The Social Networking Management of Small scale Tourist Inn

at Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

In general, hotels offer two major types of services: (a) accommodation and (b)

dining services. Based on the quality and extent of services provided, location, bedroom,

front office/reception, food and beverage, general facilities (service and staff), and special

facilities (i.e., business center, limousine services and airport transfers), hotels are further

classified as Deluxe, First Class, Standard, and Economy.

Hotel guests can expect a room with private bath, telephone, radio, and television,

in addition to such customer services such as laundry, valet, cleaning and pressing. Aside

from the services mentioned, hotels have other facilities: function rooms, ballrooms,

health spas, coffee shops, dining rooms, cocktail lounges or night clubs, gift shops or

newsstand-tobacco counters, and business centers for social occasions, health buffs, and

business conferences.

Customers of the industry include the domestic household, foreign visitors and

institutional buyers. It can be noted that the domestic household’s selection of hotels and

other lodging facilities are affected mainly by three factors:

1) Social Networking;

2) Type and extent of free services (i.e., free local calls, continental breakfast, etc.); and

3) Competitive Pricing
Management Network

The Hotel Management network provides access and opportunity within all facets

of the hotel and lodging industry across the globe. It encompasses a series of publications

and live events that serve the hospitality industry starting with the flagship publication

Hotel Management, delivering hotel news, analysis and operational strategies; magazine,

celebrating the design excellence of hotels, resorts, lodges and destination spas.

In addition to these print and online products, Hotel Management's network

sponsors prominent events including the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF)

held in Berlin, which is the leading meeting place for the European hotel investment

community; the Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference, which provides an

invaluable opportunity to explore the region’s enormous potential and uncover new

business opportunities; NATHIC which cover the US hospitality investment market; the

HOTEC series of three-day forums held across the globe which consist of pre-scheduled

appointments with numerous networking opportunities to do business and exchange ideas

with the leaders who influence the future of the global hospitality industry and IHIF Asia

Pacific, a hotel investment conference in the Asia Pacific region.

Social Networking

Social networking is the practice of expanding the number of one's business

and/or social contacts by making connections through individuals. While social

networking has gone on almost as long as societies themselves have existed, the

unparalleled potential of the internet to promote such connections is only now being fully

recognized and exploited, through web-based groups established for that purpose.
 Based on six degrees of separation concept (the idea that any two people on the

planet could make contact through a chain of no more than five intermediaries), social

networking establishes interconnected internet communities (sometimes known as

personal networks) that help people make contacts that would be good for them to know,

but that they would be unlikely to have met otherwise. In theory, any individual can make

contact through anyone they have a connection to; to any of the people that person has a

connection to, and so on.

The use of internet-based social media programs to make connections with

friends, family, classmates, customers and clients. Social networking can be done for

social purposes, business purposes or both. These programs show the associations

between individuals and facilitate the acquisition of new contacts.

Social networking programs group individuals by interests, hometowns, employers,

schools and other commonalities. It is also a significant target area for marketers seeking

to engage users.

The rapid development of the internet has revolutionised the travel industry from

top to bottom, but on balance it has helped the large hotel groups more than independent

establishments. With their great financial power, large hotel groups with established

brand names have been able to use the internet to maximum advantage in their

international expansion; American tourists can now see, with the click of a mouse, that

there are chains like Holiday Inn or Marriott ready to provide a familiar environment for

them worldwide, and European tourists can see, from their desktop or laptop, that

familiar names like Ibis and Novo hotel, parts of the Accor group, can welcome them in

many parts of the continent and beyond.

 Small independent hotels could never compete with hotel chains in terms of

advertising and brand awareness; in this respect, the internet - which some initially hoped

wouldhelp to level the playing field - has generally put them at a disadvantage, as large

numbers of tourists and holidaymakers go for the familiar names, on the assumption that

the service provided will match their expectations.

There will always be places where small independent hotels will survive, because

they are the only ones who can survive in certain places, particularly in rural areas. In

places where the big chains have seen lucrative openings, the future for small

independent hotels may be a little bit hard. Independent hotels - at least those that make

the mark - have some things that the big brand chains cannot have; notably the human

touch, individuality, character and a local base.

There is a study conducted in Thailand (state your reference) which is Human

Resource Management of Small Independent Hotels: A Case Study of Chaam Beach,

Phetchaburi, Thailand by Rosamarin Arunothaipipat, it discuss on how small independent

hotels survive in big hotels, according to these studies the following are the strategies

that small hotels need to be applied:

Human Resources (What do you mean by stating this and the following below)

1. Human Resources Operating Systems - Suggested systems to cover all Human

Resource Procedures, to include Recruitment, Training, Appraisal, Personnel

Records, Payroll and Disciplinary Procedures.

2. Recruitment - Manage the Recruitment process for Pre Opening and normal

operations using Agencies, Advertising and Associations with Colleges.

3. Train the Trainer - Development of a proprietary Train the Trainer module that guides

all Management and Supervisory Staff in how to develop departmental modules and

train staff effectively.

4. Training Systems – Design and implementation of an integrated Training Plan and

Records System for all Departments.

Reporting

It manages the property through daily financial analysis, guest interview and regular

standards and operational audits. The results of this analysis are regularly reviewed with

the Property’s Management Team and will be forwarded in summary as needed to the

Owner.

1. Daily – Daily Operations Report by the Resident Manager including all important

Guest Comments and a Daily Financial Snapshot that analyzes all key revenues and

costs versus Budget and Forecast.

2. Weekly – A summary of the Daily Operations Reports and Month to Date Snapshot.

3. Monthly – The Monthly Financial Statement, a rolling 12 month forecast as well as

commentary on both.

4. Quarterly – A Quarterly Financial Review with Management Analysis.

5. Bi - Annual – A Bi Annual Financial Review with Management Analysis combined

with a Strategic Master Plan for the following 18 months.

6. Annual – The Annual Financial Review and Management Analysis combined with a

Strategic Master Plan for the following 18 months.

HR Management in Small Hotels

HR Management (HRM) is an operational process comprising human resource

planning, staff recruitment and selection, staff training and development, staff motivation

and retention. The organization can benefit from developing more valuable staff, which

can lead to organizational success, while the staff will experience higher levels of

satisfaction in that their better performance can be rewarded by better pay and conditions

and progress along their career tracks.

HRM in a small business can be a very important task leading to success,

especially in the service sector, which relies to a significant extent on human labour. A

business’s survival may depend on its ability to recruit efficient and qualified people

while providing them with incentives so that they will be able to work at full capacity to

maximize the business’s profits.

The business of small independent hotels cannot be successful without an

efficient HRM system. It can be seen that hotel owners play the most important role in

establishing such systems and so they should be the starting point of changes. Following

are recommendations for hotel owners in setting up HRM systems on a rational basis:

First, small hotel owners should adjust their opinions that an investment in HRM

is unproductive and realize that it can lead to business sustainability, since staff members

are the most valuable resource that a service sector firm has. The small hotel does not

need a substantial HRM system as a large hotel would do but there is a requirement to

take care with staff selection and training to ensure that quality standards are maintained.

Second, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) should be formulated for each

business which includes working policies and procedures for staff members in each
department, which will again help to define and maintain quality standards. Clear design

of internal work processes can improve performance and, when a problem about service

quality occurs, it can help in detecting the cause of the problem.

HR planning should involve analysis of HR needs, capacity of existing staff

members and preparation of job descriptions to define staff duties and qualifications and

help provide transparent guidelines for staff selection and recruitment. Properly qualified

and skilled employees should be remunerated properly, since low salaries and benefits

will not attract qualified staff and this may lead to low-quality service, provision and

eventually a decrease in the number of customers and revenue.

Great importance should be attached to staff training and development with

respect to orientation, SOP, staff development and the use of external training to develop

technical capacity and enable better career achievements. In general, it is better when

staff members are involved in making these decisions because they are the ones who are

in closest contact with customers and other important stakeholders and, therefore, they

are people who have the best information on the needs of stakeholders and any gaps in

existing service levels.

This approach will boost staff morale as well, since people will feel empowered

and valued and can have the effect of reducing the workload on the manager; however, it

is still necessary for the hotel management to make it clear where the ultimate authority

lies.
 In the Philippines, a study of Internet Marketing and Competitive Strategies for

small Inns by Prof. Dr. Füsun istanbullu dinçer, Department of Tourism Management.

Boutique hotels are lifestyle products with their unique architectural design and

unique sense of hosting the guests, “Boutique hotels are accommodation units which

display unique features in terms of their structural aspects, architectural design,

equipment, decoration and material content, offer customized and high quality service to

the guests and customers and have 10-60 rooms for their guests.”

 Technology has drastically changed the way people travel.

 Internet marketing, compared to the conventional marketing strategies, offer

additional benefits including customer relations management (CRM), direct

marketing, electronic transactions; and as a result, they reduce the social costs and

the costs of the enterprise

Why to use Social Networking as a strategy to attract clients?

 Low costs
 Direct communication with target audience
 Rapid feedback
 Rich content
 Easy to use
 Up to date
 Attractive
 Accessible 7/24
 Huge community
 Brand recognition
 Interact with your customers and potential customers effectively
 A source of information for travellers
The following are some of the strategies needed to be applied by small scale hotels

(Inns’) in the Philippines.

1. Create your own websites and engaged in Social networking sites such as:
Facebook page, Twitter, Ayos ditto, Sulit or Olx and Instagram.
2. Create flyers, Tarpaulin that inspired clients to read
3. Create a good relationship with your clients even in your employee
4. Word of Mouth Marketing
5. War and luxury service for those who avoid complexity in big hotels
6. Reasonable pricing and high quality service
7. Unique identity of each room
8. Working with qualified staff
9. Meet the demand of customer satisfaction
10. Offering special advantages to the customers

When its media strategy becomes successful, the boutique hotel may be able to

reach out to greater number of customers and will further expand its customer portfolio

given that the satisfied customers will also influence others.

Conclusion:

The findings and Analysis are evaluated to offer some concrete strategies. These
strategies can be summarized as follows:

 Increasing brand awareness

 Using information technologies effectively
 Balancing between price-quality and utility
 Increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty
 Placing emphasis upon boutique hotels
 Increasing competitiveness
 Strengthening human resources and picking qualified staff
 A desirable guest amenities, competitive pricing, secured place, beautiful photos

on a website, excellent service, excellent quality of food, all of these are part of a

successful Inns’ marketing strategy at Puerto Princesa City. However, the most important

strategy of every Inn located in this city is to build upa good relationship for every guest

that they will have. Not just a good quality relationship with the guests, but with all the

people or agencies that come in contact with the business and the guests as well.

The following are some of the strategies applied by small scale hotels (Inns’) at

Puerto Princesa in Palawan.

1. Placing a booth in Puerto Princesa International Airport in order to promote their

services offered and caters the need of the guests (local and foreign) who are

usually looking for a more affordable place to stay while in the place.

2. Tying-up with Travel & Tour agencies and provide vehicles to be used in the

transfer of guests from one place to another as they visit all the tourist spots in the

place.

3. Provide additional services like laundry, massage, and other similar services in

order to fully accommodate the need of the guests while on stay.

4. Considered lowering some charges during “Lean Season” and a bit increase in the

amount of some services offered during “Peak Season” in order to offset the

possible loss incurred during bend season.

5. For those who wanted to increase the number of their guests, they connect to

social network such as: Facebook page, Twitter, Ayos ditto, Sulit or Olx and
 Instagram. While some are promoting their services offered through radio

advertisements.

Chapter II

THE PROBLEM

Case Incident

Tangay Pension and DZR Guest House marketing strategy focused on walk-ins &

referrals of some previous customers and they don’t have their own websites to advertise

their Inns’. Having a personal websites is a right thing to do to compete with other

businesses offering the same services. There was a time wherein Tangay Pension and

DZR experienced to have zero number of guests which makes them worried most. They

don’t even have flyers to distribute to some of the potential guests that are inquiring

personally to them.

They only have seven (7) employees working at Tangay pension and only 5

employees in DZR guest house but sometimes they also experience to have fully booked

in all of their rooms especially during peak season. With a minimal number of employees

it also sacrificesthe quality of service being rendered and or provided to the guests. In

return, it will affect the image of the business that will eventually decrease the

profitability.
Statement of the Central Problem

In today’s marketplace, small scale businesses cannot afford anymore to

ignore the existence and importance of social media andfor those who are not engaged

yet, they will have to suffer the consequence of not getting a large number of guests

which directly affect their profitability.

Sub-Problems

 discuss about the reasons why these Inns prefer not to engage in social

networking;

 in spite of very low number of guests, why are not they engage in social

networking;

 etc.

These are the reasons why these Inns prefer not to engage in social networking

1.) Their employee didn’t know how to create a websites or other account on social

media account.

2.) Can’t balance on spending more time to monitor their social media account if they

have it, they also say that it’s better to spend more time on other projects than

social media.

3.) Posting offensive content of guest or competitor that causes serious damage to the

image of their inns.

4.) They don’t think that social networking will help them to increase the number of

guest.

5.) Having a personal websites is an additional expense that they need to maintain to

pay every month.

 Chapter III

Case Analysis

Time Context

Since 2014 the Tangay Inn and DZR Guest House (Bed & Breakfast) begin their

operations, still after 1 years of existence they are still operating but on the year 2015 the

problems occur, when they experienced the big problem on their business by decreasing

the number of check-in make them suffer to acquire high profit, since till its continuous

to happen they are searching and inventing strategies to compete with their competitor.

Viewpoints

Areas of consideration

 Training and development of staff

 Marketing & Service innovations

 Operations and management improvement

 Planning & Staffing

SWOT Summary

The following analysis highlights the internal strengths and weaknesses of Inns

and the opportunities and threats facing the company in external environment. We must

work to improve our areas of weakness.

Strengths
  Room: Cheap prices of room accommodation

 Ambiance: Relaxing atmosphere

Weaknesses

 Staff: Small number of employees, seasonal turnover requires ongoing training

and orientation of new staff.

 Food and Beverage: High-cost for the reason of this is the only chance to gain

big profit.

 Social Networking: didn’t engaged in online booking, and doesn’t have websites

 Strategy: Weak marketing strategy on how to engaged in wide market

 Facilities: certain rooms require renovation and upgrade as regards technical

equipment, such as high speed Internet access.

Opportunities

 Tying-up with other firms such as travel and tours

 Near in town ( 10min to travel )

Threats

 Apartments’: fully furnished and room accommodation (apartments) offering

lower daily rates.

Alternative courses of action (ACA)

 1.) At some point, almost everyone experiences an unexpected crisis that rocks

your financial world. It could be losing your current business if the problems

continuous to happen, if you think that you can’t survive the business because

of having a problem in your financial capabilities you can make a loan to a

bank to avoid bankruptcy.

2.)

These are the advantages and disadvantages of (ACA) if these scenarios will

happen:

Advantages

1.) Having a loan will give a big opportunity to invest in other marketing strategies or

upgrading technology such as wireless internet, website, including introduction of

hotel services to expand their market by these they have the capabilities to

compete with their competitor and they will earn more, restore the lost profit

before, and the problems with the budget will be solve.

2.)

Disadvantages
 1.) The main disadvantage of having a loan is that, it requires a small business to

make regular monthly payments of principal and interest. Because of shortage of

cash flow experience by inns it is usually difficult to make regular payment of to

creditors, the main problem here if they apply for a loan and they didn’t pay the

debt to the given due date , there is a possibility that the property will be taken by

the bank.

Recommendation

One of the recommendations of these studies is to encourage them to use social

media as one of their marketing strategy. If you have never used a social media tool in

your marketing campaign now is the time to start. Nowadays trends to spread your

contacts are by having all the kinds of social networking websites. Social media

platforms also provide everyone in the world with a voice and an audience and to either

promote your hotel positively or negatively. It has become an essential part of peoples’

digital life, as well as platform for business – it can drive sales, spread brand awareness

and improve customer loyalty.

These is some of the most popular social media sites that they need to have like

Personal webpage, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, olx , Blog and ayos dito to spread their

contacts. These sites provide the possibility for individuals to connect electronically with

other individuals who may have similar interests, read each other’s opinions, and to form

their own decisions based on what they read from the these “communities”. Just as in the

non-virtual world, companies must find ways to maintain visibility and have customers

practice viral marketing.

 As you can see, when technology is leveraged to facilitate and enhance social

interaction, a great deal of value can be created. But tread carefully. This savvy audience

can be turned off if approached in the wrong way. Use these new tools properly and

they’ll prove to be invaluable in your effort to strengthen existing customer relationships

and capture the hearts and minds of new consumers.