Competencies for The Lodging Industry

1. Explain how the travel and tourism industry can be

categorized, and classify hotels in terms of their size and
target markets.
2. Classify hotels in terms of their levels of service, and
ownership and affiliation.
3. Describe characteristics of business, pleasure/leisure, group,
and international travelers.
4. Identify factors that influence travelers’ buying decisions.
5. Describe how hotels can become more ecologically
responsible and the incentives they have to do so.
The Travel and Tourism Industry
The travel and tourism industry consists of five parts:
• Lodging operations
• Transportation services
• Food and beverage operations
• Retail stores
• Activities
The Hospitality Industry
• The hospitality industry is part of the travel and tourism industry.
• The hospitality industry consists of lodging; food and beverage
operations; and institutional food and beverage services.
Classifying Hotels
Hotels can be classified by:
• Size
• Target markets
• Levels of service
• Ownership and affiliation
Hotel Size Categories
• Under 150 rooms
• 150 to 299 rooms
• 300 to 600 rooms
• More than 600 rooms
Target Markets
• Two of the most important marketing challenges for a lodging
property are: “Who stays at our property?” and “Who else
can we attract?”
• Lodging properties seek to identify target markets.
• Target markets are distinctly defined groups of travelers that
the hotel seeks to retain or attract as guests.
Types of Hotels, Classified by Market Segment
• Commercial hotels • Vacation ownership and
• Airport hotels condominium hotels

• • Casino hotels
Suite hotels
• • Conference centers
Extended-stay hotels
• • Convention hotels
Residential hotels
• • Alternative lodging properties
Resort hotels
(recreational vehicle parks,
• Bed-and-breakfast campgrounds, mobile home parks,
hotels corporate lodging, cruise ships)
Commercial Hotels
• Located in the towns and cities they primarily serve
• Often located near train stations in the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries
• Located in downtown or business districts today
• Largest group of hotels
Commercial Hotel Guest Amenities
• Complimentary newspapers
• In-room coffee makers
• Free local calls
• Cable television, DVD players/DVDs, video games
• Personal computers, high-speed Internet access
• Ergonomic desks and chairs
• Fax machines
• Car rental arrangements, airport pick-up services Continued

9a
Commercial Hotel Guest Amenities Continued from previous slide…

• Twenty-four-hour food service

• Semi-formal dining rooms; cocktail lounges
• Conference rooms, guestroom suites, room service, banquet
meal service
• Laundry/valet service
• Concierge service
• In-room refreshment centers
• Retail stores
• Pools, health clubs, tennis courts, saunas
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Airport Hotels
• First airport hotels built in 1950s as air travel became popular
• Airport hotels are built in major travel centers
• Wide variety of sizes and levels of service
• Target markets: business travelers, airline passengers with travel
layovers/canceled flights, and airline personnel
• Many feature conference rooms
• Offer convenience, cost savings

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Suite Hotels
• Fast-growing segment of the lodging industry
• Feature guestrooms with a living room or parlor area and a separate
bedroom
• Some guestrooms include a kitchenette
• Generally have fewer/more limited public areas than other hotels
• Target markets: people relocating to area, travelers who enjoy
homelike accommodations; vacationing families, business
professionals

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Extended-Stay Hotels
• Similar to suite hotels
• Designed for travelers who stay five nights or longer
• Usually do not provide food, beverage, or uniformed/valet
services
• Housekeeping services may not be provided on a daily basis
• Homelike atmosphere
• Room rates often determined by the length of a guest’s stay

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Residential Hotels
• Provide long-term or permanent accommodations in urban or suburban
areas
• Located primarily in the United States
• Declining in popularity; replaced in part by suite and condominium hotels
• Guest quarters generally include a sitting room, bedroom, and kitchenette
• In some states, guests who contract to live in a residential hotel are
considered tenants
• May provide some or all of the services provided to guests in commercial
hotels
• A restaurant/lounge may be located on the premises

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Resort Hotels
• Often chosen as the destination or vacation spot
• Usually located in an exotic location away from crowded residential
areas
• Usually feature recreational facilities/activities and breathtaking
scenery not typical of other hotels
• Usually provide extensive food and beverage, valet, and room services
• Typically feature a leisurely, relaxed atmosphere
• Strive to provide enjoyable guest experiences to encourage repeat
business and word-of-mouth referrals
• Often employ social directors
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Lifestyle Hotels
• Appeal to specific travelers who enjoy certain architecture, art,
culture, special interests, and amenities
• Most major lodging companies have entered this market segment
• Reflect the interests of their guests
• Usually have 100 to 250 guestrooms, with limited or no meeting
space
• Food service varies from world-class to mid-range
• Building exterior, interior décor, and guestroom design are all
important to the success of these hotels

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Bed-and-Breakfast Hotels
• Sometimes called “B&Bs”
• Range from converted small houses to small commercial
buildings with 20–30 guestrooms
• Owner usually lives on the premises and serves as the property
manager
• Breakfast ranges from a simple continental breakfast to a full-
course meal
• Most only offer lodging and limited food service
• Room prices tend to be lower than in a full-service hotel
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Vacation Ownership Hotels
• Sometimes referred to as timeshare or vacation-interval hotels
• People purchase ownership of accommodations for a specific
period of time (usually one or two weeks a year)
• If owners do not stay during their time period, they can have the
hotel’s management company rent their units for them,
receiving the rental money after paying fees to the management
company for this service
• Owners can trade their ownership time with other owners in
other locations
• Each unit has multiple owners
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Condominium Hotels
• Similar to vacation ownership hotels
• Units in condominium hotels have only one owner, instead of
the multiple owners typical in vacation ownership hotels
• Owners tell the management company when they want to
occupy their units; the company is free to rent the unit for the
remainder of the year
• A portion of the rent from the unit goes to the unit’s owner

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Casino Hotels
• Feature gambling facilities
• Guestrooms and food and beverage operations are often luxurious,
but they are secondary to the gambling operations
• Cater to leisure and vacation travelers
• Attract guests by promoting gaming and headliner entertainment
• Provide a broad range of entertainment and recreation opportunities
• May offer charter flights for guests who plan to gamble
• Gambling activities may operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
• Some are very large, with several thousand guestrooms

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Conference Centers
• Specifically designed to handle group meetings
• Provide all of the services and equipment necessary for a
meeting’s success
• Often located outside metropolitan areas
• May provide extensive leisure activities

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Convention Hotels
• This segment has grown significantly in recent years
• Often have thousands of guestrooms
• Can have 50,000 square feet or more of exhibit hall space, plus
ballrooms and meeting rooms
• Offer a variety of dining facilities
• Primarily directed toward business travelers with a common interest
• A full line of business services are generally available for guests
• Host state, regional, national, and international meetings
• May book business up to ten years in advance

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Basic Issues Pertaining to Service
• Intangibility of service
• Quality assurance
• Rating services
• Economy/limited service

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Types of Hotels, Classified by Levels of Service
• World-class service
• Upscale
• Mid-range service
• Economy/limited service

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Types of Hotels, Classified by Ownership and Affiliation
• Independent hotels
• Chain hotels
• Management contract
• Franchise
• Referral group

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Categories of Guests
• Business
• Pleasure/leisure
• Group
• International

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Business Travelers
• Historically, the first and primary market for hotels
• More than 35 million people take business trips each year
• Business travelers average about five trips per year
• Business travelers account for a significant portion of lodging
demand
• Hotels design specific products and services for business
travelers--meeting space, offices, secretarial/computer
services, in-room safes, 24-hour room service, Internet access

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Pleasure/Leisure Travelers
• Specialized resort travel
• Family pleasure travel
• Travel by the elderly
• Travel by singles or couples
• Price-sensitive

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Group Travelers
• Pleasure travel
• Institutional meetings/conventions
• Corporate/government meetings/ conventions
• Trade associations
• Management meetings, sales meetings, new product
introductions, training seminars, professional/technical
meetings, stockholder meetings

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International Travelers
• Different needs and expectations
• Language barriers
• Foreign-born employees can be helpful in serving these guests

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Buying Influences on Travelers
• Satisfactory experiences with a hotel
• Ads by a hotel or chain
• Recommendations by family members and friends
• Hotel’s location
• Preconceptions of a hotel based on its name or affiliation
• Travel management companies

Continued

30a
Buying Influences on Travelers Continued from previous slide…

• Ease of making reservations

• Hotel’s quality of service, cleanliness, and appearance
• Loyalty to a particular property or brand
• Frequent traveler programs
• Website design (for travelers booking online)

30b
Blogging and Social Networking
• Blogs: publically accessible chronicles or personal diaries
• “B-blog” is a blog dedicated to a business or business segment
• Alternative blogs include discussion forums and e-mail
exchanges
• Social networking sites facilitate interaction within an online or
virtual community
• Social networking sites allow individuals or groups to create
personal profiles to share with others

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The Green Hotel
• People increasingly interested in patronizing “green” hotels
• Government agencies, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives seeking
“green” hotels
• Green hotel initiatives include: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, recycling,
organic gardening, capturing waste heat from power generators, using
renewable energy sources, and educating guests about environmental issues
• Green initiatives are in place worldwide
• LEED certification, Energy Star program
• Hotels engaged in energy management, water management, biodiversity
management, and waste management programs
• Green meetings

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