Marriott International Inc. is the parent company for Marriott Hotels. The company has full-service hotels and resorts located in over 500 locations across the world. Marriott has a long history having been established as a family business in 1927 in Washington, DC, as a small root beer stand. Key Bridge Marriott was the hotel’s first establishment, growing over the years to new locations, culminating in the establishment of Marriott International in 1993. Marriott International took over the duties of managing, growing, and franchising the hotels. The hotel provides hospitality services including boarding and meals as well as conference facilities. It has brands that cater to high-end clientele including J.W. Marriott that operates 37 properties, as well as acquisitions including Renaissance, Ritz-Carlton, and Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, all of which cater to the same high-end clientele. Autograph and Edition are the company’s luxury brands for boutique-oriented customers, while Fairfield Inn, Courtyard, Springhill Suites, and Residence Inn cater to mid-level clientele.
Within the hospitality industry, there are changes and trends that are bound to affect the operations of Marriott International Inc. Among the trends include the tech explosion that allows users to check-in online, compare prices, and explore different offers by rivals (Batinić 92). Providing a smooth online experience as well as offering competitive prices is important. Emphasis on health and well-being is another trend, where guests are more concerned with their health and are looking more towards hotels that are well-equipped with fitness centers and offer healthy meals. Sustainability is additionally a trend as governments pass legislation and customers demand sustainable companies (Batinić 92). Additionally, there are changing roles of staff as hotels continually adopt technology to take up some of the staff roles. Real-time damage control is also an additional trend as social media takes over people’s lives. Hoteliers must be quick to respond to allegations, dissatisfaction, and complaints on different social media and review platforms. Boutique hotels are also increasingly becoming a trend.
The aforementioned trends are some of the most important as the world continues to advance in technology and people become more environmentally conscious. Tech explosion is already happening putting its probability at 100% and its importance at 10. More people are concern about their health, putting its probability at 70% and importance at 7. Sustainability holds at 90% and its importance is at 9. Changing roles of staff is at 50% and its importance at 5, while real-time damage control is at 80% and importance at 8. Boutique hotels on the other hand, has a 60% probability and 6 as its importance.
From the above analysis, tech explosion remains the most important as customers go online to book check-in and out, read reviews, compare prices. Companies must ensure the customers have top notch experience online and, on their apps, in addition to ensuring that they are competitively priced. Additionally, companies must ensure they are sustainable not only in their operations and processes, but also in the eyes of the customers.
Work cited
Batinić, Ivica. “Current trends in hospitality industry.” Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International, vol. 1, no. 4, 2013, pp. 91-95.