الفهرس 
Hospitality MarketingOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Summary
(About 10 lines)
This research indicated that the majority of small independent hotels do not apply a
specific marketing strategy. The most important barriers that prevent them to establish
their marketing strategies are lacking of high financial resources and lacking of
marketing experiences. Also, it was found that there is a significant relationship
between the application of marketing strategy and the achieved occupancy rate. This
means that when hotels apply marketing strategy they achieve higher average of
occupancy rate than hotels do not apply. This research proposed a cost-effective
marketing strategy to enable small independent hotels to compete in today’s highly
competitive marketplace. This strategy is based on a combination of different integrated
marketing activities which are: careful selection of market segments and concentrate on
the high potential market segments and concentrate on the high potential market
segments for them, establishing their brands through applying consortium and building
customer relationship.
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Summary
(About 200 words)
This study searches about the main barriers which hinder small independent hotels to
develop their specific marketing strategy and to develop a cost-effective marketing
strategy for small hotels to compete in today’s highly competitive market place.
The study shows that the majority of small hotels do not apply a specific marketing
strategy and this affects on their occupancy rate and their market share. Also, the study
clears that limited resources of small and the lack of experiences in them are the most
important barriers that hinder small independent hotels to develop specific marketing
strategy.
The sample is determined by forty-three hotels from the three hotels at Cairo and
Alexandria. This study is divided to five chapters. Chapter one gives an introduction to
the study, explains the research problem, hypotheses and states the overall aim and
specific objectives of the research. Chapter Two shows the theoretical and library
research on the basic concepts regarding marketing and marketing strategies, small
independent hotels and the proposed marketing strategy for small independent hotels.
Chapter three indicates the applied field study. Chapter four demonstrates the results of
the applied study and the discussion of the hypotheses, which results that the four
hypotheses are right. Chapter five presents the conclusions and recommendations of the
study that present a cost-effective marketing strategy which is appropriate for the
limited resource of small independent hotels and enable them to enhance their
performance and to compete in today’s highly competitive market place.
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Summary
(About 1500 words)
The hospitality industry operates in a highly competitive environment. Each year the
process of successfully marketing hospitality operations becomes more difficult as new
types of lodging businesses come into the market place. Therefore, the level of
competition of today’ market place, many hotels, regardless their location, size, grade,
or the services they offer, need to rethink their existing marketing strategies and to
develop specifically tailored marketing strategies to enable them to compete.
Small hotels are facing sharp competition from larger hotel companies that already
have formed successful marketing position and developed strong brands. Although,
many small hotels have already started to recognize the importance of the marketing
role, they perceived their need to develop specific marketing strategies to support their
businesses. It is useful for small independent hotels to form their specific marketing
strategy based on a combination of different integrated marketing activities, which are:
-Careful selection of market segments and concentrates on the high potential market
segments for them;
-Establishing their brands;
-Building customer relationship.
Research Problem
Small independent hotels represent a major segment of a larger industry, hospitality
service industry which contributes as an integral component of the tourism industry to
the economies of many countries including Egypt. As large hotels rapidly expand,
hundreds of small independent hotels are forced to appraise the competitive
environment and develop strategies to allow them to counteract this new competition
successfully. These small independent hotels are unsuccessful in these efforts, their
failure is possibly due to many reasons including: poor financial planning; poor overall
operational management and control; inconsistent quality of the product\ service mix;
and poor marketing planning and execution. Small independent hotels face particular
problems in developing their marketing strategy. Its scope for expansion is limited
because it can marshal only limited investment capital. Its resources allow business
promotion only on a limited scale. Despite of all these reasons, a few number of small
independent hotels attempt to try to increase their market share and attract different
market segments through applying some of the complex organizational management.
Small independent hotels also fail to achieve the same results from these marketing
theories as the large hotels and therefore facing of the sharp competition in today’s
market place that represents a dilemma for many small independent hotels. It is
important to introduce a cost-effective marketing strategy for small independent hotels
to allow them to compete in today’s highly competitive market place.
Objectives of the study
This research has mainly aimed to develop a cost-effective marketing strategy to enable
small independent hotels to compete in today’s highly competitive market place.
This objective can be achieved by studying the following secondary objectives:
1- To study the characteristics of small independent hotels.
2- To explore the main barriers, which hider small independent hotels from applying
their specific marketing strategy.
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3- To increase small independent hotels’ occupancy rate through developing a costeffective
marketing strategy.
4- To design a cost-effective marketing strategy suitable for small independent hotels
based on the field study and the view of literature. This strategy aims to enable
small independent to compete in today’s highly competitive market place.
Hypotheses of the study
1-There is a relationship between establishing marketing strategy in small independent
hotels and their occupancy rate.
2-There is a relationship between the type of the marketing strategy applied in small
independent hotels and their occupancy rate.
3-There is a relationship between the high costs associated with developing marketing
strategies against limited resources of small independent hotels and their failure to
establish their specific marketing strategy.
4-There is a relationship between the lack of experiences in small independent hotels
and their failure to establish their specific marketing strategy.
Population and sample
The population includes all the study area which is represented by the three star hotels
in Cairo and Alexandria. A sample of 43 hotels is chosen from the three star hotels in
Alexandria and Cairo.
Data Collection Technique
The data has been collected through questionnaire. The questionnaire was addressed to
the hotels’ executives who undertake the responsibility of marketing activities. This
questionnaire is divided ito six sections
Section one gathered information about the average of the occupancy rate of the hotel
and who is responsible about the marketing activities in the hotel.
Section two gathered information about the hotel’s attributes (the number of rooms and
the services offered in the hotel)
Section three examined the hotel executives’ concept about the marketing strategy, the
extent of its application in their hotels and the barriers of its application. In addition, this
section examined the benefits achieved for the hotels from applying a marketing
strategy and some marketing strategies applied in these hotels.
Section four examined the concept of market segmentation if it is applied or not in the
hotel, the bases of application, the benefits achieved for the hotels from applying this
concept and at the end the barriers, which restrain its application.
Section five investigated the concept of branding in the surveyed hotels, its application,
the form of application, the benefits achieved for the hotels from applying this concept
and at the end the hotel executives’ opinions about the application of one form of
branding in the future.
Section six examined the concept of customer relationship marketing, the extent of its
application, the strategies followed to retain the guests, the benefits achieved for the
hotels from applying this concept and the barriers which hinder its application.
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Data Analysis Technique
In accordance with the research hypotheses and the procedure of measuring the research
variables, the researcher has adopted a number of the quantitative and descriptive
statistical techniques to achieve the research objectives as following:
1- The researcher has calculated the necessary percentages and formed the required
repetitive tables to satisfy one of the most important descriptive statistical techniques.
2- T.test has been used to determine the significance of the differences between the
responsible of marketing activity in the hotels and its effects on the occupancy rate.
3- Analysis of variance has been used.
4-Chi-square has been used to test the hypotheses.
Research Outline
This research is divided into five chapters
Chapter one gives an introduction to the study, set the stage for what will be followed,
explained the research problem, hypotheses, and stated the overall aim and specific
objectives of the research.
Chapter two reviews the literature on the basic concepts regarding marketing and
marketing strategies, and their importance for the hospitality industry particularly in
case of small independent hotels. Then, the chapter demonstrates the steps for
developing a marketing strategy and the most important strategies applied in hotel
sector. It also explains the characteristics of small independent hotels and their
importance in the hotel sector. Finally, this chapter describes the proposed marketing
strategy for small independent hotels.
Chapter three describes the main component of the field study, the selection of the
sample and the instruments of the applied study.
Chapter four demonstrates the results of the applied study and the discussion of the
hypotheses which resulted that the first hypothesis is right that means there is a
significant relationship between establishing marketing strategy in small independent
hotels and their occupancy rate. The second hypothesis is right that means there is a
significant relationship between the type of the marketing strategy applied in small
independent hotels and their occupancy rate. The third hypothesis is right that means
there is a significant relationship between the high costs associated with developing
marketing strategies against limited resources of small independent hotels and their
failure to establish their specific marketing strategy. The fourth hypothesis is right that
means there is a significant relationship between the lack of experiences in small
independent hotels and their failure to establish their specific marketing strategy.
Chapter five presents the conclusion and recommendations of the research that
represent a cost-effective marketing strategy for small independent hotels.
Results of the study
Through the discussion and analysis of the questionnaire responses, it could conclude
the following:
1-The majority of small independent hotels do not have separate marketing and sales
department but their general managers or their owners are the responsible of marketing
activity.
2-The occupancy rate is affected by the responsible of marketing activity in the hotel.
The highest average of the occupancy rate is achieved when there is separate sales and
marketing department responsible of marketing activity in hotels.