CUSTOMER SATISFACTION & BRAND AWARENESS

TOWARDS ITC HOTELS IN HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY: A

CASE STUDY IN BHOPAL (MADHYA PRADESH)
Dr.Bikrant Kesari
Asst. Professor, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal, Madhya
Pradesh
Email: bikrantkesari@gmail.com
Rajkumar Soni
Asst. Professor,Indian Institute of Planning And Management(IIPM), Bhopal, Madhya
Pradesh
Email: rajsoni49@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
We dont want satisfied customers we want delighted customers. this is the new
marketing mantra of current market scenario. The same applies to Hotel industry as well.
The study intends to find out the customer satisfaction level based on different
parameters and to examine the factors that mainly hotel industry focus to attract the
prospective customers. The purpose of the research is to investigate the consumer
awareness, the level of preferences and mainly the satisfaction measurement towards the
hotels segment of ITC for which descriptive study was undertaken in Bhopal city, to
achieve the objectives. The present study used a sample of 114 actual customers from
different major locations of Bhopal. Outcomes reveal that the dimensions which influence
the satisfaction level of customers are: Traditional Themes, Location, and Unique
Services. Further results show that there is a significant relation between the brand name
and the preference of customers. Hence, it has been recommended that the company
should focus on brand awareness & after sale service of the product/service. In order to

increase customer satisfaction the company is encouraged to develop aggressive

marketing programs.
Keywords: Customer preference, satisfaction, Brand awareness, Customer response and Brand
Equity.
INTRODUCTION
Brand name is the most essential and leading drift in the global hotel industry. The Indian
hospitality sector is growing faster than most countries around the world. According to the
Consolidated FDI Policy, released by DIPP, ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Government
of India has allowed 100 per cent foreign investment under the automatic route in the hotel and
tourism related industry. The inherent strength of the Indian economy has led to increased
international visits to India. For foreigners, the travel time has increased to three-five days for
business travel and from five days to seven days and ten days for leisure travel. Hotels are now
focusing on international franchise development which shows that their customer is not the guest
staying in the hotel, but rather the franchisee. The marketing strategies of Hotel industry is not
only to answer the question regarding how much cost of the service they provide but also they
have to answer up to what extent they can provide that service to the customer.
The present research aims to improve the measurement of customer-based brand equity in hotel
industry by using a sample of actual hotel customers from different location of Bhopal and
provide insights into the hotel brand equity phenomena. Also the present study aims to provide
some contributions to the area of service branding, which has been slow to develop, and is
primarily conceptual in nature. The end results of this research lead to a deeper understanding of
brand equity effects for services, as well as some meaningful implications for services marketing
management.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND TO HOTEL INDUSTRY

The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) was set up in 1966 as a corporation under
the Indian Companies Act of 1956. Today ITDC provides a complete range of tourism services,
including accommodation, catering, and entertainment and shopping, hotel consultancy, duty free
shops, and an in-house travel agency. The government gave the tourism industry another boost
when it created the Ministry of Tourism and Civil aviation in 1967. In 1975 ITDC launched its

hotel business with the acquisition of a hotel in Chennai, which was rechristened "Hotel Chola."
The objective of ITDC's entry into the hotel industry was rooted in the concept of creating value
for the nation. ITDC chose the hotel industry because of its potential to earn high levels of
foreign exchange, create a tourism infrastructure, and generate large-scale direct and indirect
employment. Three Welcome Group Hotels were commissioned between 1975 and 1977; these
were non-franchised hotels, inspired by the slogan "Be Indian, Buy Indian" and using Indian
expertise.
Table 1: Infrastructure investment trends in India since 1996-97
Others
Mining
Electricity
Irrigation
Tourism
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Source- Annual Report 1996-97 Ministry Of Finance

The above table shows the Investment trends since 1996 reveal that the bulk of infrastructure
investments in India are being made in the hotel industry, as compared to other infrastructure
industries which is 60% (see Table 1).
ITC Hotels and their Brands
ITC was incorporated on August 24, 1910 under the name Imperial Tobacco Company of India
Limited. As the Company's ownership progressively Indianisation, the name of the Company
was changed from Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited to India Tobacco Company
Limited in 1970 and then to I.T.C. Limited in 1974. In recognition of the Company's multibusiness portfolio encompassing a wide range of businesses - Fast Moving Consumer Goods
comprising Foods, Personal Care, Cigarettes and Cigars, Branded Apparel, Education and
Stationery products, Incense Sticks and Safety Matches, Hotels, Paperboards & Specialty Papers,
packaging, Agri-Business and Information Technology. ITC launched its Hotels business with
the acquisition of a hotel in Chennai which was rechristened 'ITC-Welcomgroup Hotel Chola'
(now renamed My Fortune, Chennai). The objective of ITC's entry into the hotels business was
rooted in the concept of creating value for the nation. ITC chose the Hotels business for its
potential to earn high levels of foreign exchange, create tourism infrastructure and generate large

scale direct and indirect employment. Since then ITC's Hotels business has grown to occupy a
position of leadership, with over 100 owned and managed properties spread across India under
four brands namely, ITC Hotels - Luxury Collection, WelcomHotels, Fortune Hotels and
WelcomHeritage.
Launched in 1975, ITC Hotels, India's premier chain of luxury hotels, has become synonymous
with Indian hospitality. ITC Hotels pioneered the concept of 'Responsible Luxury' in the
hospitality industry, drawing on the strengths of the ITC groups exemplary sustainability
practices. Today these unique interventions have made ITC Hotels the greenest luxury hotel
chain in the world with all its ten premium luxury hotels LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) Platinum certified with over 90 hotels in 67 destinations, ITC Hotels has
set new standards of excellence in the hotel industry in Accommodation, Cuisine, Environment
and Guest Safety. The ten hotels which are part of this collection are: ITC Grand Chola in
Chennai, ITC Maurya in Delhi, ITC Maratha in Mumbai, ITC Sonar in Kolkata, ITC Grand
Central in Mumbai, ITC Windsor & ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru, ITC Kakatiya in Hyderabad and
ITC Mughal in Agra and ITC Rajputana in Jaipur. WelcomHotels offer five-star hospitality for
the discerning business and leisure traveller. Currently there are three hotels under this brand
namely, WelcomHotel

Rama

International Aurangabad,

WelcomHotel

Vadodara

and

WelcomHotel Grand Bay Vishakhapatnam. Two other WelcomHotel Sheratons - Sheraton Park
Hotel and Towers, Chennai and Sheraton New Delhi offer warm, comforting services to the
global traveler and a chance to connect. Fortune Hotels operates mid-market to upscale
properties in the first-class, full-service business hotel segment all over India, in major metros,
mini metros, state capitals and business towns, promising business and leisure travelers a wide
choice of destinations and accommodation. WelcomHeritage brings together a chain of palaces,
forts, havelis and resorts that offer a unique experience. WelcomHeritage endeavours to preserve
ancient royal homes and the historical Indian grandeur and opulence for the future Indian
generations. WelcomHeritage provides a fine range of hotel services inside these architectural
legacies present across India.
Consumer Satisfaction over Branded Accommodation
ITC Hotels has set standards for excellence in the hotel industry by pioneering the concept of
branded accommodation. The chain has developed three brands of accommodation ITC One',

'Towers' and the 'Executive Club' to differentiate between the needs of various travelers and
provide the highest levels of service. ITC Hotels is one of the first to introduce branded cuisine
WelcomCuisine - in India. The Bukhara and Peshawri restaurants give epicures the rugged,
outdoor cuisine of the Northwest Frontier Province. Dakshin has brought together the highly
evolved cuisines of the four southern states- Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Dum Pukht is a unique restaurant dedicated to a 200-year old culinary tradition of slow cooking
food, in sealed deghs. ITC Hotels takes exceptional pride in showcasing its internationally
renowned cuisine. West View brings a careful selection of western cuisine s from the remote
France chateaux, grill houses on the East and West coasts of America, rosy kitchens of English
manors, leisurely Mediterranean villas and bustling German marketplaces. The Pan Asian serves
specialties from China, Thailand, Mongolia, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Gandolfo Dominici Customer Satisfaction in the Hotel Industry (2010) the study exploring the
importance of customers and hotel attributes in hotel selection the study examine 100 customer
of hotel through 5 positive & 5 negative aspects of overall service offered by hotel and analyzed
that the customer loyalty program is highly essential above this researcher focus on other
promotion materials for awareness about the hotel industry. Further the researcher emphasis that
a customer satisfaction level is the standardization of services that reduces the possibility to
customize the offer for specific guest needs and organizations have to adopt a push marketing
approach. The offer of touristic services is to be decided by the management and in collaboration
with customers considering their specific needs. Moreover customer satisfaction must be used to
differentiate the services supplied. Another weakness of the customer satisfaction management
system of the hotel is that a structured CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system has to
be implemented and through the existing customer database, hotel management system become
enables to take the marketing decisions.
Parul Gupta & R.K. Srivastava analysis of customer satisfaction in hotel service quality using
analytic hierarchy process (2011) this paper proposes a method to evaluate the hotel service
quality in India. A designed HSQ-CS Model and AHP are employed to decide the weight of
every variable in the questionnaire. With the survey data, a series of practical methods are
utilized in the data analysis to measure the service quality based on customer satisfaction.

Dr. Bikrant Kesari, Prayas Jain (2013), the segmentation of hotel industry for providing
enhanced service to the customer in diverse class. This study empirically investigates the most
imperative feature that is considered by the customer in choice of hotel for console
accommodation. Customer makes selection on the hotels by online website, proposition of taxi
driver and counsel of some past costumer also influencing in selecting the hotel segment. The
values of amenities and services accessible have evolved over the last decade towards the wide
use of technology, atmosphere friendly services, pricing, market segmentation, provincial
preferences, etc. The Indian hotel industry has seen a significant growth in room inventory across
categories from upscale luxury to limited services and, boutique and budget hotels.
Anna S. Mattila, John W. ONeill, Relationships between Hotel Room Pricing, Occupancy, And
Guest Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Case of A Midscale Hotel in The United States (2002). In
general marketing suggests that the inconsistency in recital across different consumption
experiences leads to increased indecision, and thus to reduced reliance on previous expectations.
In such situations, consumers tend to use price as a signal of performance expectations. that cost
is a significant indictor of overall customer satisfaction and three key guest-satisfaction
components: guest room hygiene, maintenance, and kindness of personnel (with negative,
curvilinear relationships in all cases). On the other hand, occupancy percentage failed to be a
important interpreter of guest satisfaction.
Dr. Sc. Jasmina Grini, Concepts of Service Quality Measurement in Hotel Industry (2007),
The quality of service in hotel industry is an important factor of successful business. The existing
trend of complete quality management in hotel industry ensures the achievement of competitive
advantage of hotel companies. The concept and the conceptual model of service quality is
indispensable if we wish to understand the genesis of service quality and potential gaps in quality
through SERVQUAL model.
Imran Saeed, Muhammad.Abdullah.Niazi, Muhammad Arif, Noor Jehan, Antecedents of
Customer satisfaction and its outcomes A study of Pakistani service sector, Interdisciplinary
Journal of Contemporary Research in Business (2011), There are Three experience, price, quality
and Brand image of service play a vital role in customer satisfaction. The hotel industry now a
day has been documented as worldwide industry, with producers and consumers increase around
the world. The use of hotel amenities such as: room, eatery, bar, nightspot or health club is no
longer measured as lavishness. For many people these services have become an integral

constituent of routine. Hotel that effort to improve their market share by discounting price,
however run the solemn risk of having a pessimistic impact on the hotels medium- and longterm prosperity. As a result, it is quality of services and price that has become the key to a hotels
ability to distinguish itself from its competitors and to gain customer.
Kennedy Ntabo Otiso, Diane Chelangat and Ronald N. Bonuke, Improving the Quality of
Customer Service through ICT Use in the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, The effects of
customer satisfaction can be measured more accurately by perceived ICT service quality. It is
based on Kano satisfaction model, which focuses on customer satisfaction. The customers are
classified into three segment large power customers, corporate customers and domestic
customers. ICT service delivery is directly proportional to the customer satisfaction.
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
Hotel industry is the fastest growing industry in India. For this reason so many companies are
also entering into this market segment. The purpose of study is not only to find out the problem
facing by ITC Hotel in the current market scenario but also it provide the corresponding
remedies for the purpose of effective functioning of the organization. For continuous
development and to maintain the growth of the organization, the study focuses on customer
awareness, Brand Equity and customer satisfaction through better service level. The study
includes data collection and methodology through interviews and direct observation as a tool to
identify the specific problems within the organization and trying to find out the subsequent
remedies for this.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Primary Objective:

Brand awareness of the product.

Customers satisfaction measurement towards ITC Hotels.

Secondary Objective:

Comparison with other brands in the market.

Customers need and expectation towards ITC Hotels.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study is based on primary data and secondary data. Secondary data was collected from
various sources and the primary data was collected through structured questionnaire. The
questionnaire has been prepared according to the objective of the study. Before preparing the

questionnaire we have collected little information from the company web sites, newspapers,
periodicals and different textbook of marketing. Here the sample size is 50 and the research has
been conducted in Bhopal. In this study simple stratified random sampling method has been used
to select respondents. However the collected data have been summarized by the tabulation sheets
according to the objective of the study. The summarized data have been analyzed by using
graphical statistical tools and techniques like bar charts and pie charts.
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Table3. Age wise preference of ITC Hotel
S. No.
1

Age Group
20-30 years

12

No. of Respondents

Percentage
10.52%

30-40 years

22

19.29%

3
4

40-50 years
More than 50 Years

33
47

28.94%
41.22%

114

100%

Total
Source- Field Survey

Age Group

20-30 years
30-40 years
40-50 years
More than 50 Years

The above table illustrates the Preference of Age Group. This shows that 20-30 years of age
group is 11% (Approximate) satisfied, 30-40 years of age group is 19% (Approximate) satisfied,
40-50 years of age group is 29% (Approximate) satisfied, and More than 50 years of age group is
41% (Approximate) satisfied, of variability of satisfaction is explained by this model.
Table 4. Preference of various brands in the market.
S No.

Brand Preference

No. of Respondents

Percentage

1
2

Taj hotel
Oberoi Hotels

52
27

45.61%
23.68%

ITC Hotels
Total
Source- Field Survey

35
114

30.70%
99.99%

Brand Preference

Taj Hotel
Oberoi Hotels
ITC Hotels

The above table exploits the Preference of different Brands about 45.61% of respondents prefer
Taj Hotels, 23.68% of respondents prefer Oberoi groups Hotels, and 30.70% of respondents
prefer ITC Hotels, of variability of Brand Preference is explained through pie-chart .
Table 5. Awareness of the brand ITC.
%S.

Awareness Level

No.
1
2

Yes
No
Total
Source- Field Survey

No. of

Percentage

Respondents
51
63
114

44.73%
55.26%
99.99%

The above table shows the Awareness Level of ITC 44.73% of respondents are aware about ITC
brand presence in Hospitality Industry while major that 55.26% of respondents are still unaware
about its presence in the mentioned industry.
4). Have you visited the ITC Hotels ever?
S. No. Usage
1
Yes
2
No

No. of Respondents
42
72

Total
114
Source- Field Survey

Percentage
36.84%
63.15%
99.99%

The above table focuses about the visitors of ITC Hotels around 36.84% of respondents have
visited ITC Hotels while 63.15% of respondents have not visited the ITC Hotels.
Table6. Customer response (for those who are using the services or used before) of the ITC
Hotels.
S.

Consumer Response

No. of Respondent

Percentage

No.
1

Excellent

00

00%

2
3

Very Good
Good

11
34

09.64%
29.82%

4
5

Fair
Unsatisfied

26
43

22.80%
37.71%

114

99.97%

Total
Source- Field Survey

The above table gives the Feedback of respondents for the Services which predicts that 09.64%
of respondents said the services of ITC Hotels are Very Good, 29.82% of respondents said the
services of ITC Hotels are good, 22.80% of respondents said the services of fairly enough,
37.71% of respondents are unsatisfied with its Services. And most important thing is that none of
the respondents said that the Services are Excellent.
Table7. Overall response of the product named ITC Hotels
S. No.
1
2
3

Consumer Response
Good
Fair
Poor
Total
Source- Field Survey

No. of Respondent
46
39
29
114

Percentage
40.35%
34.21%
25.43%
99.99%

Consume r Re sponse
50
40
30
20
10
0
Good

Fair

Poor

The above table explains the Overall Response of Peoples. This shows that 40.39% of peoples
said good, 34.21% of Peoples said fair, while 25.43% of peoples said Poor.
Table8. Can Price factor affect the sale?
S.

Effect of price

No.
1
2

factor
Yes
No
Total
Source- Field Survey

No. of

Percentage

Respondents
71
43
114

62.28%
37.71%
99.99%

The above table shows the Price Factor Effect in which 62.28% of respondents said that Price
Factor is considerable while only 37.71% of respondents not considering the Price factor.
Table9. Most preferable thing in Hotels.
S.
No.
1
2
3

Preferred thing in

Hotel
Services
Location
Luxuries
Total
Source- Field Survey

No. of

Percentage

Respondents
41
43
30
114

35.96%
37.71%
26.31%
99.98%

Preferred thing in Hotel

45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
S ervices

Location

Luxuries

The above table illustrates the preferred thing in Hotel. This shows that 35.96% of peoples prefer
Services, 37.71% of peoples prefer Location while 26.31% of peoples Luxuries in Hotels.
FINDINGS& RECOMMENDATIONS
1) It is mainly found that the customers are from the age group in between 45-55 years.
2) The market leader in the hotel industry is Taj Group hotels which covers around 47% of
respondents preference.
3) Only 44.73% of the customer aware about the brand named ITC Hotels.
4) Only 36.84% of the customer visited the ITC Hotels in their life time.
5) According to the customer who has used the Services of ITC Hotels they are unsatisfied
with the Services (i.e. 40% respondents).
6) Most of the customers have said that higher prices are affecting in selection of ITC Brand
Hotels.
7) Around 36% and 38% of the respondents said that the most preferred thing of the Hotels
is Services and Location respectively.
8) The quality should be improved and need more brand awareness regarding
Product/service of ITC.
9) New marketing strategies need to develop for the customers for more brand equity.
LIMITATIONS
1. As the sample size taken for the research work is 114 which may not represent the actual
population for the study and also the respondents are not comfortable at the time of
giving the answers, as they want to keep it confidential. Non-cooperative behavior of
respondents is a big problem in this survey. The entire research work is based on primary
data collection so there may be chances of human errors and biasness.

CONCLUSION
Through this study we understood the various perceptions of different respondents towards ITC
Hotels. The study finds out that how much customer are satisfied with the overall quality &
service of the Hotels. The qualitative analysis shows that the level of customer satisfaction is
good, after the overall evaluation of the services provided by ITC, by interviewing the hotel's
management about the results, it emerged that they didn't have any gaps in room services.
Though the services heavily depend on the quality of the hotel's structure, a certain degree of
improvement may be obtained through a concrete effort towards their customization. The
customers expectation from the various segments and the problems faced by them were
identified. Today ITC is facing severe challenges from the Taj and Oberoi groups. They need to
reorganize the services and Brand Promotions which is most needed in the hospitality division.
The outcome revealed that most of the respondents didnt know about the brand named Mourya,
Mughal, grand chola etc. If the above suggestions are implemented, the brand name of ITC
hotels can find better prospect in the hospitality in the future.
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