INTRODUCTION:

The concept of hotel originated in the 6th century B.C. in the form of Inns. These were run by couples and provided sleeping arrangements in big rooms, similar to dormitories in the youth hostel. Significant development in the transport facilities, innovations and inventions in the field of Communication, Industrialization, Urbanization and further emergence of tourism as an Industry paved the ways for the development of hotel and motels on an organized basis. The officials on deputation, the business people on trade promotion mission, the foreign representatives on different missions, the domestic or foreign tourist interested in visiting a place for pleasure or gaining knowledge can't perform or enjoy it if hotels are not developed. Restaurants, cafeterias and hotels offer food services and lodging facilities to the customers. Modern hotels provide refined services to their customers often treated as respected guests. The significance of management practices in the hotel industry has raised because the business principle that "the customer is always right" is accepted and practiced in totality. The traditional concept of hotel management has changed due to the inclusion of modern sophisticated domestic facilities like air-conditioning, four channel music, cold drinks, fridge, T.V. set, telephone, luxurious beds, round the clock room servicing, coffee shop, swimming pool, health club, shopping arcade etc.

Since the Hotel Industry thrives on customer services and satisfaction, the marketing practices become significant to raise the effectiveness of managerial decisions. '

DEFINITION:
According to Mr. Webster a hotel is "a building of institution providing lodging, meals and service for the people.

CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS:

(A) Classification on the basis of Nature: [i] Residential Hotel. [ii]Commercial Hotel. [iii] Resort Hotel. [iv] International Hotel. [v] Floating Hotel.

Residential Hotel:
Often they are called department hotels. They charge rent on monthly, half-yearly or yearly basis. The accommodation may be furnished or un-furnished. These hotels are generally found in big cities where no meals are served to guests. Initially the residential hotels were developed in U.S.A. We find, the development of residential hotels in the western countries.

Commercial Hotels:

These types of hotels are meant for the people who visit a place for business purpose and hence they are found located at the Commercial or Industrial Centres. They focus their attention to individual travel and are generally run by owner. A number of commercial hotels receive the guests who are on business tour.

Resort Hotel:
These types of hotels are meant for the holiday makers, tourists and for those who need a change in the atmosphere mainly on health grounds. They are generally located near the sea, mountain and other areas having a natural beauty and healthy atmosphere.

Entertainment and recreation facilities like tennis courts, swimming pool, boating, self-riding, golf course, in addition to restaurant and cafeterias, lounge, conference rooms, entertainment etc. have significance in resort hotel. There are different types of Resorts like summer resort, winter resort, health resort and hill resort.

International Hotel:
These are modern luxurious hotels, classified on the basis of international guidelines. These hotels are placed in various star categories e.g. five star, four star, three star, two star and one star. The international hotels are mostly owned by public companies where management consisting of board of directors is constituted for its control. The overall management of hotel is in the hands of a General Manager. Conference and conventional facilities are made available for interested persons.

Floating Hotel:
These hotels are located on water surface. Places like sea, lake or river are considered suitable for floating hotels. They provide all facilities and services made available in a good hotel. In India, the houseboats found in Kashmir are supposed to be floating hotels.

(B) Classification on the basis of Standards and Control: They are of two types: (i) Approved hotel. (ii) Unapproved hotel. (i) Approved Hotel: These are of International Standards where the accommodations are available as per certain criteria laid down by Department of Tourism. The approved hotels are officially recognized and hence are reliable.

(ii) Unapproved Hotel: Un-approved hotels are not officially recognized. This does not mean that unapproved hotels do not maintain international standards. Even foreign tourist stay in un-approved hotels. The domestic or foreign tourists who are on official visits whose expenses are borne by the government, middle and low income group people bearing expenses on their own account prefer unapproved hotels.

[C] Classification on the basis of Star:

The Department of Tourism has classified hotels under the star system into various categories from one to five-star deluxe and heritage hotels. The Department also classifies these hotels after every three years to see that the requisite standards are maintained by them.

MARKET SEGMENTATION IN HOTEL INDUSTRY:

Segmentation means dividing or grouping the individual prospects in such a way that their response to marketing inputs is similar. In hospitality business people are the core of the services. Market comprises of those buyers whose needs and wants are different. Their purchasing powers also vary.

Market can be classified into the following segments: Business segment. Pleasure segments. Demographic segment. Social class segments. Buying stage segment. Benefits sought segments. Geographic segments, and Frequency segments and users segment.

Business segment:

People like corporate professionals, traders and businessmen who travel on business purposes constitute the segment. Each category of business traveller may want different types of food and accommodation depending on their Income, lifestyle and status.

Many hotels provide conference rooms, Internet facilities, fax facilities in order to cater to the needs of the business people.

Pleasure segment:
Due to increased income and improved standard of living, people from different walks of life spend considerable time and money on leisure and entertainment. People who tour historical places, play sports or visit someone fall in this segment.

Demographic market segments:

Demographic segmentation is based on income, occupation, education, age gender etc., different age groups have their own needs and different requirements of hospitality. Income and occupation also influence the choice. For example the Corporate business professionals generally prefer higher standard of facilities than self-employed businessmen.

Social class segments:

It refers to different Income groups. Demographic and psychographic segmentations are the most common means of dividing market by social distinctions.

Buying stages segments:

Based on the stages involved in the buying process, customers in the hotel industry can be segmented into distinct groups. Holidays and trips are considered as purchases. There are various stages of readiness to purchase right from being aware to being interested and then to being ready to buying, before they actually become customers. In this case each stage is a market segment and the transition from each stage must be handled smoothly, without losing any of the potential customers.

Benefits sought segments:

Since the customers varying in their needs and requirements they can be classified according to the benefits they seek. People seek particular benefit such as location, type of meals, accommodation etc.

Geographic segments:
There are a number of customers for hotel industry who are scattered in different geographic locations. Usually hotels come up in places of demand, for example in Goa hotels are better placed and provide good facilities.

Frequency segments:
Travellers are classified according to the frequency of travel, such as light, medium and heavy users. The heavy user segments are targeted by both hotels and restaurant and those they are offer discounts and special privileges in order to attract them.

MARKETING MIX IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY:

A modern hotel is a major establishment, manned by trained personnel from hotel schools, an institution of commercial hospitality and a building or an institution where the guest expect refined behavior, excellent services and personal attention. In order to market a hotel product the combination of different sub-mixes is very important. The combination of core and peripheral services, the creative promotional decision, the pricing strategy that will enable the hotel to maintain the commercial viability, the place and the people are the important decision making areas in the formation of sound mix for hotel industry.

THE PRODUCT:

The success of any hotel depends on the quality of services it offers. The expectations of the customers have undergone a tremendous change in recent times. The scientific and technological advancements, inventions and innovations in the area of communications, and growing commercialization are some of the factors that make it necessary the development of the hotel products in a planned and scientific manner.

There are other factors also like culture, fashion and regional considerations which play an important role in the formulation of the product line.

The experience that the customers acquire about the hotel product will finally determine the future relationship and patronage between the customers and the hotel. Modern hotels are trying to satisfy the customers in many different ways. The needs and requirements of the users of hotel services are varied. This necessitates designing of a suitable product mix. The services to be offered make convenient the stay of our guests. It is natural that with the passage of time some of the services become outdated. In the same way it is also felt that some of the services are essentially to be included in the product on priority basis. While formulating the product-mix it is essential to assign due weightage to the changing needs and requirements and habits of the users. Customer Oriented Service and personal touch in service in order to make the product saleable, we are required to formulate a package to suit the specific target. While formulating the product-mix, it is necessary that catering management, restaurant and cafeteria management are given due weightage. The boarding services are the important wing of the hotel product so trained personnel having expertise in this field should be appointed. In addition, the lodging services also need due priority. Facilities like light, water, ventilation, sanitation, arrangement of bed etc. should be regularly checked. Supportive services where guest expect a number of facilities like, exchange, transportation, immigration, medical, communication, shopping etc. cannot be neglected as all these facilities work as a motivational force.

PRICING DECISION:
Price is an important component in the marketing of Hotel services. With different markets, there are many opportunities for many contenders to position themselves according to price. The success of any hotel depends on the balance between the price and the value. The hotel industry is very sensitive to economic conditions and also very highly competitive. Therefore, the relationship between price and occupancy has to be appropriately tuned. In hospitality Industry different rates are applied at different time periods like a week, month or a year. This is mainly due to the fluctuations in the demand levels. The pricing decisions in the hotel industry are influenced by a number of factors. The magnitude of competition is the most important element in governing the pricing decision. If the intensity of the competition moves upward, the hotel tariff may not be increased. On the other hand when the intensity of competition moves downwards the hotel tariff may be raised. While fixing tariff, the cost factor would be an important consideration. The construction of a beautiful hotel building, development of shopping arcade, maintenance of premises, strengthening of beautification programme, and mounting administrative cost due to handsome salaries paid to the hotel staff, increasing vacancy ratio or contracting occupancy ratio are some of the important factors found sensitive while fixing the hotel tariff.

The customers psychology and behavior should be considered while fixing the price. Some customers are very sensitive to prices, while there are other categories of customers who are willing to pay for the quality, though the price remains an important factor.

PROMOTION MIX:
The promotional strategies are required to be innovative and creative so that the hotel marketers find it convenient to increase the occupancy ratio. Attractive and natural photography of different types of the available accommodation should be kept at the reception desk. The reception office should maintain a file of furnishing cares giving additional information on each room like location size, decor, facilities, etc. Personal selling occupies a place of significance in the hotel industry. A hotel receptionist plays the role of a salesman not only for selling the accommodation but for the entire establishment. The nerve centre of a hotel is the receptionist. An efficient receptionist must give equal importance to internal selling. He should possess an impressive personality, ambitious, enthusiastic and respectful to the guests. Besides this the travel agents also help in promoting the hotel business. They arrange for the tourists hotels, motels, resort accommodation, meals, car rentals, sight-seeing transfer of passengers and luggage between terminals and hotels. The travel agents, tourist guides or paT1das or religious guides are found successful in raising the occupancy ratio of a hotel so the hotel marketer should have contact with all the persons even outside the hotel who directly or indirectly is found helpful in raising the hotel business. Advertising plays a commanding role in promoting the hotel business. Sensitive slogans have more creativity. Suitable vehicles for travelling of advertisement slogans should be selected so that the messages are transmitted to the right person in the right time. The important or sensitive points where the potential users of hotel services are expected are railway stations, airports, central place of the city, bus or taxi stands, office of the travel agents, tourism department etc.

PEOPLE:
The best food served can't satisfy the guest if the catering staff lacks behavioral management. The receptionist, the bell boy, doorman and the house keeping staff are required to show a sense of cooperation. The reception offices give the first and the last impression to the guests. The first impression attempts to influence the attitude of a guest towards the services or facilities offered by the hotel.

At the same time the last impression lingers in a guests mind. This creation of impression may raise the frequency of visit. The receptionist should be enthusiastic towards the job, respectful towards the guests, tactful to normalize the difficult situation and loyal to the management. As a salesman he is expected to sell high. A good hotel sells not only accommodation and services but also hospitality. Among the back office staff, the services rendered by a room-in-change are important. He is directly responsible for making available the required facilities in a decent way to guests. Facilities like light, water, ventilation, sanitation and entertainment should be made available in a decent way. The task of creating and stimulating demand could be simplified if the attitude, intention and desire of the customers are studied well and brought into practice. The positive change in the users' attitudes paves the way for transforming the potential users into actual users.

PLACE:
The choice of location is the most important business decision especially for small tourists attraction, guest houses and proprietor-owned restaurants. A well located small business can often be sure of an adequate flow of customers to its catchment area. In this case the consumer comes directly to the producer and the distribution channel is found less significant. The selection of the tour operators and travel agents is an important decision making area for hotels and hotel companies. If they are well connected with the officers of the travel agents and tour operators, the occupancy ratio can be increased.

CONCLUSION:
In the Indian context, the application of marketing concept in the hotel business is at an infant stage. It is necessary that the problems should be tactfully handled, it is not only sufficient that we concentrate on classified hotels but also attempt to improve the managerial proficiency of unclassified hotels as all the tourists or travellers are not in a position to afford the high pricing strategy of world class groups It is necessary that the hotel industry would be required to revamp their product mix. The pricing strategy is found to be an important dimension as the domestic tourists don't welcome high price strategy. It is natural that the users of the services expect economy and the sellers look to cost plus profit. Involvement of private sector in the hotel industry is considered significant. The main thing for the development of this industry is to encourage tourism.

CASE STUDY
GROWTH CHECKS IN

The Indian travel and tourism industry has done significantly well in the past few months with key parameters like tourist arrivals, foreign exchange earnings and financial results of hotel and tour companies recording positive performance. Additionally, the government announced withdrawal of expenditure tax, extension of benefit to financial institutions that advance long-term capital to hotels in three-star and higher categories and the continuance of exemption of service tax. Post 9/11 there couldn't have been anything better. The tourism industry is a cyclical industry with the key seasons being from October to February and then April to June. This year has seen a positive performance by the industry with several hotel companies posting positive results after going through many poor quarters. Tourist arrivals increased by 22% to 2.78 MN in January this year compared to the corresponding period last year although the annual year's figures have shown a 7% drop to 2.35 MN tourists.

Questions:

(1) What are the main barriers in the hospitality industry? (2) What were the effects of WTC attacks and Iraq wars on tourism in India?