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This descriptive study examined the ranking of the world's top rated hotels in the three leading publications. The ranking were obtained from Conde' Nast Traveler, Euromoney, and Institutional Investor since 1994 to 1996. The top 30 hotels from each publication were selected in order to examine net changes of the ranking, the score, and the percentage of score. The results of this study implied the performance of each hotel in terms of scores and percentages. Finally, the discussion of the importance of the ranking for the top rated hotels will increase the significance of this study for the hotel operators to create marketing strategies.

INTRODUCTION

According to the lodging industry profile prepared by American Hotel & Motel Association, travel and tourism is the world's largest industry producing $3.6 trillion of gross output in 1996. In addition, travel and tourism is the world's largest generator of jobs creating 225 million jobs or one new job every 2.4 seconds. Over the decades, the hotel operators around the world have realized the dramatic growth of the lodging industry. Consequently, they have responded to the environmental influences and changing trends. Accordingly, the competitiveness in the hotel industry has increased among the luxury-level hotels around the globe. To stay competitive, these hotels must offer the best amenities to their guests such as rooms equipped with the latest business equipment, superior service, and loyalty programs at a price that reflects value (Teffi, 1995). Meanwhile, many leading publishers in the hospitality industry have responded to such competition by conducting the surveys asking readers and participants to poll for the hotels' overall performance around the world based on value, location, service, and activities that they experienced there. As a result, the ranking becomes the most significant influence for hotel operators because most of the luxury-level hotels need reputation and positive image to create competitive marketing strategies against their competitors. Significantly, the importance of ranking has made top hotels become more aggressive to improve their performance.

OBJECTIVE

To be competitive in the hospitality market, hotel operators really want their hotels to be in the top position, because the ranking can be used as a marketing tool in order to position themselves in the right segment to compete with their competitors. Being in the luxury market, the hotels have to provide excellent services, products, and values to their customers in order to obtain a score from the poll. Accordingly, this study's objectives are related to how the ranking was determined and whether the top hotels maintain their position and performance.

 These are the objectives of this paper:

• To determine how to develop the hotel's ranking.
• To review the ranking from these publications.
• To determine the top hotels' performance. To discuss the implementation of this study

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methods for this paper were content study and ranking analysis. The content study method involved analyzing articles concerning the competitiveness in the hotel industry. The study was conducted by reading subject headings, abstracts, contents, and conclusions from the leading publications (Table 1).
 
 

For the ranking analysis, the study analyzed the rankings as they appeared in Conde' Nast Traveler, Euromoney, Institutional Investor. Each top rated hotel was analyzed by using ranking from each publication and by combining the three publications' rankings according to the following categories:

• 1994-I 996 ranking
• Net change of ranking
• Net change of score
• Percentage change of score

After reviewing the publications listed in the Table I, the ranking of the top rated hotels was prepared by using questionnaires to determine customer's experience and opinion of the hotels that they visited. There are many reasons for choosing a hotel. Location and quality of service are the most important reasons for choosing a hotel in this study. However, peace and quiet, comfort, and room size also became more important reasons recently. Table 2 shows the ranking of reasons for choosing a hotel in 1994 and 1995.
 
 

According to reasons for choosing a hotel, many top rated hotels have improved their performance and renovated physical building in order to attract customers. By considering location, most top rated hotels are located in the business district, shopping center, and financial institution area. For example, The Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore is located in a prime district, just behind the glitter of Orchard Road, which is the business center. The Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, is located on the island in the heart of the business area, renowned as the top rated hotel for business travelers. The Regent, Hong Kong, is located in Kowloon, primarily a shopping center, business area, and entertainment district, offering unrivaled views of Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong. The Peninsula is located also in the heart of Kowloon and closes to Hong Kong's underground railway system (MTR), the historic Star Ferry & the Kowloon Canton Railway station. The Peninsula provides superb new facilities, with many rooms & suites commanding Hong Kong's most spectacular views. The Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco, located in the heart of downtown of San Francisco near all of the city's base attractions, is one of the best hotels in the world. The Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago is ideally close to business and financial centers and has indoor access to the exclusive 900 North Michigan Avenue Shops, the most popular shopping area. The Four Seasons Hotel in Boston, overlooking the famed Public Garden and Beacon Hill, is within easy reach of every notable business, entertainment and cultural attraction in the city.

Many hotels have emphasized both location advantage and service quality associated with the superior design and decoration of the building. The Hotel Hassler is one of the most popular hotels in Rome. The exquisitely appointed interior combining top luxury with a gracious atmosphere and each of the elegant bedrooms and suites is the distinct style of building. The Hotel Okura is an ideal base for executives requiring special and comprehensive service. Emphasizing excellent accommodations, fabulous cuisine and personal service, the Hotel Okura makes a luxurious home in Tokyo for all visitors. The Pierre, New York, has a distinctive design, superb location, outstanding services, and its reputation as one of the world's finest hotels. The Oriental, Bangkok, was renowned over 120 years for its unique ambiance of elegant style in an exotic Eastern setting on the bank of Chao Phraya, center of Bangkok. The Oriental is one of the world's truly great hotels.

 Since comfort, peace and quiet, and room quality became more important reasons for choosing a hotel, the hotels around the world have responded to these changes. For example, The Regent, Bangkok, has traditional Thai architecture, hand-painted silk ceilings, intricate artwork, an impressively scaled lobby, and a glorious garden. The newly refurbished Regent Bangkok offers exquisite accommodations and gracious hospitality in the middle part of the Bangkok's business core and shopping area. The Berkeley hotel is situated in the fashionable area of Belgravia, a few minutes walk from Hyde Park and the elegant stores of Knightbridge, London. It is renowned for providing guests the charm and service with the new modem comfort. The Connaught, is located between Grosvenor Square and Berkeley Square in a quiet picturesque area of churches, antique shops, and a delightful public garden. The Connaught Hotel, London, uses its advantage in peace and quite to attract customers. Dolder Grand's spectacular location, overlooking Zurich from its peace in the Zurichberg forest, has distinguished the hotel by its private landscape and architecture, and the quality of its facilities.

Only a few hotels are leaders in providing facilities for business travelers. The Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok, consistently was voted as one of the top ten hotels in the world. It is just minutes away from the business hub of Bangkok and provides 24-hour access to the business service to help guests keep business affairs running smoothly. The Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, is one of Malaysia's most elegant hotels, the Shangri-La Hotel offers superb rooms and suites, extensive business and recreational facilities, and an impressive choice of cuisine for dining.

FINDINGS

Euromoney

Euromoney sent out its business travel poll to the people who have responsibility to arrange the business itineraries to their bosses. They were asked to name their bosses' favorite hotels in the countries where they regularly visited. Three points were awarded for the hotel named best in any categories, two points for the second best, and one for the third (Euromoney, 1994). The following table (Table 3) and figure (Figure 1) show the number of top rated hotels and percentage of those hotels based on geographic locations from 1994 to 1996. Europe had the most top rated hotels of any region, followed by Asia and Australia. North America had only one top hotel in the region.
 

The Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, was ranked to be the bosses' favorite hotel from 1994 to 1996. However, the scores received from the poll decreased by 35.5%. On the other hand, the Peninsula, Hong Kong, and Villa Magna, Madrid, were not ranked in the upper position, but they had improved their performance by receiving higher scores than the others. Only 6 out of 30 hotels had improved their ranking and score.

The result of the analysis indicated that the hotels in a high ranking in this publication had not performed well during the last two years. However, they still have a higher average score than the hotels in the lower rank. By using all data from this publication, it becomes clear that the hotels may receive a higher ranking either by improving their performance or by maintaining their performance associated with the lack of improving performance from the others.

Conde' Nast Traveler

This publisher sent the business poll to the 35,000 subscribers who participated in the annual poll based on the reasons why they choose a particular hotel. In this publication, most top rated hotels are located in North America, Asia, and Europe respectively. The number of the top rated hotels was shown in Table 5.
 

In this publication, there is only one hotel from the continent of Australia, the Regent, Sydney.  The Oriental, Bangkok, was ranked in the first place for overall performance by receiving the highest average score (91.6) from 1994 to 1996. However, the winner for each year is not the Oriental. In 1994, the Imperial, Vienna, was voted to be the winner. Two years later, the Regent, Hong Kong, and the Shangri-La, Bangkok, respectively won the first place. By considering the net change of scores and ranking, the Imperial, Vienna, which won the first place in 1994 was the hotel in lowest position (-8.9) in the net change of score category. On the other hand, the Windsor Court, New Orleans, received the highest net change of score (6.3). Half of the hotels in this ranking had not improved their scores.

The results of the analysis indicated that the top rated hotels in this publication could maintain their ranking and scores because the net change of both scores and ranking were close to zero. Meanwhile, some hotels could not maintain their competitiveness in the market; as a result, they lost their ranking and scores.

Institutional Investor

To find the best hotels in the world, the publisher asked more than 100 global bankers to name the best places to stay on the international banking circuit. Participants ranked each hotel on a scale of 1 to 100, using their own criteria. However, respondents were limited to review only the hotels they had visited recently. Table 7 shows the number of leading hotels in each region associated with Figure 3 presenting the percentage of hotels in each region.
 

North America was the biggest region for the top rated hotels in this publication from 1994 to 1996. However, Asia and Europe were still the big regions for the top rated hotels.  The Oriental lost its leading position in 1996 to the Bel-Air, Los Angeles; however, the Oriental retained the first place in the overall performance (91.1). The highest score (91.9) was shown in 1995 for The Oriental. The increase of scores likely indicated that global bankers continued to raise their expectations. Gert Prantner, managing director of Vier Jahreszeiten, said that "In the race for quality, there is no finish line." His belief that the quality of world's best hotels was not decreased due to the declining of the score, but rather he had a confidence that it was because most customers expected higher quality from the hotels. Most of the hotels in this publication have improved and maintained their quality and performance because the net change of scores was close to zero. The Four Seasons, Boston, might be the best hotel who gained the most positive difference in the net positive change of ranking, +27, and the most positive change in score changing, 7.2. Only 9 out of 30 hotels received a negative net change of score, and all nine hotels had not improved their ranking.

 Here are some findings from the ranking analysis:

1.  There are only four hotels appearing in all three publications:

• Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
• The Oriental, Bangkok
• Shangri-La, Singapore
• The Peninsula, Hong Kong

3.   It is true that a high scores is not a guarantee for being in the upper level of the ranking, because if the competitors gain higher scores, the ranking for such particular hotels will be lower than the competitor.

4.  The lower score may not reflect the decreasing of the quality in one particular hotel, but it may reflect the higher expectation from customer which affects the decreasing or increasing of those scores.

Finally, most of the top rated hotels have improved their performances by receiving higher scores; however, they may not be ranked in a higher position due to the competitiveness in the top rated hotel category. Most customers have a higher expectation of the quality, value, and satisfaction from these hotels. Occasionally, the hotels might improve their performances, but they received a lower score and ranking than they expected because the external influences and changes also affect the ranking and score. In addition, high customer expectation, economic problems, high competitiveness, and different attitude from various participants can generate a difference and a change of ranking.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

For the top hotels around the world, the ranking is more significant for them as a marketing tool to position them in the right segment. The leading hotel companies attempt to establish a unique market position in an effort to boost market share (Dev, Morgan, & Shoemaker 1995). By using the implication of these rankings, the upscale hotels can ensure the expensive room rates for which the travelers are willing to pay when they want to stay in the high ranked hotels. In addition, hotels can offer a luxury-level package of services and amenities to luxury-level customers. Finally, the implication of the ranking is that the hotel can build its image and positively increase the customer's perception of the property. Therefore, the ranking is more important for the upscale hotels than for mid-market and economy properties.

Although this study, all three publications have different style of processing polls and producing rankings, they all tried to reach the same objective: to rank the world's best hotels. What we can conclude from these rankings is that different participants and styles were responsible for the variety of results. For example, Euromoney 's participants were secretaries of top executives who knew the boss's favorite hotels and airlines. In addition, because Eurnmoney is published in Europe, the participants in the poll were mainly European. Consequently, most of the top rated hotels listed in this publication, were located in the European region (Table 3).
Meanwhile, about 35,000 subscribers were the participants of the poll arranged by Conde' Nast Traveler. Most of people who subscribed this publication could be the frequent traveler who loves to travel around the world including the United States. Moreover, that Conde' Nast Traveler is published and sold in the United States; consequently, most of the top rated hotels were located in North America region (Table 5). Finally, more than I 00 global bankers were the participants of Institutional Investor. Global bankers, who travel internationally, selected their favorite hotels based on their experience. The ranking in this publication was conducted globally not based on the one specific region, so the output becomes more reliable.

REFERENCES

Bailey, Murry. (1995). Hong Kong. International Tourism Report, 4, 4-21.

CondetNast Traveler. (1994, November). Readers1 Choice 1994 Awards, pp.226-227.

Conde'Nast Traveler. (1995, November). Readerst Choice 1995 Awards, pp.242-243.

Conde Nast Traveler. (1996, November) Readers' Choice 199 Awards, pp.206-207.

Dev, C.S., Morgan, M.S., and Shoemaker, 5. (1995, December). A positioning analysis of hotel brands. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, pp.48-55.

Euromoney. (1994, May). Where they go and how they get there, pp.154-155.

Euromoney. (1995, April). The world's best, pp.176-177.

Euromoney. (1996, April). Business travel poll.

Hotel and Motel Management. (1994, September). The top 100 hotel companies, pp.18-19.

Institutional Investor. (1994, September). The top 100, pp.172-173.

Institutional Investor. (1995, October). The top 100, pp.300-301.

Institutional Investor. (1996, September). The top 100, pp.172-173.

Lodging Industry Profile. (1995). Most successful year in u.s. lodging history. [http://www.aham.com/lodpro.htm I].

Teff, Marianne. (1995). In the market for luxury. Hotelier, 7(2), 24-26. Wagner, Grace. (1994). How hotels rate. Lodging Hospitality, 50(7), 8.
 
 

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