Student name: Minh Tran

Student Number: 100553084

Assessment Name: Essay

Word count: 2031

Statement of Originality: The following submission is my work; I have not cheated,
plagiarised on this assignment. I am understanding the respect of copyright requirements
and have not attempted to deceive anyone about the integrity of this work wilfully. That is
submitted in Minh Tran.
The concept of experience design is conducting an essential role in the hospitality industry.
Shaw and Ivens (2002) defined that "An experience or experience dimension(s) is a blend of
many individual dimensions that come together within the individual" and no two people will
have the same experience (Wall, 2011, p.168). Businesses comprehend the importance of
customer experience, but they still have trouble seeking a method to differentiate their
offering and transforming experience design to capture the benefits. In this essay, the ability
to deliver a unique customer experience in the hospitality industry will be explored, and the
discussion of the extent to which hospitality managers can plan, design and implement to
win the competitive advantages for their business.

There are many definitions of experience; it is a context depend on the situation or

circumstance. Experience has become a commonly used phrase in these recent years, but
like “innovation” and “design” it is hard to clarify a clear definition. According to Collins
English Dictionary, the experience is an accumulation of knowledge or skill that is gained
from the observation or participation in events or activities. (Collins, 2007). However, the
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2006) defines experience as the
emotions and sensations as opposed to thinking. Pine and Gilmore (1998) identified
“experience occurs when a business uses service as the stage, and goods as props to
engage individual customers in creating memorable event”. Thus, it is difficult to identify an
exact definition of experience. However, experiences are mainly about the human’s
interactions between a customer and the organisation which are delivered from a product or
service, and a company can partly control it. The elements that comprise the contributing of
experience in customer service are a wide range contain from the physical environment to
the interaction between host and customers or the guests surrounding. (Melissen et al.,
2014)

Experience can be identified into two elements: physical environment and human interaction.
The role of a team leader or manager is building an impressive memory for customers during
the time they stay with the business. Firstly, the factor of the physical environment such as
design, aroma, music or architecture can effect on customer's experiences. For example, a
small hotel tastefully decorated with eye-catching display and the perfume of complimentary,
a freshly brewed tea can contribute a warm background and comfortable physical
environment. On the other hand, a crowded retail centre with long queue customers,
freestyle staff's uniform can perform an unprofessional business which made customers
reduce the interest when participating in (McQuerrey, 2019).
Moreover, the experience can also come from human interaction: direct or indirect contact.
Direct communication is generally in the course of service and the connection between host
and guest (Melissen et al., 2014, p.30). Every interaction a guest has with the company’s
staff can contribute to their overall impression. Therefore, the training program to solve the
problems and read the guest's body language is a necessity. On the other hand, indirect
interaction mostly occurs in the form of word-of-mouth, advertising or social network. In this
form of connection, a business can partly manage the outcome by designing more link on
online communication tools (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) (Meyer & Schwager, 2007). On the
other hand, human interaction can come from the surrounding guests which business cannot
control properly. According to Miao & Mattila (2013), customer-to-customer forces have
more of an effect on customer experiences than host-to-customer powers. Indeed,
customers when share space and time with other customers either caused positive or
negative to customers' experiences, which depend on guest's behaviours as well as
emotions. (Grove & Fisk, 1997, p. 65)

In Hospitality, the experience customers go through are different from the service and
products they experience in other industry. The reason answers for the unique of hospitality
experience is all about the memory’s customers take away at the end of the events or
activities they participate. In comparison with the retail experience, customers leave with a
product, at the beauty spa they finish with a changed appearance or the customers leave the
hairdresser with a new haircut. However, in Hospitality, customers mostly look for
experience instead of individual products. In some cases, these experiences may include
specific products, but, ultimately, what the consumers would like to purchase is the entire
experiences (Smit et al.,2018). Moreover, if in the retail industry, they use the price and
quality of product to drive the consumers into their stores (Edwards, 2014). In Hospitality,
customers not only pay for the food, beverage or accommodation; they also pay for the
ambience they experience. For example, according to Smit et al. (2018), at Xanvier Artisan,
the attractive spot not just come from the home-made quality of ice cream, sandwiches and
coffee, it is the location that people can enjoy in a unique atmosphere with a view of
Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica.

In the era of empowered customers, customer service and improve their experience are the
key success. For instance, at Marriott and Holliday Inn, all the staffs, ranging from the office
employees, maintenance to housekeeping, concierge desk, they all have been trained to
acknowledge and connect effectively with guests. They use human effort to create a warm
guest welcoming. Retailers would be wise to learn from the hotel's strategy and conduct a
similar industry best practice (Jensen, 1999). The unique of Hospitality is what customers
touch at the venue, but the experience begins before that.

Customers interactions begin and end are the crucial concerns when a business wants to
improve customers' experiences. According to Richardson (2010, p.2), customer service
starts long before they ever walk through the hotel or restaurant door and it would be
finished during the time their journey with the company goes to an end by no longer having a
relation or change into a new competitor (Rawson et al., 2013) . For example, before a
customer books a room with the hotel, they may ask from their friends’ experiences or
searching online and look for the rating or customer reviews. Thus, the journey starts from
customers planning about their vacation and browsing on the internet. According to Shaw
(2013), To think about customer experiences is to consider them as a series of moments
that begin well before a consumer has decided their reservation. At this point, the company
should think about the strategy to win customers experience in the very first step. It is
necessary to create a smooth transition from the thought process to the purchase process.
By building an attractive website that helpful for consumers look for the information and
guide them through every step they need to great vacation time (Shaw, 2013). Moreover, the
touchpoints also occur when the guest interact with the business through the products, apps
and advertising etc. Control customers feelings at the first moment are vital to their whole
experiences with the company in the long term. Therefore, Hemmington (2007) has
mentioned that the experience is the total of all the interaction from the tiny memories over
time make up customers experiences.

Understanding the importance of an increasing number of customer loyalty and avoiding

guest ends their experience journey, the business should make a plan adapt with customers
needs. By enhancing the direct customer experience with extra service will help the
organisation differentiate over its competitors (Shaw, 2017). For example, the development
of technology is one of the most attractive trends which people pay attention. Installing smart
technology will be an effective strategy to support guests' experiences. For instance,
nowadays, hotels now can use smart sensors and mobile apps to allow guest reserve
parking spots. This campaign will achieve the win-win situation by support guests in control
their parking upon arrival, on the other hand, it also helps the hotel save the labour cost of
manually managing parking (Attala, 2019). By taking care of the entire process, the business
can increase the quality of customer service in expanding the influence of experience
through design.
The process of translating customers’ needs into the product is fulfilling those needs by
design process. The word design can mean different things in different situation, with one of
them suggesting that design entails decorations, shapes, sizes and styles, all aspects which
can influence the ambience, comfort, image and style (Katsigris &Thomas, 2009). According
to Thapa (2007), the critical importance of lobby design for hotels such as the design
features in lobbies can affect customers and their behaviour toward the organisation's
general environment. Hotel design can also contribute to building tangible attributes and also
provide the quality, including aesthetic quality to fulfil guest's experience (Johns, 1993, p.23).
For instance, the way napkin folding, cutlery and table settings, background music and
lighting or the way hotel confirm consumer’s booking can perform partly appearance of a
company preparing (Heide et al., 2007). In term of relaxing factors, travellers usually look for
a hotel can make them feel comfortable, therefore, nowadays, more and more hotels are
implementing home-like style in decoration (Siguaw & Enz, 1999, p.44). Hence, because
customers pay more attention to the physical environment and tangible elements (Nickson et
al., 2002) which is contain interior design, therefore, hospitality manager should consider
about design factors in enhancing and improving customer’s experiences. On the other
hand, in these days, hotel design also relates to environmental concerns. In this particular
circumstance, accommodation facilities’ design should make a strategy to fulfil the newly
assigned environmentally friendly roles (Ayala, 1995, p.39). For instance, Marriott replacing
the regular light bulb to the compact fluorescent bulbs, moreover they also encourage guests
to join in witnessing the green effort during their stay by supporting to reuse their towels
more than one time to reduce energy and water used for laundry. (Marriott – Sustainability
Report, 2015)

Apart from the quality of products an organisation delivers to consumers, the critical success
for a business is also about their awareness of the importance of the users and designing
experience to win the competitive advantage. According to Mozota (2003), design
participates in the strategic positioning and becomes a crucial factor in building competitive
advantages. Economy has been transformed into an experience economy (Pine & Gilmore,
1998), and the economy also offers lots of commoditised products and services. Therefore,
the organisations should look for the method to differentiate themselves from the competitors
(Walsh et al., 1992). Firstly, the outstanding in architectural innovations supply a strategic
advantage for business in competition. For example, international tourists are delighted with
the exciting ship design of Granada Hotel located in Antalya which creates an attractiveness
and power for this hotel resort in hospitality competition (Rasnley & Ingram, 2001, p.83).
However, the competitive landscape continues to change, guest’s behaviours, habits and
needs becoming importantly. Achieving loyalty has never been more challenging, especially
in the hospitality industry. To gain a competitive advantage hospitality business such as
hotel needs to be able to innovate guest-centric enhancements across the organisation. In
this case, technology is an effective strategy to win the consumer's experiences. (Skykes,
2008) Thanks to the development of social media, nowadays, customer’s engagement with a
brand across channels (website, mobile platform, support resource, etc.) is increasing
(Lemon & Verhoef, 2016, p.69). According to Barrett (2016), mobile experience currently
profoundly impacts on overall guest's experience. An organisation can deliver an excellent
connection to its guests, and the retention rate will be higher than the one that cannot make
it. Social network can drive customer satisfaction and efficiency by helping consumers
easier to find the answers themselves. CRM Magazine (2013) found that 45% of businesses
offering web or mobile self-service saw the on-site growth traffic and reducing operational
costs. To be a winner in today’s marketplace, the company need to move from merely
“producing and selling” their offerings, to clarify opportunities to design and deliver
compelling experiences for people.

To conclude, an experience will never be the same for every individual. It is essential for an
organisation well prepare for the competitive race in winning excellent customer experience
and make them stand out in the competition. By planning and understanding what
customer's need and surprise them with new experience can help the business achieve its
goal. A company not only needs to meet the customer's expectation but also create a
memorable experience makes them come back.
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