Book reviews

Pointing to hotel fbtures

Marketing Hotels into the 90s Melvyn Greene 1-Q pages. f IWX (London. Heinemann, 1983)

Melvyn Greene is an enthusiast, and his enthusiasm comes out in his writing. His style is personal and direct, even a little egocentric: the first person singular addresses the reader on most pages with asser- tions, anecdotes and apothegms. It is as if one were attending a semi- nar given by him, and a lively one at that! The assertions are bold and the reader is constantly provoked into agreement or disagreement. One is reminded of the gentle re- proof to a pupil made by Plato in Symposium; “But, my dearest Agathon, it is truth which you can- not contradict; you can without any difficulty contradict Socrates”.

As with Socrates, so with MeI- vyn Greene. For example:

Any employment and industries which require retrieval, filing and reference systems wilt change. We wiff no longer need a whofe bookcase or sheff of encycfopaedias as our children wiff be able to type or press out a question on a very small memory computer when they are studying, and read the answer on a small screen and/or have a print out result.

Feasibie? Yes, but not on a very small memory computer, unless it happens to be linked up to an infor- mation system with large memory capacity. Basically though, he is right-my kids are playing chess against our mini-computer as I write this review; they will shortly have to move over as I put my re- view on the screen in place of their chess board and check my copy for errors before telling the printer to print it out while I go for a cup of tea. But we are creatures of habit, and I still enjoy reading books and trust that Mr. Greene will go on writing them and having them pub- lished. For sheer convenience a book takes a lot of beating. Draw-

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ing on Alvin Toffler’s The Third Wave, Melvyn Greene presents the prognosis that large numbers of people will work at home in ‘elec- tronic cottages’ and that the micro- processor will revolutionize our work and leisure time. How true. Melvyn. I respond directly onto the green screen in front of me. Tomorrow at work I can, if I wish, send electronic memos to my col- leagues on the other side of the Polytechnic and get the answers within a few minutes.

How does he see all this in rela- tion to the hotel industry? Greene says

1 have stressed the need for us to think much more deeply about our markets. Their motivations, problems, spending power etc-and the need for a greater degree of segmentation. As this is important I have separated my views on the future and some of the new or expanding market segments I see developing within the next decade, tak- ing us into the 90s.

What marketing?

The chapter on market segmenta- tion is interesting. It is written from the point of view of a businessman rather than that of a market researcher, who might find it hard to credit Mr. Greene’s belief that the normal method of grouping consumers into socioeconomic groups is fairly meaningless for future marketing. But he then explains that categorization of the head of household’s occupation and earnings is of less significance than the income of the family as a whole, especially when other members of the family are earning. Social class is not an adequate guide to spending power.

The importance of women as consumers of the future is recog- nized-there will be many more women business executives travell- ing and they will have different requirements. Not surprisingly he sees growth also in the weekend

break market. He points to the market for active leisure but sur- prisingly mentions only sport as an example and ignores the large numbers who want to exercise their minds rather than their bodies. Of course, there is no reason why a holiday centre cannot cater for both groups effectively.

Fewer people seem likely to smoke in the future Greene sugg- ests, and this means that the intro- duction of non-smoker bedrooms can improve guest satisfaction. Changes in eating and drinking habits are discussed and here radi- cal change is foreseen. The typical hotel dining room “will disappear” to be replaced by round-the-clock eating facilities. The glass of beer will change to lager, cider, a cock- tail or, indeed, mineral water. The price-sensitivity to wines is noted and some good practical points are made. Though, on the last page of the chapter, I did begin to wonder when he was going to get around to talking about market segmenta- tion. Nor could I find any reference to demographic change in the index. This section is not very satis- fying. One would like to see more of the predictions supported by statistical evidence.

Also I felt that this chapter more than any other, needed some references to current research data, particularly to economic and population forecasts. Of course, businessmen will need to have a firm grasp of their market and the way in which it is segmented. To achieve this they will need to have an analytical approach, which is not sufficiently well developed here.

Down-to-earth advice

Sales promotion, advertising and selling techniques are dealt with in the latter half of the book. Many good practical points are made. The approach to selling is rather more analytical than the marketing section and it is more down-to- earth. The importance of a positive outlook is emphasized, and Mr. Greene certainly possesses one

Tourism Management December 1983

himself. In his view, one of the key factors for success in the future will be the involvement of all staff in ‘-the great adventure of selling”, and this should begin at the top. Hotel personnel must develop the skill of empathy which comes from consumer-orientation. Success comes from playing the role of ‘Jack the problem solver’, rather than reliving the tired old farce as ‘Jack the product seller’.

This is a book for practising hoteliers-it will make them think and want to debate some of the issues raised. Some of the anec- dotes are amusing and are mostly drawn from Melvyn Greene’s ex- tensive first hand experience. One thing is certain-there is absolutely no need to wait until the 1990s be- fore applying some of these very practical ideas, for example, the

concept of “lost room revenue” resulting from rooms remaining unsold. This produces a sense of urgency and a heightened aware- ness of selling. He would like to see a ban on the use of occupancy averages, which he feels make hoteliers complacent.

Mr. Greene has written a thought-provoking book, which may leave the reader with a desire to debate some of the issues raised about the future. Since this is what we should all be doing anyway. the book deserves to be widely read by hoteliers.

John O’Connor Department of Catering

Management Oxford Polytechnic

Headington Oxford OX3 OBP, UK

Anglo-America holiday contrasts

The US and the UK on Holiday Robert Cleverdon I50 pages, f75 (London, Economist Intelligence Unit, Special Report No 48. 1983)

At first sight, there does not seem to be much significance in studying the holiday habits in markets so dif- ferent as those of the USA and the UK. But Cleverdon observes that “these two countries, both highly developed in holiday tourism terms, none the less offer interest- ing contrasts”. He has certainly succeeded in pointing out the many differences between the two mar- kets.

The approach to this stady is via a consideration of leisure time and disposable and discretionary in- comes in both markets. At once, difficulties appear over the defini- tions of what constitutes a holiday and how to measure tourist flows. The USA in the satisfaction of its own needs (which are chiefly dom-

Tourism Management December 1983

estic) defines holidays and indeed tourism in ways which do not meet the more international approach of the UK. It is now 20 years since the UN Conference on Travel and Tourism recommended definitions of the principal phenomena in tourism. Little has come of it, but perhaps in Europe there is greater uniformity than elsewhere. Some of the contrasts therefore are made with a due caveat about the dan- gers of comparing statistics from two different sources.

New trends

Cleverdon then examines at some length the characteristics of the USA and UK travel markets. This section of the report brings together the main features of the holiday markets in each country in a paragraph by paragraph series of contrasts. for example, the strong summer incidence of holidaytaking in both, or the trend in both to- wards some form of self-catering.

Book renews

by time-share. by use of recrea- tional vehicle or simply by staying with friends or relatives.

In his final two chapters, Clever- don discusses the forces at work on tourism in the immediate future and concludes by suggesting the future patterns of tourism in some detail. It would be clearly unfair to disclose here the details of Clever- don’s analysis, except that he rein- forces the conviction of many on both sides of the Atlantic that holi- days are now regarded as a right and a necessity by both Britons and Americans.

In his introduction. Cleverdon states that the principal purpose of the report is to generate ideas for new business opportunities. It is therefore to be assumed that the reader of the report is more likely to be a manager or practitioner in tourism rather than an academic. How useful is this report likely to be to an organization contempiat- ing entering or expanding in either the USA or the UK-or even both? There seem to be two principal fea- tures which make it attractive in this context.

First, it marshalls in a succinct way the main statistical features of both markets, despite all the diffi- culties referred to above, and this is as useful to readers with detailed knowledge as to those not currently familiar with either market. Secondly, this report provides by relating holiday activity to the wider concept of leisure a logical framework within which the reader can formulate his own thinking and to which he can relate his own needs.

This report therefore should be on the desk of eveTone trading in the holiday markets in the USA and the UK. It is not over long and it is fluently written. The graphs and tables are on the H hole clear and readable. One regret is the price which is high enough to limit its acquisition by the growing num- ber of academic institutions which are engaged on the study of tourism.

A J Burkart

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