Brand Equity, Perceived Value and Revisit Intentions – an Evidence from the Hotel Industry
CHAPTER - I INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION
Both the domestic and foreign arrivals have shown a rapid increase with India emerging as a vibrant and varied tourist destinations. The domestic tourism industry grew at a rate of 10.7 % in whereas foreign arrivals at 8.1% in 2010 (Indian Tourism Statistics,2010). To feed this splurge in arrivals hotels are booming across India and this most importantly has not been restricted to just metros. Even second tier cities like Bhopal, Amritsar, Surat, Ranchi etc are being looked upon as potential feasible destinations of upscale star brands. The hotel industry in India can be divided into eight segments based on the norms set by the Ministry of Tourism. They are 5-Star Deluxe, 5-Star, 4-Star, 3-Star, 2-Star, 1-Star, Heritage and Unclassified. However, the 3-star, 2-star, 1star and unclassified hotels in India are spread across the length and breadth of the country and are highly fragmented in nature, whereas, the upscale, mid market and heritage categories are highly organized. Domestic tourist arrivals are the backbone of Indian Hotel Industry as the number of Domestic Tourists is more than 100 times (Indian Tourism Statistics, 2010) as compared to Foreign Tourists. Domestic tourists are of 2 types, Leisure travelers and Business travelers. Growth in leisure travelers is driven by rising personal discretionary income, evolving lifestyle, growing number of multi earner families, weekend vacation culture, improvement in rail, air as well as road connectivity, diverse topography and rich cultural heritage. Drivers of domestic business traveling are rise in trade and commerce, increasing geographical spread of companies, growing MICE culture. Players like Lemon Tree, Ginger have identified that there is dearth of quality rooms in the mid market segment. Entry of organized players is expected to improve the quality of offerings and bridge the wide gap between midmarket and upscale category. The competition in hotels has undergone
Both the domestic and foreign arrivals have shown a rapid increase with India emerging as a vibrant and varied tourist destinations. The domestic tourism industry grew at a rate of 10.7 % in whereas foreign arrivals at 8.1% in 2010 (Indian Tourism Statistics,2010). To feed this splurge in arrivals hotels are booming across India and this most importantly has not been restricted to just metros. Even second tier cities like Bhopal, Amritsar, Surat, Ranchi etc are being looked upon as potential feasible destinations of upscale star brands. The hotel industry in India can be divided into eight segments based on the norms set by the Ministry of Tourism. They are 5-Star Deluxe, 5-Star, 4-Star, 3-Star, 2-Star, 1-Star, Heritage and Unclassified. However, the 3-star, 2-star, 1star and unclassified hotels in India are spread across the length and breadth of the country and are highly fragmented in nature, whereas, the upscale, mid market and heritage categories are highly organized. Domestic tourist arrivals are the backbone of Indian Hotel Industry as the number of Domestic Tourists is more than 100 times (Indian Tourism Statistics, 2010) as compared to Foreign Tourists. Domestic tourists are of 2 types, Leisure travelers and Business travelers. Growth in leisure travelers is driven by rising personal discretionary income, evolving lifestyle, growing number of multi earner families, weekend vacation culture, improvement in rail, air as well as road connectivity, diverse topography and rich cultural heritage. Drivers of domestic business traveling are rise in trade and commerce, increasing geographical spread of companies, growing MICE culture. Players like Lemon Tree, Ginger have identified that there is dearth of quality rooms in the mid market segment. Entry of organized players is expected to improve the quality of offerings and bridge the wide gap between midmarket and upscale category. The competition in hotels has undergone