Business strategy, market orientation and sales growth in hotel industry of ancient Cities in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The hotel industry is a decisive player in promoting tourism industry in any country. Incubating market centrism has received particular attention in the modern business world as a mode of reaping higher business performances. Improving the marketoriented philosophy and determining strategic orientation has become a critical management issue particularly in service driven firms. This paper attempts to determine the relationships between different types of business strategies, market orientation, and sales growth. The study was designed on the questions of whether different business strategies could influence on market orientation and then make influence on sales performances of hotels in the ancient cities in Sri Lanka. Data were collected from 43 hotels and both descriptive and inferential techniques were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the degree of market orientation differs significantly (p<0.05) based on the business strategy of hotels and also market orientation has a significant positive relationship with sales performances. The majority of hotels' business strategy was to offer services at lower prices, which raises the question of the long-term sustainability of the industry. The study strongly suggests that the hotels should have a bold strategic move from offering low cost services to offering innovative services ahead of competitors and also maintain a higher degree of market orientation, through customer orientation, competitor orientation and interfunctional coordination.

Influences of Behavioral Intention to Engage in Environmental Accounting Practices for Corporate Sustainability: Managerial Perspectives from a Developing Country

“…This is reflected in the conservation of natural habitats in 15 National Parks and the Strict Nature Reserve, which account for 13% of the landmass in the country [8]. In addition, the declaration of eight World Heritage Sites related to Buddhism by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provides further evidence of environmental values in Sri Lanka [38].…”

Impact of Organizational Citizenship Behavior on Perceived Service Quality in Hotel Industry

“…However, due to the dynamic nature of tourism, many changes are taking place in the industry. The changing the political and economic stability after ending 30 years long war has flashed a green light for the tourism industry to grow very faster than earlier (Jayawardhana, Silva & Athauda, 2013). The government of Sri Lanka has paid attention to make new avenues such as destination planning, tourism gateway towns and online awareness campaigns open for the development of tourism sector (Sri Lanka Tourism strategic plan 2017-2020).…”

“…Among these challenges, increasing competition among rivalry firms, increasing trend of the arrival of budget travelers, and global economic downturn are very notable in the global context (Semasinghe, 2016). In the Sri Lankan context, the advent of new technology, new communication, and entering new competitors in the sector are identified as key challenges emerged in the service industry (Jayawardhana, Silva and Athauda, 2013). The competition has forced hotels to find ways and means to retain current customers and attract new customers (Tsaur and Lin, 2004).…”

Firm-Specific and Contextual Determinants of Sri Lankan Corporate Hotel Performance

“…With the exponential growth in the number of visitor arrivals and burgeoning foreign exchange income, the tourism industry is the most dynamic and robust sector of the Sri Lankan economy. A satisfactory political and economic stability, which was sustained in the country following the end of 30 years' tragic war in 2009, coupled with country's growing reputation has triggered the tourism industry to grow at a rate which has never been attained in the history (Jayawardhana et al, 2015;Kularatne et al, 2018). According to the Annual Statistical Reports (2017) of Sri Lanka tourism developing authority (SLTDA), a government organization, the total number of tourists' arrival in 2017 was nearly 2.12 million.…”