Ritz Carlton is a chain of
luxury hotels across the world with operations in around 30 countries
across the world. The conglomerate has under its umbrella around 20 properties
in the United States of America and resorts and luxury hotels in Sydney,
Australia, Shanghai, China, Bali, Indonesia, Seoul, Korea and Asia
Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and the Caribbean Islands. The company was
founded in the year 1983 and currently, the brand is owned by
Marriott International.
The
hotel chain offers a wide variety of amenities such as rooms, spas, gym,
conference facilities, golf courses, swimming pools, and fitness centers,
restaurants serving varieties of global cuisines, destination clubs, and
Jacuzzis. In addition to hotels, the properties also have residences and clubs,
condominiums, villas, or estate homes. The hotels have gift programs which
offer gift card options which can be used to avail accommodation in their hotel
or resort. The company which registered an annual turnover of 3 billion USD and
employs around 40,000 people.
Ritz-Carlton was the first
and only hotel company that was twice awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award from the United States Department of Commerce. The Ritz-Carlton
adheres to the motto "We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and
Gentlemen". This motto exemplifies anticipatory services provided by all
staff members.
Strengths in the
SWOT analysis of Ritz Carlton
The following
are the strengths of Ritz Carlton Hotels :
·
Presence in
the right locations: Ritz Carlton
hotels are present in some of the best locations across the world. The
locations of their hotels are decided based on research of where customers who
prefer to avail luxury accommodation would want to stay. They do not negotiate
on prices for their properties and ensure that they get the best options in
their preferred locations.
·
Employee
quality: Ritz Carlton
believes in the philosophy that ladies and gentlemen serve ladies and
gentlemen. This forms the crux of their employee selection procedure and even
the training offered to their people follows this core principle. This ensures
that the service levels of the hotel chain are unparalleled.
·
High synergy
amongst stakeholders: Ritz Carlton
follows a ritual called as line-up in order to get all their stakeholders
across borders to synergize. Each Ritz Carlton employee, stakeholder or partner
irrespective of the property in which they work or the shift or their job role
spend the first 15 minutes of their work day talking about great things they
have done as part of their job role. This not just motivates them for the day
but also ensures that they feel good about themselves.
·
Trust in
employees: One policy
that makes the Ritz properties stand apart from their peers is the trust they
have on their employees. Each employee of the hotel is given a sum of 2000 USD
without prior approval of their superiors which in turn can be used for
servicing guests. This not just improves service quality but also
increases employee satisfaction motivating them to provide even better service.
·
Guest
feedback and appraisal: The guest
feedback system of all Ritz Carlton properties is very robust. In addition to
feedback provided by guests, the hotel also tracks guest behavior on a regular
basis maintaining a file on each guest. The data thus maintained is used to
offer highly personalized services to guests.
Weaknesses in the
SWOT analysis of Ritz Carlton
Weaknesses
are used to refer to areas where the business or the brand needs improvement.
Some of the key weaknesses are:
- Decrease in tourism industry due to natural
disasters, terror activities etc.
·
Providing the
experience: As
competition increases in the luxury hotel category, the only way to create a
difference is through guest experiences. These experiences are defined
individually which means that the level of customization is very
high. This is not just costly but also requires high attention to detail. The
difficulty to provide personalized experiences across multiple properties is
one of the core weaknesses of the brand.
·
Sustaining
the brand image: The
millennial generation has customers who stay in luxury in their homes and thus
small things like free Wi-Fi or comfortable sleeping spaces hardly would be
equated to luxury. In such a situation providing luxury to customers will be a
daunting task.
·
Fluctuating
demands: The customer
demands vary across various segments, regions, or even ethnicities. Each
culture may have a different definition of luxury and thus the value they
attribute to each aspect of the service may be different. For hotel chains like
Ritz which have operations across the globe understanding what each group wants
and providing them is near impossible.
Opportunities in
the SWOT analysis of Ritz Carlton
Some of the
opportunities include:
·
Growing
preference for luxury: There is a
global increase in demand for luxury products.
·
Travelers
looking for novel destinations that are interesting
·
Increase
clients through special packages and corporate tie-ups
Threats in the
SWOT analysis of Ritz Carlton
Threats are
those factors in the environment which can hamper the growth of the
business. Some of the threats include:
· Intense competition globally from renowned as
well as local hotels. Some of the main competitors are:
Competitors: JW
Marriot Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels, Grand Hyatt Hotels, Manhattan Hotels, Accor
Hotels, Starwood Hotels, Best Western, Hilton Hotels Corporation etc.
The analysis above
concludes the Ritz Carlton SWOT analysis along with its marketing and brand
parameters. Similar analysis has also been done for the competitors of the
company belonging to the same category, sector or industry.
