PLACE MIX in Hotel Industry

sunandaC

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PLACE MIX

It is only not sufficient that we have a product mix of world class; it is not only significant that we promise the best, it is much more impact-generating that we bridge over the gap between the services-promised and service offered. The hotels and hotel companies have been found innovating their service mix but they also bear the responsibility of making it sure that the promised services reach to the ultimate users in a right fashion. It is against this background that we focus on the place mix of hotel companies.

The hotel personnel and the travel agents are found instrumental in offering the services related to hotels. The front-line-staff, receptionists, enquiries, complaints and grievances redressal cell, the waiters, the porters, the doormen, the travel agents, the tour operators are found involved in the process.

If they are professionally-sound and personally-committed, the promised services would reach to the users without any distortion that would generate satisfaction to the users and even the projection of a positive image would not be found much more difficult.

Of course, the hotel institutes and travel and tourism institutes have been educating and training the personnel keeping in view the changing needs and increasing expectations of the users, still we find cases where they generate a gap while processing the services which results into dissatisfaction vis-a-vis projection of a negative image. This makes it essential that we assign due weightage to the processing of services.

A sound distribution system is found significant to the development of almost all the organisations either producing goods or generating services. In the hotel industry, the distribution of services is mainly related to the transmission of information by the related persons to the ultimate users. As a when the bookings are made of a bedroom or a function room or of a restaurant, the confirmation is found essential.

The transmission of information related to cancellation is also found important. We can't deny the fact that with the introduction of sophisticated information technologies, the task is made easier but the professionals operating and maintaining the technologies have also been found generating the gap. This makes it essential that hotels, offices of travel agents and the tour operators are well connected with computers, inter-net services.

A number of factors arc found influencing the distribution process, such as location, point-of sale the cost of distribution, effectiveness of marketing resources, image of hotels and hotel companies, tactical strategy and the motivational schemes.

For accomplishing the organisational goals or for bridging over the gap between the services-promised and services-offered, we need to innovate .the distribution processes, helping us substantially in purchasing the hotel bed rooms, function rooms restaurants, essentially through the chain of distribution.

The hotels and hotel companies are here required to take a decision regarding a strong and. efficient chain which maintains economy in the process and at the same time also minimises the possibilities of distortion in the process.

The choice of location is, of course, the most important business decision, Specially for proprietor-owned restaurants, guest houses and small tourist attractions. This is due to the fact that a well located small business can often be sure of an adequate now of customers to its catchment area. In this case, the consumers come to the producer directly and therefore, we find the distribution channels less significant. The selection of tour operators and travel agents is an important decision-making area for hotels and hotel companies.

If the hotels and hotel companies are well connected with the offices of the travel agents and the tour operators, the occupancy ratio can be increased. The tour operators buy a range of tourist products in bulk. This also includes accommodation facilities which is found relevant to the hotel industry.

They also buy function rooms, specially for the organisation of conferences, seminars, exhibition, sales contests or so. After buying a number of services and making them a lucrative package, the tour operators sell them to the travel agents. Here, the tour operators play a decisive role in promoting the hotel business.

The distribution chain denotes the methods by which a product or services a processed from producers to the ultimate users. The middlemen are the link ad if the link is strong, the service generating organisations find it convenient o increase the occupancy ratio. The middlemen are wholesalers buying hotel rooms in bulk and then selling the same to the retailers known as the travel gents.

The tour operators are called the producers of services. The travel agents buy the services at the request of their clients and provide a convenient network of sales outlets which caters to the needs of the catchment area. Here we find three systems for distributing the services, e.g. two-level, one-level and zero-level.


The three-tier distribution system is required to be managed properly so that the users expectations are fulfilled and the promised services reach to the ultimate users in a right way. It is in this context that the hotel management requires world class professional excellence which would simplify the distribution process besides maintaining economy and making possible cost effectiveness
 
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