Behavior, Needs, and Motivations in a Hotel Environment Essay

Behavior, Needs, and Motivations in a Hotel Environment - Essay Example One of the recent trends in travel is in offering ‘green’ accommodations in which the lowest impact possible on the environment is applied to the experience. The following report has identified this potential trend and explores the ways in which the Radisson Edwardian Hotel in Manchester has met the needs of those interested in the topic of ’green’ travel and what ways in which it can further exploit this trend. 2. Process of Market Research in the Hospitality Industry Marketing research in the hospitality industry can be conducted through a five step process: define the problem and research objectives; develop the research plan; collect the information; analyze the information; and present the findings (Sudhir 2009, p. 41). Because the topic of this report is on sustainable and ‘green’ industry trends, the concept of responsible marketing will be taken into consideration as it is addressed by Sloan, Chen and Legrand (2006, p. 92) who state tha t there has been a shift away from the traditional methods of research towards a belief in the way in which marketing is produced should take a stakeholder point of view. The nature of the research should be to follow a concept from inception to application in order to assure it has produced an ethically viable result. Andrews (2009, p. 41) states that there are three criteria that should be examined in order to justify creating a marketing research program. The research should be focused on one or a combination of concepts that either define an exploratory topic that sheds light on an issue, a descriptive result which will shed light on a phenomenon, or a casual inquiry that explores a ’hunch’ that might be a benefit in the industry. The research that is used for researching the impact of ’green’ practices on the satisfaction of a guest at a hotel is through a descriptive model in order to describe the phenomenon of the trend and its impact on travel sta ys at a hotel. 3. Secondary Research Jenner and Smith (2008, p. 5) define green travel, in what is termed as a simple form, through stating that it involves traveling in such a manner as to do the least amount of harm to the environment. Travel, by its nature of using energy to get from one place to another, most often has a high impact on the environment. The idea is to minimize that impact as much as possible. According to Ching (2010), one of the best ways to create a green travel plan is to participate in a eco-friendly experience, engaging the out of doors with environmentally sustaining practices. However, it is not always possible to plan a vacation or business trip with camping as the mode of accommodations. The hotel industry has engaged the concept of green practices in order to present themselves as being environmentally friendly. As exampled in Table 1, which is table 6.4 from Yudelson (2008, p. 117), there are a series of ways in which green practices will benefit a hot el from a business point of view. As an example, in the United States, the Hilton Hotel in Vancouver, Washington received certification at the silver level for a modest investment in each room which provided ten times that in publicity returns (Yudelson 2008, p. 117). Seemingly small activities can provide a large benefit towards both green accreditation and towards