ability to understand the needs of your potential and current customers and create products and services to meet their needs and wants

An important element in any form of business is the ability to understand the needs of your potential and current customers and create products and services to meet their needs and wants. There are many types of travellers with different needs and wants and as a result, one size does not fit all. The Hospitality Industry has done an exceptional job of segmenting the broader lodging market into specific segments and has created hotels to suit the purposes of their varied guests.
For this assignment, please complete the following tasks:
1.    Select three(3) global lodgingcompaniesthat have three (3) different brandsunder their corporate umbrella (at least one company must be a non-North American based hotel group).
2.    List your threeselected hotel companies and classifyALLthe brands within each group.  Classify, as best you can, each brand into the appropriate category listed below (note: not all hotel groups have a brand for each category and some brands in each group may overlap in a category):
a.    Economy
b.    Moderate
c.    Upscale
d.    Upper Upscale
e.    Luxury
f.    Extended Stay (there may be a further breakdown within this category of moderate, upscale, etc.)
g.    Time-Share (as with the extended stay category, chains may have time-share brands in multiple categories)
3.    Provide a brief description of any three (3) brands within each of the 3global lodging company(for a total of 9 brands described – 3 hotel companies * 3 brands each)using these variables:
i.    Target market/s (what is the primary type of guest/s the brand is trying to attract based on the amenities and services provided). Provide a brief explanation as to your rationale for selecting this target market/s.
ii.    The unique services and products provided by the brand(not of one particular hotel in the chain).Do not give me a list of all the services provided.  I am only looking for what you may think is unique to that brand.  For example, don’t tell me that the brand has beds or shampoo…this is not unique.  But offering a 100% service guarantee or your money back is a unique feature because no one else or only a few hotels offer this guarantee.  Rates and special package promotions do not qualify as a service/product in this case.
As an example, Marriott Corp. has 16 different brands.  I have to first list and classify all 16 brands into the respective categories mentioned above based on your judgement. Then I would select any three brands from the list of 16 and describe them as required in question 3.
Answer the following questions after completing the above questions:
4.    Was it easy to classify each of the brands from your group of 3 hotel companies?  Why or why not?
5.    Did you find that there was some duplication in product/services offered between brands and even if the brands were created by the same company?  Was it easy to come up with truly unique features?  Why do you think this is the case?
6.    There were lots of different brands, but was it clear as to who the target markets were for each of these brands?  Is there some duplication here again?
7.    Why do you think hotel companies create multiple brands in each category?
8.    Does all this similarity make things easy for the consumer to choose wisely? Why/Why not?
9.    How can the industry solve this problem issue of brand proliferation?

Assignment Guidelines
It is preferable if the first three questions are done in such a way so as to allow for a comparison of each company’s various brands with the direct competition.  Remember, in this case, I (Frank) am the customer, so make sure to have a paper that is easy to read and compare and contrast the work you have done.
•    Please make sure to list all sources of information using APA format.
•    The Word document is to be no longer than 4 pages in lengthnot including your cover page.Make sure to put all student names on the cover sheet.  Bullet points for the paper areacceptable.
•    Please use a business accepted 12-point font (such as Arial, Times Roman, Calibri) and the paper is to be single spaced.
•    Try to be creative in the way you present your information and make sure that the reader can compare the hotels and the brands to one another.
•    Save your document as “lastnamefirstname-Wed – Assignment 1” (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri).  As an example: smithjames-Tue- Assignment 1 for a person with the name James Smith who attends the Tuesday class.Select the person who is sending the file as the file name.
•    Make sure your Subject Heading in your e-mail has the same information as the name of your saved document i.e. “lastnamefirstname-Mon – Assignment 1”
•    Please keep a copy of the “sent” e-mail to me.  I will acknowledge receipt of the e-mail and document within 24 hours.  Please keep a copy of this acknowledgement as well.
•    Please copy all students in the group when you send in your assignment.  This way, I can return the graded assignment back to all students at the same time.

Here is how I will grade your paper:
?    3 Global Hotel Companies listed (at least one from outside North America)
?    All Brands in each hotel group listed and classified.(I will not be grading based on accuracy of classification)
?    3 brands in for each of the three hotel companies described using the following criteria:
o    defined and described including target markets
o    rationale given for target markets
o    unique services (not all services but just what makes the brand unique)
?    Ease of reading the paper – brief and to the point…no long winded sentences and paragraphs.The format allows the reader to compare the hotel companies and their brands. Creativity is encouraged in the way you prepare and present your assignment.
?    Depth of research
?    Whether it was written in your own words rather than copying it from the internet. Plagiarism will result in a score of zero.
?    APA referencing format.
?    Followed instructions for naming and sending the file.

ability to understand the needs of your potential and current customers and create products and services to meet their needs and wants

An important element in any form of business is the ability to understand the needs of your potential and current customers and create products and services to meet their needs and wants. There are many types of travellers with different needs and wants and as a result, one size does not fit all. The Hospitality Industry has done an exceptional job of segmenting the broader lodging market into specific segments and has created hotels to suit the purposes of their varied guests.
For this assignment, please complete the following tasks:
1.    Select three(3) global lodgingcompaniesthat have three (3) different brandsunder their corporate umbrella (at least one company must be a non-North American based hotel group).
2.    List your threeselected hotel companies and classifyALLthe brands within each group.  Classify, as best you can, each brand into the appropriate category listed below (note: not all hotel groups have a brand for each category and some brands in each group may overlap in a category):
a.    Economy
b.    Moderate
c.    Upscale
d.    Upper Upscale
e.    Luxury
f.    Extended Stay (there may be a further breakdown within this category of moderate, upscale, etc.)
g.    Time-Share (as with the extended stay category, chains may have time-share brands in multiple categories)
3.    Provide a brief description of any three (3) brands within each of the 3global lodging company(for a total of 9 brands described – 3 hotel companies * 3 brands each)using these variables:
i.    Target market/s (what is the primary type of guest/s the brand is trying to attract based on the amenities and services provided). Provide a brief explanation as to your rationale for selecting this target market/s.
ii.    The unique services and products provided by the brand(not of one particular hotel in the chain).Do not give me a list of all the services provided.  I am only looking for what you may think is unique to that brand.  For example, don’t tell me that the brand has beds or shampoo…this is not unique.  But offering a 100% service guarantee or your money back is a unique feature because no one else or only a few hotels offer this guarantee.  Rates and special package promotions do not qualify as a service/product in this case.
As an example, Marriott Corp. has 16 different brands.  I have to first list and classify all 16 brands into the respective categories mentioned above based on your judgement. Then I would select any three brands from the list of 16 and describe them as required in question 3.
Answer the following questions after completing the above questions:
4.    Was it easy to classify each of the brands from your group of 3 hotel companies?  Why or why not?
5.    Did you find that there was some duplication in product/services offered between brands and even if the brands were created by the same company?  Was it easy to come up with truly unique features?  Why do you think this is the case?
6.    There were lots of different brands, but was it clear as to who the target markets were for each of these brands?  Is there some duplication here again?
7.    Why do you think hotel companies create multiple brands in each category?
8.    Does all this similarity make things easy for the consumer to choose wisely? Why/Why not?
9.    How can the industry solve this problem issue of brand proliferation?

Assignment Guidelines
It is preferable if the first three questions are done in such a way so as to allow for a comparison of each company’s various brands with the direct competition.  Remember, in this case, I (Frank) am the customer, so make sure to have a paper that is easy to read and compare and contrast the work you have done.
•    Please make sure to list all sources of information using APA format.
•    The Word document is to be no longer than 4 pages in lengthnot including your cover page.Make sure to put all student names on the cover sheet.  Bullet points for the paper areacceptable.
•    Please use a business accepted 12-point font (such as Arial, Times Roman, Calibri) and the paper is to be single spaced.
•    Try to be creative in the way you present your information and make sure that the reader can compare the hotels and the brands to one another.
•    Save your document as “lastnamefirstname-Wed – Assignment 1” (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri).  As an example: smithjames-Tue- Assignment 1 for a person with the name James Smith who attends the Tuesday class.Select the person who is sending the file as the file name.
•    Make sure your Subject Heading in your e-mail has the same information as the name of your saved document i.e. “lastnamefirstname-Mon – Assignment 1”
•    Please keep a copy of the “sent” e-mail to me.  I will acknowledge receipt of the e-mail and document within 24 hours.  Please keep a copy of this acknowledgement as well.
•    Please copy all students in the group when you send in your assignment.  This way, I can return the graded assignment back to all students at the same time.

Here is how I will grade your paper:
?    3 Global Hotel Companies listed (at least one from outside North America)
?    All Brands in each hotel group listed and classified.(I will not be grading based on accuracy of classification)
?    3 brands in for each of the three hotel companies described using the following criteria:
o    defined and described including target markets
o    rationale given for target markets
o    unique services (not all services but just what makes the brand unique)
?    Ease of reading the paper – brief and to the point…no long winded sentences and paragraphs.The format allows the reader to compare the hotel companies and their brands. Creativity is encouraged in the way you prepare and present your assignment.
?    Depth of research
?    Whether it was written in your own words rather than copying it from the internet. Plagiarism will result in a score of zero.
?    APA referencing format.
?    Followed instructions for naming and sending the file.

ability to understand the needs of your potential and current customers and create products and services to meet their needs and wants

An important element in any form of business is the ability to understand the needs of your potential and current customers and create products and services to meet their needs and wants. There are many types of travellers with different needs and wants and as a result, one size does not fit all. The Hospitality Industry has done an exceptional job of segmenting the broader lodging market into specific segments and has created hotels to suit the purposes of their varied guests.
For this assignment, please complete the following tasks:
1.    Select three(3) global lodgingcompaniesthat have three (3) different brandsunder their corporate umbrella (at least one company must be a non-North American based hotel group).
2.    List your threeselected hotel companies and classifyALLthe brands within each group.  Classify, as best you can, each brand into the appropriate category listed below (note: not all hotel groups have a brand for each category and some brands in each group may overlap in a category):
a.    Economy
b.    Moderate
c.    Upscale
d.    Upper Upscale
e.    Luxury
f.    Extended Stay (there may be a further breakdown within this category of moderate, upscale, etc.)
g.    Time-Share (as with the extended stay category, chains may have time-share brands in multiple categories)
3.    Provide a brief description of any three (3) brands within each of the 3global lodging company(for a total of 9 brands described – 3 hotel companies * 3 brands each)using these variables:
i.    Target market/s (what is the primary type of guest/s the brand is trying to attract based on the amenities and services provided). Provide a brief explanation as to your rationale for selecting this target market/s.
ii.    The unique services and products provided by the brand(not of one particular hotel in the chain).Do not give me a list of all the services provided.  I am only looking for what you may think is unique to that brand.  For example, don’t tell me that the brand has beds or shampoo…this is not unique.  But offering a 100% service guarantee or your money back is a unique feature because no one else or only a few hotels offer this guarantee.  Rates and special package promotions do not qualify as a service/product in this case.
As an example, Marriott Corp. has 16 different brands.  I have to first list and classify all 16 brands into the respective categories mentioned above based on your judgement. Then I would select any three brands from the list of 16 and describe them as required in question 3.
Answer the following questions after completing the above questions:
4.    Was it easy to classify each of the brands from your group of 3 hotel companies?  Why or why not?
5.    Did you find that there was some duplication in product/services offered between brands and even if the brands were created by the same company?  Was it easy to come up with truly unique features?  Why do you think this is the case?
6.    There were lots of different brands, but was it clear as to who the target markets were for each of these brands?  Is there some duplication here again?
7.    Why do you think hotel companies create multiple brands in each category?
8.    Does all this similarity make things easy for the consumer to choose wisely? Why/Why not?
9.    How can the industry solve this problem issue of brand proliferation?

Assignment Guidelines
It is preferable if the first three questions are done in such a way so as to allow for a comparison of each company’s various brands with the direct competition.  Remember, in this case, I (Frank) am the customer, so make sure to have a paper that is easy to read and compare and contrast the work you have done.
•    Please make sure to list all sources of information using APA format.
•    The Word document is to be no longer than 4 pages in lengthnot including your cover page.Make sure to put all student names on the cover sheet.  Bullet points for the paper areacceptable.
•    Please use a business accepted 12-point font (such as Arial, Times Roman, Calibri) and the paper is to be single spaced.
•    Try to be creative in the way you present your information and make sure that the reader can compare the hotels and the brands to one another.
•    Save your document as “lastnamefirstname-Wed – Assignment 1” (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri).  As an example: smithjames-Tue- Assignment 1 for a person with the name James Smith who attends the Tuesday class.Select the person who is sending the file as the file name.
•    Make sure your Subject Heading in your e-mail has the same information as the name of your saved document i.e. “lastnamefirstname-Mon – Assignment 1”
•    Please keep a copy of the “sent” e-mail to me.  I will acknowledge receipt of the e-mail and document within 24 hours.  Please keep a copy of this acknowledgement as well.
•    Please copy all students in the group when you send in your assignment.  This way, I can return the graded assignment back to all students at the same time.

Here is how I will grade your paper:
?    3 Global Hotel Companies listed (at least one from outside North America)
?    All Brands in each hotel group listed and classified.(I will not be grading based on accuracy of classification)
?    3 brands in for each of the three hotel companies described using the following criteria:
o    defined and described including target markets
o    rationale given for target markets
o    unique services (not all services but just what makes the brand unique)
?    Ease of reading the paper – brief and to the point…no long winded sentences and paragraphs.The format allows the reader to compare the hotel companies and their brands. Creativity is encouraged in the way you prepare and present your assignment.
?    Depth of research
?    Whether it was written in your own words rather than copying it from the internet. Plagiarism will result in a score of zero.
?    APA referencing format.
?    Followed instructions for naming and sending the file.