What marketing factors can have impaction mice tourism at hotel equatorial HCMC

8/1/2017 RESEARCH PROJECT (BMBR5103) WHAT MARKETING FACTORS CAN AFFECT ON MICE TOURISM AT HOTEL EQUATORIAL HO CHI MINH CITY? Student: Mai Hoang Thuy Van Student ID: CGS 00001988 Intake: September 2015 Unit Coordinator: DBA Hung BUI Advisor’s assessment Advisor’s signature: ……………………… Business Research Method Assignment ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Master’s thesis is a part of a two-year program of Master Business Administration at Open University Malaysia I found that it was such an interesting and challenging for me to have a chance working on this thesis Looking back at the beginning, since I started participating in the program, until this moment when I am about to finish my final project I realize that it was one of the longest journeys I have ever conquered Combining not only my focus, attempt but there is also eagerness to learn, either theological or practical knowledge, they are all what I have gained and now expressed in this thesis This paper could not have been completed without the guidance and assistance of whom fully supported me I would like to express my deepest appreciation to: Dr Bui Phi Hung, my lecturer, who always wisely encourages and advises throughout the program My family, friends, colleagues and others for their valuable support and motivation, either mentally or physically Business Research Method Assignment Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: .7 RESEARCH AIMS AND QUESTIONS: Problem Statement: Research objectives: Benefits of the research Limitation of the research: The scope 10 CHAPTER 2: 11 LITERATURE REVIEW: 11 Introduction 11 Supply in the HCMC hotel market 11 MICE Tourism: 11 A Core marketing concepts 13 Conceptual Framework and Conclusion 15 CHAPTER 16 METHODOLOGY 16 Introduction 16 DATA COLLECTION METHOD 16 Design template scale 16 Research description 17 Data collection progress 17 Statistical Tool: 18 Business Research Method Assignment 3.2 Sampling 18 Target customers: 18 Method: 18 Sample Size: 19 CHAPTER 20 Results 20 Frequencies 20 Crosstable 36 FINDINGS AND PRESENTATION OF DATA 43 CHAPTER 46 DISCUSSION 46 ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS 47 CHAPTER 50 RECOMMENDATIONS 50 CONCLUSION 50 REFRENCE LIST 51 APPENDICES: 53 Business Research Method Assignment EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: According to the General Statistics Office, in the first five months of 2016, international visitors to Ho Chi Minh City estimated 3.61 million arrivals (up 13% over the same period last year) With dynamic development, Ho Chi Minh City becomes a new destination for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) tourism Hotel Equatorial is a Malaysian hospitality chain with properties in Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Penang, Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City Now, they continue to grow around the world Officially opened in September 1996, Hotel Equatorial Ho Chi Minh City (H.E HCMC) is as one of international star hotels in Ho Chi Minh City H.E HCMC also is recognized as a top hotel in the delivery of MICE Tourism The purpose of this paper was to determine the subject business situation, the marketing factors on MICE tourism at H.E HCMC Thereby, the author gives some suggestions and offers some solutions to improve operational efficiency of the business unit for H.E HCMC’s management team in the near future The researches only focus on the MICE tourism business of H.E HCMC and propose some solutions to improve the business efficiency of MICE tourism in H.E HCMC The reasons which conduct the researcher to choose this topic are diverse, that is why each of them will be explained in details First of all, during our studies the authors have never studied this specific industry, i.e the MICE industry that is why for personal reasons we want to go in-depth and learn by ourselves while doing this dissertation As far as professional reasons are concerned, this topic was the selected one as the researcher plans to connect our future career with this dynamic sector As the members of H.E HCMC’s management team, we would like to figure out the potential market Business Research Method Assignment that enhances competitiveness with rivals Based on the general tourism trend of Ho Chi Minh City, this paper will analyze MICE tourism market Business Research Method Assignment CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: According World Economic Forum, Vietnam’s tourism ranked 75th out and value is 3.6 of 141 nations in the travel and tourism competitiveness Index Ranking 2015 According to Resolution No.46/NQ-CP since July, 2015, it applied new Vietnam’s visa policy, this country definitely granted visa waivers for an additional five countries in Western Europe and Belarus, bringing the total to 22 countries; nine of the countries are ASEAN countries Therefore, Vietnam stood at 119th in terms of the visa requirements, which is one of three International Openess’s indicators When the infrastructure development in Vietnam is increasingly improving the quality and competitiveness of tourism, the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) is one of types tourism, usually planned well in advance, are brought together for a particular purpose Especially, the growth of MICE tourists is increasing every year and Ho Chi Minh City has the potentially leading destination of MICE Tourism While demand for this form of tourism is increasing, there are several issues on the supply side which must be addressed In Ho Chi Minh City, H.E HCMC is one of luxury star hotels that has continuously build and upgrade facilities, implement business strategies more effectively, build brand image and its customers H.E HCMC locates where the borders of the city’s four main district intersect, hence in the heart and true center of Ho Chi Minh City with 333 guestrooms and suites and many comfortable facilities such as food & beverage outlets; a world-class recreational centre with an open-air swimming pool (a swim-up bar), gym, spa and massage services Therefore, their purpose is doing innovation, improving self-image to be able to stand in hospitality market Base on the Ho Chi Business Research Method Assignment Minh City’s tourism strategy which focuses MICE tourism market, H.E HCMC defines this is a main market to increase customers Hence, this paper aims to orientate H.E HCMC manger expanding consumers who want travelling in combination with attending meetings or conferences by using KOTLER'S marketing mix 4Ps The results from this paper may be used as a guideline the current potential of MICE in H.E HCMC and give some recommend solutions and strategies to expand facilities to become more competitive RESEARCH AIMS AND QUESTIONS: Problem Statement:  Development of MICE In recent years, MICE is an elite segment of tourism linked to business tourism With the demands of business travelers worldwide, Vietnam is proudly to be the perfect place for sales incentive trip, company meeting, corporate conference or business event Today, many famous tourist attractions in Vietnam have been listed in MICE itineraries such as Ho Chi Minh City, Danang city, Hue, Phu Quoc island, Hue, Nha Trang and Hanoi In Ho Chi Minh City, MICE tourism is identified as one of four main types of tourism should aim to develop in the future, along with shopping tourism, ecotourism and cultural tourism According to Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, with annual growth rate of 20% from 2005 until now, MICE tourism forms have been considered as booming tourist industry  Customer behabior Business Research Method Assignment  Marketing plan Recently, marketing is expanding drastically through a region, a locality, a nation or a company, a business and a specific product H.E HCMC should take full advantage of the tourism industry and utilize the tactics to promote the completely appealing image towards oriented market by defining core tourim marketing According Kotler, Bowen and Makens (2006), H.E HCMC’s goal is different destination of vibrant, charming elements from other competitors Research objectives: The purpose of this research is to determine the marketing factors which influence MICE tourism in H.E HCMC Thereby, the specific objectives of this research include: To study the academic literature related to the MICE industry development To analyze the opportunities and profits of MICE tourism market in H.E HCMC To examine the level of satisfaction of the MICE tourist in H.E HCMC Benefits of the research 1- To examine the potential of MICE tourism in H.E HCMC; 2- To provide the guideline for manager to improve MICE tourism in H.E.HCMC tourism Limitation of the research: Limitation of space: Questionnaires were distributed to visitors and exhibitors who stay at H.E HCMC and employees at H.E HCMC Business Research Method Assignment Marketing * Age group Marketing * Age Group Crosstabulation Count Age Group Marketing 18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56+ Total Internet 18 42 64 33 15 172 Magazine 14 26 Newspaper 21 Radio 0 Social Media 19 35 49 27 135 Television 19 Website 17 29 51 25 128 25 45 57 23 12 162 89 176 250 115 40 670 Word-ofmouth Total Business Research Method Assignment 40 Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance Value Pearson Chi- Square df 24.105a 28 Likelihood Ratio 27.054 28 (2-sided) 676 515 N of Valid Cases 670 a 15 cells (37.5%) have expected count less than The minimum expected count is 42 Symmetric Measures Approximat e Nominal by Contingency Nominal N of Valid Cases Coefficient Value Significance 186 676 670 Business Research Method Assignment 41 Often * Position Often * Position Crosstabulation Count Position Consultant Often Employee Management Middle Top management management Total 06-10 10 33 34 27 23 127 11-15 19 25 58 50 45 197 16-20 23 31 68 56 55 233 Less than 11 14 13 52 16 18 22 61 67 104 185 164 150 670 more than 20 Total Chi-Square Tests Asymptotic Significance (2Value Pearson Chi-Square N of Valid Cases sided) a 16 000 46.125 16 000 44.311 Likelihood Ratio df 670 a cells (0.0%) have expected count less than The minimum expected count is 5.20 Symmetric Measures Approximate Value Nominal by Nominal N of Valid Cases Significance Phi 257 000 Cramer's V 129 000 Contingency Coefficient 249 000 670 Business Research Method Assignment 42 FINDINGS AND PRESENTATION OF DATA  Marketing and Gender: The hypotheses: H0: Gender and Marketing are independent H1: Gender and Marketing are not independent From the cross tabulation, it is found that among 261 females prefer Internet (64) and Social Media (64), respectively On the other hand, 409 males like Internet (108), Word-of-mouth (101), respectively From the Chi-square test, the chi-square value is 14.891 (Chi-Square = 14.891) and the associated p-value for this chi-square value is is 0.037(Asymp Sig = 0.000), which is less than 0.05 Therefore, we cannot accept the null hypothesis and conclude that there is a relationship between gender and marketing type (This conclusion is also supported by the final table that shows the contingency coefficient is 0.147.)  Marketing and Position: The hypotheses: H2: Marketing and Position are independent H3: Marketing and Position are not independent From the cross tabulation, it is found that among 67 consultants and 164 middle managements said that their most favorite marketing is Website with 14; 45; respectively In addition, 104 employees, 185 managements and 150 top managements choose Internet with 30; 52; 42; respectively From the Chi-square test, the chi-square value is 35.370 and the associated p-value for this chi-square value is is 0.159 (Asymp Sig = 0.000), which is more than 0.05 Business Research Method Assignment 43 Therefore, we can accept the null hypothesis and conclude that there is no a relationship between Marketing and Position (This conclusion is also supported by the final table that shows the contingency coefficient is 0.224.)  Marketing and Age Group The hypotheses: H4: Marketing and Age Group are independent H5: Marketing and Age Group are not independent From the cross tabulation, it is found that among 89 people from 18-25 years old group are choosing H.E HCMC by asking their network such as friends, family, partners… after that, they are looking the review from social media such as facebook, instagram With 176 people from 26-35 years old said that they prefer word-of-mouth then Internet The most favorite marketing of 250 people from 36-45 years old group like Internet (64 votes), as the same with 115 people from 46-55 years old group (33 votes) and 40 old people (15 votes) From the Chi-square test, the chi-square value is 24.105 and the associated p-value for this chi-square value is is 0.676 (Asymp Sig = 0.000), which is greater than 0.05 Therefore, the null hypothesis (Marketing and Age group are independent) is not reject and they conclude that a significant relationship does not exist between Marketing and Age Group (This conclusion is also supported by the final table that shows the contingency coefficient is 0.186.)  Marketing and Position: The hypotheses: H2: Often and Position are independent Business Research Method Assignment 44 H3: Often and Position are not independent From the cross tabulation, it is found that among top managers, middle managers and managers said that they are travelling for the MICE purposes between 16-20 time per year From the Chi-square test, the chi-square value is 44.311 and the associated p-value for this chi-square value is is 0.00 (Asymp Sig = 0.000), which is more than 0.05 Therefore, we cannot accept the null hypothesis and conclude that there is no a relationship between Often and Position (This conclusion is also supported by the final table that shows the contingency coefficient is 0.249.) Business Research Method Assignment 45 CHAPTER DISCUSSION In the future, H.E HCMC’s aim is attracting more the MICE segment have to take in consideration the specific of provided services for these particular customer groups The MICE market has its specifics when it comes to the hotel service and facilities, and the consumers have special requirements that are quite different from the leisure guests For MICE consumers is focusing the meeting room and the location of the hotel especially for the management Most of the MICE travelers combine their work and leisure time while staying in the hotel, which means that the health care services such as gym, massage, sauna, spa and swimming pool ads extra value to their stay and overall experience When travelling for business the most important aspects for the customers are the hotel location, reasonable price, good transportation, high quality service in the hotel and good Event planning in the hotel, as well as it is necessary for them to have a good catering the price and the location of the hotel especially for the lower level managers For H.E HCMC the positive travel experience or their satisfaction is very important, as it helps not only to create the positive image of the hotel, however as well maximize the size of the return client and the further positive recommendations of the same hotel to the colleagues and friends Usually when the customers are not satisfied with their stay, they choose to not come back to the same place Nowadays, unsatisfied clients can ruin the hotel reputation very fast using the social media to expression public complains and discuss all the negative sides of the hotel Business Research Method Assignment 46 Those negative comments are seen by all the travel agencies and potential clients from all over the world, which can seriously damage the business ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS This section of the research work presents main findings of the research and analyses the results that answers the research problem of this thesis According to the answers of the interviewees, the majority of the respondents decide Internet that is the key of marketing in H.E HCMC Through the Internet, consumers are using the webpages such as TripAdvisor, Agoda.com, Hotels.com that see the ranking and comments about H.E HCMC before they decide to stay Other respondents prefer to contact the hotel directly for all the arrangements or to contact local Destination Management Company Consumers who are planning to hold an event or are participating in some events on the destination are most likely to choose to contact H.E HCMC in order to facilitate the reservation process of the hotel, event venues and also the overall trip organization together with planning process The results of the survey show that the main criterion for the meetings, conferences and events is the location Another essential factor that influences the decision making process of the MICE travelers is the service The MICE travelers are also paying a great attention to the price As well meeting and event, event planning and staff are important aspects when choosing the hotel as many companies prefer to have their events organized in the same hotel However, only 8.1% of respondents are choosing the hotel on the first place for its meeting because of transportation The least important aspects of the hotel that influence the decision are bed, gym, spa and cleanliness Business Research Method Assignment 47 To take more in-depth knowledge about the decision-making factors it was decided to see in the cross tables if the background factors influence the criteria of choosing the hotel With the help of the cross table presenting the correlation between the position held in the company and what are the main marketing criterion for the meetings, conferences and events, it can be seen that those criteria vary for different people For the people taking top manager positions in the company the main marketing criteria for choosing the hotel are internet and word-of-mouth For the middle managers the most important aspect is H.E HCMC website and word-of-mouth The managers pay more attention to internet and word-of-mouth however for the employees the internet and website marketing channels are the most essential points when choosing the hotel and the consultants are using social and website According to the survey findings, it can be summarized that overall the travel experience of the MICE tourism segment visitors in business oriented hotels is positive None of the respondents had a total negative experience in the hotel As the MICE travelers require specific services from the hotel which are more business rather than leisure oriented, those specific services are the main criteria of the hotel evaluation such as the most important aspects are event planning If the guests of the hotel find all the services and the hotel facilities according to their requirements, they have a positive travel experience of the hotel they stay in With the close-ended questions, the most outstanding aspect in the hotel that influences the positive travel experience of the hotel is its location Another aspect influencing the experience of the hotel is a service and good catering, during the breakfast as in most cases this is the only meal that the travelers have in the hotel The least popular answers were parking, problem solving and the technologies of the hotel Business Research Method Assignment 48 To make the research of the travel experience of the MICE travelers in the business oriented hotels series of open-ended questions were designed for their satisfaction with H.E HCMC In addition, many guests noted that the meeting room, room and transportation are very important Nowadays in business oriented hotels, the consumers expect free Wifi with the fast connection This factor may influence the results, which is also described in a chart of a negative experience of the hotels that respondents stayed during their business trip For the respondents as well is important the hotel room, due the fact that many of them spend time in the room not only sleeping, but also dedicating a time to work The respondents commented that the room has to be quite and the bed has to be high Other aspects that influence the transportation because consumers want to have easy transport connections among the hotel and airport, CBD, railway station, expo/convention centers, shopping centers, attractions and etc The facilities also are essential, after a busy working day, the MICE travelers could enjoy gym, spa, catering, and other services Business Research Method Assignment 49 CHAPTER RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the analyzed results above, H.E HCMC could understand what marketing factors important for MICE tourists The following recommendations present the main suggestions based on the research Firstly, as the biggest amount of the making decision comes from the Internet and Word-of-mouth Secondly, the hotel should ensure the quality of the meeting rooms The space of the meeting rooms should be large and be comfortable The meeting room also be fully equipped with music, image support, copying, printing, translating and interpreting based on the need and demand of MICE’s guests The last suggestions for H.E HCMC interested to improve their performance and attract more people to stay, is to learn about the consumers feedback of the hotel and its services The feedback shows how to be improved in order to satisfy the guests The feedback could be gathered by monthly via surveys handed out in H.E HCMC and email CONCLUSION The MICE Industry is one of the most important sectors of tourism which brings a big amount of income and creates a positive image of the destination H.E HCMC also holds a great potential to emerge as MICE destination of Ho Chi Minh city The results of this research aim to determine the marketing factors that affect the decision-making process when making the reservation of the H.E HCMC and the aspects that are directly affecting the travel experience and H.E HCMC image Business Research Method Assignment 50 REFRENCE LIST Campiranon, K and Arcodia, C., (2007) Market Segmentation in Time of Crisis: A Case Study of the MICE Sector in Thailand Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 23 (2-4), 151-161 Chon, K and Weber, K., (2002) Convention Tourism: International Research and Industry Perspectives London: The Haworth Hospitality Press Cooper, C., Fletcher, J., Fyall, A., Gilbert, D and Wanhill, S., (2008) Tourism Principles and Practice 4th ed Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall Davidson, R., (2008) Distribution channel analysis for business travel In: Buhalis, D and Laws, E., eds Tourism distribution channels: practices, issues and transformations 2nd.ed London: Continuum, 73-86 Davidson, R and Cope, B., (2003) Business travel: conferences, incentive travel, exhibitions, corporate hospitality and corporate travel Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall England, J and Joanne, C., (2006) Tourism a modern synthesis 2nd.ed London International Association of Professional Congress Organizers (2009) Meetings Industry Terminology 4th ed U.S.A Lawrence, M and McCabe, V., (2001) Managing conferences in regional areas: a practical evaluation in conference management International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 13 (4), 204-207 Page, S.J., (2003) Tourism Management: Managing for change Oxford: ButterworthHeinemann Business Research Method Assignment 51 Davidson, R (2003) Business travel: conferences, incentive travel, corporate hospitality and corporate travel Rogers, T., (2003) Conferences and Conventions – a Global Industry Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Saigontourist (n.d.) MICE travel From: http://www.saigontourist.net/productsmice.htm Swarbrooke, J and Horner, S., (2007) Consumer Behavior in Tourism 2nd ed Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann Vietnam: The hidden charm, (2013), MICE Tourism in Vietnam Business Research Method Assignment 52 APPENDICES: Appendix 1: Survey Questionnaire Dear respondent This questionnaire aims to collect data that will be used in academic research The survey measures your expectations from Hotel Equatorial Ho Chi Minh city and what marketing factors affect on MICE tourism at this hotel Please indicate the level of importance each statementhas for you Your comment is highly important to the analysis, and will be treated with anonymity and confidentiality Thank you very much for your cooperation Part 1: Please tick the appropriate box below Gender: Male ฀ Female ฀ Your age group: 18-25 ฀ 26-35 ฀ 36-45 ฀ 46-55 ฀ Business Research Method Assignment 53 56+ ฀ 3: Where are you from? 4: What is your position? Top management ฀ Management ฀ Middle management ฀ Employee ฀ Consultant ฀ 5: Where did you hear about this hotel? 6: Is this your first visit to this hotel? 7: Are you planning to come back? 8: What are the main service for your MICE purpose? 9: What are the main elements that you might consider when you chose this hotel? 10: How many often are you travelling for MICE purpose? Business Research Method Assignment 54 ... on the review of literature, marketing factors affecting on MICE tourism at Hotel Equatorial HCMC are identified After the literature has been developed, the researcher created the research model... at Hotel Equatorial After reviewing MICE tourism, consumer satisfaction and travel experience, the 6Ps framework will be the marketing mix for MICE tourism at HE HCMC It calls upon marketing. .. first staying at H.E HCMC? 2- Where did you hear about H.E HCMC? 3- What are the most important aspects of H.E HCMC for MICE tourists? 4- What are necessary services in H.E HCMC for the MICE segment?