Ginger Hotel Service Scape

SCM ASSIGNMENT GINGER HOTEL

 FINAL REPORT  REPORT  SUBMITTE D TO:

Prof. Mohan Monteiro SUBMITTED BY:

Group: 7 A

Joseph Dolphy (11024) Avinash Reddy (11069) Sagar Chimurkar (11106) Harish Sankar N I (11140)

Table of Contents INDIAN HOTEL INDUSTRY:....................................................................................................................... 2 GINGER HOTELS ...................................................................................................................................... 4 STP OF GINGER HOTELS .......................................................................................................................... 6 Literature on the process ........................................................................................................................ 7 SERVICE BLUE PRINT OF GINGER HOTELS ............................................................................................... 8 Consumer Behaviour: ........................................................................................................................... 10 GINGER HOTEL SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSION..................................................................................... 13 GAP MODEL OF SERVICES QUALITY ...................................................................................................... 15 Ginger Mysore (98 Rooms) ................................................................................................................... 17

1

INDIAN HOTEL INDUSTRY: The hotel industry in India had reported sales growth of 14.3 per cent during 2010-11, 20112012 and is expected to maintain this level in 2012-13. PAT is expected to grow at 36.2 per cent in 2011-12 and 26.4 per cent by 2012-13. The growth in tourist inflows in 2012-13 and 2013-14 is likely to be driven by tourists from regions other than North America and Western Europe. This includes Asian regions like South Asia, East Asia, and South East Asia. Hotel Industry in India' success story is only second to China in Asia Pacific. The shares of tourists from these countries have been rising in recent years, as per the data released by the Ministry of Tourism, and are expected to rise in the coming years as well.

Hotels and restaurants are an important component of the tourism sector. As on 31 December 2011, there were 2,895 classified hotels having a capacity of 1,29,606 rooms in the country. Availability of good quality and affordable hotel rooms plays an important role in boosting the growth of tourism in the country. The share of the hotel and restaurant sector in overall economy increased from 1.46 per cent in 2004-5 to 1.53 per cent in 2008-9 and then decreased to 1.46 per cent in 2010-11. However, if the contribution of this sector only in the service sector is considered, its share decreased from 2.75 per cent in 2004-5 to 2.64 per cent in 2010-11 as other service sectors grew faster than this sector. Its CAGR was 8.44 per cent during 2004-5 to 2009-10 and the growth rate in 2010-11 was 7.7 per cent. Health tourism, the new entrant in the sector, is a niche area where India has good potential to grow. Indian hotel industry  –  fiscal year 2012-2013

Fiscal 2012-13 has started on a weak note for the Indian hotel industry with revenue per available room(RevPARs) shrinking 5-8% during the first quarter, hurt by declining room and occupancy rates, according to rating agency ICRA. New Delhi has been one of the worst performing markets in India with RevPARs in May 2012 compressing by as much as 25% year-on-year. "Even as the economy limps along affected by both domestic and global headwinds, there appears to be no significant respite in the pipeline over the next three quarters 2

The basic division in India according to the location is as follows: 

Heritage Hotels

These types of hotels reflect the old glory and grandeur of India, they are mostly the old havelis and mansions of ancient times which have been turned into Heritage Hotels, these provide tourists with an opportunity to experience royal pleasure in traditional ambiance. They mostly concentrate in the princely states of Rajasthan, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh 

Luxury Hotels

These Hotels are equipped with world class infrastructural amenities; they offer the tourists with a fine lodging and dining experience. They extend a warm welcome to the customers catering primarily to the upper class executives. 

Budget Hotels

These kinds of Hotels are like home away from home, they accommodate customers from upper middle and middle class. Mostly named as Economy Class Hotel, Business Hotels and Discount Hotels, the Budget Hotels supports the modern infrastructural facilities for a comfortable and pleasant stay. 

Resorts

Resort hotels in India are mostly found in hill stations and sea side tourist destinations. These are located amidst natural scenic beauty; they are the ideal place to enjoy some valuable time with family and friends or in solitude.

3

GINGER HOTELS

Roots Corporation Limited (RCL) is a subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL). Incorporated on December 24, 2003, RCL operates the first-of-its-kind category of  Smart Basics hotel chain across the country. Launched in June 2004, the Smart Basics concept created a revolution in the world of Indian hospitality The first of the Smart Basics hotel was launched in Bangalore and was called IndiOne. Having completed the test marketing of the concept and subsequent fine-tuning of the hotel facilities and services, the Smart Basics concept is now ready to roll out across India. These hotels have been launched with a new name ‘Ginger Hotels’. Characteristics of Ginger Hotels: 

The Ginger Hotels are built around a unique concept that provides facilities to meet the key needs of today's traveller, at surprisingly affordable rates.



Informality, style, warmth and modernity in its approach to product design ,service philosophy and affordability in pricing



They have created a new category in the domestic hospitality landscape, while giving a major fillip to Indian tourism and other ancillary industries.



The primary objective behind the launch of these hotels is to provide a superior product offering and consistent experience to travellers, beyond the present offerings in the industry.

Optimize the costs:

Enjoying special customized rates offered to corporate clients, which help them cut down on the frills but not on the comfort. Additional Facilities

Offer multiple facilities to ensure the customers’ business is unaffected and they have a pleasant stay. Wi-Fi, 24 hours tea/coffee, Meeting room, conference room, 20 inch LCD TV’s in every room, Gymnasium , ergonomically designed work place and many more, specially designed and built keeping in mind the needs of business travellers. 4

Convenience and peace of mind

All hotels are conveniently located with good connectivity. All rooms are hygienic, peaceful and comfortable to ensure that you sleep soundly after a hard day’s work.

Consistency

With a strong network of hotels in 19 cities in India and growing, a uniform standard and consistency is ensured in services across the entire chain.

Marketing Mix of Ginger Product: The product offered by the Ginger Hotel is the Lodging facility. The lodging

facility consists of clean rooms, locker facility, water dispenser. The different types of rooms in Ginger are: 

Single Rooms: Ideal for the lone traveller, yet does not compromise on any of the

conveniences of the other rooms 

Twin Rooms: Separate beds for those who travel together



Double Rooms: A queen-size bed for your comfort



Family Rooms: Perfect for a family of four (at Delhi)



Special Room to look after the special needs of the physically challenged

Other than the core facility rooms it has supplementary facilities like Conference Rooms, Restaurant, Room Service, ATM, Cafe Coffee Day and Laundry. Price: The prices for the rooms vary according to the season and timing and Ginger follows

differential pricing. The prices vary from Rs.1499 to Rs.3500 exclusive of taxes. Promotion: The group conducts its promotions through Social media like Facebook, Ginger

Website, and advertisement in travel portals. The promotion activity also concentrates on giving sales promotion through packages for travellers visiting tourist destinations, Mysore Dusshera, Pilgrimage sites like Thirupathi. People: Ginger employs people who are trained in Hotel Management with experience in

hospitality field. The employees are trained and briefed about the activities to be undertaken in each department before the schedules begin. Process: The process consist of taking the business customer reservation through website

online, telephone, email or travel portal and blocking the guest rooms for the reserved day. On the day of guest arrival ensuring smooth check in facility at the front office followed by

5

settling down guest at the room and ensuring room service, restaurant facility, laundry facility for the in-house guest. The process ends with guest checkout and again re starts with the reservations service. Physical Evidence: The physical evidence for Ginger hotel is the Website, Brochure, Hotel

Front office Ambience, Rooms, Restaurant, Conference Facility, ATM in Hotel, Room Service, concierge, travel assistance and Laundry Facility. Place: Ginger Hotels are expanding in to all Tier I and II and III cities in India. The

expansion is concentrating in to Tier II cities because of the growth in economic and business customers. The hotels are located within the cities for the business customers near the business area.

STP OF GINGER HOTELS 

Ginger hotels is an innovative concept which redefines the way business travel is done in India



It signifies simplicity, convenience, informality, style, warmth, modernity and affordability



The concept was developed by TATA Group in association with Dr. C.K.Prahalad

1. SEGMENTATION OF THE MARKET

The segmentation of the Indian market is basically based on the geographical area 

Geographical segmentation o

Ginger is primarily present in growth towns and places of business importance

o

Ginger is present in places like Ahmedabad, Nasik, Bhubaneswar, Vadodara, which supports both business and leisure travellers

o

Ginger is also present in metros like New Delhi and Bangalore and planning to enter into Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata

6

2. TARGET CUSTOMERS 

Typical Ginger customer would be junior and mid-management executives, small business owners, traders and self-employed professional who makes frequent trips to neighbouring cities for business purposes



Ginger also travels leisure travellers looking for safe and hygienic accommodation



Middle class foreign tourists is also one of the target segment of Ginger hotels

3. POSITIONING STRATEGY OF GINGER HOTELS 

Ginger hotels is positioned as no frill, budget hotel chain where one can expect the safe and hygienic accommodation at affordable costs



It signifies simplicity, convenience, informality, style, warmth, modernity and affordability



The company also brought in the concept of  ‘help yourself ’ in the positioning strategy

Literature on the process Initially the suits have been book earlier through internet so that a discount has been given for booking the room well in advance. Then the customer has reached the hotel on the day for which booking has been done. As soon as the customer reaches the reception counter the receptionist asks the customer whether the room has been booked earlier or the customer has to book it right now. After the customer has said that the booking has been done well in advance the receptionist asked for the details of the booking. After the details have been checked by the receptionist, she confirms the booking and allots the kind of room he actually opted for. Then immediately the helper boy comes and takes the key from the receptionist and he himself carries the luggage if any and takes us towards the suite that has been reserved for the customer. Then immediately the service boy asks the customer if he needs any help. If not the helper boy goes back. Later in the evening the customer asks for the laundry service through phone and immediately the laundry service person comes to the room and he takes the clothes for laundry and promises the delivery the next morning. In the night the service person comes to the room at the time of dinner and asks if the customer needs food to be served to the room itself. If at all the customer opts that the food has to be served to the room itself then he brings the menu card for the customer to order and then he serves the food as 7

soon as possible. The next morning by the time the customer finishes the breakfast the clothes given for the laundry will arrive at the room and will be delivered to the customer and the room is cleaned and the blankets are changed. Then the routine process happens until the customer checks out of the hotel.

SERVICE BLUE PRINT OF GINGER HOTELS

Components of Ginger Service Scape

1) Physical Evidence 

Website



Hotel Parking and Entry Area



Registration Desk, Lobby, Registration Form, Key



Laundry Bag



Clean Linen and Water Bottles

8



Room Amenities



Spa Brochure



Spa Room, Furniture’s, Massage ingredients



Restaurant Furniture, Menu Card, Delivery Tray, Food and Restaurant Decorations



Bill Desk, Hotel Exterior Parking

2) Customer Actions 

Reserves room online



Arrive at Hotel



Check In



Goes to room



Uses Amenities in room



Call room service for Food Order



Receives Food and Consumes



Takes Complimentary Breakfast



Check Out & leave

3) Onstage/ Visible Contact Employee Action 

Process check-in



Takes note of room amenity requirements



Collects dirty linen and delivers clean linen



Performs massage on guest request



Delivers food to Rooms



Delivers buffet breakfast to restaurant counter



Process Check-out

4) Backstage/Invisible Contact Employee Action 

Takes room service orders



Takes note of guest massage needs

5) Support Process 

Reservation Database collects reservation details



Registration system uses reservation data during Check-in and Check-Out



Prepare food for Buffet and Room Service Order

9

Consumer Behaviour: Consumer behaviour involves the psychological processes that consumers go through in

recognizing needs, finding ways to solve these needs, making purchase decisions (e.g., whether or not to purchase a product and, if so, which brand and where), interpret information, make plans, and implement these plans (e.g., by engaging in comparison shopping or actually purchasing a product). ‘You cannot take the consumer for granted any more ‘Therefore a sound understanding of  consumer behavior is essential for the long run success of any business. Hence Lets try to interpret those activities directly involved in obtaining, consuming and disposing of products and services, including the decision processes that precede and follow these actions by using the following model. We will also try to understand various strategies adopted by ginger hotels to bring down these perceived risk from the consumers mind and by creating a positive psychological environment to make effective decision.

Need Recognition: This is in general the first stage in which the consumer recognizes that

what essentially is the problem or need and hence accordingly a consumer can identify the product/service or kind of product/service which would be required by the consume. In case of ginger hotels customers are usually middle income group people who kook forward for a budgeted luxury hotel. Here the definition of budgeted hotel would be 2-3 star category

10

offering clean, secure, hygienic hotels that are priced under Rs.2500The newfound economic upsurge in the middle class has spawned a new market of more-travelled and knowledgeable customers, who is not willing to compromise even though he might be on a budget

Information search: In information search, the consumer searches about the product which

would satisfy the need which has been recognized by the consumer in the stage previous to this on. In this stage consumer’s main intention would be reduce his perceived risk of  monetary and non-monetary losses. In case of hospitality industry consumers try to reduce these risks by: 

Asking friends or experts allows for obtaining information that is more trust.



Browsing through the website to check in for physical evidences.

Hence it becomes very important for ginger hotels to make good positive image to have a good word of mouth publicity and to have a good interactive website. Ginger hotel has developed various efficient channels to guide the consumers in caring out external search activities such as: 

Website- internet booking engine hosted on the website is one of the main channels used for making the bookings.



Both large and small travel agencies



Call centre- ginger currently has a call centre which can be reached through a toolfree number



Travel portals and other travel related websites



Distribution Partners: partners like BPCL, which is currently rolling out travel desks in various BPCL petrol pumps across the country, is also used as a channel of  distribution.

Evaluation of alternatives:

In this stage, the consumer evaluates the different alternatives which the consumer comes across, when the consumer was searching for information. Generally in the information search the consumer comes across quite a few products and thus now the consumer has to evaluate and understand which product would be properly suited for t he consume. 11

It is the very important stage in the consumer decision making process because this is the stage in which the customer selects the best alternative and goes for the final purchase decision. It’s very important for any firm to create a differentiated image in the mind of the customer with respect to various service attributes. Various types of perceived risks of using or purchasing and using services in hospitality industry are. Financial risk:

What if the services provided by the hotel are not worth of the payments done? Whether the initial deposit would be returned on last minute cancellations? Temporal risk:

Relating to wastage of time due to delay in room allocation, check-in , check-out. Physical and psychological risk:

Usually based on security of personal belonging, area and location in which the hotel is located. Ginger hotels have designed various offerings which are aimed at reducing these risks, such

as. Safe zone- Safety and security of the hotel as well as its guests are ensured with close circuit TV in all the areas keeping record of visitors. Digital safes for safe keeping of valuables at the lobby counter and electronic key cards for maximum safety of rooms. Smart prices- They speak of transparent pricing policy with no hidden cost and levies. They emphasize delivering true value for money to its guests. Purchase decision:

After the consumer has evaluated all the options and would be having the intention to buy any product or service. It is the stage which leads to the first interaction of the client and the industry. Hence it’s very important for the firm to deploy efficient manpower and other resources so that they create a good interactive session with the customer.

12

Its not only important to create a hassle free purchase process but also the customers should have various offers and alternatives, which will fit to his requirement and desire. 

At ginger there are some of these facilities which offer client various choices:



Ginger Holiday Package -Instaescape Holidays:2 nights3 days getaway for just Rs. 3499



Early Booking: enjoy flat 15% discount HSBC offer: earn 10x reward points when using your HSBC credit card at Ginger



Ginger Offer for SBI cards: Rs2999 for 2 nights and 3days inclusive of breakfast and taxes



Ginger Offer for Students: if you are student, then you can avail of a heavy discount at Ginger.

Post purchase Evaluation:

After the purchase the consumer might just go through post purchase dissonance in which the consumer feels that buying the other product would be better. But a company should really take care of it, taking care of post purchase dissonance doesn't only spread good words for the product but also increases the chance of frequent repurchase. At ginger hotels customer are given fair chance to express their views on the services offered by the hotel. Customers can register their complaints on dissatisfaction about any service on the company website on any hotel across India. All these complaints will be consolidated and sorted out from time to time to enhance more customer delight

GINGER HOTEL SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSION

Quality Dimensions

Characteristics

Tangibles

Appearance of the physical facilities at ginger hotel( the service scape), the service personnel, and the communication materials like brochures, signs, symbols, etc. displayed at the hotel premises Ginger hotel is able to perform 1. Does my luggage and the promised service dependably belongings are safe here? and accurately. The hotel 2. Is the hotel safe in terms of 

Reliability

13

Queries by customers to evaluate the service quality 1. Are the ginger hotels facilities attractive? 2. Is the service attendants dressed properly?

Responsiveness

Assurance Credibility 

promises to provide the home like feel at Rs. 1499 and they are keeping the promise Ginger employees are willing to help guests and provide service. The guests at ginger have to help themselves- self-service, but the guests are provided with the limited services like snacks at the rooms, etc.

any emergency?

The service provider ginger is trust worthy, believable, honest. The parent company is TATA group and it stands for its credibility in India and around the globe as well The guests can relax without worrying about their luggage and belongings. This gives freedom from danger, risk, or doubt

1. Does ginger have good reputation? 2. Does ginger provides what it promises?

1. When there is a problem, does ginger resolve it quickly?

1. Does ginger provide security in case of emergency? 2 Is my luggage and belongings safe?



Security



Competence

The employees are well trained and possess the required skills to perform the services.

1.Are the service attendant well educated? 2. Are the service attendant possessing required etiquettes?



Courtesy

The service attendants show politeness, respect, consideration, and friendliness towards the guests.

1. Does the service attendant have the pleasant demeanour?

Ginger and its employees are easily approachable and easy to contact.

1. How easy for me to talk to the manager when I have a problem? 2. Is the hotel conveniently located? 1. When I have a complaint, is the manager willing to listen to me?

Empathy Access 



Communication

The service attendant and the manager listens to the customers whenever they have any problem and they need something urgently and also keep the guests informed in a language they understand.

14



Understanding customer

the

The employees of ginger makes efforts to know the guests and their need so as to keep them happy throughout their stay at the hotel.

1. Does somebody in the hotel recognize me as a regular customer?

GAP MODEL OF SERVICES QUALITY 

The SERVQUAL model of service quality claims that the consumer evaluates the quality of a service experience as the outcome of the difference (gap) between expected and perceived service. The model also highlights the main requirements for delivering high service quality and is a useful framework to assess the quality of hotels. The SERVQUAL model of service quality identifies five gaps that cause unsuccessful delivery. These five quality gaps are the result of inconsistencies in the quality management process 15

Gap 1.The management perception gap: Mana ger’s perceptions of customer’s Expectations may be different from actual customer’s needs and desires, suggesting that management perceives the quality expectations inaccurately.  At ginger there is a possibility that management may think that customer will prefer  ginger stay only because of its low cost and hence may not be much bothered about  additional enhanced services like variety in breakfast etc.. But customer may try to expect  more for low cost because of its brand name TATA enterprise.

Gap 2.The quality specification gap. Divergences in service quality specifications might signify that, even if customer needs are known, they may not be translated into appropriate service specifications.

Gap 3.The service delivery gap. This is referred to as the service performance gap and denotes that quality specifications are not met by the performance in the service Production and delivery process.

Gap 4.The market communication gap. This gap indicates that promises given by market communication activities are not consistent with the service delivered.  At ginger still people perceive it to be Rs 999/- room with 4 star facility but present rates are nearly twice than the perceived one.

Gap 5.The perceived service quality gap. This gap results when the perceived service falls short of the expectations of customers contend that this gap is the most important, because it compares actual to perceived service delivery Some of the observed service delivery gaps are. 

No luggage- trolley carrying facility by hotel staff 



No varieties in breakfast menu.



No complimentary soaps provided.



Very less room space.



No locker facility.



No internal transport facility.



No extra bed for additional person (only extra mattress)

16



Same room space for single person room and couple room.



Only two 500 ml water bottles provided in complimentary per room.

Ginger Mysore (98 Rooms)

Ginger Mysore Lobby

17

Room &Amenities at Ginger Mysore

18