Comparative study of online marketing and social media presences by luxury hotels in Delhi and NCR Market

1Confidential:Property of Saharsh Bhushan
A Comparative Study of
Online Presence and Social Media Engagement Activities by
Luxury Hotels in
the Delhi and NCR Market.

Selected Luxury Properties in Delhi and NCR Market
1. Taj Palace, Sardar Patel Marg
2. Hyatt Regency, Bhikaji Kama Place
3. ITC Maurya, Sardar Patel Marg
4. The Leela Palace, Chanakyapuri
5. Shangri – La’s Eros Hotel, Connaught Place
6. Westin Hotels, Gurgaon
7. The Oberoi, Dr. Zakir Hussain Marg
8. Le Meridien, Connaught Place
9. Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, Gurgaon
10. Radisson Blu, Connaught Place
11. The Park, Parliament Street
12. The Lalit, Barakhamba Avenue

SOME FACTS
(Hospitality Industry and Accommodations in India)
•Hospitality is the world's fastest growing industry and adds one new job
every 2.5 seconds.
•Figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council have the industry
growing at a rate of 23 percent faster than that of the global economy. The
hospitality industry has 3 major segments – (a)Accomodation (b) F&B and
(c) Travel and Tourism.
•Across India, the government has identified a shortage of around 150,000
rooms, with most of under – supply occurring in the budget sector.
• Both China and India are at risk of an over – supply of luxury hotel in key
tourism cities, at least in short term.
• The average employee-to-room ratio at 1.6 (2008-09), is much higher than
that for hotels across the world. The ratio stands at 1.7 for five-star hotels.

Accommodation Reviews Methodology
Total Marks 25
• Reviews from 5 selected international reservation portals have
been considered.
• The ratings/scores have been taken up for comparing
individual performances.

Wikipedia (Ed.), Tripadvisor. Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TripAdvisor
Established: 2000
Revenue: $486 million in 2010
References: more than 50m monthly UV, 20m
members and over 50m reviews
Alexa Rating: 237 (Global Rank)

The ratings on Tripadvisor show that The Leela Palace is preferred the most for accomodation by guests followed
by ITC Maurya and The Oberoi.
2.9
2.1
3.2
4.3
2.4
2.9
3.1
2.2 2.14
2.04
0.9
1.8
Taj Palace Hyatt Regency ITC Maurya Leela PalaceShangri - La's Eros HotelWestin, GurgaonThe Oberoi Le MeridienMarriott, GurgaonRadisson Blu Marina, CP (Not 5 Star)The Park (not 5 Star)The Lalit
Ratings on Tripadvisor

“Good hotel-
Poor
hospitality” –
Taj Palace
“Average
property –
Hyatt Regency”
“Excellent service, great
food and beautiful
rooms, makes it one of
the world's best hotels.”
– The Leela Palace
"Incredible
India !” –
ITC Maurya
“not at the typical
Shangri-la
standard” –
Shangri La’s Eros
“Superb
experience” –
Westin, Gurgaon
“Excellent” – The
Oberoi
“Blown Away!”
– Le Meridien
“A Touch of Class” –
Courtyard by Marriott,
Gurgaon
“Great Hotel Highly
Recommended” –
Radisson Marina, CP
“bad smell”
– The Park
“Excellent
service” –
The Lalit

Owner: Expedia, Inc.
Created by: Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink
Alexa rank: 533(Global Rank)
Revenue: More than$1 Billion
Wikipedia (Ed.), Tripadvisor. Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedia

The ratings on Expedia show that The Leela Palace is preferred the most for accomodation by guests followed by
Taj Palace and Shangri – La’s Eros.
4.7
3.9
4.3
4.9
4.5
4.0
4.4
3.9
3.5
4
3.3
4.3
Taj Palace Hyatt Regency ITC Maurya Leela PalaceShangri - La's Eros HotelWestin, Gurgaon The Oberoi Le MeridienMarriott, GurgaonRadisson Blu Marina, CP (Not 5 Star)The Park (not 5 Star)The Lalit
Ratings on Expedia

"Great hotel
for business
and tourists“
– Taj Palace
"More price less
quality“ –
Hyatt Regency
"The hotel is
ok, but not 5
star!“ – ITC
Maurya
"A real haven.“ –
The Leela Palace
"Excellent
hotel, but no
charm” - Shagri
La’s Eros
"Excellent
hotel, but no
charm” –
Westin, Gurgaon
"Very nice but
not
outstanding” –
The Oberoi
"Modern but
Mediocre - stick
to Taj” –
Le Meridien
"DIFFICULT TO ACCESS”
– Courtyard by Marriott
"A truly amazing
hotel” –
Radisson Marina, CP "Disappointing
start by a 5*
Hotel” -
The Park
"Good, but an issue with
noise” –
The Lalit

Owned by: Priceline.com
Viewership: over 18,900,000 unique users
Founded:1997 (online 1998)
Headquarters: Connecticut
Employees:3,400 (2011)
Revenue:$612.9 million (Sept, 2011)
Alexa Rank:169(Global Rank)
Why do they need 15%?. In (2013). How Much Commission are you paying?. fairfees.com. Retrieved from http://fairerfees.com/why-do-they-
need-15-percent/
Priceline.com. In (2013). Priceline.com. Wkipedia Foundation Inc. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priceline.com

4.6
3.8
0
4.8
4.3
0.0 0
4.4
0
4.4
3.1
4.1
Ratings on Booking.com
The ratings on Booking.com show that The Leela Palace is preferred for accomodation by guests followed by Taj
Palace.

"Great hotel
for business
and tourists“
– Taj Palace
"More price less
quality“ –
Hyatt Regency
"The hotel is
ok, but not 5
star!“ – ITC
Maurya
"A real haven.“ –
The Leela Palace
"Excellent
hotel, but no
charm” - Shagri
La’s Eros
"Excellent
hotel, but no
charm” –
Westin, Gurgaon
"Very nice but
not
outstanding” –
The Oberoi
"Modern but
Mediocre - stick
to Taj” –
Le Meridien
"DIFFICULT TO ACCESS”
– Courtyard by Marriott
"A truly amazing
hotel” –
Radisson Marina, CP
"Disappointing
start by a 5*
Hotel” -
The Park
"Good, but an issue with
noise” –
The Lalit

Owner: Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) since
2007
Alexa Rank: 958 (Global Rank)
Revenues: $222.9 Million
Employees: 600
Schaal, D. (2010, Feb 18). For priceline, booking.com, agoda — it’s a sharing and marketshare thing read more at for-priceline-booking-com-
agoda-its-a-sharing-and-marketshare-thing. Retrieved from http://www.tnooz.com/2010/02/18/news/for-priceline-booking-com-agoda-its-a-
sharing-and-marketshare-thing/

4.4
4.1
0
4.7
4.2
0.0
4.3
0
3.9 3.9
3.6
4.1
Ratings on Agoda
The ratings on Agoda show that The Leela Palace Hotel is preferred for accomodation by guests followed by Taj Palace
and The Oberoi.

"Impeccable
service but
small rooms“ –
The Oberoi
"Close to perfect“ –
Courtyard by Marriott
"poor management“ –
Radisson Marina, CP
"Not worth for
money“ -
The Park
"Comfortable stay in a
centrally located hotel“ –
The Lalit

Started: July, 1996
Alexa Ranking: 1251
Users: 1015180 page views per day
Revenues: $ 152.3 Million (2011)
Indexing of travelocity.com. In (2013). Travelocity.com. Texas: 4seohunt.co.uk. Retrieved from http://4seohunt.co.uk/rep/travelocity.com
Schaal, D. (2012, May 31). A look behind the curtain. Retrieved from http://www.tnooz.com/2012/05/31/news/a-look-behind-the-curtain-
sabre-2011-results-blunted-by-travelocity-troubles/

2.5
5
0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0
4
0
4.5
Ratings on Travelocity
The ratings on Travelocity show that The Hyatt Regency is preferred the most for accomodation by guests followed
by The Lalit. Taj Palace is the least preferred destination!

"Try someplace else - this hotel
has rats"– Taj Palace
"Great Stay......" –
Hyatt Regency
"Close to airport"–
Radisson Marina, CP "check in problem"–
The Lalit

The total scores for accommodation are highest for Taj Palace Hotel – 19.0 out of 25 and it is followed closely by
Hyatt Regency and The Lalit with 18.8 each.
19.0 18.8
7.5
18.6
15.3
6.9
16.3
10.5
9.54
18.34
10.9
18.8
Hotel Review Total Score (25)

SOME FACTS
(Indian F&B Industry)
• Impact of Tourism on the Indian economy: Traffic increase: +45.5%, Value
increase: +62.2% (in US$ million), Additional earnings from Tourism: +INR
8274 crore.
•The Indian food services industry is estimated to be nearly worth INR 75,000
crore (US$ 13.79 billion) and is growing at a healthy compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of 17 per cent.
• F&B Industry in India (16% Organized and 84% Unorganized) gives
employment to 5 Million workers and around 10 Million street vendors
contributing $220 Million to the country as taxes.
21Confidential: Property of Saharsh Bhushan

F&B Reviews Methodology
Total Marks 10
• Every luxury hotel has 6 restaurants (including
café/bars) on an average.
• Ratings of each restaurant is collected from the
selected two portals.
• A mathematical sum of all scores have been
considered to evaluate individual performance of the
Hotel.
22
Confidential:Property of Saharsh Bhushan

Alexa rank: 2715 (Global Rank)
Launched: July 2008
Users: 62.5 Million
Slogan: Discover more places to eat
around you
wikipedia. (2013, April 27). Zomato. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zomato
Alexa. (2013, May 04). Zomato.com site info. Retrieved from http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/zomato.com

3.9
4.4
3.7
3.8
3.6
3.8
3.7
3.5
3.3
3.9
3.6 3.6
Ratings on Zomato
As per reviews on Zomato The Hyatt Regency is leading in the F&B segment with its 7 Restaurants including the all day
diner and Café with a score of 4.4 out of 5. Sidewalk, the bakery shop at Hyatt Regency has the highest rating – 4.2 out of 5.
The Taj Palace is the second best rated for F&B on the portal and has a score of 3.9 out of 5. Here, The Orient Express and
The Blue Ginger have the highest ratings – 4.2 and 4.1 out of 5 respectively.
The highest scoring restaurant/café/bar is The Orient Express at the Taj Palace Hotel which is a specialty upbeat restaurant.

Alexa. (2013, may 04). Burrp.com site info. Retrieved from http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/burrp.com
About us - we know the web. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.aboutus.org/Burrp.com
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://delhi.burrp.com/

4.5
4.2
4.8
3.3
1.3
0
2
0 0
4.5
Ratings on Burrp
The scores based on the reviews on Burrp.com show that the ITC Maurya is the most preferred destination of the foodies in
the Delhi NCR market. The hotel has an average score of 4.8 out of 5 which includes highes reviews for Bukhara and lowest
for The Pavilion i.e. 15 reviews and 2 reviews respectively.
ITC Maurya is closely followed by the Taj Palace with an average score of 4.5. Here, the best reviews are for The Orient
Express and the worst for Masala Art.
There is no review/ ratings of restaurants/café/bars at Westin Hotel, Le-Meridien, Courtyard by Marriott, The Park and The
Lalit.

8.4 8.5 8.5
7.1
4.9
3.8
5.7
3.5
3.3
8.4
3.6 3.6
F&B Total Score(10)
The Total Overall F&B Scores are taken by taking the mathematical sum of the ratings of each hotel on the two portals.
Here, the most preferred dining options are available at the Hyatt Regency and ITC Maurya and they have the highest score
– 8.5 out of 10 each.

SOME FACTS
(New Media Promotion Platform)
•Indian has 51% Mobile penetration and Internet penetration is around 12%
which is expected to reach 15% by the end of 2013.
• India is ranked #2 for the number of Facebook users which is 46 Million
Monthly Active Users penetrating to 5.45% of the total population.
• TATA Docomo has the record of registering 323,282 Fans in a month and
AR Rahman has highest number of fans on FB which is 10,138,509.

Social Media, Internet & Technology
Reviews Methodology
Total Marks 11
• Facebook Score = total likes on the page/10,000
• Website score = 0.5 marks for each positive
point/innovative attribute.
• Technical Score = 1 if the hotel offers a Smartphone
app. (else 0)
• Total Score(15) = Sum of individual scores.

1.5
0.6262
0.2994 0.179
0.553
0.194
3.1014
2.9619
0 0.0115 0
0.2889
4 4
3.5 3.5
4
3.8
3
2.5 2.5
4.25
3 3
0 0 0 0
1 1
0 0
1
0
1
0
5.5
4.6
3.8 3.7
5.6
4.9
6.1
5.5
3.5
4.3
4
3.3
Technology and Internet
Facebook Website Mobile App Total
FB Highest: 31,000 Likes – The Oberoi
Website Highest: 4.25 – Radisson Blu Marina
Mobile Apps offered by: Shangri – La’s Eros, Westin, Courtyard by Marriott & The Park.
Total Highest: 6.1 – The Oberoi

Confidential:Property of Saharsh Bhushan 31
As per the Overall scores, which is the arithmetical sum of scores on Accomodation, F&B and
Technology, Taj Palace Hotel is the highest scoring luxury hotel with a score of 33.0 out of 50.
Hyatt Regency follows at the second place with a score of 31.9 out of 50.
Though on the overall basis Taj Palace is leading but there are threats on the individual
segments which may be handled with some improvements.
33.0
31.9
19.8
29.4
25.8
15.6
28.1
19.4
16.31
31.03
18.5
25.6
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
TotalScoreoutof50
Hotels
Overall Scores

Suggestions

(a) At the Property
• Organize special engagement activities for visiting kids.
• Create a desire in the minds of existing and potential clients by promoting Suites for their
luxury, Restaurants/Bars for their specialties.
• As the market trend shows increase in luxury properties in the market in near future, target
new segment. Attracting the (higher) middle class travelers (domestic and international) by
offering attractive packages such as overnight stay with breakfast at reduced rates may be a
good idea to increase customer base.
• Reviews on various portals suggest the need of some advancement in the training to the
staff.
• Encourage the kitchen to come up with innovative dishes more often and that can be
promoted to attract the attention of foodies. Special menu for children may be
complimentary.
• With increased quality, aim to get in the list of 5 best restaurants in Delhi and NCR.
• ‘Design your own recipe’ dishes provided at premium prices prepared by our chefs.
• Delhi is known for street food. Organizing Street Food Festivals may help in breaking the
monotony.

(b) In the Virtual Space
(i) Facebook – Organize contests and award the winner. It serves dual purpose of making
the FB page more popular and creates new clients. If the experience of the winners at our
property is good, the word of mouth will be a good push to the brand. Also, sharing some
‘easy – to cook – beautiful to look’ recipes will have a positive impact on the foodies. The
same could be followed up on Twitter as well.
(ii) Website – Adding some features like currency converter, language options, local time
display and also promoting property’s USPs would attract more attention and would ensure
ease of access to guests. (e.g. ITC emphasizes on being ‘allergy friendly’ , Eros talks on
being ‘handicap friendly’ etc.) Taj Palace may also promote bicycle ride by providing high
end cycles for free usage and incentivize the users by complimentary energy drinks.
(iii) Applications – With the current trend of luxury hotels providing a smart phone app, it is
suggestible to develop and offer the same at priority. (e.g. – Eros, Westin, Marriott etc have
such apps)
(iv) Review Portals – Encouraging foodies to review restaurants would in turn drive more
food lovers.

Confidential: Property of Saharsh Bhushan
35
=
• Latest Facilities
• Customer Service
• Exquisite Cuisines
• Technology
The great Taj is a ‘Wonder’ monument of the
World.
Can we make Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi the
‘Wonder’ of the Hospitality industry?
This is just the Beginning…

Open for Discussions
Saharsh Bhushan
MBA (Marketing)
Christ University Institute of Management
Hosur Road, Bangalore – 560 029.
saharsh.bhushan@mba.christuniversity.in

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