Marriott
Marriott (www.marriott.com) is a worldwide operator and franchisor of 2,741 hotels and related facilities in 67 countries. Quality and consistent service is Marriott's main focus and keeps the company in the top position in its industry. The company is responsible for pioneering segmentation in the hospitality industry. With a wide array of hotels, Marriott meets the needs of various customer segments.
Before developing any additional hotel chains and their respective brands, the company always tests properties first. Marriott is active in soliciting feedback from its customer base and focuses on really understanding its customer targets.
Questions
1. What could be the main motives for Marriott in using franchising, compared to other entry modes and operation forms?
2. Identify several major categories of segmentation used by Marriott. For each relate specific examples of hotel services tailored to various target markets; www.marriott.com offers a brief description of 13 brands of various Marriott hotels catering to different types of customers