Current trends in the hotel industry

The pressure for hotels to be more innovative in their service provision has been higher in the last five years than at any other point in history. This has been as a result the changes in the basic characteristics of the main consumers of hotel services. Current trends in the hotel industry are in line with the characteristics of the modern day consumer who is better informed and always looking out for unique experiences. The definition of ‘leisure’ is quickly acquiring a new meaning with many customers appearing to go for extraordinary experiences that are aligned to their tastes and preferences. What was previously a preserve of the lifestyle hotels is quickly becoming a basic necessity for all the players in the hotel industry. 
In line with this development, hotel managers are turning towards innovation as their tool the achievement of a competitive advantage. This is being done with the cooperation of employees who are increasingly becoming effective in the collection of useful information from clients regarding their preferences. The information is then shared for the hotels to create services and avail facilities that would provide their clients with the ‘extraordinary’ experiences desired. Statistics indicate that the demand for value added leisure services is on a steady increase as the level of income in the middle class increases enabling them to make a bigger budgetary allocation to luxury products and services. Customers are also becoming increasingly aware of the environment with a larger majority expressing a certain liking for scenery that are more reflective of nature. With this in mind, a general trend has been observed where hotels with substantial pieces of land striving to landscape their compounds professionally to bring out various natural settings. Even among the hotels with smaller pieces of land, there have been efforts to create live albeit small gardens where customers can relax during their stay in the hotels. Current trends in the hotel industry globally are an indication that hotels are aware of the needs of their clientele and are keen to do whatever it takes to keep them interested in their organizations.
As strategic management experts would observe, every organization must conduct a realistic audit of its resources and create a way of using the resources to create a competitive advantage for itself. This view is in line with the resource based view of the organization. The most strategic resource at the disposal of the hotels has been and will always be their human resource. They interact extensively with their clients and are therefore in a very strong position to influence their level of satisfaction in their service provision. It therefore doesn’t come as a surprise to observe that current trends in the hotel industry are increasingly leaning on placing a greater emphasis on the employee capabilities and how such capabilities can be harnessed for the benefit of the whole organization. Focus on knowledge sharing and teamwork is largely being emphasized with many hotels employing professionals to help them develop effective and reliable knowledge sharing systems. This has been identified as most effective way of promoting innovation in the industry. 

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