Strategic target customers of food and beverage offerings in full-service hotels: Outside-hotel customers

Abstract

A strategic focus by full-service hotels to attract outside-hotel (i.e., non-hotel) customers significantly improves their operating performance in both the food and beverage (F&B) department and the rooms department. In these aspects, a full-service hotel’s unique gastronomic resources should be considered important attributes for attracting niche gourmet tourists and developing a strategic competitive advantage. Targeting outside-hotel customers can also be beneficial for generating additional cash flow and improving gastronomic brand awareness. Therefore, most full-service hotels should substantially redefine their F&B offerings and target customers, as focusing heavily on in-house guests is not an effective business strategy but rather a waste of costly resources. Full-service hotels should proactively expand their F&B offerings to local residents and compete with independent local F&B premises in various business aspects.