Introduction In recent years the hospitality industry has come to terms with the fact that change is imminent. This is basically attributed to the different factors that influence the hospitality industry as it is known that more than a single entity is considered capable of influencing the industry. The basic operation of the hospitality industry is to provide the best services to customers, as well as attract as many of them as possible. The advancement of society and technology has given rise to several generations that need to be taken into consideration by every industry in an effort to increase their profits and also maintain relevance in the entire market (Behara, & Gundersen, 2001). It is known that Generations Y and Z have had a great impact on the hospitality industry. This can be attributed to the changes observed by most international hotel companies, in their attempt to attract and offer better services to the next generation of travelers and hoteliers (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay It was extremely crucial to understand that Generation Y and Z are considered a tech-savvy generation, where most of their time is spent on smart devices. These generations also have a great demand for technologically advanced services or processes in their daily activities. Being equipped with the latest best technologies and seeing how older generations have embarked on their lives, Generation Y and Z have been at the forefront of trying to achieve work-life balance. There has been a great change brought by these generations in every industry and this has brought a great demand for change (Jang & Kim, 2016). In some situations, industries or businesses that have lagged behind in the change towards what is expected of these generations have often found themselves left out without any business. Large companies that had developed strong brands in the past have been known to close after being discontinued due to their slow pace of technological advancement (Blocker & Flint, 2007). Generation Y and Z have focused on market segmentation, consumer analytics, hotels new brand product development The entire hospitality industry has been characterized by increased competition and this has seen hotels take advantage from staying ahead and cultivating some loyal customers. The U.S. hospitality industry has focused heavily on catering to Generations Y and Z (Blocker & Flint, 2007). Personalization and personalization of experiences have been developed for loyal guests. The industry spent more than $6.4 billion in 2015 solely on capital expenditures aimed at improving services and amenities such as technology upgrades, better Wi-Fi connectivity and a new service and food concept. Generations Y and Z are considered pragmatic, globally minded, more cautious and money-conscious. These generations are quite critical to the hospitality industry as Generation Z is believed to have a spending power of $200 billion on an annual basis, while Generation Y has much higher spending power (Jang & Kim, 2016 ). Much resources and time have been used to determine the mindset of Generation Y and Z and to make the necessary changes and advancements to meet their needs (Cichy & Hickey, 2012). Several methods have been used by international hotel companies to attract, retain and build loyalty towards these generations, including: Hotel companiesinternational markets are generating entertaining, memorable and meaningful visual content with the aim of reaching Generation Y and Z. A worthy example is attributed by Marriott Content Studio who released the short film Two Bellmen. This was able to effectively engage its online audience with the smart, young and energetic approach to storytelling. Marriott was also at the forefront, launching its full marketing campaign via Snapchat. This was done by choosing four critical influencers tasked with co-creating content within the highly visual platform Snapchat (Flavián, Guinalíu & Gurrea, 2006). The W Hotel followed the trend by introducing a Snapchat Geofilters campaign that allowed Snapchat users around the world to create fun and cheeky travel cards with the words “You Wish You Were Here.” This has brought a large number of Generation Y and Z into the marketing campaign of the W hotel. The Hilton hotel is also known for working effortlessly towards creating a strong brand for Generation Y and Z ("Hotel Brands intelligent people are already thinking about generation Z", 2017). The hotel is trying to create engaging content that will be spread across different social media platforms. Marriott has also initiated exploratory research into so-called “Gen We” which focuses on Generations Y and Z's relationship with their brand. This comes mainly after research found that the target generation tends to prefer strong brands that are able to recognize them and what they want (Blocker, & Flint, 2007). However, the marketing undertaken by various international hotel companies can also turn ready to work against them. This is especially true in situations where marketing campaigns tend to be inauthentic and extremely promotional in nature (Kotler, Bowen & Makens, 2003). Generations Y and Z are known to look to their peers for ideas and also different ways to express themselves. This makes these generations very open to receiving brand messages, which can only be received positively if they are authentic. These generations are known to appreciate any branded content that is fun, entertaining and contains good music (“Smart hotel brands are already thinking about Generation Z,” 2017). For them, advertising is considered a source of entertainment and not a source of annoyance. They prefer advertising that they can easily share with friends, thus making them the biggest supporters of brands that work for them and critics of brands that don't align with their preferences. Creativity on the part of the hospitality industry is therefore considered crucial to their survival in the market and can also be used as a tool to improve their brands. A new way of thinking in undertaking different marketing campaigns was quickly appreciated by these generations (Burger, 2016). Hotel owners and companies have undertaken massive investments in their properties for a record 9% more than the investment made in the previous period. year. Most of the investment has been recorded in improving technology through better Wi-Fi connection, installation and activation of digitally enabled room keys, installation of smart TVs in hotel rooms and lobbies and also in some situations, some were sent robot butlers (Ehrenberg, Uncles, & Goodhardt, 2004). The Hilton hotel has increased its focus on mobile technology with the aim of reaching all its guests across different segments. According to Hilton management, the use of mobile devices tends to give its guests more personalized control and choice ("Smart hotel brandsthey are already thinking about Generation Z", 2017). Therefore, it becomes crucial that the hotel is high-tech to adapt to Generation Y and Z. It has been described that technology plays a vital role in the overall journey of any customer in the hotel industry . Through the useful technology created by the Hotel, a better customer journey is created with engaging content that informs, inspires and even makes life easier and more memorable (Kleinschmit, 2015). have new and memorable experiences and tend to prefer places associated with new experiences. This was seen as a change from the old ways of previous generations who mainly preferred places they knew and understood the working principle of each process (Donavan, Janda). & Suh, 2006).Older generations tend to be averse to change and prefer the old way of doing things. However, Generations Y and Z prefer hotels that are making the necessary technological change as it opens up a platform to create a smoother collection of experiences and customer journeys ("Smart hotel brands are already thinking about Generation Z", 2017 ). have continued to use popular mobile messaging applications such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to provide their customers with a seamless travel experience. This was also able to build and increase customer loyalty. Hyatt Hotels uses WeChat and Facebook Messenger to communicate with all its guests, while Starwood has been making good use of WhatsApp for more than a year (Harrington, et al., 2012). Marriott hotels have undertaken an expansion of their mobile inquiry services to also cater to Marriott Rewards program members (Jang & Kim, 2016). Taking into consideration the needs and desires of generations Y and Z, a good experience is considered more preferable when compared to good products. It is known that over 60% of these generations prefer to have interesting experiences during travel and hotel visits compared to less than 40% who preferred to have an interesting product (Watson, 2015). This has pushed international hotels to create special experiences packaged as part of their loyalty program, which subsequently creates an effective cost-benefit analysis (Oh, et al., 2016). Generation Z has been described as discerning consumers who know how to do perfect research. This generation needs to know that they are getting the best deal from every product and service provider. The better offer is not only perceived in terms of price, but also as a good reason why the generation should pay more for what it gets. Hotels are therefore trying to offer special and memorable experiences with higher dollar cache, and therefore increasing loyalty (Susskind, 2010). Most international hotels have used more personalized experience features and services for their customers through various loyalty programs designed for different customers. However, a twist on the concept has been suggested by most stakeholders who tend to target members of Generation Y and Z (Ting, 2016). The breakthrough concerns the concept of individualization which should work better and have a higher customer loyalty rate than the concept of personalization. Loyalty, as described by critical hotel stakeholders, is seen moving towards individualization and away from customization and personalization (Ford, Sturman & Heaton, 2012). This is because loyalty will be defined by various machines learning where people get exactly what they need and when they have it.
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