A PROJECT REPORT

On

“Market Research on Corporate Clients”

For

“The O Hotel, Pune”

In partial fulfillment of the Master of Business Administration

By

Komal Gandhi

SMT. HIRABEN NANAVATI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND RESEAERCH

FOR WOMEN

KARVENAGAR, PUNE-411 052

Batch- 2010-12

1

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project entitled “Market Research on Corporate Clients” has been successfully carried out by Ms. Komal Gandhi in partial fulfillment of Master of Business Administration under my guidance during the academic year 2010-2012.

Date: Prof. Prasad Bhagwat

(Internal guide)

SMT.HIRABEN NANAVATI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

AND RESEARCH FOR WOMEN

KARVENAGAR, PUNE-411 052

2

DECLARATION

I, Komal Gandhi, MBA student of SMT.HIRABEN NANAVATI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Pune do hereby declare that this report titled “Market Research on Corporate Clients” for the Hotel O is a bonafide work done by me under the supervision of Mr. Aroon Cardoze, Marketing and sales manager of THE O, Pune and is submitted to University of Pune. I also declare that this study report is a part of my MBA curriculum and I have not submitted this report partially or fully for the award of any degree or diploma.

Komal Gandhi

3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my profound gratitude to our Director Dr. Bharti Dole for all her support and constant encouragement extended by her.

I would also like to thank my internal guide Prof. Prasad Bhagwat for rendering me the whole hearted and proper guidance and also for providing me with all the facilities and amenities that helped me to complete this project successfully in time.

I express my sincere gratitude to my company guide, Mr. Aroon Cardoze, Marketing and Sales Manager for providing me all guidelines and inputs that were essential for successful carry out of the project work in THE O. I place on record my sincere thanks to all the other company staff that have in some way contributed to the completion of the project in time. I thank all respondents who helped me by giving me their valuable feed backs for the completion of the project.

Above all I sincerely thank The God Almighty and my affectionate parents without whose blessings I could not have completed this work.

Komal Gandhi

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INDEX

5

Sr. No. Title Page Number

1 Executive Summary 7

2 Company Profile 10

3 Objectives 20

4 Research Methodology 24

5 Data Analysis 28

6 Findings and Conclusions 45

7 Suggestions 49

8 Limitations 51

9 Bibliography 52

GRAPH INDEX

6

Figure

No. Title Page Number

1 Awareness 29

2 Industry approached 30

3 Size of the company 31

4 Negotiation 32

5 Hotel preferred 33

6 Requirement 35

7 Influencing factors 36

8 Residential conference 37

9 Annual day celebration 39

Executive

Summary

An Executive summary contains information for the readers to get a brief knowledge about

the report without reading it. The Executive Summary includes a gist of the Company Profile,

Objectives, Research Methodology, Findings and the conclusions and suggestions.

Company Profile:

Group: The Oxford Group

Company Name: The O Hotel, Pune

Founders: Mrs. Neelam & Mr. Anil Seolekar

7

Objectives:

The objectives of this report include primary and secondary objectives. The primary objective

of my project was Market research on corporate clients, I completed the same by finding new

companies, Taking appointments, meeting the concerned person of the company and at last

getting the check list filled so as to get data for the Hotel. The secondary objectives of the

project were working with different department s such as the Banquet sales, Human Resource

etc…

Research Methodology:

This part of the report includes the method followed to complete the research. This includes

points such as instruments used, sample size etc.

Data Analysis:

This part of the report shows a brief description of the check lists that were filled by me in the

project span. It shows the tabular and graphical form of the data collected.

After the Data analysis the report contains findings from each department and lastly the

conclusions and suggestions such as the industry is in boom, suggestions for the hotel such as

changing the staff policies etc.

This project talks about the market research on corporate clients. The background talks about

various factors that have led us to undertake this study and how and to whom this report will

benefit. Objectives talks of types of data the research project will generate and how these data

is relevant. A statement of value of information is also included in this section. Research

approach gives a non technical description of the data collection method, measurement

instrument, sample and analytical techniques.

8

Company9

Profile

THE OXFORD GROUP, PUNE

The ‘O’ Hotel is a part of the Oxford Group of companies; Oxford Group was formed in

1986. In the years since, it has consciously cultivated an approach that focuses on innovation

and quality, always keeping the customer at the forefront. The Oxford Group Includes:-

The ‘O’ Hotel, Pune:

The ‘O’ is a trend setting concept, breaking the traditional concepts of luxury and redefining

the term to set new standards of comfort levels and the ultimate in style has opned in Pune at

Koregoan Park in 2008, property with 13 suites and 99 rooms offers international standards

of service, state of the art amenities & culinary excellence. Website: www.ohotelsindia.com

The ‘O’ Resort & Spa, Goa (5 Star Deluxe Beach Resort)

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Nestled on the North coast of Goa, overlooking the serene turquoise Arabian Sea, a paradise

of luxurious, peaceful delight is The O Resort & Spa, Goa. The resort comprises of 75

luxurious rooms.. Website: www.ohotelsindia.com

Oxford Golf & Country Club: Spread over 1000 acres, its Pune's first golf integrated

township offering residential, hospitality & leisure facilities Website: www.ogcc.in

Oxford Aviation: Charter Chopper services by Bell 407, a smooth 2 hour nonstop to any

destination across the country in that range. Website: www.oxfordgroup.in

Oxford Nissan: Authorized Nissan Cars dealership for the region of Pune with its state of

the art showroom and workshop at Baner, Pune. Nissan in India has a product line up of

Luxury Sedan Nissan Teana, SUV Nissan Xtrail and the much awaited now Nissan Micra a

world compact car. Website: www.oxfordnissan.co.in

INTRODUCTION TO THE O HOTEL, PUNE

Conceived by owners Neelam & Anil Seolekar of The Oxford Group, The O Hotel is being

introduced as fashionable with chic elegance that attracts all senses of design, colors, lighting,

art and music. The striking, fashionable and bold interiors are the concepts of Les Harbottle, a

famous South African interior designer.

The O is a hotel for the discerning business traveler. For a guest accustomed only to the finest

levels of hospitality and service. The Hotels guest profile includes Heads of various

multinational companies, top executives, scientists etc.

The O believes in creating drama in everyday life. A sense of theatre is created as the guest

11

arrives in the hotel and he walks on an onyx floor lit from beneath - Every guest is made to

feel like a star!

THE O HOTEL Details:-

YEAR OF

ESTABLISHMENT: 2008

TYPE OF HOTEL: 5 Star Deluxe Hotel

GROUP: Oxford Group

ADDRESS: 14 /7 Koregaon Park

Pune – 431 101

TELEPHONE: 020 66825151

FAX: 020 66825152

E-MAIL: resv.blr@ohotelsindia.com

WEB: www.ohotelsidia.com

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TRANSPORT: Airport – 6 km, (15 minutes by car)

Railway station - 2 km, (5 minutes by car)

ACCOMODATION: 112 Guest rooms

LOCATION: Situated in Koregaon Park, with easy access to the main

shopping, business and entertainment centers of the city.

Structure of the hotel:

13

Competitors:

The O Hotel is situated in an area where there are many other 5 star hotels and also 4 star

hotels and hence competition prevails, major competitors of the hotel are:-

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Owner/Director M.D. Resident

Manager

Security HOD Executives

Sales & marketing S&M Director Sales

AssistantSales

Executive

Health ClubSpa

Manager

Health club manager

Purchase HOD Executives

Accounts HOD Executives

HRTraing and

developmentCorporate

HRHR

AssistantHR

Executices

House Keeping

HOD Executive

F^B ProductCorporate

ChiefChiefs

F&B Service & Banquets

Banquet sales & F&B

DirectorExecutives

Front Office (F.O.)

F.O>Manger

GREAirport

In houseReservation

s

Engineering HOD Executives

i) The Westin, Pune

ii) Ista

iii) Hyaat

iv) Royal Orchid

v) St. Laurn

vi) Oakwood

Organizational chart:

The organization has 11 departments and there are 4 core area departments included in it. The

four core areas and different departments are shown in the chart below;

Products: The O Hotel products that were to be marketed are rooms, banquets, restaurants,

the famous Sunday brunch, the conference halls, Health club and the Lounge bar. Other than

the in-house products I also had to introduce the Oxford Golf course to the corporate clients.

15

Four core areas of The O Hotel

Front Office F&B Service & Banquet

F&B Production House Keeping

In the span of my project I was asked to introduce all these to the clients that I meet for the

market research objective. Selling the rooms was the primary target.

Extraordinary features:

63 Deluxe rooms, 36 Club rooms, 12 O suites, 1 Presidential suite,.

The residence floor with private lounge.

Temperature control lap-pool with outdoor lounging in colorful Gazebos.

24 hours room service.

Library with a selection of books and magazines.

Audio and video entertainment.

Indoor games.

Computers with high-speed connectivity.

24 hour travel service

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LOBBY BAR

KITSCH

HARAJUKU

ADDAH

CABANA

GYM

ROOMS ROOMS

CUFFLINKS

Multi-lingual staff at your service 24 hours a day

Special tours arrangements in and around Pune.

Room Tariff:-

TARIFF INR USD EURO

Deluxe Room 5000 140 13

Club Room 7000 200 16

O Suite 12000 350 132

Presidential Suite 40000 1150 300

Expenditure tax 10% and Luxury Tax 12%

the above rate would be inclusive of buffet breakfast

Facility and features in every deluxe room:

In-room individual climate control.

American oak wood flooring.

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Smart card electronic room key.

In-room electronic safe.

Well-stocked Minibar.

Data port with high-speed internet connectivity, Voice mail

Flat screen Sony television with full cable access.

Leather director chairs.

Complimentary bathrobe and slippers.

Massage shower.

Rain shower.

Goose feather pillows and duvets.

Fresh flowers.

Non-smoking rooms available.

Complimentary mineral water.

Complimentary fruits.

Complimentary newspapers and magazine.

DINING AND OTHER FACILITIES:

Harajuku:

18

The restaurant offers the finest Japanese Sakes and Sushi Bar. A dramatic interactive

Tepanyaki counter, with separate grills for vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisine offers set

menus and chef's sampler menus.

Authentic Japanese restaurant covers 64 people

Kitsch:

Critically acclaimed elegant, casual dining restaurant, servicing authentic

Italian food. This innovative and stylish restaurant offers cosmopolitan menus with seasonal

twists, as well as traditional Indian favourites.

A spectacular buffet takes centre stage and adds to the culinary drama.

Number of covers: 42

Lobby Bar:

This is a spacious and relaxing lounge is often referred to as the nerve centre of the Hotel.

The lounge features limited edition cigars, the world’s finest single estate coffees and teas, an

intimate ambience and attentive yet discreet service.

Minnus:

Offers a choice of spirits, cocktails and mocktails. Guests can stretch out to soak in the casual

and sophisticated ambience.

Wireless High Speed Internet Access is available.

Number of covers: 94

Addah:

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The latest branded offering, it has in its harmony not only the clay Owens & the iron tandoor

of Hyderabad, and the largest offering from the open spit charcoal grilled kebabs. The

experience in this Indian Restaurant is not only an eclectic journey through clay ovens, but

also an exploration of the senses of the palate I an Alfresco setting and the delights of the eye

which urges you to come again and again.

Banquet Hall:

Banquet halls with state of art audio and video equipments, accommodating up to 400 people

for a formal gathering. It can also be divided into two equal parts which has the capacity of

carrying around 180 people in each hall.

“Cufflinks” The Executive club lounge:

Nestled on the club floor, The Cufflinks is the hotel’s most premium and exclusive lounge.

This warm, inviting, lounge offers

Meeting rooms:

Four meeting rooms having capacity of accommodating 8 to 40 people is another add-on

feature of the hotel. The board rooms includes round, rectangular and tabular shaped tables.

Aqua Zone:

Aqua Zone is the health spa with a fitness center and private treatment rooms.

The gym has two treadmills, a cross trainer, aerobically, multi gyms, free weights, sauna and

steam rooms.

Amrapali:

Amrapali is a gift shop for contemporary and luxury designer jewellery.

20

21

Objectives

22

A) Primary objective:

To find out new corporate clientele for the hotel O.

To understand behavior of corporate companies as a customer of a hotel

To study the factors influencing selection of a hotel

To Know the different competitors of the hotel and understand competition

To know the awareness of The O among the customers.

The primary objective of my internship as described above was Market research on

corporate clients. To carry on this research the procedure was as follows:-

i) Finding new companies: The initial step of this objective was finding new corporate

companies with research. Companies in sectors like IT, Engineering, research and any such

companies who will have foreign delegates or CEO’s or any members or outsiders visiting

the company and who can be prospective clients for the Hotel or the Oxford Golf Course . I

was given a target of finding 5 new, existing companies in the city that are not in the client

list of The O Hotel ,the final target was finding and visiting 40 companies and I was

successful in the same.

ii) Appointments with companies: After finding 5 new companies, looking for the concerned

person and getting appointments with the same was the next step, there was a target of

completing 15 appointments in a week. I had to visit the companies for such appointments

with a senior and meet the requirements of the hotel.

iii) Check List/Questionnaire: In corporate companies I had to visit with a questionnaire which

in the Hotel they called it as a check list . This was not the main objective of the meet; this

was just for the Hotel records and for a small survey which will help the Hotel in improving

their services. This consisted of questions that were generally to know the basic needs of the

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guests as regards to the Hotel Rooms, Banquets, Restaurants, Golf Course, Aviation, The Goa

Hotel and so on, a sample of the same is attached in the annexure and the data analysis of the

same is also given the next part of the report. Marketing of all the Oxford properties with a

special focus on The O hotel was the primary objective of this visit.

B) Secondary Objective:

The secondary objectives of my internship were quite a few as for about a month I followed

these. This includes my transfer in the Banquet sales and Food and Beverage Department for

a week, Human Resources department for a week and one or half day each in a few other

departments so as to get the minimum required knowledge about the other departments. The

detailed work done by me in the two months other than the primary objective can be

summarized as follows:

i) Sales and Marketing Department: Post the Market Research on corporate clients I did

quite a few other tasks in this department. These include,

Competitive analysis of the five star hotels in Pune with regards to their room rates, current

discount offers on rooms, things provided in the room etc.

Preparing and marketing the corporate lunch offer every week through emails.

As a Management Student and as an intern for marketing I had to suggest marketing

strategies, at least one every week.

I also prepared the check list/Questionnaire for the new listed companies, so as to complete

my market research successfully, and this will now always be used for future research.

24

ii) Banquet Sales and FnB Department: - This Department was similar to sales just the

product changed here I did;

Competitive analysis of the banquet rates in five star hotels in the vicinity

Analysis on restaurants and corporate lunch offers.

iii) Human Recourses Department :- I worked in this department for 2 days,to acquire as much

knowledge as I can. I was being given a few tasks in this department such as ;

Recruitment and selection i.e. short listings the CV’s etc.

Handling, files, attending interviews with a senior executive etc.

iv) Other Departments:- The Human Recourses Manager rightly suggested that I should visit

each department for half day or one full day so as to get a general idea about all the important

departments of the hotel and to completely understand the working of each department and

their connection with each other.

25

Research

Methodology

26

Research Methodology:

Research is a procedure of logical and systematic application of the fundamentals of science

to the general and overall questions of a study and scientific technique which provide precise

tolls, specific procedures and technical information, rather than philosophical means for

getting and ordering the data prior to their logical analysis and manipulation.

A) Data collection techniques:-

The sources of data include primary and secondary data sources.

1. Primary Sources:

Primary data is collected by survey. This data is first hand data. This data is collected

by direct visit at the companies.

2. Secondary Sources:

The secondary data is data, which is collected and compiled from different

sources and are used in research for this study.

The secondary data includes material collected from:

Newspaper

Magazine

Internet etc…

B) Data collection instruments:-

The various methods of data gathering involve the use of appropriate recording forms.

These are called 'tools' or 'instruments of data collection. Collection Instruments:-

27

Questionnaire/ Check list

Observation

C) Type of questions:-

Multi-choice

Dichotomous

D) Determining Sample Design and Sample Size: -

After deciding to conduct the survey I had to decide whether to conduct a census survey or

a sample survey. As the number of companies in the city is too large, I decided to choose a

few areas in the city, Magarpatta, Bund Garden, and Koregaon Park. and then did a sample

survey.

Sample Size: I found and visited 50 companies, which were not there in the existing client

list of the Hotel.

E) Field work: -

The procedure of my project and the data collection was done by visiting the companies

personally, accompanied by a senior executive and then filling the check list by asking

questions to the client and then finally getting a stamp/signature and collecting the

visiting card of the company for the Hotel data.

28

F) Editing, classification and tabulation of data: -

Once the data collection was done, I have checked the data and edited where required.

Then I have classified and tabulated the data so as to make it easy to apply statistical

techniques.

G) Analysis of data: -

The next step is to analyze the findings from the collected data. Analysis of the data is

done by various statistical data analysis tools. I have used the following types of statistical

tools;

i) Tabulation of the data

ii) Percentage of various data

29

DATA

ANALYSIS

30

Question 1) Have you heard about hotel O? Have you experienced it?

Awareness Frequency

Yes 28

No 14

Experience 8

Yes No Experienced0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Awareness

Awareness

Figure 1

Interpretation:

The hotel is quite known among the corporates and there are companies have had an

experience with the hotel.

31

Question 2) What is the industry segment?

32

Industry Frequency

Engineering 6

IT 14

Telecom 2

Manufacturing 1

Automobile 5

BPO 3

Electronics 4

Education 2

Others 3

Engin

eerin

g IT

Telec

om

Manufac

tiring

Automobile BPO

Electr

onics

Educati

on

Others0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Frequency

Figure 2

Interpretation:

This shows that majority of the companies were from the IT sector, whereas there

where hardly any clients form the manufacturing, telecom and the education sector

Question 3) What is the staff strength of the organization?

33

20-40 40-60 60-80 80-100 above 1000

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Company size

Freqency

Figure 3

Interpretation:

This interpretation shows that there were small, medium and large companies. Most of the

companies that I found through research were small scale and had around 25 to 30 employees

and there were very few companies that had more than 80 employees, the above graph shows

the frequency of the number of employees.

34

Staff Strength Frequency

20-40 16

40-60 13

60-80 10

80-100 7

Above 100 4

Question 4) How are the rate negotiations done?

Locally RPF Head office0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Negotiation

Frequency

Figure 4

Interpretation:

The above pie chart shows that most of the companies had their negotiations done locally that

is at the Pune office, a few had their negotiations done in the head office at Oxford Group or

Goa office. There were a very few companies that had RFP rule which is that they have some

specific dates when we can apply to them for being our client.

35

Rate Negotiations Frequency

Locally 31

RFP 9

Head Office 10

Question 5) Which hotels generally you prefer in Pune?

Westi

n

Marriot C

onvention

Courtyard

Marr

iot

Cacoon Ist

a

Oakwood

Royal O

rchid

Hyaat

Other local

hotels

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Hotel preferance

Frequency

Figure 5

36

Hotels Frequency

Westin 14

Marriot Convention 6

Courtyard Marriot 7

Cacoon 2

Ista 5

Oakwood 5

Royal Orchid 6

Hyaat 2

Other local hotels 3

Interpretation:

The above data shows that majority of the corporate companies use Westin for their guests.

The data shows that there is tough competition between the Hotels, as they all have less

difference in the frequency.

37

Question 6) What would be the total number of room nights required in a month?

Less than 25 25-50 50-75 75-100 above 1000

5

10

15

20

25

Room nights

Frequency

Figure 6

Interpretation:

This data shows that there are very few companies that might have large number of room

nights; most of the companies have requirements for room nights but less than 25 in a month.

The above graph shows the frequency of the number of room nights required by different

companies.

38

Room Nights Frequency

Less than 25 21

25-50 13

50-75 8

75-100 5

above 100 3

Question 7) How many residential conferences do you hold in a year?

No less than 10 more than 100

5

10

15

20

25

Residential conferences

Frequency

Figure 7

Interpretation:

This interpretation shows that there were few organizations that hold more than 10

conferences in a year. A few that hold less than 10 and around quarter of them that do not

hold any conferences.

39

Conferences Frequency

No 11

less than 10 24

more than 10 15

Question 8) Rank the following parameters in the order of your preference while booking a

hotel/resort:

Locati

on

Airport

Close to w

ork plac

eTa

riff

Servi

ce

Experi

ence

Amenities

CRM practices

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Factors influencing

Frequency

Figure 8

40

Preference Frequency

Location 5

Airport 3

Close to work place 6

Tariff 15

Service 5

Uniqueness/experience 4

Modern Amenities/Technology 7

CRM programs of that hotel 5

Interpretation:

This interpretation shows that majority of preferences are emphasized on tariff of the hotel.

Most of the people choose a hotel depending upon the rate and then comes amenities, quick

accessibility, location etc…

41

Question 9) Does your company celebrates an annual day?

Yes No0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Annual day celebration

Frequency

Figure 9

Interpretation: The above interpretation shows companies that celebrate annual day are

33 and companies that do not celebrate are 17.

42

Annual Day Frequency

Yes 33

No 17

Marketing Mix

Place

Product and service information are sold to the guest via personal selling, direct marketing,

advertising and the Internet.

Product

Product: high quality facilities accompanied by exemplary personal service, differentiated

from competition quality has proven to be a successful approach generating high levels of

repeat business.

Pricing

Pricing strategy has been consistent with the differentiation objective, to provide added value

for a reasonable rate as opposed to discounting and devaluing our products and services.

Room rates quoted are exclusive of tax and service, are per night, per room with continental

breakfast included:

Tariff: (In INR):

Single Occupancy Room Double Occupancy Room

O Deluxe Room 5,000 5,500

O Club Room 7,000 7,500

O suite 12,000 12,000

43

O Presidential

Suite40,000 40,000

Extra Bed / third Person Rs.1,000

Inclusive of 12% Luxury Tax, service tax

Rates valid till 31st August, 2012

Promotion:

Promotion: primary focus will remain on mass communication via print ads in trade

publications and on the Internet. Direct mail campaigns to existing and prospective clients

will increase as a cost effective means of targeted campaigning.

Personal selling in the local market will remain an important element of the mix in order to

continue to build long-term relationships within the local community and generate high levels

of corporate activity.

Public relations activities will continue to play an important role in the marketing mix,

presenting the hotel as a supportive member of the community and participating in significant

local events.

Advertising:

The following are the advertisement medias that used.,

Medias Tv

Social networking sites such as facebook

Sms

Hoardings and fliers

Monthly mailers

News Paper

Magazines

Campaign events

44

Theater events

Themed events at Club

Celebrity performances

Marketing Strategy

Direct Marketing

The O’s direct marketing is handling by their PR agency. The O will buy select

targeted list of corporate companies and send them information about Good Hotels.

Website Marketing Strategy

The hotel’s main website marketing strategy hinges upon making sure all major travel

sites such as Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, and Hotels.com list The hotel when customers

search for hotels in our area.

Sales Plan

Our sales plan hinges upon our sales strategy, sales process and, prospecting plan. As

long as we follow the plans laid below we should be in good shape.

Sales Strategy

Hotel's sales strategy hinges upon repeat visits by key corporate accounts. We need to

develop a relationship with the companies listed in our Sales Account Plan, as well as

actively generate new accounts by soliciting first time corporate visitors.

It will be important to remain competitive on price, as well as amenities. The corporate

accounting department wants to make sure they limit the amount of money spent per night

per person on a business trip, but the business traveler will be able to express preference. If

the price is right, and the business traveler knows that they will have all amenities they need,

we will be assured of keeping and attracting key accounts.

SWOT Analysis of the O:

45

Strengths

1. Hotel is situated in heart of the city.

2. The Harajuku restaurant attracts Japanese foodies. As the restaurant caters the actual

taste of Japanese food. Every small ingredient is imported from Japan and authentic

Japanese food is served here.

3. Manpower costs in the Indian hotel industry is one of the lowest in the world. This

provides better margins for Indian hotel industry.

4. India offers a readymade tourist destination with the resources it has. Thus the magnet

to pull customers already exists.

Weaknesses

1. The cost of land in India is high at 50% of total project cost as against 15% abroad.

This acts as a major deterrent to the Indian hotel industry.

2. The hotel industry in India is heavily staffed. This can be gauged from the facts that

while Indian hotel companies have a staff to room ratio of 3:1, this ratio is 1:1 for

international hotel companies.

3. High tax structure in the industry makes the industry worse off than its international

equivalent. In India the expenditure tax, luxury tax and sales tax inflate the hotel bill

by over 30%. Effective tax in the South East Asian countries works out to only 4-5%.

4. Only 58,000 hotel rooms are available in India today, which is less than the Bangkok

hotel capacity.

5. The services currently offered by the hotels in India are only limited value added

services. It is not comparable to the existing world standards.

Opportunities

1. Demand between the national and the inbound tourists can be easily managed due to

difference in the period of holidays. For international tourists the peak season for

arrival is between September to March when the climatic conditions are suitable

where as the national tourist waits for school holidays, generally the summer months.

2. In the long-term the hotel industry in India has latent potential for growth. This is

because India is an ideal destination for tourists as it is the only country with the most

diverse topography. For India, the inbound tourists are a mere 0.4% of the global

46

figures. This number is expected to increase at a phenomenal rate thus pushing up the

demand for the hotel industry.

Threats

1. Guesthouses replace the hotels. This is a growing trend in the west and is now

catching up in India also, thus diverting the hotel traffic.

2. Political turbulence in the area reduces tourist traffic and thus the business of the

hotels. Examples of the same are bomb blast at Germen Bakery and other terrorist

attacks.

3. Changing trends in the west demand similar changes in India, which here are difficult

to implement due to high project costs.

Findings47

and

Conclusions

Sales and Marketing Department

A) Market Research on clients of the hotel O has helped me to understand the

behavior of customer’s clientele in this industry.

48

This was the primary object of my internship, this helped me to understand the

whole market i.e., the clients, their requirements, the reasons they use a particular

hotel, reasons why do they use or do not use The O hotel.

All this helped me to understand and learn the behavior of customers of this

industry.

The O being a business Hotel 80% of its room occupancy business is dependent on

the corporate clients.

B) Competitive analysis helped me to know competition in the industry and different

ways to fight in the current competitive marketing.

C) Preparing and Marketing lunch offers for the Kitsch was of great learning.

Banquet Sales and Food and Beverage Department:

A) Competitive analysis here was the same just the products differentiated.

B) Attending conference and banquet preparations, visiting restaurants and observing

their working and co-ordination among the employers was add on step in learning

hotel management.

Human Resource Department

Recruitment and selection process is the most integral part of an HR manager and

attending this helped me gain a great amount of experience, I was given a chance to

short listing candidates resumes and with reference to their parameters and then also

given chance to attend their interview session with a senior executive and then with

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the department head for final interviews. This has helped me learn and experience

the procedure of recruitment.

Other Departments

I visited all other departments of the Hotel for half day each so as to get complete

knowledge of all the departments of the hotel. Visiting departments like the

Engineering, security, accounts, housekeeping, front office etc. was of utmost

benefit as the Head of department of each department was kind enough to give me

an idea of how the department works. This exercise has helped me to get a general

view of how each department in the hotel works and also to understand that to

what extent is each department connected and dependent on the other.

Conclusion:-

At the end I would conclude by saying that this report helped me in understanding the

sales and marketing strategies in the Hospitality industry and the project on market

research has helped me in understanding the consumer behavior, by firsthand experience

as I met all the clients personally. The conclusions were;

The hotel industry is in boom.

The location of the hotel is the main advantage for the hotel.

The customer survey says that most of the customers are happy.

Effective marketing can raise the business of the hotel.

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The hospitality industries growth is positive. But the challenges confronting the

industry segment are giving it a low customer base.

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Suggestions

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Suggestions:

The suggestions that I would like to make are as follows:-

Prices should be rescheduled

Direct marketing must be more efficient.

Marketing strategy should be revised.

Tour Packages should be introduced.

Hotel Staff benefits should be revised.

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Bibliography

Websites:-

http://www.oxfordgroup.in/aboutus.html, ACCESSED

http://www.ohotelsindia.com/index.asp

Articles from Journal:

Naomi R. Henderson, “Master Moderators”, American Marketing Association, April 2011,

pg. 17-20

Books:

1. Walliman Nicholas, “Your Research Project”,Vistaar Publications, New Delhi(2005)

2. Donald R. Cooper, “Marketing Research concept and cases”, Mcgraw-hill

3. Naresh K. Malhotra, “Marketing Research an Applied Orientation”, Pearson

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Appendices

This includes the check list/ questionnaire that I used for my market research.

Name of the Company: Date:

Contact Person: Designation:

Contact No: Email Id:

1. Have you heard about the hotel o?

2. What is the Industry segment?

□ IT □Finance □Healthcare □BPO

□ Retail □ Media □Automobile □Chemicals

□ Consulting □ Defense □Education □Electronics

□ Energy □ Engineering □Infrastructure □FMCG

□ PSU □ Telecom □Textiles/Buying House □Associations

□ Manufacturing □ Others ___________

3. What is the staff strength in Pune?

4. Rate negotiations are done : □Locally □ RFP □Head Office

5. If it is done through RFP, then kindly let us know the

Opening Date: ___________ Closing Date: ___________ Follow up

from_____________ onwards.

6. Hotels used in Pune for business travel:

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Hotel NameRates

RMTS/ Year InclusionsSingle Double

7. What would be the total no. of room nights in a month?

□ Less than 25 □ 25-50 □ 50-75 □ 75-100 □ above 10

8. Rank the following parameters in the order of your preference while booking a

hotel/resort:

□ Location □ Airport □Commercial Hub □ Close to work place

□ Tariff □ Service □ Uniqueness/experience

□ Modern Amenities/Technology □ CRM programs of that hotel

9. How many residential conferences do you hold in a year?

10. Does your organization celebrate an Annual Day?

11. Would you prefer the hotel?

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