Website Proposal For Holiday Inn Hotel Tourism Essay Example
Website Proposal For Holiday Inn Hotel Tourism Essay Example

Website Proposal For Holiday Inn Hotel Tourism Essay Example

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  • Pages: 10 (2651 words)
  • Published: November 4, 2017
  • Type: Research Paper
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The shrinking universe is expanding the reach of tourists. Hotels no longer have a fully staffed reservations department with managers, assistant managers, supervisors, and agents.

The Internet has conveniently replaced numerous phone calls, faxes, and payment problems. Now potential guests simply dial a toll-free number or book directly online. According to Forrester Research, 32% of hotel revenues are generated through online bookings. This includes both direct reservations and those made through third-party websites. The travel industry dedicates 29% of its marketing budget to online advertising (Cullen). This is because businesses have realized the significance of integrating E-Commerce with their overall strategies.

The nature of travel and travelers has changed, as they are now hyper-interactive, using methods such as texting, tweeting, emailing, and communicating through social media platforms like Facebook. They also share o

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pinions and experiences from their current or past trips. With the rise of social media and mobile internet, potential guests for the hospitality industry have constant access to multiple channels for interaction and sharing. As a result, hotel websites need to be designed with this hyper-interactive user in mind, instead of being static brochures with uninteresting content. (Max Starkov)

Back land

The Holiday Inn hotel is part of the IHG group of companies and operates under a consistent brand name. Guests at the 1874 Holiday Inn hotels worldwide can expect to be well-treated and have certain expectations regarding the service. The idea for Holiday Inn hotels originated from its founder, Kemmons Wilson, who was dissatisfied with the inconsistency of roadside motels during a trip to Washington DC. Consistency is highly valued in service provision. The expertise in total quality management is possessed by hospitality giants like Marriott,

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Hilton, and of course, Holiday Inn. However, consistency can also have significant drawbacks in relation to social media policies and the constantly changing world of the internet.

The Holiday Inn hotels and resorts are known for their consistency and innovation. They were the first to introduce the Holidex reservation system, giving their competitors a run for their money. Additionally, they were the pioneers in offering indoor pools, known as Holidromes, to transform their hotels into resorts. The website of the hotel should reflect this innovative and comfortable experience that is synonymous with the Holiday Inn brand. With time, Holiday Inn has become a well-established name in the midscale hospitality industry.

According to a study in the second quarter of 2010, the midscale travel market is highly competitive and makes up 43% of global travelers. Despite the economic downturn in 2009, the tourism industry has recovered and seen an increase in tourist numbers. However, these new tourists are more cost-conscious and technologically-savvy. Social media platforms like TripAdvisor have given travelers numerous options for travel advice, potentially reducing their reliance on well-known brands compared to previous visitors. Furthermore, the economic recovery has led to a surge in travel, resulting in a wealth of online tourism information.

The surge of hotelkeepers has resulted in a shift in hotel websites due to economic conditions. These new websites prioritize a distinct inventory distribution system, social media engagement, and cross-channel marketing. Additionally, the majority of these revamped websites are designed for mobile web applications, including the Holiday Inn website. As globalization and heightened competition reshape the economy, hotels cannot depend solely on their past achievements.

Holiday Inn and IHG have faced a similar situation in

the past, experiencing a significant decline in market share during the 1980s. The hotel managed to regain some of its market segment when it was relaunched in 2007, along with the introduction of a new website. Visitors to the hotel's website are greeted with a user-friendly interface.

The website offers convenience details, locations, room features, and descriptions of the surrounding area. However, providing these details alone is insufficient in the highly competitive hospitality industry. Holiday Inn hotels must create a website that showcases their core strengths, addresses competition from other market players, and reduces the influence of buyers. Prior to the recession, visitors expressed higher satisfaction with the Holiday Inn website compared to the average in the industry. This data was obtained from studies conducted on 31 websites of leading hospitality brands.

The web site assessed information regarding the five key aspects of a visitor's online experience: navigation, content, interactivity, motivation, and acceptance. Overall, client satisfaction was rated quite high at the 92nd percentile. (Website Satisfaction Soars at InterContinental Hotels Group) In 2007, the website excelled in terms of content.

The information provided covered a wide range of visitor concerns, which was enhanced by its well-organized structure and easy navigation. As a result, the site received a higher acceptance rating than the industry average, indicating potential future referrals and a high likelihood of return visits. Additionally, the website helped foster brand loyalty, as indicated by Sasha Paine, an analyst at iperceptions, who stated that there is no clearer indication of a site's effectiveness than its ability to build loyalty among visitors (Website Satisfaction Soars at InterContinental Hotels Group). The new virtual marketplace also enables small companies to compete

with larger industry players.

Holiday Inn faces competition not only from hotel chains like Ramada and Hilton but also from small hotels. The website of the hotel is rich in content, with the most important section being the reservations section, conveniently located at the front for customers. The reservations section assists in locating and providing all relevant information about the Holiday Inn hotel in the area to be visited.

According to a Hospital and Tourism Industry study in Q2 2010, only 32% of visitors to a hotel's website make reservations. The majority of visitors come to gather information or compare rates. For visitors who are not enticed by the brand, the website needs to be visually appealing and engaging to ensure they make a reservation or at least return to the site. However, the website lacks strategies to target new customers. Unlike other websites that provide reasons to stay at their hotels, the Holiday Inn relies on its brand name and preconceived notions of its excellence to attract potential guests. The importance of website design as an art form is overlooked, and utilizing this art effectively could prevent visitors from having to navigate multiple pages or scroll for necessary information.

The Ramada website prominently showcases its reservation section on the main page, but the homepage also includes other elements that engage potential clients. The site ensures that new deals are easily visible to visitors. In contrast, the Holiday Inn website's slideshow is not very imaginative and consists of only four slides. However, it quickly appeals to comfort and attracts business travelers. The slideshow does not feature aspects related to family, friends, or fun travel experiences.

Other websites have

a wider navigation menu and faster slideshows compared to the Pueblo Bonito web site and the Atlantis hotel in Dubai. Websites like theurbansuites.com are also attempting to customize their services by dividing visitors based on demographics and visitor types. Websites are featuring more testimonials, blog links, and some even have press coverage praising them. This customer-oriented approach used by the website and marketing strategy appeals to visitors. (Mackenzie)

The focus of this paper is on the need to create a new website for Holiday Inn hotels. It examines the changing trends in website designs within the hospitality industry, as well as the preferences of travelers. The study gathers data from visitors to the website and analyzes their satisfaction levels. Satisfaction is evaluated based on various factors such as website content, ease of navigation, interactivity, motivation, and acceptance.

This can be achieved through e-surveys and analyzing visitor behavior on the website, resulting in decisions being made regarding visitor satisfaction. Given that online bookings account for a significant portion of all hotel reservations, it is crucial to give proper attention to redesigning or refurbishing the website if necessary. To develop the new website, it may be beneficial to outsource the task to reputable website developers specializing in the hospitality industry.

Budgetary allocations will need to be made. These include consultancy costs, advertisement of the new website, Search Engine optimization costs, and website development and maintenance. Research will need to be conducted on the percentage of revenues generated by the website, the potential for growth, and the amount competitors allocate towards online marketing and website development. Budget allocation and trends in the hospitality website industry, along with weaknesses in the

current website, will provide guidelines for the new website.

Rationale

The hotel marketing industry is a thriving industry that serves only hospitality providers.

Research and surveys are conducted to gain insights into visitor and guest behaviors. These studies assist hotel marketing consultants in creating new websites and targeting customers. Specific online surveys are created to obtain visitor opinions and assess their level of satisfaction. One such study is The Iperceptions satisfaction index, which serves as the only metric to measure customer satisfaction with an online channel.

The text provides guidance to hotelkeepers on data mining and analysis for generating results and conclusions. It focuses on the hospitality and tourism industry, offering hotelkeepers up-to-date information on industry trends and predicting future market conditions. It also explores the best practices in hotel website design through e-business strategies in the hospitality industry. This report, prepared by hospitality e-business industries, emphasizes the significance of websites for hotels and provides suggestions for creating them effectively.

Best Practices for Maximizing Your Hotel's Online Revenue & ROI by Kathreen Cullen. This white paper aims to assist hotels in maximizing their online gross. While the content of these studies, including the integration of E-Commerce with hospitality, are specific to the industry, they offer valuable guidelines for Holiday Inn hotels. This paper focuses on the research approach, methodology, and strategies that should be employed by Holiday Inn hotels. Additionally, it examines the limitations of the research and explores the potential for implementing advanced features on the Holiday Inn website.

According to Del Ross, Vice President of Americas Distribution sales for IHG, understanding and incorporating customer feedback into their online experiences is of utmost importance. Therefore, the research for the new

website will focus on customer sentiment and satisfaction. To gather data from website visitors, advanced research methods will be used, including data aggregation and analysis. Cooper and Schindler (Methods) suggest that combining qualitative and quantitative studies can enhance the quality of research, especially when quantitative findings support qualitative findings.

Researchers widely agree that combining quantitative and qualitative research is essential in various types of studies (Malhotra). Therefore, it is imperative to utilize both qualitative and quantitative data sets. Offline methods for collecting data on client satisfaction with the website may be inefficient and unengaging. Conversely, online data collection offers two approaches and can provide objective as well as subjective responses.

The challenging aspect of this study is that while there is an abundance of secondary information relevant to the industry, none of it will specifically pertain to the Holiday Inn hotel. Therefore, researchers will need to gather primary data from scratch, analyze it, and make conclusions about the current state of the hotel website.

Sampling methods

The sampling method will primarily be non-random, as visitors cannot be forced to participate in the research. Probability sampling will only be used for a small focus group. Quantitative research will rely on visitors, while visitors will only engage in qualitative research through choice.

The most convenient method for sampling will be the quota method. This is because the research should include only possible travelers. Only individuals with an income above $50,000 per year will be sampled. It is generally observed that the population below this income group does not travel frequently.

Similarly, other characteristics of current invitees can be employed to determine the various quotas that must be utilized in attempting. This type of

sampling will make it difficult to gauge the sampling error because the results will not accurately reflect the entire population. It is necessary to utilize focus groups consisting of the targeted market. Given that the hotel's present website and overall reputation within the hotel chain suggest a focus on primarily accommodating business travelers, it is feasible to randomly select business travelers.

Potential participants for this focus group can be individuals who regularly travel for work. These individuals will be invited to navigate through the website and provide feedback regarding various aspects such as ease of navigation, interactivity, and overall user experience. The feedback received will be categorized and used to gauge visitor perceptions of the website's strengths and weaknesses. This focus group will be complemented with both quantitative and qualitative data analysis.

The focal point group technique aims to showcase the thoughts and opinions of the focal point group respondents, ensuring that they are the individuals whom the hotel is most interested in and, as a result, providing a comprehensive understanding. Descriptive information from the study and the questionnaire will reveal insights that cannot be easily explained by quantitative data statistics. This study will only include a small sample of potential Holiday Inn customers, which may not accurately represent the overall sentiments of the general public, but it will target the largest segment of existing clients.

Gathering quantitative information

Quantitative information can be collected by examining visitor behavior on the website. This can be done extensively on the website. The observed behavior includes the number of clicks, time spent on the site, number of visitors who made a reservation, net promoter scores, and the

page from which visitors are exiting. Relationships between variables can be observed. This can be accomplished through web analytics of the website.

Web analytics has historically focused on measuring behavior, such as unique visitor counts, pages viewed per visit, time spent on site, bounce rates, click through rates, ad impressions, and more recently, events from rich internet applications. However, analyzing clicks alone can only provide a portion of the visitor's story and will never reveal true engagement data. Behavioral analytics is comparable to paleontology as it provides a preserved record of a visitor's site experience, as much as can be captured through page tags with the best cookie omission rates. The sample size for this type of web analytics must be large and therefore must be conducted over a period of time.

No matter how much scientists study old-fashioned implements, they can never truly determine if people in the past were happy and lived meaningful lives. This limitation is the main flaw in behavioral research. To understand the true experience of individuals, it is necessary to know their purpose, attitude, and satisfaction. Furthermore, metrics of engagement will always be superficial unless they can consider truth, trust, and advocacy (iperceptions). Gathering qualitative data requires more time and preparation. Various sampling methods and full-time researchers will be needed to monitor the data.

The main format of the website will involve requesting all visitors to complete a brief survey or questionnaire. It is important to ensure that the questionnaire is concise and direct, while still achieving its purpose. This is crucial because abandonment of questionnaires will not only result in data loss, but will also create a negative perception of the

website among visitors. Similar to other qualitative and practical research methods, clear and unambiguous yet adaptable questions will need to be formulated as the research progresses.

Both qualitative and quantitative research are necessary to understand the complexities of the website and its impact on visitors. Qualitative research provides a holistic view of these complexities, while quantitative research assesses specific dimensions of the website. During the study, visitors will rate various website properties based on their online experience. These ratings can include whether the visitor would recommend the site to others.

The grading system ranges from 1 to 10, indicating a scale from very bad to outstanding. The selected attribute sets align with the standards of both the E-commerce and hospitality industries. These attributes include content, navigation, design, and interactivity. The system may also address the crucial reservations section of the website.

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