ensures that the company stays in the global mainstream , and maintains its competitive edge. Besides the improved quality control methods that came about with foreign collaboration, the company also employs the service of independent experts from around the world, to assist in new design and serving process. But tradition remains uppermost. Control on quality still begins from the reception which is matter of pride for the worker. At Le Meridian learning is a continuous process. The Hotel has adopted latest technology to suit the Indian conditions by keeping pace with the time and making use of all the sophisticated hotel operational devices as its counterparts in the foreign countries, to give the customers the best service that is launched. For example when Le Club was launched it was positioned as a executive club for the business traveler, value addition came with special features like a Library, individual fax machines and personalized stationary and other secretarial services. Today, Le Meridian understands the needs of the Indian travel market much better.

This is why its Research and Development is always endeavoring to add more features to the existing range. CLIENTELE The peak season of the Hotel Industry is October to March whereas the lean season for the hotel industry is from May to August. The clients range from Industrial, Corporate Houses, MNCs and Public Sector undertakings. The customers in this class are of two categories: 1. Customers for Business and Commerce 2. Customers on Holidays Tours for pleasure. Domestic individual travelers who form the part of the clientele Clients on Holidays tours for Pleasure Guest on pilgrimage.

ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE Where did you hear about the Le Meridian from? From the above graph we can see that most of the guests were informed
6 5 4 3 2 1 0 TA Comp. Adv. Employees Others

about the package from their travel agents. This shows that the travel agencies have a very important role in success of a hotel.

Are you a regular guest here?

40% 60%

Yes No

The guests in the hotel rooms, the plaza plus rooms are not the regular customers but are mostly the first time visitors. It becomes all more important for the employees in the hotel to take good care of them so that the guests return to the hotel next time also. Also effort should be made that the guest once, your guest should always be your guest and the regular guest, should be informed regularly about the new schemes and packages.

You are currently on any packages are you aware of the benefits of the package? Many of the guests availing the package were not aware of the benefits with the package. A full documentation of the package should be given to

40% 60%

Yes No

the guest on the time of the check in. It becomes convenient for the question to avail of the benefits if they are told about them in advance. The package has been Packard with lot of hard work and thinking, to make it a real success the guests should know about the benefits so that they can after they learn advertise for the hotel, through herbal connects on the package.

What are the benefits you are aware of?

American Breakfast Bottle of win per day tea coffee through out the day Use of club loonge throughout the day Ticket confirmation Ironing of a suit/Day Photocopying and use of comptuer in the club Chauffer driven AC Luxury car for the day Buffert dinner at the cofee shop

Many people came to know about the benefits of the package fro the magazines in their rooms. A list of benefits should be made available to all the guests using the scheme.

Rank the attributes accordingly in order?

18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
Ambience Facility Charges Location Accomo. Service

HOTEL OBEROI - HISTORY

Five star deluxe hotel, centrally located and overlooking the prestigious 18-hole Delhi Club. The Oberois, New Delhi is undoubtedly the most exclusive hotel in the capital of India. It is centrally located and overlooks the prestigious Delhi Golf club. The hotel is in close proximity to the commercial and shopping district and has a reputation for services, luxurious accommodation and cuisine. It is spacious rooms and suits, completely refurbished, features state of the art facilities for discerning business travelers and include data ports, fax machines in the 24 hours personalized butler services. Accommodation The hotels 279 rooms and suites overlook either the green fairways of The Delhi Golf Course or the beautiful 16th century Mughal tomb of the emperor Humayun. The entire guest rooms are furnished in a quietly elegant contemporary Indian style .Every room is fully equipped with state-of-the-art communications and in-room entertainment. Deluxe rooms and suites offer the advantages of complimentary breakfast and return airport transfers. 16 Executive Suites feature a separate living room which overlooks the golf course. 8 Deluxe Suites have a spacious living/dining room and separate bedroom with king-size bed and a whirlpool bath. An extra bedroom is available if required. 5 Presidential Suites have views of both the Golf Club and Humayans Tomb, a bedroom with King-size bed and a grand living and dining room. The bathroom has a separate shower and whirlpool bath. There is a butlers pantry equipped with microwave and refrigerator. The Curzon Suite offers all this and more. More grandeur, more space (177 sq.m.) and a private study, with the best views in the hotel. Dining Four specialty restaurants 360, Travertine, Taipan, Kandhar, serve Continental, Italian, Chinese & Indian cuisine. The Club Bar is located at lobby level and the Gourmet Shoppe offers great coffee 24 hrs. Facilities and services Swimming pool secretarial services, same day laundry and dry-cleaning, 24 hour room services, health club, beauty salon and barber shop, travel desk, car rental, bank, chemist and a boutique arcade. A 24 hour business center equipped with state of the art modern facilities includes a conference room for 8 people, office for private use, secretarial and courier services, Internet services, Interpreter, PC rental,

courier services, secretarial services, fax, photocopier and audiovisuals rental. Credit Cards Access, American Express, Visa, Diners Club Eurocard, Japan Credit Bureau Master Card, Mastercharge, Grindlays-Visa-Classic, Carte Blanche, Central Card, Andhra Bank Card, Bank of Baroda. Banquet and Meeting rooms Seven banquet and conference rooms, Ideal for meetings, private parties and receptions for upto 400 persons. The Oberoi's offers the following loyalty programs The Oberois 'TOP' - This loyalty program running for the last 12 years, is a unique program consisting of exclusive privileges and benefits especially designed to recognize and reward regular guests of the Oberois Group. HOW DOES TOP WORK Every time a customer stays or dines at any hotel of The Oberois Group in India, he earns points on each eligible rupee spent by him. The points are recorded when he presents his membership card to the front office cashier at check out or at the restaurant the time of settlement of his bill. A statement of points earned is sent to him on a 30 day rolling cycle. MEMBERSHIP BEGINS WITH IMMEDIATE BENEFITS A special bonus of 50 points is given to the customer for signing on along with a one time upgrade voucher to the next category of room or suite. MEMBERSHIP LEVELS There are two levels of membership: TOP level and silver level. On joining, the customer will enter at the TOP level. At this level he earns 25 points per Rs. 1000 of eligible spend. Once he accumulates 4000 points during the one full year of membership, he will automatically receive a Silver Card. At this level he will earn 30 points for every Rs. 1000 of eligible spend and additional privileges. To stay at the Silver level, he has to continue to accumulate 4000 points during each year of membership. SPECIAL PRIVILEGES FOR BOTH LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP Free accommodation for spouse in a double room Late check-out till 6 pm (subject to availability) 50 bonus points on renewal of membership

The Oberoi, Bangalore - The Oberoi Grand, Calcutta - The Oberoi Towers-Mumbai, the Cecil-Shimla. SPECIAL PRIVILEGES FOR THE COMPANY Oberois offers special corporate rates based on volume of business and customized packages for extended stay and conference requirements. It also offers facilities like early from the company. SPECIAL PRIVILEGES FOR THE MEMBERS To facilitate the interactive process with the hotel, they offer dedicated facsimile members for reservations, confirmation by fax or mail on request and the exclusive use of their concierge network. The 'Connections' membership card entitles the member to a 20% discount in the Coffee shop and on confectionery items from the Pastry Shop. A member can also enjoy a 15% discount at the Beauty Salon or the Barber Shop at select Oberois Hotels and Trident Hotels. The 'Connections' card can be presented at shopping stores in major cities to avail of special discounts.

ANALYSING THE QUESTIONNAIRE Where did you hear about the Oberois Hotel?

0
Travel Agent Companies Advertisement Employer Others

Here also we can see that travel agents and companies play a vital role in promotion of Oberois.

Are you regular guest here?

According to the above the above chart it is clear that Oberois is a well

40%
Yes

60%

No

known 5 star hotel because there are approx. 60% of the guests who are a regular customer in the hotel.

Are you currently on any package? Are you aware of the benefits of the package? 70% of the guests in Oberois are aware of the benefits and the packages.

30%
Yes

70%

No

What are the benefits you are aware of?

Bottle of win per day

tea coffee through out the day

Ticket confirmation

Ironing of a suit/Day

Chauffer driven AC Luxury car for the day

Buffert dinner at the cofee shop

From the above graph we can see that most of the guests are aware of the benefits which hotel provides.

Rank the attributes accordingly in order?

25

20

15

10

According to my survey most of the people think that Oberois service are good and charges and rated accordingly.

HOTEL VASANT CONTINENTAL- HISTORY

Hotel Vasant Continental is a Hotel Situated at Vasnt Vihar, New Delhi. This star Hotel falls under the group "Jaypee" established in 1982, to fulfill the need of hotel industry during Asiad Olympics. The person or guiding force behind the hotel is none other than "Jay Prakash Gaur" The Chairman of Jaypee Group. BRIEF DISCRIPTION OF HOTEL Location: 12 KM from International Airport, It is surrounded by offices like Hero Honda, American Express. Physical Features: 7 floor 5 Star building with 3 restaurants, 119 rooms, parking space, shopping orchard, swimming pool, Idle location. 1st Floor - Food and Beverages, 2nd Floor - Club room, 3rd floor - VIP Floor, Rest i.e. 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th are normal room floors. Components: Hotel has: Health club - contains beauty parlour maintained by Shehnaz Hussain. Export shop - Ranita exports, Barber shop, Cruise i.e. body massage and a gymnasium. Coffee shop - where tea and coffee along with food is available 24 hours called as "Eggspectation" Lounge Bar - called "Tapas" Confectionery shop- Old Baker Restaurants- Two Specialty restaurant Ano tai & Paatra serving Chinese and Pan Indian Cuisine.

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AT VASANT CONTENTIAL Relationship Management is a business strategy to select and manage the most valuable customer relationships. Relationship Management requires a customer centric business philosophy and culture to support effective marketing, sales and service processes. Tactically, where do we start? The customer relationship management in Vasant Continental is typically looks like: Valid customer satisfaction measurement : From the very top of the organization, there is a commitment to Relationship Management including customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and a desire to have one voice to the customer. Integration of customer information : The process of extracting customer data from legacy systems (i.e., the property management system) and integrating all the databases in the property that contain guest information is complex and time consuming. The data sources may include guest history, external guest profiling systems, restaurant club programs, sales and catering system information and other data. Services : the services of hotel run with a motto behind them; the motto is "You're among friends" i.e. the service rendered her is like homely atmosphere and the customers are treated as "guests" similar to the guests who comes to our house, hence the nature of service is a homely one. Nature of service : Food + lodging + ambience + "homely feeling" The concept of homely feeling is the key for the success of this hotel. Supplementary: Escorting of guests, bell boy for room service AT&T phone facility for local and international call with the operation of an operator. Other services are: Free birth day cake to guest, fruits to guest or visiting members For VIP, soft drinks, dry fruits are served.

QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS Where did you hear about the Vasant Continental hotel? From the above graph we can see that companies play an important role in the promotion of the hotel.
5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Comp TA Advertisement Others Employees

Are you regular guest here?

No 60%

Yes 40%

Are you currently on any package. Are you aware of the benefits of the package? In Vasant many guest who are on the package were not aware of the benefits with the package. So it is recommended that full description of the package should be given

No 60%

Yes 40%

the guest on the time of their check in.

What are the benefits you are aware of in the hotel?

Bottle of win per day

tea coffee through out the day

Ticket confirmation

Ironing of a suit/Day

Chauffer driven AC Luxury car for the day

Buffert dinner at the cofee shop

From the above graph we can make out that there are some benefits which are not known to the guests.

Rank the attributes accordingly in order?

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Service Ambience Facility Charges Location Accom.

From the above graph it is depicted that Hotel Vasant Continentals rates high in location and accommodation parameters.

HOTEL RADISSON- HISTORY

A 5 star deluxe hotel situated in Noida adjacent to the newly built Wave Cineplex in Noida in Sector 18 market. The hotel is conveniently located in one of the posh localities of Noida. Apart from the well furnished rooms, it also provides conference rooms, restaurant with Indian and international cuisines and a plethora of recreational activities. Locate the Hotel Radisson Noida The Hotel Radisson Noida is placed 35 kms away from airport, 15 kms away from Trade Fair Ground and 18 kms away from the city centre, New Delhi. Lodging at Radisson Hotel Noida In all there are 114 well furnished rooms and suites including Superior, Deluxe, Club, Crescent and Terrace Plaza, Executive Suites and a plush Presidential Suite. All the rooms are well equipped, centrally airconditioned, with a mini bar, tea and coffee maker, electronic safe, hair dryer, ironing board, weighing scale, international direct dial telephone and colour TV with satellite channels. The product which a hotel offers fall into two category :1. Accommodation - This includes Rooms, Food & Beverage. 2. Service - This is an intangible product. Food & Beverage - which is also a perishable commodity like a room, are served from different F&B outlets like restaurants, coffee shops, banquets, rooms service, specialty restaurants, bars etc. Accommodation - Further classification of Accommodation would make the range of Products wider; The Rooms could vary from a Standard deluxe room to luxurious Presidential Suites which differ considerably in the facilities offered and of course the Tag or Tariff on them. The banqueting facilities, halls and conference rooms also come under the ambit of the Rooms division.

Dining at Hotel Radisson Noida The special series of restaurants at Hotel Radisson Noida, which serves a variety of cuisines, are: Made-in-India - An Indian Specialty Restaurant R.E.D. - Serves the far eastern cuisine S-18 - Brasserie, serves world cuisines with buffet for lunch and dinner @Links - a stylish bar, well stocked with fine wines and liquors The Chocolate box - Pastry Shop Hold a Conference at Radisson Hotel Noida The Radisson Hotel Noida provides comprehensive conferencing facilities and banqueting facilities. There are 2 halls of 6,000 sq. feet, namely Lexicon & Concord each which are fully equipped to handle national and international conferences. Recreation The leisure time can be spent quite busy at the Hotel Radisson Noida. The recreation alternatives at the hotel include Health Club with latest equipments, Spa with a range of relaxation therapies, steam, sauna and hydrotherapy, Beauty Salon, open air Swimming Pool, Jacuzzi and Guest memberships for 18 hole Golf Club.

QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS Where did you hear about the Radisson hotel?

From the above graph we can see that companies play an important role
3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Comp TA Advertisement Internet Employees

in the promotion of the hotel.

Are you regular guest here?

No 38% Yes 62%

Are you currently on any package. Are you aware of the benefits of the package? The graph shows that 60% of Radisson customers are aware of the hotels benefits of the package. In Radisson customer are in economic class so most of them are aware of the benefits with the package.

No 60%

Yes 40%

What are the benefits you are aware of in the hotel?

From the above graph we can make out that there are some benefits,

Bottle of win per day

tea coffee through out the day

Ticket confirmation

Ironing of a suit/Day

Chauffer driven AC Luxury car for the day

Buffert dinner at the cofee shop

which are not known to the guests.

Rank the attributes accordingly in order?

25

20

15

10

0 Service Ambience Facility Charges Location Accom.

The graph shows that that Hotel Radisson Noida charges are economical in services and accommodation parameters.

ANALYSIS & FINDINGS

On analyzing the above information gathered about the four major hotels, I found that each of these hotels realize the immense potential of relationship management have suitable systems in place to implement their strategies and practices. Hotels offering similar discounts and rewards thus its the recognition that a hotel offers to its customers that makes all the differences. This recognition is that, which can be improved upon at all the touch points where the customer comes in contact with the hotels. Comparison between the four hotels led me to the following findings they are as follows: The Oberoi's The Oberoi's offers tops a loyalty programme, consisting to exclusive privileges and benefits to recognize and reward the regular guests of the Oberoi's group. Oberoi's was awarded the "best concierge awarded". Oberoi's membership top level Silver level

Le - Meridien Le - Meridien has more than 1000 employees working for it providing service shift wise. They have come out with the "different packages" which will provide better customer service. Hotel offers a range of meeting and banquet facility room, recreational facilities and many more, to enhance the comfort of its customer. Le - Meridian has a well maintained inventory record of all the guests with added facilities as has been mentioned in the promotional brochure. "PRIVATE LINE". Quality at the Le-Meridian is not just modern services and equipment. It is an everyday discipline. Total quality is ensured from arrival to the departure of guest. The service of this hotel run with a motto "you're among friends". Service, which are rendered here, are more like in a homely atmosphere. Core services include food and beverages specialty restaurant and bar.

Vasant Continental

Radisson The Radisson Hotel Noida is within walking distance to Noida's best shopping, entertainment and dining. Travel desk with sightseeing tours is available round the clock, entertainment options around the Hotel - Centrestage Mall, WAVE cinemas, 18 -hole golf course, tennis and squash facilities in walking distance. Radissons promotional activities include print media like news papers; magazines etc. like Oberois, Radisson too have a very well maintained inventory of its regular guests. They send New Year cards, invitation on different celebrations, etc to their guests. The recreation alternatives at Radisson include Health Club with latest equipments, Spa with a range of relaxation therapies, steam, sauna and hydrotherapy, Beauty Salon, open air Swimming Pool, Jacuzzi and Guest memberships for 18 hole Golf Club. While studying and analyzing the questionnaire the conclusion which is drawn

In Le Meridian, most of the guests are informed about the package from their travel agents. In Vasant continental hotel most of the guests were informed by the companies and Oberoi's graph shows that travel agents play important role in success of a hotel employees and the companies also play an important role in bringing awareness in the guests about the hotels and different schemes in the hotel. In the Le-Meridian and Vasant 60% of the guest are not a regular customer, which means that the guests are not fully aware of the benefits and package, which are provided by these hotels. But in Oberoi's 60% of the guests are regular customers. All the star hotels provide benefits to their guests but are the customer aware of those benefits? The Oberoi's it is observed that mostly customers are aware of the benefits like Chauffer driven A/c Car hotel of wine per staff or use of lounge through out the day. Mostly customers are made aware of these benefits on their arrival time. In Vasant and Le Meridian there are some benefits which are not known by the customers like using of the club, or about American breakfast or a bottle of wine per stay. In another analysis of we compare these 4 hotels according to their service, Ambience, facility, charges, location and accommodation I have observed that in Oberoi's services are the highest among other two hotels. Charges are more or less the same in all the 4 hotels. But the facilities, which are provided in Oberois, are much higher than the other two. The Hotel Radisson Noida is placed 30 kms away from airport.

Consumer Perception of Hotel Industry

90 80 70
% of people

60 50 40 30

20
10 0 Location Facilities
Parameters of distinction

Ambience

Oberoi

LeMeridien

Vasant Continental

Raddison

As we can see in the graph, it depicts the picture of three major parameters of any hotels like location facilities, ambience. Out of 30 people who are survey, 30% who were the guests of Vasant Continental rates high regarding the location of Vasant Continental Hotel. Now if we see the facilities of all the three hotels and compare we conclude that Oberois rates high among the two hotels. Another conclusion of my survey regarding ambience of three hotels is that Oberoi hotels rates high among the two.

Location Preferences

90.00% 80.00% 70.00%

% of people

60.00% 50.00%

40.00%
30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Airport Shopping
Parameters of distinction

Oberoi

LeMeridien

Vasant Continental

Raddisson

In my survey regarding location I have divided location under two heads Airport & Shopping. Vasant Continental rates high as it is near to the airport and Le-Meridien rates high because it is near by Connaught Place and Janpath area. The Hotel Radisson Noida is placed 30 kms away from airport and 15 kms away from Trade Fair Ground and 18 kms away from the city centre, New Delhi.

100.00% 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Ironing of suit per day Chauffer Driven AC car Ticket confirmation Buffet dinner

Oberoi

LeMeridien

Vasant Continental

Raddison

Facilities provided by various hotels

Now dividing facilities under the following heads like buffet dinner and ticket confirmation etc. We observed that Oberoi's rates high among the facilities.

Ambience

100.00% 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Interior Exterior

Oberoi

LeMeridien

Vasant Continental

Radisson

While dividing ambience under the two heads exterior and interior parameters Oberois rates high among the two.

CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS

A deep insight of the hotel reveals that it is a business. In service industry like hotel industry everything depends on the manpower. Create differentiation at every point whenever products and services come in contract with the customer. By capturing the right requirements organizations can avoid failure of their relationships to the customer. However there is no golden formula, the focus should be on capturing the right requirements. Creating positive first implementation requires team approach As experienced hoteliers know, a first impression sets the tone for an entire stay. When a positive impression is created, everything trends to go well thereafter. The following page gives an insight into how the hotels can ensure that a positive first impression is created consistently and effectively. This can be done by taking care at the following touch points:-

Reservations Train your staff to obtain and enter accurate contract information of their guests who are going to arrive. Front Desk Make sure all associates services the arrivals to identify repeat guests the might recognize and later be able to great by name. Make sure that every guest in properly greeted upon arrival with welcoming statement, deliver sincerely with a warm smile and eye contract. Guest Services Make sure door staff stays in position even during slower periods. Ensure that the staff extends hospitality to all guests, including greeting every one they pass in room corridors and public areas. Train your staff on effective verbal communication techniques including inflection and energy. Benefits and Packages It becomes convenient for the guest to avail of the benefits if they are told about them in advances. The packages has been prepared with lot of hard work and thinking, to make it a real success the guests should know about the benefits so that they can after they leave advertise for hotel, through verbal comments on the packages. Retention of the hotel in the minds of the customers in terms of their services, ambiences and image has to be constantly reminded to them, and for that, the hotels have to resort to serious advertisement and image enhancing campaigns. All the 3 hotels have more than 1000 employees, working for them providing services shift wise. They have come out with the "different packages" which will provide better customer services.

For the guests it has been suggested that the various corporate guests should be requested to give their views on the hotel services, quality etc. in an unbiased manner and should also be asked to give suggestions on how else to improve to their services, what facilities they should like to be included etc. This should be well taken care of an appropriate action should be taken.

Every business customer relationship makes good sense to be successful in making each individual customer as profitable as possible. We need to understand their value and growth potential. Good customer relation allows us to keep customers happy and satisfied and they will keep coming back to us, and for this we need to respond quickly to their unique needs and behavior. The better we know our customer, the more efficiently/effectively we can customize the offerings and thus make more profits.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Internet www.lemeridien-newdelhi.com www.oberoihotels.com/india/delhi/oberoidelhi/overview/index.asp?le ftinfo=1&leftitem=1 www.jaypeehotels.com/vasant/boutique-hotels-new-delhi-india.asp www.radisson.com/noidain www.google.com www.brandimensions.com www.indiainfoline.com Books & Journals The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAIs )

QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Age: Occupation: Address: Please mark the appropriate choices yes and no: Where did you hear about the hotel from? Travel agent Company Newspaper advertisement Employees Are you a regular guest here? Yes No You are currently on any package. Are you aware of the benefits of the package? Yes No Please tick () the benefits you are aware of: American Breakfast Bottle of wine per stay Use of plaza club throughout the day Ticket confirmation lounge Evening Canaps

Others

Tea / coffee through out the day Meeting room for two hours per day Ironing of a suit per day Buffet Dinner at the coffee shop.

Chauffer driven AC Luxury car for the day Photocopying and use of computers in the plaza club library

Overall how satisfied have you been with the service. Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied Neither Somewhat satisfied nor dissatisfied dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

REASONS:

Please indicate your views on the following: Excellent 1.Greeting on arrival 2.Check - in Experience 3.Luggage handling 4.Quality of rooms 5.Quality of Bathrooms 6.Service 7. Menu selection and food quality 8. Atmosphere and ambience Please indicate a) Your view on the service level. My view on Service level is: Low 1. Quality of service 2. Employees understanding of the needs of the guests 3. Willingness to help guests 4. Maintaining error free records. 5. Promptness in service. Do you feel your hotel is cost effective? Yes No Is there anything in particular you liked or disliked about the hotel? Good Fair Unsatisfactory

high