What are the characteristics of hotels in small and medium cities?

This paper analyzes and summarizes the connotation and characteristics of budget hotels, points out the advantages and disadvantages of developing budget hotels in small and medium-sized cities, puts forward three development principles: prudent investment, clear market positioning and convenient geographical location, and puts forward the marketing strategies of budget hotels in small and medium-sized cities from three aspects: selecting appropriate sales channels, developing effective communication channels and integrating various marketing schemes.

For a long time, China's policy of giving priority to inbound tourism has led to the large-scale development of high-star hotels, while the development of budget hotels that meet the needs of domestic tourists and business people has lagged behind. With the development of domestic tourism market and business market, people have a strong demand for cost-effective rooms, which makes budget hotels stand out from the traditional hotel industry and grow rapidly. On the one hand, budget hotels have developed rapidly. From 2000 to 2009, the number of hotels increased from 23 to 32 15, and the number of rooms increased from 3,236 to 35,4231. On the other hand, with the global economic crisis and the arrival of the post-Olympic era, budget hotels are characterized by staged overheating, and the overall effective demand is insufficient; Furthermore, the dispute over the agreement between Ctrip.com and GreenTree Inn exposed the interest game between budget hotels and distribution terminals, and the profits of budget hotels were negligible. In the case of sharp drop in overall effective demand and insufficient profit guarantee, hotels are required to adopt marketing means suitable for their own environment to ensure their survival and development.

At present, there are a lot of theoretical and practical researches on budget hotels in academia and industry, mainly including the problems and countermeasures in the development of budget hotels proposed by He (2004). This paper analyzes and studies the basic concepts of budget hotels in Huang Huimin (2007) from the perspectives of 4P and 4C, and puts forward a general model for studying and analyzing the problems of budget hotels. Zhao (2005) discussed the main factors affecting the occupancy of budget hotels in second-tier cities in China, and judged the relative importance of these factors. Yang Ling (2008) thinks that the economical marketing model meets the customers' needs and profit requirements, realizes the rapid expansion of hotels, and points out a way for the development of many so-called quasi-star hotels.

Generally speaking, there are many studies on the development countermeasures of budget hotels in academic circles, but there are few studies on budget hotels in the special environment of small and medium-sized cities, especially when the interest game between budget hotels and distribution terminals is at a disadvantage, and there is even less research on how to change the marketing means of budget hotels. This paper is based on the above requirements. On the basis of analyzing the connotation and characteristics of budget hotels, this paper analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of budget hotels in small and medium-sized cities from the aspects of hotel products, hotel prices and hotel channels, and puts forward the development principles.

First, the connotation and characteristics of budget hotels

In recent years, budget hotels have developed rapidly and are forming a new industrial force. However, there are still many different views on the concept of economy hotel. Scholars have defined budget hotels from different angles. From the perspective of price economy, they think that economy hotel refers to providing professional services to customers at a price that the public can support, while from the perspective of functional limitations, it refers to hotels with limited services, that is, only beds and breakfast. In the "Encyclopedia of Modern Hotel and Catering Management" of WTO, the definition of budget hotels is: budget hotels are generally cheap hotels, which usually only manage rooms. The hotels themselves have no catering management facilities or only very limited catering services, and the prices are low. This concept mainly emphasizes the price and facilities of budget hotels. The author thinks that some characteristics of budget hotels can be explained from the above two aspects, but they are not perfect. Around the core of "economy", economy hotels should be different from other hotels in product design, price, channel promotion and promotion means.

Economy hotels have the following characteristics:

1, functional economy

The functional economy of economy hotel is mainly reflected in that its hotel product design and service design are all based on meeting the basic business of providing hotels-accommodation business. This is an essential difference from a large number of existing star-rated hotels and social hotels. This feature of functional economy makes budget hotels start with simplicity and comfort at the beginning of design, so as to meet the basic needs of customers staying in the hotel, so that customers do not have to pay for cumbersome services.

2. Price economy

The target groups of budget hotels are mainly ordinary consumers who are sensitive to price, business personnel of small and medium-sized enterprises and tourists. These groups require budget hotels to provide cost-effective hotel products and services.

3. Promote the economy through channels

Compared with middle and high-grade star hotels, budget hotels have less investment costs, lower pricing and less excess profits. Therefore, in the choice of channels, it is best for budget hotels to focus on direct channels to reduce the excess profits of indirect channels.

4. Cost of economic promotion.

The promotion of chain economy hotels mainly depends on the advertising promotion of headquarters and the penetration of customer reputation, while single hotels can be promoted through various economic means such as network communication.

Second, the advantages and disadvantages of developing economy hotels in small and medium-sized cities

Because the return on investment of budget hotels can reach 10% or even higher, it takes 8 to 10 years for ordinary hotels to recover their investment, while budget hotels only need five or six years. Therefore, budget hotels are gradually becoming the new target of investors. At present, in large and medium-sized cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the development of budget hotels is extremely rapid, and the number of well-known budget hotels at home and abroad has increased sharply. However, in inland small and medium-sized cities, the development momentum of budget hotels is insufficient. Facing the demand of inland market, local economy chain brands, local one-star and two-star hotels and social hotels can make feasibility analysis and consider entering or transforming on the basis of fully considering their own advantages and disadvantages.

Compared with star-rated hotels of the same grade, budget hotels have relatively less investment, strong controllability and high rate of return; Compared with big cities, small and medium-sized cities have superior investment environment, relatively low investment, few budget hotels and stable competition of the same type; Compared with social hotels and local one-and two-star hotels, products and services are more cost-effective. However, there are some disadvantages in developing budget hotels in small and medium-sized cities: first, compared with big cities, the number of tourists in small and medium-sized cities is limited, and budget hotels focus on accommodation and catering facilities, which is not conducive to attracting local people; Secondly, theme hotels and theme rooms are developing rapidly in small and medium-sized cities. Theme hotels can meet the needs of guests seeking novelty and novelty, and to some extent carve up the market of budget hotels.

Thirdly, the development principles of budget hotels in small and medium-sized cities are clear and the market positioning is clear.

1, invest cautiously

Not every city is suitable for developing economy hotels. When preparing for budget hotels, we must make a feasibility analysis according to local conditions. The main customer groups of budget hotels are business guests and tourists of small and medium-sized enterprises. At the beginning of building economy hotels in cities, it is necessary to comprehensively analyze the tourist market and investigate whether there are a considerable number of local enterprises and whether the tourist destinations are attractive. As a budget hotel, investors should adhere to the "cost" consciousness in hotel design, spend every penny in the most profitable place, meet the demand of the core function of "accommodation", and don't waste money on unnecessary equipment and facilities.

2. Clear market positioning

In most small and medium-sized cities, the price, grade and positioning between star-rated hotels and social hotels are vague. The essential characteristics of budget hotels are mainly low price and limited service, which is the essential difference from a large number of existing star-rated hotels and social hotels. Therefore, there is no comparability with other hotels in terms of grade, scale and star standard. Economy hotels in small and medium-sized cities should clearly position their customers as price-sensitive business people and tourists.

3. Convenient geographical location

The connotation of economy hotel includes not only functional economy and price economy, but also channel promotion economy and promotion cost economy in marketing.

Statler, the father of modern hotels, put forward that the basic elements of successful hotel management are location, location and location, and finding a suitable location to build a hotel is the first principle of statler. We should not only consider the present, but also the future, and build the hotel in a prosperous place in the future. Convenient geographical location helps to meet the needs of target groups, can effectively attract individual customers, and save a lot of marketing costs for budget hotels.

Fourthly, the marketing strategy of budget hotels in small and medium-sized cities.

1, select the appropriate sales channel.

Hotel customers can be mainly divided into four categories: individual customers, enterprises, travel agencies and distribution channels. The individual guests of budget hotels mainly include door-to-door guests and guests who sell directly through the hotel's own website. The cooperative customers of enterprises are mainly enterprises in the region, the travel agencies are mainly local travel agencies, and the distribution channels are mainly reservation centers through the Internet or other channels. It is an economical marketing method for budget hotels to set up their own portals online, which can not only facilitate customers to order online, but also minimize the high-profit exploitation of reservation centers. In recent years, the 7-day chain that has developed rapidly has chosen to build its own e-commerce channel. More than 60% of the total transaction volume of the 7-day chain comes from online and mobile WAP bookings. Economy hotels can also set up a special sales team to sell to large customers of enterprises, use external telecommunications to sell to medium customers, and apply it to mixed sales channels such as small customers through direct mail. Make full use of local advantages and rely on travel agencies to help hotels ensure stable passenger flow. In the choice of distribution channels, we should weigh the pros and cons. The recent agreement dispute between Ctrip.com and Greentree Inn also exposed the interest game between budget hotels and distribution terminals. Ctrip. Com usually charges a service charge around 70 yuan for each successful reservation. High-star hotels account for about 10% of the house price, but low-star or even budget hotels account for more than 20% of the house price. The profit rate of hotel room rental business is around 8%, and it can't afford the sales commission of 10% or even 20%.

2. Develop effective communication channels.

Information disseminators must choose effective information dissemination channels to transmit information. There are two channels of information dissemination: personnel and non-personnel. There are also many sub-channels in both. Personnel communication channels include direct information communication between two or more people, and personnel information communication channels gain benefits through personal publicity and feedback opportunities. Non-personnel communication channels include media, atmosphere and events.

It is not only credible but also low-cost for budget hotels to use word-of-mouth publicity to carry out marketing activities. Compared with large-scale advertising and other promotional activities, the cost of word-of-mouth marketing mainly focuses on educating and stimulating a small number of customers, so the cost is much lower. However, in the early days of hotel establishment, in order to maximize the publicity target, budget hotels can choose influential individuals and companies and make extra efforts to expand their influence.

Most non-personnel information is disseminated through paid media. Due to less investment, budget hotels require lower promotion costs. Therefore, non-personnel communication should adopt relatively low-cost network communication methods, and seek customer approval through web pages, forums, employee blogs, management blogs and other online display methods.

3. Integrate various marketing schemes.

In the early days of the establishment, in order to obtain customers, budget hotels should use various marketing schemes, such as advertising, promotion, public relations and publicity. Advertising helps to establish the long-term image of the hotel. If the newly-built hotel belongs to a chain hotel, there will be a unified advertisement at the headquarters. However, if the newly-built hotel is a single hotel, it is necessary to influence sales through newspaper advertisements. At the same time, hotels can also attract customers through promotional means, such as coupons, competitions, etc., which can increase sales at the fastest speed in the short term. However, due to the low pricing and small profit margin of budget hotels, this method should not be used often; Public relations and publicity can help hotels gain higher attention and credibility at a relatively low cost, and they can reach many prospective customers who avoid salespeople and advertisements. Therefore, top hotel managers should unite their internal staff, be good at seizing opportunities and creating publicity events, so as to gain higher social attention.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) conclusion and prospect

The development time of budget hotels in China is short, but the development momentum is fierce. Due to the impact of the economic crisis and post-Olympic Games, there has been a "bubble" phenomenon in budget hotels. But overall, the development of budget hotels in small and medium-sized cities is still in its infancy. This paper mainly puts forward the marketing strategy for the development of budget hotels in small and medium-sized cities, hoping to inspire the marketing planning of the hotel industry.

The above content is a model essay, please modify it according to the actual situation!