Executive Summary

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has developed a trusted international brand which has

become synonymous with luxury hospitality. Travellers frequently choose the Ritz-Carlton over

other luxury hotel brands because of the company's consistent attention to detail and

commitment to excellence. The success of the Ritz-Carlton has become a standard for many

hospitality professionals and hotel companies alike. Understanding that the Ritz-Carlton Hotel

Company consists of upwards of 70 hotel properties underscores the company's consistency and

success which has earned it the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The

company offers leadership conferences and training seminars as a part of the Ritz-Carlton

Leadership Centre for professionals who hope to learn from the company's corporate philosophy.

The hotel company holds its properties and employees to the highest of standards. The Ritz-

Carlton offers extensive training to its employees, and encourages them to continually pursue

both personal and professional growth. Employees are expected to ensure guest confidentiality,

maintain impeccable cleanliness of the properties, balance refined luxury with individualized and

hospitable guest service, and represent themselves in both appearances in a respectable fashion.

The Ritz-Carlton's motto is "We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen."Ritz

hotel being present in the Middle East sections of Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Oman, SA, UAE etc has

been a successful hotel being awarded as the no1 hotel. The hotel has successfully tailored all of

its marketing strategies to its management decisions making it the finest hotel in town. It is not

just about being awarded once or twice, but all that it matters is that the hotel has provided a

consistent service to all of its customers. The service being offered to the customers of Ritz is a

high end service with a class of luxury, and with that luxury, the customers are charged highly.

With a high price, comes a perception of quality and that level of perceived quality has always

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been maintained by the hotel. The customers have never walked out of the hotel being

unsatisfied, and with the surprises being offered to the customers, is another strategy adopted by

the hotel to develop a sense of good will with the customers. Innovation in the promotion is what

has helped catch new eyes to the hotel. The segmentation of a luxurious hotel has very well

worked out as the hotel has successfully catered all of its customers. As far as the locations are

concerned, the Ritz hotels have been constructed on the tourist hub of the Middle East and they

have a very high footfall, and even during the years of recession, there was barely a noticeable

reduction in the number of tourists.

Company Overview and Project Context

Company Background

The history of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. originates with The Ritz-Carlton,

Boston. The standards set by the Boston is followed up by all of the hotels that are inaugurated

everywhere in the world. Ritz-Carlton hotel is one of those luxurious hotels that have been

credited for providing an excellent service to its clients and customers in a remarkable manner.

With so much of competition throughout the world in the field of hotels, Ritz-Carlton hotel has

maintained a level of supremacy above all. From trained professional to the room, Ritz-Carlton

hotel has succeeded in maintaining all. It was Cesar Ritz who died in the year 1918, but his wife

Marie was not one of those women who would live with the fixed income. It was Marie who

continued to expand the business of her husband and kept on doing it till her last breath. It was

Albert Keller who for the first time franchised the name of the company. After that the progress

of the hotel business just didn’t seem to stop, and Marie kept on growing. It was in the year 1927

when, Marie asked a real estate developer to construct a world class hotel with all the finest

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facilities of the world. It was 1927 and it is today, Ritz-Carlton hotel has 80 hotels worldwide

with being awarded as the finest hotel of the world. The senior management of the hotel claims

to be continuously working for perfection, and they seek perfection in their success. With

operating so many hotels all over the world, Ritz has never run out of business or has never been

alleged to be not providing the quality service. With winning so many awards year after year,

Ritz develops itself a history of success and awards.

Company Mission

Ritz Carlton hotel believes in providing nothing but excellent service to its customers.

The unforgettable experience provided by the hotel crave the personnel to visit the hotel again

and again. The hotel pledges to its customers that it will always provide an excellent service to

its customers and become a source of experience, an experience that will last for lifelong. It is

because of this remarkable service that the company has proved itself to be the best and written

itself a success story above all (Ritz-Carlton.com).

Company Vision

The vision of Ritz Carlton hotel is to develop and operate highly personalized, genuinely caring,

prestigious hotels. What has made Ritz Carlton hotel unique from the other hotels is its excellent

service which comes out from its superb management and training. The customer responsiveness

and CRM is what this hotel heavily relies on. The vision says it all for the hotel. The Ritz-

Carlton hotel being attached to the Marriott group which is also one of the leading hotel group of

the entire world famous for its luxurious hotels. The vision of providing the luxurious hotels has

been kept consistent throughout its evolution. The level of service that comes up for the customer

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is just remarkable and unforgettable. The unique services being provided by this hotel are not

just surprising but unique to, so there is no possibility that the services being offered by Ritz

hotel are being provided by other hotels with such delicacy and care.

Sources of Competitive Advantage

It is always obvious that the first entrant in any field of the industry has the biggest share

and has a recall for a maximum period. Ritz-Carlton hotel has tailored its customers need in such

a way that no one ever regrets going to Carlton hotel ever. From being welcomed in a polite

manner by the gateman to the small surprises, Ritz-Carlton hotel has it all. Ritz Carlton hotel has

a very strong financial background being able to stand unshakable even during severe losses. The

Marriot group is the parent company to the Ritz-Carlton hotel and they have a strong financial

background. The hotel has always believed in mass customization and has profitably provided its

customers with whatever they wanted. The excellent service that the hotel provides to its

customers by providing complimentary cakes on the birthdays of the customers is just a brilliant

idea. Innovation of ideas and implementing them in to the service industry has been a major

source of competitive advantage for the hotel. Looking at the Ritz-Carlton hotel Abu Dhabi, the

hotel consists of a private beach which overlooks the canal. The creativity and innovation in this

hotel is absolutely at its best. One of a good source of competitive advantage over other hotels is

the management and financial software that the hotel uses (MFF). This software helps in

managing the dispersed hotels throughout the world and helps in managing the accounts on daily

basis. This is truly a great software for making analysis and assessing future predictions. The

company can now access the financial analytical details in quite a few perspectives. With being

affiliated with Marriot, Ritz has its own goodwill in the market for being consistent provider of

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service and being the oldest one to do so. In rich families, staying at Ritz-Carlton hotel has

become a tradition. Ritz has successfully catered generation after generation making place in the

hearts of millions and they work on the strategy of once a customer, always a customer. With

hotels being present in the western countries, people coming to Asia tend to stay in a hotel that

can give them a sense of association to their home country (McCarthy1975).

Ritz-Carlton & Trends

According to Simon Cooper, the president of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, the organisation has to

conduct a broad study of luxury products and the market for high end goods and services. With

increasing competition, the needs of the customers change from time to time and for this

purpose, the organisation has kept a team of research whose job is to predict the changing trend

and prepare the organisation for it. The customers are always supposed to be satisfied, when the

trend changes, the expectations of the customers are met accordingly creating a customer value

with a positive image in the mind of the customer. Ritz has successfully catered every trend in

tailored it very well with the service being provided to the customers. There is absolutely nothing

left behind to be questioned about. The trend of hospitality is being offered by every hotel of the

world, but Ritz has taken hospitality to a next level where no hotel of the world has been able to

reach so far, and this is what makes Ritz so special in the mind of the customer. Customer

satisfaction is the biggest trend that is so far being followed by this hotel. Every employee of the

hotel is allowed to spend $2000 on the customers who come to the hotel to make them happy and

keep them satisfied with the level of service. Customer being welcomed with gifts and being

offered a champagne bottle in order to help them relieve their stress defines it all. Perfection is

another aspect being followed by the hotel. The hotel has had a history of getting its job done

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with perfection, what every work comes by the way of the hotel is done with perfection. The

service being provided to the customer is a high end service and the customers are left with

nothing but to take a deep sigh and remain shocked at the delicacy being offered to them.

Role of Business Travellers

Since the hotel promises to provide nothing but excellence in their service, the businessmen are

very important to the hotel. The Ritz Group has not just placed its hotels in the tourist spots of

the world, but it has also placed its hotels in the business hub of the world. Businessmen that

come for the purpose of making a deal require an excellent level of satisfaction that doesn’t

worry them at all. With the target market being the elite class customer, it is always important to

keep in mind that the business men that come are wanting to get a service that does not

disappoint them, and a satisfied businessman is a perfect customer. A family would visit the

tourist location once or twice, but the businessman would come in again and again in order to

attend meetings etc, and whenever he comes in he comes to the Ritz Carlton hotel. The hotel

provides everything that the businessman would ask for, from parking to club to an office ready

for work. There is a high probability that the businessman would not just come in to the hotel for

business purposes but where ever he flies with his family he or she would always prefer the Ritz

Carlton hotel.

Course Project Focus

Market Opportunity

Asia has always been a hub of cultures which is a major source of attraction for the entire

world. No matter which country we talk about, it has a cultural manifest and has remarkable

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landmarks to be visited by the tourists. It is the history of the hotel that provides it the biggest

advantage. All those western tourists that have a high attraction to the cultural legacy visit Asia.

Ritz-Carlton hotel is not there to do a short time business, it’s been there for many decades now

and it is still looking forward to serve till the end of the world. Looking at the current growing

rate, with Ritz-Carlton hotel being present in China, Japan, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Egypt etc, it is an

opportunity for them. One of the biggest opportunity for Ritz-Carlton hotel is its influence on the

government. Currently Ritz-Carlton is working with the tourism department of Abu Dhabi which

means that the hotel has a stake in the government and all those government officials travelling

abroad will also be staying in the Ritz Carlton hotel. The hotel working with the government is

an indication that the Hotel can mould the future laws according to their interest. Any festival

that takes place in Abu Dhabi organized by the government, Ritz hotel is going to accommodate

the foreigners travelling to Abu Dhabi this is another marketing tactic that they use. India is

growing at a rapid pace and attracting a lot of tourism, Ritz with its current good will in the

market is up to open about a 100 more hotels. The biggest problem that needs to be addressed

here is that how would the hotel deal with the rising terrorism. Terrorism has widely spread in

the Asian countries and has affected major tourist cities. Another problem that needs to be

addressed is how the hotel would regain its financial position if there is a cut off on the property

value in the country where the hotel is currently operating (Swastha Basu, 2009).

Problem Statement

There are several issues that Ritz Carlton Hotel might face in UAE. The most prominent for Ritz

Carlton is the competition. There are several luxurious hotels throughout UAE and only several

more are planned to open in the following years. In addition to this, it is expected that luxury

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tourism market (within which UAE is a participant) would only grow marginally this year. This

possibly implies towards market saturation within the luxury tourism industry, and within UAE it

means that hospitality industry would also face slow sales growth. This means the industry is

likely to become more competitive. In view of this, it is important that Ritz-Carlton revises its

existing marketing plan and strategies by extensively studying its existing operations and the

environment it operates in.

Situational Analysis

Industry Analysis

Market Size

Talking about the Asia market, the Asian market is very vast and attracts a number of

tourists towards itself. The tourism sector in Asia and the Pacific is thriving, with the region

accounting for 22% of inbound tourism arrivals in 2010. Noticeably, in 2010, China placed third

in inbound tourism arrivals and fourth in inbound tourism expenditure in the world. The market

size is huge for Asia as the biggest number of flyers to the Asian tourism spots are the Asians

themselves and this market just keeps on growing.

Market Growth

According to the sources, the annual growth rate of the tourists in Asia is about 3.3%

currently and the number of international tourists travelling Asia by 2030 will be approximately

1.8 billion. About 535 million people will be travelling to the Asian pacific countries; rest of the

tourists will be going to the other parts of Asia. The inbound tourists in Asia Pacific had an

increase of about 13% looking in to the inbound tourism, and this figure was calculated out in the

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year 2009 and 2010. In the year 2010, the Middle East was recorded to be the fastest growing

region with tourists increasing at the rate of 14.1%, which is truly an exciting percentage for all

of the tourist related businesses. Although during the year 2009, a sudden drop was recorded

being 4.3% which came in due to the recession of 2008. The 4.3% was recorded for Asia, but the

Middle East sector tended to face a very minor percentage fall which was barely noticeable, the

percentage stated to be was 1.7%. this means that the a very minor shortfall on the tourists turned

out to be fruitful for the industry as after a minor shortfall there was a steep growth in the

percentage of tourists travelling to the middle east region of Asia. With the market growing at

such a pace after 2009, it has attracted a number of businesses, whereas it has also given an

indication to the Ritz-Carlton hotel to think about expansion. Once the market is exhausted, the

tourists will disperse to the other locations, and Ritz has already thought about it by forwarding a

plan to open up hotels in India, XAE etc.

Since there is so much of attraction in the Asian tourism sector, the statistics show that in

the coming few years, about 3trillion dollars will be injected in to the Asian tourist sector in

order to cater the growing percentage of tourists every year. By the year 2020, about 200 hotels

with international standards will be built adding about 100,000 more rooms. By the year 2025,

the aircraft fleet will also increase by 150% (World Tourism Department).

Internal Analysis of Ritz-Carlton

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The biggest strength of Ritz-Carlton hotel is its current goodwill in the market. The hotel

has been established in the USA since the 1920’s and this is what gives it an ultimate place in the

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market. The financial partners of the hotel are too strong so that they keep on investing in the

upcoming projects of the hotel. The innovation is what gives this hotel an elegant touch. Ritz-

Hotel has always been very good at providing innovative services to its customers. Affiliation

with the government gives it a sense of alarm and a sense of opportunity for the upcoming laws

and events, and the hotel can cash them in the most beneficial manner. The excellent customer

service that the hotel has provided so far has helped them develop a loyal customer base since its

evolution. Ritz-Carlton hotel has become a brand and it charges a high price for the services it

provides creating a revenue in billions of dollars every year.

Weaknesses

Like all the other hotels, Ritz-Carlton hotel to has some weaknesses that need to be sorted

out. With such a broad and extensive cliental, it is compulsory for Ritz-Carlton hotel to cater

every problem that it encounters so that in the longer run its business is not affected. Since Ritz-

Carlton hotel is an elite class hotel, it gets to attract only a limited number of customers every

year. Although the limited number of customers are charged with a high price, the hotel does not

enjoy the profitability of economies of scale. The suicide bombings of the year 2009 has also

created a sense of security for the hotel as it has a high reputation in the market, and a single

blow to the image of the hotel can destroy its business and goodwill worldwide. One of the major

concerns of the Ritz Carlton hotel is that it has a very high employee turnover rate. It takes a log

of costs to train the employees and when the employee leaves, it gives a great loss to the hotel.

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Opportunities

With such a broad expansion of business worldwide, It is a due fact that opportunities

under lie the management of the hotel, and they have availed every opportunity that has come by.

When the business is huge, it’s not just about availing and benefitting the best out of all the

opportunities that pass by, but it’s all about creating opportunities for them. The growing

percentage of the tourism sector in the Middle East is the biggest attraction to the hotel. The

current figures mentioned above have shown that the Asian market would grow till the year 2030

before it starts to get exhausted and the hotel has planning to expand till the year 2030 in the

middle east. The company has been performing at a consistent pace and the past records have

shown that. Ritz-Carlton hotel has been very successful in opening new hotels in untapped

countries and have run them successfully and the hotel continues to do so. This calls for a great

experienced management which the hotel has had since its birth.

Threats

There is no business in the world that encounters no threat. Today we live in an era of

innovation and modification. Since the year 2000, the world has changed extensively, and the

environment that the businesses are operating in have become dynamic and complex. Year after

year, the needs and wants of the consumers are changing, and businesses which have been

successful to cater them, have written themselves a success story. The biggest problem to be

faced by the hotel is the problem of security. The hotel has to invest in high tech technology in

order to fight terrorism and protect its image worldwide. The economy bubble of UAE is too

fizzy and if it bursts, the hotel can face a major loss causing it to lay down hundreds of

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employees. The current political situation of Egypt and other Arab countries of the Middle East

can very well harm the tourism causing Ritz Carlton to run out of business. The hotel has been

facing a tough competition by its major competitor Four Seasons, the honking and shanghai

Hotels limited and Starwood hotels have given a tough time to Ritz-Carlton and they will

continue to do so. The market is a free market, and there is always a threat of new entrants as

UAE becomes a lucrative and profitable market for the luxury tourism industry. The growing

tourism in Asia has already attracted a number of businessmen.

Key Competitors

The hospitality industry in UAE is one which operates under immense competition.

There is scarcely a hotel in the tourism industry that maintains any form of monopoly in a region.

Marketing tactics or ploys by key competitors are bound to have an impact on Ritz-Carlton, and

as such, it is important that Ritz-Carlton takes into account some information regarding its key

competitors if it is to devise a successful marketing plan. It should be noted that there are

essentially three luxury hotel companies which compete with Ritz-Carlton; Four Seasons,

Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and Accor. Each of these companies are large MNEs which

operate worldwide and at least have more than 75+ hotels across more than 60 different

destinations. The most luxurious ranked one in the list is Four Seasons. Four Seasons is a

privately-owned limited company that operates 89 hotels (all of which are five star or above) in

18 countries across the world (Brotherton, 2012). The different hotels managed by the group are

constantly ranked high in the Zagat Survey (Zagat, n.d.). With respect to UAE, Four Seasons is

expected to open a new resort in Dubai by mid-2014. It should be noted that Four Seasons

presence is bound to have an immense impact on other luxury hotels as Four Seasons is

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renowned as the best in luxury hotels (AMEinfo, 2012). Besides Four Seasons, The Ritz-Carlton

also needs to be aware of the Starwood Hotels Inc.’s Sheraton and Four Points brand. The

Starwood Group collectively manages around 992 hotels the world, and operates nearly 7

different hotels across UAE (Brotherton, 2012). It should be noted that recently The Starwood

Group has introduced its Four Points brand in the UAE (Alackey, 2011). This can have severe

implications for The Ritz-Carlton as essentially the Four Points provides a luxury offering but at

subsidized rates and slightly lower quality service. It can have the impact of swaying many price-

conscious customers away from The Ritz-Carlton. However, the most intense competitor in the

UAE industry is Accor and its luxury brand Sofitel. Accor operates approximately 4,500 hotels

and resorts in 91 countries, and it is often stated to be the world’s largest hotel group

(Brotherton, 2012). Currently, Accor has only one hotel at Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach region, i.e.

Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah. However, it is expected that by mid-2013, the company would open

another two hotels on the Dubai Palm – each of which would be designed according to world-

class standard (Birchall, 2012). These two hotels can provide severely increased competition due

to their unique location. Moreover, it could further strengthen Sofitel’s presence in the UAE

region and hence provide it a greater share of the UAE luxury tourism market. Taking into

consideration the actions of its competitors, The Ritz-Carlton needs to specifically be wary and

devise a marketing plan that takes into consideration its competitors expansion and service

quality efforts.

Since the industry of hotel is under severe competition, here, no terminology of

monopoly exists. There is always a threat of new entrants and the hotel has seen it over and over

again. With a dynamic and complex environment, every new entrant that is coming in has come

up with better and innovative ideas in order to give out a tough time to the hotel. With Ritz being

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so old with strong roots throughout the world, there has not been so much of frustration amongst

the management about competition, but it cannot be denied that competition causes a reduction

in the price level. Looking at the example of Abu Dhabi, here lays a number of luxurious hotels,

and Ritz has successfully been able to mark its name amongst all. It is because of the heavy

competition that the hotel is forced to rethink over its packages, and at times a cut off of about

500$ per room has also been witnessed. The hotel has been facing a tough competition by its

major competitor Four Seasons. The honking and shanghai Hotels, limited and Starwood hotels

have given a tough time to Ritz-Carlton and they will continue to do so. Since china is a hub of

business to the world, and nearly one out of every 15 business men have visited china for some

reason or the other. It was because of the tough competition in Shanghai that Ritz offered a

discount on the executive rooms. Although people coming to china for the reason of business

may have been rich, but in order to attract more and more customers the hotel management

decided to do so. It is through the Chinese hotels that the Ritz is promoting its hotels for the

Middle East countries.

Service Excellence

In order to ensure that Ritz Carlton abides by high standards of quality and ensures consistency

in its service, The Ritz Carlton has indulged in a variety of quality control and business

improvement ventures. These include the following steps;

Sustainability: The first and the foremost duty of the hotel is to sustain what it has done in the

past and not to let it go by a flow. If the organisation has been performing well, it cannot let it

standards go down, besides it always has to be in a quest to increase its standards.

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Benchmarking: Although the hotel has been the top performer always and has been awarded

on a number of events, but this doesn’t deny the fact that there is always a room for

improvement. The needs of the customers are changing always and the hotel has to maintain

its level of competency by providing the best service of all. The hotel keeps on raising its

standards year after year so that a better service is provided to the customers.

Right Leadership: The company believes in having a true leader which could guide the

company well. A true leader who would not just maintain the level of success but unleash

more ways to take the company beyond of its dreams. It has been the perfect leadership that

the company has come up so far.

Training: The employees working with Ritz Carlton hotel are very well trained and are

professionals. There is no patch of mistake at all. In order to provide the best service to the

customers, the employees are supposed to be well trained so that they could keep the

customers delighted.

Customer Intimacy

The recent study on customer intimacy, the Ritz Carlton hotel was identified as the best

and the customer intimacy leader. With the company being formed in the early 1990’s, this

organisation has had a long time and has been a perfect provider for its service. The hotel has

undergone some mass customization in order to cater the needs and wants of its customers so

that it could retain its market share and customers and give a tough time to the competitors. The

hotel has built an entire database for all of the customers that have had any sort of contact with

the hotel. With the customers being 800,000 throughout the world, the hotel maintains the details

for all. Whenever the customer comes in to stay at the hotel, a list of his needs are generated and

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placed in to the database of the hotel, so that when the customer comes in the next time, he does

not have to repeat what he had said and his dos and don’ts are present with the hotel already. If

the customer would want fruits besides chocolate bars or he would want a champagne, the hotel

would know it all through the database, and this is what helps them develop an excellent service.

The level of customer intimacy for the hotel is very high, and they have never compromised over

it at all.

Customer Analysis

Talking about Ritz, a giant, where the hotels are preset throughout the world at some

major tourist destinations. The hotel has about 800,000 customers worldwide, and they keep on

growing every year. It is not easy to stop such a giant and obviously it is quite a fact that the

hotel has been able to grow very well over the decades. Ritz Carlton hotel is a high end elite and

executive class hotel with its hotels being present at the major tourist spots of the world. A 5 star

rank defines it all. It is quite obvious that a 5 start hotel cannot be affordable for the middle or

the upper middle class, but it indeed is possible for the elite class. The cliental of the Ritz Carlton

hotel is absolutely the elite class. With creativity and innovation, Ritz has always been able to

provide its customers with nothing but the best service. Ritz hotel is a brand and it is quite a fact

that brands are expansive. The starting price of rooms at the hotel during discount is 500 $ / night

which is very expansive for a majority of people. The hotel aims at the elite and the executive

business class. The hotel has always come up with great ideas to impress the top class and has

been successful to do that always. The hotel aims at the customers who earn more than $10000 a

month, because it’s not just the room expenses to be bared. A room being offered at $2000 does

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not satisfy the expenses of the hotel, it is the other facilities that are supposed to be utilized by

the customers in order to generate higher revenue.

Current Marketing Mix

Product

With such a huge history of success, what makes this hotel so special is the product that it

offers to its customers. Although the name hotel would just create an image of a room or a

luxurious room, but Ritz-Carlton hotel has much more to offer to its customers then just a room,

and this is what has become a part of their tradition at Ritz. The product that is being offered to

the customers is memories in the form of great experience and service. The pick and drop

services, the banquet and all other 5 star services is what makes this hotel the best in town. Since

it is the mission of the company to provide excellent services to its customers, the product it is

selling to its customers is absolutely right for them. Looking at other hotels, it is the 100%

customer retention that makes the product of Ritz a successful one.

Price

Wrong pricing strategy can always lead to a low demand of the product which is a direct

indication that the pricing strategy has failed, and for an early starter, mistakes like these can turn

out to be fatal. Since Ritz has had a strong background which influences its planning process and

has developed a good will already with the customers, the pricing strategy for all of the hotels is

the same. With the same target market everywhere in the world, the company adopts the same

pricing strategy for every hotel that comes under its name. Since the hotel is targeting the elite

class, the price range of the rooms at the resorts and hotels of Ritz are absolutely correct. With a

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room starting from $1000 is just affordable to the people of its target market. The pricing

strategy of the company has proven to be very well. In an advance booking of 20 days, the

customers can get up to a discount of 20% on all the rooms that it offers, which pretty much tells

us about the high profit margin of the organization. A company operating at a low profit margin

can surely not bare a discount offer of 20%.

Place

Selecting the right place for the business which is high reliable on direct customer

interaction is very important. If an organisation places its offices in Amazon, it would make a

difference, but the offices where the customers comes directly are supposed to be chosen with a

perfect calculation. Ritz-Carlton hotel being a giant, has always been successful in selecting the

right location for its hotels as they have been easily accessible for all of its customers. The group

has to make sure that they place their hotels at locations where the footfall of the yearly tourists

is high and in this manner they could cater as many clients as they could. Since Asia has a strict

bond with the major cultures of the world, and these cultures has successfully given helped out in

boosting tourism in every country, Ritz has taken the right decision to place its hotels at the top

tourists spots of Middle East and the world. The hotel even places its services at the business

places of the world china which is a part of the Middle East. The success rate tells us that even

during the years of recession, the hotel managed to stand in an immaculate position without

being disturbed at all.

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Promotion

With an intense competition in every industry of the world today, it is very important for

every organisation of the world to come up with techniques that are not just innovative but

creative in such a form that it attracts the customers and help them increase their recall with a

positive image. If a company fails to develop tools that are innovative in promotion or that could

not create a positive impression on the mind of the customer, then the stimulus being presented

to the customer becomes vague and the organizations promotion fails. Promotion is the process

that could help the company create a better customer value and also to develop a prolong positive

relationship with its customers. With Ritz hotel being one of the finest hotels of the world, it has

always undertaken the best promotional activities. Uniqueness and innovation is a standard of

promotion for the Ritz Carlton hotel now. One of the best promotional activities adopted by the

hotel is that it has launched its own magazine where it identifies its achievements and customer

statuses. The hotel organized a golf tournament in Abu Dhabi where it successfully marked its

name amongst the top golfers of the world and acquired media coverage and produced goodwill

in the market. The promotional activities adopted by the hotel are highly expensive activities and

they have always been a source of attraction for the public.

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

Market Segments

The steps of marketing are very crucial for every organisation in the world, and there is

no doubt about the fact that every step of marketing is heavily linked with the other. This simply

means that a fault at one end may cause the entire chain of marketing to fail. The segmentation

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process identifies about where will exactly the company focus on to and what sort of customers

would be the liable customers for the organisation. With parent company being a strong hotel,

Ritz has entered in to the segment of a luxury hotel. This segment is not affordable by all, but to

whom it is affordable it is an experience of one in its kind. Although the hotel is planning to

focus on a few more segments in the Middle East, but for now it only focuses on its core

competency segment of luxury hotel.

Target Market Identification

Identifying the right target market for the right business is very crucial for every

organisation in the world. When the organisation says that it needs the right people for the right

job, it means that the organisation needs to get its work done with perfection and efficiency. At

times the companies may have a very tough time finding out who their actual target market is,

but with a success in this field can help out the company very well. There have been many

organisation in the world who have not identified their target market and as a result of this they

had to reposition their product and re launch it. The re launching process may take a long time

and often become a cause of product failure. A single mishap in identifying the target market can

cause a great disparity to the organization and its stakeholders. With Ritz being a giant in the

hotel industry it is very important to identify the right target market. It was Marie who had

wanted to grow the business of hotel in the year1920, although the concept of marketing did not

exist at that point of time, but there existed a number of traditional marketing techniques. With

the hotel being present in major tourist cities, it has identified itself to be a hotel for the business

class executives and tourists. The hotel has identified its target market very well and their

success witnesses that to us.

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Positioning

The positioning of any brand in the world is very important for every marketer of the

world. Every day we see a number of brands entering and leaving the market, and a number of

them are a failure because of the wrong positioning. It may not be so easy to position the product

as the company wants it to be positioned, but if it happens so, there is no doubt that the

organisation would enrich itself with a long life and profitable years. Ritz is one of those

successful organisations that has been very successful in creating a brand out of its service and

has successfully positioned its service in the mind of the customer. With such a heavy cliental,

Ritz has been the top notch hotel always for the elite class. Rich people travelling abroad would

always prioritise for Ritz-Carlton hotel and then they would go for some other option. Ritz

Carlton Hotel is a luxury hotel group that looks at creating memories for the customers instead of

just serving them well. A ship being placed at the Boston hotel, a golf tournament being

organized by the hotel at Abu Dhabi says it all. As mentioned above, the hotel believes in the

verdict of “once a customer always a customer”. The services provided to the customers are

provided in such a brilliant manner, that the hotel increases its recall in the mind of the customer.

The innovation and creativity are to such an extent that the hotel surely leaves an impact of

remarkable experience on the mid of the customer, and once a customer is convinced he surely

comes back to the seller. With hotel aiming at creating memories, it tries its utmost level to

create one of the best memories of an individual’s life. With Ritz parent company being Marriott,

it has surely a positive image on the mind of the new comers already, and for people coming in

for the 2nd time or more, they have been catered according to what they had opted the hotel for.

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