A Framework Linking Positioning Strategy and …cmr.ba.ouhk.edu.hk/cmr/webjournal/v17n2/CMR417E13.pdfTraditional strategy models such as Michael Porter‟s five forces model focus

2014 年 5 月第十七卷二期 • Vol. 17, No. 2, May 2014

A Framework Linking Positioning Strategy and

Resource-based View: Women-friendly Hotels

Patrick Chan

http://cmr.ba.ouhk.edu.hk

Web Journal of Chinese Management Review • Vol. 17 • No 2 1

A Framework Linking Positioning Strategy and

Resource-based View: Women-friendly Hotels

Patrick Chan

ABSTRACT

With the increasing number of businesswomen travelers, hoteliers must accommodate female

needs in order to tap into the increasingly lucrative market of businesswomen travelers.

This study focuses on marketing positioning and resource-based view as it applies to the

women-friendly hotels. Citing research as well as real-world examples, the authors explore

the linkage between marketing positioning and resource-based view by using the

women-friendly approach framework and examine the characteristics of women-friendly

hotels. The paper concludes with four propositions about the uses of women-friendly

concept in the hospitality industry. The authors also discuss future research directions and

managerial implications.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Patrick Chan Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, The Open University of Hong

Kong


I. INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

The percentage of the business-travel market made up of female travelers has risen

dramatically over the last couple of decades and is projected to constitute 50 percent of the

market by year 2010 (Stoner, 1988; Allen, 2008). According to United Nations World

Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 2006), there is a trend of increasing growth of women

travelers market. Hotel operators should recognize the value of that market and direct

considerable marketing effort to attracting female travelers. Therefore, understanding the

preferences of these customers can help hotels design their services to better meet those needs.

Attempts at maximizing customer satisfaction have been at the heart of many of the

managerial concepts and practices that have been propounded for the management of hotels

(Tarrant, 1989). It has been argued that sensitivity to customer wants, a central tenet in

marketing, should be encouraged through customer segmentation and customer care practices

(Gaster, 1991).

Owing to the differences in physiological functions and psychological features, females have

some special demands in the aspects of living environment (Zhang et al., 2008). From the

point of view of accommodation, there are remarkable difference in the travel behaviors

between females and males. As the growth of female business travelers has been

recognized, it is crucial to assess what strategy is the one that may maximize the hotel

performance in the hospitality industry.

To have better understanding of the concept of women-friendly hotels, it is essential to delve

into the theoretical underpinnings of the concept and relate them to recent developments of

women-friendly hotels. Traditional strategy models such as Michael Porter‟s five forces

model focus on the company‟s external competitive environment to achieve firm‟s

competitive success. Most of them do not attempt to look inside the company. In contrast,

the resource-based view (RBV) highlights the need for a fit between the external market

context in which a company operates and its internal capabilities (Kotelnikov, 2010). It also

seeks to explain sustainable competitive advantage through the capability of internal

resources (Fahy & Smithee, 1999). On the other hand, product positioning and target

marketing remain as critical concepts for hospitality. The hotel‟s product positioning

decision defines its target market and competitors (Kotler et al., 1996). However, prior to

the positioning process the hotel must determine which service attributes it will use to

construct its positioning strategy. The choice of which attributes to use will depend upon its

internal resources and the characteristics of the market.

Therefore, in order to sustain the competitive advantages and success, hotel managers should

obtain more information for considerations whether their hotels are suitable for adopting the

women-friendly concept by understanding the positioning strategy and the RBV of hotels


through the concept of women-friendly hotels as framework. This study aims to explore the

linkage between marketing positioning and RBV in the hospitality industry using the concept

of women-friendly hotels as a framework. Based on the research as well as real-world

examples of women-friendly hotels, propositions are developed. The implications of

women-friendly concepts and prospective contribution to the literature are discussed,

following with the recommendations.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

In order to explore the theoretical frameworks about the concept of women-friendly hotels,

gender hospitality literature and management literature are reviewed. The review of

literature for this study is directed in four areas and is presented as the following sections:

1. Overview of Businesswomen Travelers Market;

2. Businesswomen‟s Perceptions toward Hotel Services;

3. Positioning Strategy;

4. Resource-based View (RBV)

Overview of Businesswomen Travelers Market

The business travel market is a highly competitive and profitable sector with steady growth

rate recently (Mintel Marekting Intelligence, 1996). Indeed, the Economic Intelligence Unit

has noted that „business travelers represent the most discriminating travel sector, their

awareness of product and service options is greater than that of the discretionary travelers and

they demand and expect greater choice and flexibility‟ (EIU as cited by Lutz & Ryan, 1993,

p.349). Travel marketers and researchers have more awareness on the businesswoman

market potentials and have begun to address the needs of this area.

Forty years ago, there were only one percent of businesswomen travelers in United States

(Tunstall, 1989). In 1990s, the statistic leaped to 38%. By 2010, it is estimated that

approximate 50% of business travelers are more likely to be women (Allen, 2008). These

statistics has implied the essence of businesswomen market for hotel operators (Foster &

Botterill, 1995; Tunstall, 1989). In fact, the increase in women in professional and

management areas of business and in the tertiary economic sectors where business travel is

most common (combined with the forecasted increase in business travel) indicates that this

trend will continue well into the next decade (Lutz & Ryan, 1993). Women no longer

represent a fringe market for hospitality marketing. They represent a solid and growing

percentage of travelers with projections that they will constitute 50 percent of the market


(Kotler et al., 1996).

Psychologists have demonstrated that men and women differ in the extent to which they

manifest certain needs, including biological and socialization needs. Generally, males and

females retain their differences whether they are traveling for business or for pleasure with

several expectations. Barsky and Lin (2004) identify that female business travelers are more

likely to report feeling sophisticated. Increasingly, females seem to be more responsive to

the factors which includes comfortable, relaxed, content, secure or welcome. Thus, they

suggest that the hotel offering and advertising can be developed to focus on above-mentioned

factors for women or businesswomen.

Moreover, previous studies (Howell et al., 1992; McCleary et al., 1994) reveal that female

business travelers tend to be younger than their male counterparts and man pay significantly

more per night for a room than do women when traveling for domestic business. In relation

to the hotel expenses between male and female business travelers, there are significant

differences in income levels. More businesswomen than businessmen fall in the lowest

income range and fewer women are in the highest range which shows women earned less

than man who holds similar managerial position (Anthony, 1988). However, one problem

might exist for hotel group seeking this business is that females are less likely to be the

decision makers in the choice of hotel (Lutz & Ryan, 1993).

In fact, from the 1980s onwards, some hotels have begun to offer gender specific products,

room designs and women only floors in order to cater for the demands of businesswomen.

However, the surveys found that the feminizing products were not enough, therefore, they

then have started to adopt a range of schemes or programmes for the market. ISecurity

measures and staff training were provided for reducing social stereotyping in customer staff

transactions (Expotel Survey, 1993).

By reviewing the past research related to businesswomen (Allen, 2008; Foster & Botterill,

1995; Howell et al., 1992; McCleary et al., 1994; Lutz & Ryan, 1993; Westwood et al., 2000),

the research areas have focused on the gender difference in the expectation and the demand

side, however, lack of them focus on the managerial perspective towards the businesswomen

travelers and the supply side of women-friendly hotels.

Businesswomen’s Perceptions toward Hotel Services

Tourism is a product of gendered societies and tourism processes are gendered in their

construction, presentation and consumption (Rao, 1995). Hotel companies that best

understand the needs, wants, and expectations of female travelers and design service of

offerings accordingly, will be in the best position to attract travelers from targeted groups.

By understanding the differences and concerns of female business travelers, the amenities and


services made available, as well as the marketing strategies used by hotel can be modified

and made more effective in meeting the needs of this increasingly segment. Knutson (1988)

identifies five factors that a frequent business traveler looks for when selecting a hotel, such

as a clean and comfortable room, a convenient location, available services, safety and

friendly employees. Taninecz (1990) also finds room cleanliness is one of the most

important attributes to business travelers in hotel selection.

The previous studies (Allen, 2008; Foster & Botterill, 1995; Howell et al., 1992; McCleary et

al., 1994; Lutz & Ryan, 1993; Westwood et al., 2000) reveal that security is the number one

concern of female business travelers. In addition, they prefer not to be located at the end of

hallways or on ground floors as well. Furthermore, extra amenities are effective in

attracting the female business traveler (Bard, 1990). The room can be designed more

comfortable which can allow the businesswomen meeting the clients in their room.

However, most businesswomen prefer not to be isolated on a separate floor and expected the

same service as men (Bard, 1990; Lutz & Ryan 1993). Manges (1988) observes that women

business travelers feel ostracized on single sex floors, but they would like the extra security

and amenities that are provided.

On the other hand, female business travelers prefer to order room service or to dine in the

hotel restaurant (Kustanowitz, 1989; Lutz & Ryan, 1993; Lauds, 2000). Female business

travelers see room service as an indulgence, rather than a matter of safety or of not wanting to

eat alone in a restaurant (Lauds, 2000). Concerning entertainment, women in the past have

felt uncomfortable going into hotel bars, but the addition of lobby bars and the club floors

with public lounge have made women feel more comfortable (Bartels, 1987). Moreover,

Bartos (1984) reported that women tend to fulfill their socialization needs by seeking identity

and making decisions.

Indeed, Lutz and Ryan (1993) indicate that there is no difference between males and females

in their perception of the frequency with which tangible aspects of service are provided, but

there are significant differences between the genders in their perceived desirability. Yet,

females have a high level of desire for more facilities, but are less inclined to complain than

males. Businesswomen believe the benefits of travel outweigh the negatives (Lauds, 2000).

In particular, they try to incorporate leisure activities during their trip. Shopping is the

number one activity, regardless of age, income or gender (Jones & Davies, 1991; Lauds,

2000). Additionally, the women consistently add weekend days to their business trip so that

they can enjoy their destination.

The gender differences can also exist based on alternative variables such as age, frequency of

use of hotels, managerial position or loyalty to given hotel. Therefore, the supply-side of

hotel also needs to pay attention to analysis the appropriate strategies to overcome it (Jones &


Davies, 1991; Tarrant, 1989).

Positioning Strategy

Positioning strategy provides an essential frame of reference for guiding management

decision. Rapid environmental changes, shifts in buyer preference, new products and

services, and increased competition demand that firms continually monitor their strategy

positioning to capitalize on new opportunities and avoid potential pitfalls (Cravens, 1975).

Competitive strategies deal with the development of attributes that characterize a company

and differentiate the value it creates and offers in comparison to its competitors (Porter, 1985).

Due to the competition in the hospitality industry has been increasing for years, the

importance of developing strategy appears to be increasing constantly. Given that

businesswomen have different lodging preference than businessmen, in many cases,

price-driven marketing strategies which have lead to rather homogeneous hotels,

differentiation from competitors through positioning seems increasingly necessary.

Positioning is the deliberate, proactive, iterative process of defining, measuring, modifying

and monitoring consumer perceptions of a marketable object (Arnott, 1993). For a hotel,

strategic positioning involves providing unique value, and selecting and then brining to bear

an integrated set of tools and communication techniques that identify and explain the hotel to

the customers (Wortzel, 1987). The effect of positioning is based on the subjective

perception of hotel attributes and not on objective truth. At the same time, a clear position

in hospitality implies a complete strategic bundle of customer service, other hotel attributes

(Pessemier, 1980).

Hotels following a differentiation strategy strive to create and market unique products for the

businesswomen traveler market. They aim to create a superior fulfillment of customer

needs in one or several product attributes in order to develop customer satisfaction and

loyalty, which can often in turn be used to charge a premium price for products (Gable &

Sipkoff, 1988). Contrary to competition with rather homogenous products, where price as a

marketing instrument is in the focus, a differentiation strategy aims at reducing competitive

pressure. It is a strategy that reduces the price sensitivity of consumers by offering

uniqueness.

Resource-based View (RBV)

To capture the dynamism of the hotel‟s competitive behavior, one needs to trace the growth of

the firm in terms of its resources and capabilities, in particular the way resources are used.

In addition to provide insights on the rate of growth of the firm, the resource-based theory

also provides value added theoretical explanations about the direction of a firm‟s

differentiation strategy (Andersen & Kheam, 1998).


According to the RBV, firm resources include all assets, capabilities, organizational processes,

firm attributes, information, knowledge, etc. controlled by a firm that enable the firm to

conceive of and implement strategies that improve its efficiency and effectiveness (Barney,

1991). Resources are not homogeneous within firms and provide unique service or

abilities. These resources are the source of economic rents and may be bundled. The

uniqueness of each hotel lies in the way they bundle resources and capabilities.

RBV posits that as firms diversify within the scope of their resources and capabilities, they

obtain economies of scale through lower operational costs and leverage superior business

efficiency through shared fixed assets like common production facilities, distribution

channels, or even brand names. Marketing capability involves integration of all marketing

related activities of a firm using superior market knowledge from customers and competitions.

Operations capability is the process, technology, reliability and quality of the overall

operations of the firm. According to RBV, a coordinated effect by the firm to make these

two capabilities as “immovable and inimitable” can bring the competitive edge (Narasimhan

et al., 2006). Furthermore, the RBV is grounded on the premise that differences in valuable,

rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable resources contribute to positional firm heterogeneity in

the marketplace, which in turn, leads to superior firm performance.

Song, Benedetto, & Nason (2007) defined marketing capability is defined as the integrative

process, in which a firm uses its tangible and intangible resources to understand complex

consumer specific needs, achieve product differentiation relative to competition, and achieve

superior brand equity. Such capabilities, one built are very difficult to imitate for competing

firm (Day, 1994). Moreover, marketing capability create a strong brand image that allows

firm to produce superior performance (Ruiz-Ortega & Garcia-Villaverde, 2008). In order to

develop successful marketing strategies, the hotel must have knowledge about the different

segments and ability to market the products to the targeted segment.

Operations capability is defined as the integration of a complex set of tasks performed by a

firm to enhance its output through the most efficient use of its s capabilities, technology, and

flow of materials (Dutta et al., 1999). A firm can achieve competitive advantage by

handling an efficient work flow process, careful utilization of assets, and acquisition and

dissemination of superior process knowledge. Superior operations capabilities increase

efficiency in the delivery process, reduce cost of operations and achieve competitive

advantage (Day, 1994). Extant literature emphasizes the role of an integrative approach in

combing marketing and operations capability; and suggests operations success is a

pre-condition to marketing success (Hausman et al., 2002).

The RBV theory views resource use and development as dynamic. Resources change as a

result of innovative managerial behavior, as it is the use of resource is not the resources


themselves that are generating competitive advantage. This model emphasizes how human,

physical and intangible resources combine over time to create value. It allows for a

dynamic view of firm behavior and manipulation of resources (Coates & McDermott, 2002).

To remain competitive in businesswomen traveler market, hotels must develop new

combinations of resources and acquire new knowledge and skills.

III. DEVELOP RESEARCH PROPOSITIONS FOR

WOMEN-FRIENDLY HOTELS

Based on the research and real case examples of existing women-friendly hotels, propositions

are developed for the hospitality industry. The authors first develop the women-friendly

hotels framework for mapping the positioning strategy with the resources-based view. Then,

the authors examine the linkage between the two concepts, and explore if there are any

common characteristics of the hotels using the approach.

A Framework Linking Positioning Strategy and Resource-based View

As has already been noted above, lodging is an experience, which produced and consumed at

the same time on site. It involves very tangible products such as food and hotel amenities,

but highly significant are intangibles such as level of security and perceptions of staff

attitudes. The following discussion focuses on those aspects of both tangible and intangible

service attributes, and the linkage between those attributes and hotel‟s internal resources.

Level of Safety (Security Measures)

Women are far more concerned with personal safety than men are (McCleary et al., 1994;

Westwood et al., 2000). To address this concern, Six Continents, which owns the

Inter-Continental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn chains, gives female travelers special

treatment such as allocating rooms close to lifts and offering escorts to guest rooms.

Besides, the rebranding of women floors as women-friendly may be part of a move by hotels

to avoid criticism that lead women-only floors to be abandoned in the 1980s, when separate

floors in hotels offended women traveling on business, and was seen as sexist by others.

Some hotels are doing even more for female customers to make them feel at home and secure.

Lady's First is a women-only boutique hotel in Zurich that opened in 2001, aimed specifically

at the female business traveler and all the staff are women. London Hilton on Park Lane

Hotel is one of the first in Europe to trial a women-only floor since 2003 (Allen, 2008). In

addition, Hilton in Colombo and the Novotel in Shanghai also provide women-only floors

with female security staff (O'Riordain, 2002).


Indeed, many hotels are investing in human resources to train their staff on serving

businesswomen travelers. Moreover, hotels would modify their physical assets (e.g.

designed female floor) for accommodating the special need of businesswomen travelers.

Self Esteem (Lifestyle)

Other than the safety, women would like to enjoy more comfortable, relaxed, content or

welcome staying experience (Barsky & Lin 2004). Therefore, most of the hoteliers try to

follow the women travelers‟ expectation so as to design the appropriate service offering to

them. One of the pioneer hotels to launch women-friendly policies was Wyndham. In

1995, they established the 'Women on their Way' program, dedicated to the emerging woman

business traveler, and they created innovations such as a courtesy call alerting guests to

imminent room service delivery (Chan, 2007). FirteCrest Hotels, Holiday Inn, Resort,

Queens Moat and Croft are amongst the leading chains in UK that have instituted programs

aimed at female travelers, some of which include the specification of certain rooms as

dedicated for women only. Such rooms have specific “feminine décor” and the provision of

female toiletries, amenities (e.g. profession hair dryer, hair strengtheners, nail-care kits,

bathrobes) or services (e.g. beauty treatment); many programs include specific training of

staff so that they are more aware of the needs of the lone female travelers (Allen, 2008; Lutz

& Ryan, 1993). Besides, Club floor have made women feel more comfortable as more

personal and privacy services will be provided for them (Bartels, 1987).

Catering to women also means paying attention to food (Lauds, 2000; Muxlow, 2008).

Many hotels companies, including Fairmont, Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and Starwood, offer

menu items that appeal to the nutrition or calorie conscious. Rooms service menus, which

used to have a limited list of option; all in the hamburger, club sandwich, and French fires

vein, but now also offer healthier fare; salads, grilled chicken and fish and fresh fruit (Moline,

2007). Since women do not like to dine alone, they will prefer to order room service rather

than the others. Thus, 24-hours room service will be one of the important components when

the women select their hotels (Lauds, 2000).

Shopping is another vital factor for women regardless of age, income or gender (Jones &

Davies, 1991; Lauds, 2000). Some hotels implement the joint promotion programs with

shopping mall that will be an advantage to attract businesswomen travelers. Mandarin

Oriental New York Hotel is an example, which has created the whimsical Girl‟s Guide to

Glamour in Gotham (a Chanel makeover, a manicure at Bergdorf‟s and a shopping tour by

limo).


Table 1: A Framework Linking Positioning Strategy and Resources-based View

Attributes Positioning (differentiation) Strategy RBV

Level of Safety

(Security Measures)

- Allocating rooms close to lifts and offering

escorts to guest rooms

- CCTV on all floors

- Women-only floors

- Safe parking zone

- Secure check-in facilities

- All staff are women (female security and

room service staff)

Physical assets

Physical assets

Physical assets

Physical assets

Physical assets

Human capital

Self Esteem

(Lifestyle)

- Feminine décor

- Providing feminine in-room features

including professional hair dryer even hair

strengtheners, nail-care kits, bathrobes, an

iron and ironing board

- Offering ironing and steaming services

- Providing women staff and offering beauty

treatment

- Providing female toiletries or extra amenities

- Offering food menu items that appeal to the

nutrition or calorie-conscious

- Providing 24 hours room services

- Club floor will provide more personal service

and more privacy

- Specific training of staff so that they are

aware of the needs of the lone female

travelers

- Shopping guide and more joint promotions

between the shopping mall or leisure

activities with hotel

- Building its brand of choice for

businesswomen travelers

Physical assets

Physical assets

Physical assets

Physical assets

Physical assets

Physical assets

Physical assets

Human capital

Human capital

Human capital

Marketing

capabilities

Table 1 summarizes the tangible and intangible service attributes of women-friendly hotels,

and the linkage between those attributes and hotel‟s internal resources. It reveals that most

of the services provided require the support of hotel resources, especially the physical assets.

Nevertheless, other resources such as human capital and marketing capabilities cannot be

neglected for the development and success of the women-friendly hotels.

Based on these examples, we make the following propositions:


P1: Both physical assets, human capital and marketing capability are important for

differentiation strategy of women-friendly hotels. Physical assets are the most

important one among all resources.

Common Characteristics of the Women-friendly Hotels

In this study, 30 existing women-friendly hotels are selected. Four of them are the hotel

chains, including Comfort Inns, Holiday Inn, W Hotels and Wyndham. Table 2 summarizes

the offerings of the women-friendly hotels.

Table 2: Summary of Women-friendly Hotels

Hotel Region Location Class Type Women-friendly Offerings

Artemisia

Hotel

Europe Berlin,

Germany

3 stars Business The first all-female hotel in the

world

Comfort

Inns

World-

wide

World-wide 3 stars Budget Furnishings, color schemes,

full-length mirrors and bedspreads

are chosen primarily to appeal to

women

Croft Hotel Europe Scarborough,

UK

3 stars Budget The specification of certain rooms as

dedicated for women only

Specific ”feminine décor” and

provision of female toiletries,

amenities or services

Crowne

Plaza

US Milwaukee,

US

3 stars Business The women‟s executive level

A variety of amenities like a

Victoria‟s secret robe, a blow dryer

an vanity mirrors

Crowne

Plaza

US Bloomington,

US

3 stars Budget Pay $30 extra to stay on an

all-women floor with tight security

and traditionally girly extras such as

makeup mirrors, fresh flowers and

chocolates

Don Shula‟s

Hotel and

Golf Club

US Miami, US 3 stars Resort The new floor is designed to make

women feel secure away from home

and offers them added perks,

pampering and customization

Fleming

Hotel

Asia Hong Kong,

China

4 stars Business Ladies Only floor

Treats also include complimentary

aromatherapy oil, flowers and fruit,

welcome mocktail and L‟Occitane

bath amenities

Grange City

Hotel

Europe London, UK 5 stars Business Rooms featuring extra perks like

make-up mirrors, lighted closets,

sunken bathtubs---and the wing will

have no men

Hampton US Albany, US 3 stars Transient A floor for female guests that offers



Inn cookies, flavored coffees, skin

moisturizers and extra-soft socks,

plus a half-hour session in the hotel‟s

massage chair

Hilton Hyde

Park London

Hotel

Europe London, UK 5 stars Business The hotel features increased security,

with a private check-in for single

women, discretion when issuing

room keys, double locks on bedroom

doors and extra security cameras

The decor is more floral, and extras

include magazines such as Vogue,

powerful hairdryers and make-up

mirrors in the rooms

Introduced healthier options on its

room service menu

Hilton Sri

Lanka Hotel

Sri

Lanka

Colombo, Sri

Lanka,

5 stars Business Women-only floor with female

security staff

Holiday Inn World-

wide

World- wide 4 stars Business Specification of certain rooms as





Homewood

Suites

US Memphis,

US

3 stars Business Amenities intended to appeal to

women at Homewood Suites

including hair dryers, increased

vanity space and large, well-lighted

mirrors

Hyatt

Regency at

Pier 66

US Florida, US 4 stars Resort Women were given parking spots

close to the hotel entrance and

housed in the hotel‟s tower

Jumeirah

Emirates

Tower Hotel

Middle

East

Dubai 5 stars Business The floor is staffed by women and

was the first floor entirely dedicated

to the „fairer sex‟ in the Middle East

The rooms include lavish beauty

products, a cosmetics fridge,

fragrances, flowers, and a yoga mat

and DVD

JW Marriott US Michigan,

US

5 stars Business Created a national furor over the

all-female floor

Lady‟s First Europe Zurich,

Switzerland

3 stars Business Women-only boutique hotel and aim

specifically at the female business

traveler and all the staff are women

Le Soleil

Hotel

US Vancouver,

Canada

5stars Business Elle Suites specifically designed for

the female business traveler

Amenities available include office

supplies, soaker tubs with bath



bombs and essential oils, Aveda

body products, make up mirror,

small wooden body massager, a

selection of women magazines, low

fat and low carbohydrate snacks in

the mini bar and a selection of

nylons and feminine hygiene

products

Concierge will also provide an up to

date list of around town events that

may be of particular interest to

women

Mandarin

Oriental

US New York,

US

5 stars Business Has created the whimsical Girl‟s

Guide to Glamour in Gotham (a

Chanel makeover, a manicure at

Bergdorf‟s and a shopping tour by

limo)

Marriott

Airport

Hotel

US Miami, US 4 stars Transient Designated several floors that are not

in accessible areas, and offer lighter

meals with women in mind

Novotel

Shanghai

Asia Shanghai,

China

4 stars Business Women-only floor with female

security staff

Quality

Hotel

UK Stafford, UK 3 stars Budget Emphasis on safety, with parking

spaces adjacent to the hotel entrance

reserved exclusively for women

Queen Moat

House

UK UK 5 stars Business Specification of certain rooms as





Radisson

Blu Royal

Hotel

Europe Brussels,

Belgium

5 stars Business Specially designed rooms that

include boutique hair products,

manicure sets, and magazines

Royal Hotel Africa South Africa 5 stars Business Female guestrooms on a

women-only floor, but again charges

a premium

Female staff and extra facilities such

as manicure sets and magnifying

mirrors for make-up

St. Regis Asia Shanghai,

China

5 stars Business Ladies Floor staffed by female

butlers

The Luthan

Hotel & Spa

Middle

East

Saudi Arabia,

Middle East

5 stars Business First women-only hotel in Saudi

Arabia

Tokyu Inn Japan Tokyo, Japan 3 stars Business Special rooms for female guests

Room interiors and services that



appeal to women

W Hotel World World 5 stars Business The women "emergency survival

kit," a boxed set of tubes of three

different colors of lip gloss, mascara

and perfume

The "emergency fashion kit"

includes a classic Diane von

Furstenberg black wrap dress with a

matching thong, packaged together

in a garment bag

Wyndham World World 5 stars Business

and resort

“Women on their way” program and

it create innovations such as a

courtesy call alerting guests to

imminent room service delivery

Common characteristics of the women-friendly hotels are found by categorizing the existing

hotels into different subsets including level of class, type and location (See Table 3, Table 4 &

Table 5).

Table 3: Women-Friendly Hotels (categorized by level of class)

Level of Class Women-friendly Hotels

5 stars Grange City Hotel, Jumeirah Emirates Tower Hotel, JW

Marriott Grand Rapids, Le Soleil Hotel, Hilton Hyde Park

Hotel, Mandarin Oriental New York, Radisson Blu Royal

Hotel, Royal Hotel, St. Regis, W Hotel, Hilton Sri Lanka,

Wyndham

4 stars Hyatt Regency at Pier 66, Marriott Airport Hotel Miami, The

Luthan Hotel & Spa, Holiday Inn, Queen Moat, Croft, Novotel

Shanghai Hotel, Fleming Hotel

3 stars Artemisia Hotel, Crowne Plaza Milwaukee and Bloomington,

Don Shula‟s Hotel and Golf Club, Hampton Inn, Homewood

Suites, Quality Hotel, Lady‟s First, Tokyu Inn, Comfort Inn

Table 3 indicates that around 50% of women-friendly hotels are 5-stars hotels, which provide

premium services and facilities. For example, the Grange City Hotel in London facilitates

rooms featuring with extra perks like make-up mirrors, lighted closets, sunken bathtubs and

the women-only floor. The Vancouver Le Soleil Hotel has specifically designed its Elle

Suites for the female business traveler. It also provides amenities including office supplies,

soaker tubs with bath bombs and essential oils, Aveda body products, make up mirror, small

wooden body massager, a selection of women magazines, low fat and low carbohydrate

snacks in the mini bar and a selection of nylons and feminine hygiene products. Its

concierge service even provides an up-to-date list of around town events that may be of

particular interest to women.


Comparatively, 4 stars and 3 stars hotels put less resources or services into the

women-friendly approach even some of the hotels need to charge extra fee for special

“women” services. For example, guests stayed in the Crowne Plaza at Bloomington would be

charged for extra $30 to stay on an all-women floor with tight security and traditionally girly

extras. Most of the 3 stars and 4 stars hotels simply provide a separate women floor with

minimal security measures and amenities. On the other hand, 5 stars hotels provide more

personalize items. For example, W hotel provides the woman's "emergency survival kit"

including a boxed set of tubes of three different colors of lip gloss, mascara and perfume; the

"emergency fashion kit" including a classic Diane von Furstenberg black wrap dress with a

matching thong, packaged together in a garment bag.

Based on these findings, the second proposition is developed:

P2: Hotels with higher classes tend to adopt the women-friendly approach for their firms,

while hotels with higher classes invest more resources for women-friendly approach.

Security measures are the basic requirement for women-friendly hotels.

Table 4: Women-friendly Hotels (Categorized by types)

Type Women-friendly Hotel

Business Artemisia Hotel, Crowne Plaza Milwaukee, Grange City

Hotel, Homewood Suites, Jumeirah Emiarates Tower Hotel,

JW Marriott Grand Rapids, Le Soleil Hotel, Hilton Hyde Park

London Hotel, Mandarin Oriental New York, Radisson Blu

Royal Hotel, Royal Hotel, St. Regis, The Luthan Hotel & Spa,

Lady‟s first, Hilton Sri Lanka, Novotel Shanghai Hotel,

Wyndham, Holiday Inn UK, Queen Moat UK, Croft UK,

Tokyu Inn, Fleming Hotel, Comfort Inn, Wyndham (Business

& Resort)

Budget Crown Plaza Bloomington, Quality Hotel Stafford, Comfort

Inn

Resort Don Shula‟s Hotel and Golf Club, Hyatt Regency at Pier 66,

Wyndham (Business & Resort)

Transient Hampton Inn, Marriott Airport Hotel Miami,

Table 4 indicates business hotels are more likely to integrate the concept of women-friendly

into their hotels. For example, Comfort Inns, which is a business type hotel chain, where

28% of its customers are women travelers. Therefore, the hotel group has designed their

hotel rooms regarding the furnishings, color schemes and full-length mirrors and bedspreads

primarily to appeal to women. Wyndham is another hotel group, which has built its brand of

choice for women business travelers. There are only few hotels are budget, resort or

transient type. The results imply that businesswomen travelers are the target market of

women-friendly hotels. Thus, the third proposition is:


P3: Business hotels tend to adopt the women-friendly approach for their firms in order to

cater the businesswomen travelers.

Table 5: Women-friendly Hotels (Categorized by Geographical Location)

Geographical location Women-friendly Hotels

United States Crowne Plaza Milwaukee & Bloomington, Don Shula‟s Hotel

and Golf Club, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, Hyatt

Regency at Pier 66, JW Marriott Grand Rapids, Le Soleil

Hotel Vancouver, Mandarin Oriental New York, Marriott

Airport Hotel Miami

Europe Artemisia Hotel Germany, Croft Hotel UK, Grange City Hotel

UK, Hilton Hyde Park, Quality Hotel UK, Queen Hotel UK,

Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Belgium, Lady‟s First Switzerland,

Middle East Jumeirah Emirates Tower Hotel Dubai, The Luthan Hotel and

Spa Saudi Arabia,

Asia St Regis Shanghai, Hilton Sri Lanaka, Novotel Shanghai,

Tokyu Inn Tokyo, Fleming Hotel Hong Kong

Africa Royal Africa South Africa

Worldwide Comfort Inns, Holiday Inn, W Hotel, Wyndham

Categorized by geographical location, Table 5 shows that most of the existing

women-friendly hotels are located in US and Europe, particularly in UK. Those hotels are

broadly incorporating improvements with special feminine appeal. Artemisia Hotel in

Berlin is the first all female-hotel.

The Middle East is another area that the hoteliers have capitalized its growing young female

population by adopting the concept of women-friendly. The concept is an expansion of

operators, hoteliers, and other suppliers offering single-sex packages and products such as

female floors in hotels and women-only tours in the Middle East. Especially, the growing

young and female population in the Middle East is encouraging suppliers to target this market

with culturally-acceptable and tailored concepts. For example, Saudi Arabia is leading the

way with the first women-only hotel, Luthan Hotel & Spa.

In addition, the results reveal that the Asian hotels are still not popular in adopting the

women-friendly approach. St. Regis and Novotel Shanghai were developed in 2001 and

Fleming Hotel Hong Kong was developed in 2006. It shows that there are potentials for the

development of women-friendly hotels due to the rapid economic growth of Asian countries,

particularly in China.

Regarding the city that the women-friendly hotels located, it is found that most of the

women-friendly hotels located at the international financial centers or main financial centers

of their countries. For examples, Hilton Hotel in London, Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New


York, St. Regis in Shanghai, Tokyu Inn in Tokyo, Artemisia Hotel in Berlin and Fleming

Hotel in Hong Kong. Some of the hotels even located at the main business area of the city.

For instance, the Grange City Hotel at London is closed to Tower of London and Tower Hill

Pageant; the JW Marriott Grand Rapids is conveniently located in the heart of the downtown

Grand Rapids‟ business and entertainment district, and in the center of Michigan‟s West Coast.

The result implies that women-friendly hotels are targeting female business travelers rather

than leisure travelers. As such, the forth proposition is developed regarding the location of

women-friendly hotels.

P4: Hotels located in main financial centers or cities with business activities have advantages

to develop women-friendly hotels.

IV. IMPLICATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

In sum, the positioning strategy focuses on the company‟s external competitive environment

to achieve firm‟s competitive success, while the RBV highlights the need for a fit between the

external market context in which a company operates and its internal capabilities. The

women-friendly hotels framework assists in exploring the relationship between the

differentiation strategy and RBV. Further, the present framework classifies the existing

women-friendly hotels into different subsets, which also assists in finding the common

characteristics of hotels.

The present framework and research proposition suggest key lessons for managers. Firstly,

differentiation positioning strategy is a must for adopting the women-friendly hotels to cater

the businesswomen travelers, while allocation of resources should be first focused on the

security measures, and then human capital and marketing capabilities. Secondly, the results

reveal that hotels from 3 class to 5 class have potentials to develop the women-friendly

strategy, but hotels located at business areas or targeting business travelers are easier to reach

the businesswomen travelers. Last but not the least, most of the existing women-friendly

hotels are located in western countries, however, the recently developed hotels found from

the study shows that potentials are sought for the Asian hotels.

Therefore, this study can serve as reference for hoteliers to understand the nature of

relationship between marketing position and the RBV on the hotel‟s intention to develop

“women-friendly” strategy, and to examine whether women-friendly approach is favored in

their hotels. Thus, hotel operators can take proactive measures and ensure the appropriate

products and services are delivered to women travelers in order to getting „fit‟ between the

hotels‟ strategies and needs of women travelers.


Becker and Olsen (1995) stated that the development of a theoretical framework which can

be effectively applied to both hospitality research and hospitality management application

represents a major contribution to the existing knowledge base in hospitality. This paper‟s

substantive contribution to the hospitality gender and management literature is its exploration

of the linkage of marketing position and resources by using the women-friendly hotels as a

framework. The set of propositions generated guide future efforts in hospitality research.

V. LIMITATIONS

In this study, the propositions are supported by existing examples only, but they are based on

the research and on-line searching. Therefore, the results of this study cannot be accurately

generalized beyond this area and future developed women-friendly hotels.

Moreover, the research focused on the supply side only in this study. It is suggested to

develop a framework to explore the relationship between the demand and supply sides of

women-friendly hotels. Future research should also focus on the factors that influence the

success and failure of women-friendly hotels, while testing the propositions set forth in this

study.

VI. CONCLUSION

For the hotel approaching the women-friendly concept, resources and products are two sides

of the same coins. Most women-friendly products require the services of several resources

and most resources can be used in the particular product. By specifying the size of the

hotel‟s activity in businesswomen market, it is possible to infer the minim necessary resource

commitments. Conversely, by specifying a resource profile for a firm, it is possible to find

the optimal product-market activities. The hoteliers should take the opportunity and modify

their service attributes and facility provision to cater businesswomen‟s concerns and priorities

for long-run profitability. In summary, development of women-friendly approach in

hospitality firms is a strategy to sustain the competitive advantage for long run profitability.


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Documents

A Framework Linking Positioning Strategy and …cmr.ba.ouhk.edu.hk/cmr/webjournal/v17n2/CMR417E13.pdfTraditional strategy models such as Michael Porter‟s five forces model focus