UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MODENA E REGGIO EMILIA

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UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MODENA E REGGIO EMILIA

Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali

Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Languages for Communication in International Enterprises and Organizations

DISSERTAZIONE FINALE

The language of Luxury hotel websites in a linguistic and marketing perspective.

A contrastive analysis (Italian-English)

Relatore:

Giuliana Diani

Correlatore:

Giovanni Bonifati

Candidato:

Giulia Solito

Anno Accademico: 2018/2019

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RINGRAZIAMENTI

Alla mia famiglia, perché mi avete insegnato il senso del sacrificio, l’importanza della perseveranza, l’inutilità di un lamento, l’utilità di un rimprovero, la bellezza delle conquiste meritate, il valore delle idee.

Il vostro supporto e la vostra fiducia, in virtù dell’amore che mi avete donato, sono il motivo per cui festeggiamo questo traguardo, insieme.

Alle amicizie, vecchie e nuove, vicine e lontane, ma vere: quelle che ti lasciano qualcosa, sia anche solo un sorriso durante la giornata. Grazie per aver dato un valore alla spensieratezza e grazie per il vostro affetto e supporto spontanei.

Ai miei insegnanti, dal primo all’ultimo, per la fierezza con cui portate avanti la vostra missione, per il valore che date alla cultura. Il mio percorso scolastico è giunto al termine, ma ricorderò per sempre i vostri insegnamenti.

Alle città che mi hanno accolta in questi cinque anni, perché oltre ad avermi aperto le proprie porte, mi hanno aperto la mente. Torino, Düsseldorf, Modena, Bergen, grazie per avermi mostrato le vostre bellezze e il pregio della diversità; per avermi fatta sentire sempre a casa, regalandomi il lusso di potermi considerare cittadina del mondo.

Alla mia terra, meravigliosa Puglia, perché sentirsi cittadini del mondo è bello, ma lo è altrettanto la fierezza delle proprie radici, nonché la nostalgia di esservi lontani.

In ultimo, a me.

Alla mia ambizione, che mi ha sempre spinta a sognare in grande.

Alla mia motivazione e caparbietà, perché hanno trasformato i sogni in traguardi.

Alla passione che metto in ciò che faccio, che mi mette costantemente in competizione con me stessa, piuttosto che con gli altri.

Al mio futuro. Che sia prospero e soddisfacente quanto lo è stato il mio passato fino a qui.

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Questa tesi si propone di analizzare la comunicazione web nell’ambito dell’ospitalità di lusso, in una prospettiva linguistica e di marketing. In particolare, l’analisi linguistica presenta una natura contrastiva, finalizzata a evidenziare similitudini e differenze tra siti web di strutture italiane da un lato e anglofone dall’altro. A tal proposito, dopo aver fornito una visione globale del contesto turistico internazionale odierno, con particolare attenzione all’ospitalità, si è proceduto con lo studio della comunicazione alberghiera, partendo da un approccio più generale per poi giungere al fulcro della presente analisi: la comunicazione dei siti web ufficiali degli alberghi di lusso. In questa fase il supporto di basi teoriche sulla linguistica del testo ha permesso di giustificare i risultati ottenuti nelle fasi successive. Suddette teorie sono state applicate al contesto in oggetto, permettendone un’analisi più approfondita. Il confronto tra strutture alberghiere si è basato, invece, sulla compilazione di due corpora – il LUXEN, in lingua inglese e il LUXIT, in italiano. Tale metodologia, supportata dall’impiego del software AntConc, ha permesso di rilevare importanti dati quantitativi, come la ricorrenza di determinate voci all’interno di una lista di parole chiave, successivamente analizzate in termini di concordanza e contesti di utilizzo. I valori registrati si sono dimostrati rilevanti al fine di misurare il livello di variazione lessicale presente all’interno dei due corpora. Una volta analizzati separatamente, i due corpora sono stati trattati in un’ottica contrastiva e adottando approccio più a tutto tondo, che tenesse conto anche di elementi grafici e stilistici.

L’obiettivo finale è di individuare le principali caratteristiche di questo peculiare genere testuale, alla ricerca di eventuali differenze tra le due lingue veicolari. È emerso, in particolare, il ricorso ad una lingua valutativa, volta alla persuasione tramite la stimolazione di emozioni. Tale risultato è stato poi valutato in un’ottica di web marketing, al fine di individuare le principali strategie messe in atto dagli alberghi di lusso per migliorarne i risultati economici attraverso una comunicazione web efficace e focalizzata sull’utilizzo di specifiche keywords per raggiungere i relativi mercati di interesse.

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5 The scope of the present research is to analyze website discourse in the domain of luxury hospitality in a linguistic and marketing perspective. Specifically, the linguistic analysis adopted a contrastive approach aimed at highlighting similarities and differences between corporate websites of Italian and Anglophone lodging facilities. In this regard, after having provided an overview over today’s international touristic context, with specific attention to hospitality, a study of the communication within this industry was carried out, starting from a more comprehensive approach to gradually delve into the core of the present research:

luxury hotels’ website communication. In this phase, the support of theoretical background on discourse and text linguistics has enabled to justify the results registered in the following phases. The said theories were applied to the context at hand, allowing for a more thorough analysis. The creation of two corpora – the LUXEN in English and the LUXIT in Italian – was the core of the comparison among the hotels under consideration. This methodology, supported by the AntConc software, has led to significative quantitative data, such as the frequency of particular words – which were input within a list of keywords and subsequently analyzed in terms of concordance and context. The values registered proved relevant to measure the degree of lexical variation in the two corpora.

These, once analyzed separately, were looked at in a contrastive perspective and by adopting a more comprehensive approach that would take into account graphic and stylist elements as well.

The ultimate purpose was to identify the main characteristics of this specific genre, searching for potential differences between the two languages under discussion.

In particular, the recourse to a highly evaluative language emerged, aimed at persuading through the stimulation of emotions. This result was further evaluated from a web marketing perspective, with the goal of identifying the main strategies employed by luxury hotels in order to improve their economic performances, this being achieved by means of an efficient web communication, focused on specific keywords to better reach target markets.

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Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die Web-Kommunikation im Bereich der Luxushotellerie aus einer sprachwissenschaftlichen und Marketing-Perspektive zu analysieren.

Insbesondere hat die linguistische Analyse einen kontrastierenden Charakter, der darauf abzielt, Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede zwischen italienisch- und englischsprachigen Webseiten hervorzuheben. In dieser Hinsicht, nachdem eine globale Vision des heutigen internationalen Tourismuskontextes erstellt wurde, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Hotellerie, wurde die Untersuchung der Hotelkommunikation durchgeführt, die von einem allgemeinen Ansatz ausging und dann zum Kern dieser Analyse gelangte: die Sprache von Luxushotels Webseiten. In dieser Phase wurde durch die Unterstützung von theoretischen sprachwissenschaftlichen Grundlagen ermöglicht, die in den folgenden Phasen erzielten Ergebnisse zu rechtfertigen. Diese Theorien wurden auf den betreffenden Kontext angewandt, was eine detailliertere Analyse ermöglicht. Der Vergleich zwischen den Hotels stützte sich auf die Zusammenstellung von zwei Korpora – LUXEN und LUXIT. Diese Methodik, die durch den Einsatz der Software AntConc unterstützt wurde, ermöglichte es, quantitative Daten zu sammeln, wie z.B. das Wiederauftreten bestimmter Begriffe innerhalb einer Liste von Schlüsselwörtern, die anschließend im Hinblick auf Konkordanz und Kontext analysiert wurden.

Das Niveau der lexikalischen Variation innerhalb der beiden Korpora wurde auch bestimmt. Nachdem sie getrennt analysiert wurden, wurden die Korpora aus einem kontrastierenden und umfassenderen Blickwinkel behandelt.

Das Endziel besteht darin, die Hauptmerkmale dieser Textgattung zu identifizieren und nach Unterschieden zwischen den beiden Sprachen zu suchen.

Insbesondere stellte sich der Gebrauch einer bewertenden Sprache heraus, die durch die Anregung von Emotionen auf die Überzeugungskraft abzielt. Dieses Ergebnis wurde dann aus der Perspektive des Web-Marketings ausgewertet, mit dem Ziel, die wichtigsten Strategien zu identifizieren, die Luxushotels zur Verbesserung ihrer wirtschaftlichen Ergebnisse umsetzen. Dies wurde durch eine effiziente Web-Kommunikation erreicht, die durch die Verwendung spezifischer Schlüsselwörter relevante Märkte von Interesse erreicht.

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7 2. Introduction to the tourism industry

The Tourism industry has progressively become a more and more important global phenomenon, worth representing nowadays a relevant source of profits for most nations. As a matter of fact, it moves consistent amounts in monetary terms, which make it a profitable sector to invest in, especially for new and emerging economies. According to the 2019 report on International Tourism Highlights by the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization), the global tourism industry is growing at a faster pace compared to other industries and is proving to be a strong and resilient sector, also given the result registered in 2018, amounting to an overall value of $1.7 trillion.¹ Such outcome refers to the export earnings that were generated by tourism in the last year. To provide further evidence of this, the report operates a comparison between international tourism receipts and world GDP² (expressed in % change). As a matter of fact, with the exclusion of the year 2016, from 2011 onwards the tourism industry has been registering a faster growth than the world economy. In particular, in 2017 and 2018 revenues from visitor spending have shown an increase of respectively 5.2% and 4.4% compared to a world’s GDP growth rate of 3.8% in 2017 and 3.6% in 2018. To go more into detail with data, international tourist arrivals and tourism receipts have rocketed from 1995 to 2018. Specifically, the value of tourism receipts expressed in USD billion has more than tripled in the period concerned, rising from 400 to 1451 billion.

In the words of Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General for the UNWTO, these results are extremely positive and contribute to making the tourism industry “a true global force for economic growth and development, driving the creation of more and better jobs and serving as catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship.

In short, tourism is helping build better lives for millions of individuals and transforming whole communities”. An emblematic example of emerging economy taking advantage of consistent investments in tourism is represented by the Asia- Pacific region, which has undergone a notable expansion in tourist spending, with a 7% increase over time.

A spread of this kind, as experienced by the tourism industry, does not come by chance and therefore needs some deeper analysis in order to seek for the reasons for such an important development. In this perspective, it is relevant to mention

1 https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284421152

2 GDP is the acronym for Gross Domestic Product, which indicates the total market value resulting from all the final goods and services produced over a certain period of time, generally a year. I can be calculated per capita, that is per every single economy, or globally, to identify the world’s economic value.

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the considerable impact exerted by globalization, a continuing process of innovation and integration that the world society has undergone particularly since the second half of the XX century. Globalization has led to a completely new

‘Weltanschauung’, also given its all-encompassing value. Hence, a perfect overview of what such term is referred to must take into account the several spheres of human life and activity to which globalization may be applied. Indeed, when mentioning this general word, referral to a specific field is not being made, as it affects every branch of human activity that may be integrated at worldwide level. It becomes evident that an exact and unique definition thereof is not possible, also in consideration of the plurality of expert voices that have spoken out about the subject matter at hand. A general approach considers globalization to imply the cooperation of people across different nations, aimed at giving birth to a new global society in which every country has been integrated and disposes of similar means to reach mutual objectives. Extremely important for this interaction are international trade and foreign direct investment, therefore it is possible to refer more specifically to economic globalization. However, limiting oneself to consider these two elements enough to talk about a globalized world, could lead to the conclusion that globalization is far from being a new trend.

Indeed, world’s history has been long characterized by the trade of goods and services, even at great distances: Columbus expedition to America has represented a real breakthrough in global interaction and trade, which has then become more and more evident during the Industrial Revolution and afterwards. However, it is worth mentioning the major peculiarity of trade at those times, namely the fact that historically international trade has been in the hands of rich, colonizing countries that aimed at expanding their power through these contacts, which is why we cannot really speak about globalization, but rather about colonization.

Moreover, the reason why the term ‘globalization’ has only been introduced in recent times is that it implies the whole process of global interaction to be easier, faster and cheaper. Technological innovation widely contributes to this result, making it possible to reach every corner of the world in a mouse click. The advent of the Internet in the second half of the XX century, for instance, has been of paramount importance inasmuch, since then, communication and the sharing of information and knowledge ceased to be exclusively based on face to face interaction. For this reason, one could say that physical propinquity has been substituted by electronic propinquity. Marshall McLuhan introduced the concept of “global village” to mean that we are living in a new era, namely the electronic era, in which thanks to technology people all over the world are interconnected in such a way to remind the life in a small village.

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9 Furthermore, another significative change has been allowed by innovations in transportation, which revolutionized the way that trade occurs, thus making it cost-effective and quicker.

Thomas Friedman, New York Times’s journalist, has drawn up a list of ten world

“flatteners”, namely factors that have contributed to the process of making the world flat.³ Some of them are mainly related to the ways that a business activity may be organized, relying on both domestic and foreign factors of production;

these include outsourcing, off-shoring, open-sourcing, insourcing. Finally, there are reasons that stress the point on the importance of finding new means to share information worldwide, such as work-flow software or Google, given its ability to make “big portions of the available world’s knowledge retrievable by anyone”.⁴ According to Friedman, a notable flattening factor related to the WWW was represented by the development of a mainstream Web browser by Netscape in 1995, which allowed information archived on the Internet to be displayed on computer screens, enabling this way a transition from a computer-based to an Internet-based approach.

All these elements combined result in a world where physical distance is no longer an issue but rather an interesting challenge that may be easily – and today also at more affordable prices than before – overcome. The outcome is a constant increase in the volume of world trade, which has mainly taken place during the second half of the 20th century and still continues today. After World War II, indeed, many countries started to adopt international trade reforms and to create international agreements to facilitate global interaction; they have also tried to reduce trade barriers. Such increase in the volumes of trade resulted in the need for some level of coordination, made possible thanks to organizations like the World Trade Organization and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Hereinafter, the world has witnessed the creation of unions like the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), among Mexico, USA and Canada, or the European Union, to cite some of the most important.

Such digression on globalization was fundamental to explain how tourism was affected by it. Since then, the touristic sector has experienced a boom at worldwide level. As pointed out by Wall and Mathieson (2005), tourism experienced two phases so far: a first phase saw tourism restricted to an elite of people able to afford to travel, mostly because they had both the time and the money to do so; in more recent rimes, a series of factors proved crucial to the enhancement of tourism rates worldwide, and this involves, in particular, higher incomes, better mobility

3 Poppi 2012: 17-19

4 Ibid.: 19

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and increased leisure.⁵ Along parallel lines, internal improvements within the tourism industry have been detected both as a consequence of and, potentially, also as boasting factors for the development of tourism. These are to include, for instance, improvements in transportation, granting a wider offer in transfer possibilities and at more affordable prices, improvements in accommodation, with the proliferation of lodging facilities categorized, among other things, by typology and price range. In general terms, the diversification of the travel offer is a favorable element, allowing tourists to sort their preferred formula among several alternatives to meet their needs and desires. In this regard, travel agencies and tour operators now represent a valid resource for travelers wishing for all- inclusive packages that arrange for them the best itineraries in the respect of a specific budget and travel preferences.⁶

The data published by the UNWTO are explicative thereof. As a matter of fact, in addition to the more general results achieved by tourism internationally in terms of monetary flows and change rates regarding overall earnings and arrivals, further interesting data were collected in the report, pointing out some of the factors that triggered the positive trend recorded in the latest years. First of all, a growth rate of 3.6% was registered in 2018 for the world GDP, which together with low interest rates and moderate exchange rate movements, contributed to rendering the economic environment more prosperous. Besides this all- encompassing consideration on the world’s economy, growth in the area of interest of the present research was driven by some favorable conditions directly linked to tourism flows. Moreover, there seems to be a general understanding on how crucial more efficient and quicker air travel was in the overall tourism boom.

A general increase in air travel was detected, resulting in a higher demand for the means of transportation by air and, consequently, in the redoubling of the number of city pairs connected by air, thus making once remote world areas way more accessible. According to IATA, the International Air Transport Association, international passenger traffic registered an increase of 6% – measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs). Air travel appears to be the preferred means of transportation for travelers, with a share of 58% registered in 2008, considerably increased compared to the year 2000, when 46% of the travels occurred by air.

Among the other travel possibilities, land transport saw a fall from 49% to 39%

between 2000 and 2018. Nowadays, travelers are encouraged to travel by air also by lower flight prices that make transfers more affordable. Moreover, the attraction for more exotic and, in general, for overseas destinations makes the

5 Wall-Mathieson 2005: 1

6 Ibidem

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11 choice of air transport almost immediate.

Parallel to the improvements reached in the sphere of transportation, State bureaucracy has undergone a process of visa facilitation, by progressively decreasing the number of world citizens that need a visa for travelling or by rendering the whole process of application much easier. In this perspective, technological innovations and the Internet made it possible to carry out the visa procedure also electronically. Further online services make it possible for users to complete bookings, from the selection of the accommodation facility to that of excursions and activities of any sort. In addition to this, an overall improvement in the quality of travelling has surely contributed to rendering travels a more desirable experience. On a parallel line, consistent improvements in the standards of living in terms of disposable income within the household, made it possible for individuals to spend their off-work days on holiday. In this regard, for the purpose of identifying triggering factors to the tourism boom, it is relevant to mention the latest demographic trends, highlighting the presence of smaller family units and a higher employment rate of women to grant an additional salary. It goes without saying that both factors contribute to a change in the way the disposable income is distributed within the household, enabling to devote a portion of it to travelling. With this in mind, positive results are achieved in terms of international tourism expenditure, reaching in 2018 an overall value of 1396 billion in USD, compared to the 860 billion reached in 2009. In terms of means expenditure per trip the trend is mostly stable, recording slight improvements since 2009 but also a reduction compared to the peak of 1100 USD per trip recorded in 2014. In general, it is possible to state that broad societal improvements have also affected the tourism branch, enabling more and more people to travel for pleasure.

Ever-changing tourism trends need a further consideration, as they provide an insight over travelers’ preferences. As a consequence, they affect the way in which companies operating in the tourism industry communicate their offering to them.

The most notable change in tourism over the latest years is affected by a broader societal change involving the commitment of States to make the world more sustainable. As a consequence, tourism proves a fertile ground for the implementation of sustainable policies. According to the UNWTO report,

“Sustainability and competitiveness go hand in hand as destinations and businesses can become more competitive through the efficient use of resources, the promotion of biodiversity conservation and actions to tackle climate change.”.

As a matter of fact, the totality of UNWTO member States has started a tourism policy with an objective of better sustainability. In particular, there appears to be a

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compelling need for States to enhance resource efficiency. Rising awareness on sustainability has also affected travel trends and travelers’ choices, who appear more responsible and aware of how damaging environmental changes result.

The report goes further to mention a list of detected consumer travel trends.

Preferences range from individuals who travel ‘to change’, in a perspective of experiencing the authentic life of locals, to those who seek for engagement in the network of social medias, hence constantly at the search for ‘Instagramable’

moments to show off. Such a behavior directly affects also the choice of destinations and experiences to make. Notwithstanding, it is relevant to mention the great contribution given to the tourism industry in its entirety by travel influencers, in that they anticipate travel trends and often raise awareness on more remote destinations. In addition to this, there is still a positive trend regarding active tourism and its close relation to the enjoyment of leading a healthy lifestyle.

This might also include wellness holidays spent in thermal destinations aiming at body and mind regeneration. Societal changes proved to affect travel trends as well. The increase in the share of single households leads to a consequent increase in solo travels. Along similar lines, longer life expectancy and the presence of a more aged population led to a positive trend for multigenerational travels.

In general terms, the report points out that leisure travels are the main purpose for travelling, representing 56% of visits’ purposes. Additionally, VFR (visiting friends and relatives), health and religion purposes cover a 27% share, particularly relevant in the Middle East. On the other hand, 14% of visitors travels for business or professional reasons.

In addition to behavioral tourism trends that drive individuals in the way they travel, together with indicating their travel expectations and intentions, particular destinations register such positive results that it is possible to consider them as trends. In consideration of the purpose of the present research, which specifically looks at luxury hotel websites located in Italy and in the English-speaking world (in this case hotels in UK and USA were considered) and analyses them in a contrastive perspective, it might be relevant to look closer at the results achieved by the said destinations and how they ranked in comparison with the other world nations. A list of the top 2019 destinations was published by the report International Tourism highlights. According to the results achieved in terms of share of total arrivals, the absolute most visited nation was France, registering 89 million arrivals and an improvement in performance of 3% compared to the previous year. Following, Spain accounted for 83 million arrivals, confirming the positive outcome of 2018. The United States of America placed themselves 3^rd in the overall ranking and registered 80 million arrivals with an improvement of 4%. Further

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13 down the list, China welcomed 63 million travelers, immediately followed by Italy – 5^th in the top destination list with its 62 million visitors. Positive is also Italy’s performance in comparison with the previous year, as evidenced by the 7%

increase reached in the overall arrivals’ value. The most notable improvement in tourism performance is represented by Turkey, with well 22% increase in arrivals compared to 2018, worth the 6^th place in the ranking. Following, the other top 10 destinations of 2019 were Mexico (41 million arrivals), Germany (39 million arrivals), Thailand (38 million arrivals) and United Kingdom (36 million arrivals).

In the particular case of the United Kingdom, the yet positive result achieved in 2019 does not prove completely satisfying, given its under-performance in comparison to 2018. Indeed, a reduction of -4% in the overall number of arrivals was registered. Arrivals are not the only key performance indicators in the case of tourism. As a matter of fact, in consideration of the relevant role played by this industry in the overall economic framework of a nation, it seems reasonable to also mention the results achieved by the leading destinations in terms of earnings.

In broader terms, as at 2017, tourism appears the world’s third largest export category, following important industries like chemicals and fuels. Such a result implies that consistent amounts of money circulate around this sector. The WTO (World Trade Organization) published earnings’ data for the best performing product categories. In this regard, international tourism has mobilized 1586 billion in 2017, with an even better performance in 2018, where further 121 billion were accounted for in export revenues. Tourism, according to the UNWTO report, is a crucial component for most economies, especially emerging or under-performing ones, given its ability to “reduce trade deficits and to compensate for weaker export revenues from other goods and services”.⁷ Top earners in 2019 in terms of total tourism receipts were the United States of America (214 USD billion), Spain (74 USD billion) and France (67 USD billion). Immediately following, Thailand made a good performance worth 63 USD billion. 4^th in the ranking, the United Kingdom accounted for 52 USD billion, whereas Italy earned 49 USD billion. To complete the top 10, Australia (45 USD billion), Germany (43 USD billion), Japan (41 USD billion) and China (40 USD billion).

Overall, Europe welcomed 710 million tourists in 2019, earning USD 570 billion.

Such numbers are indicative of an excellent performance which grants Europe half of the world’s international arrivals, while the four remaining continents share the other half of total international arrivals. Within this second half, Asia and the Pacific stands out with 25% of total incomings. Similarly, also in terms of earnings

7 UNWTO, International Tourism Highlights, 2019 Edition

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Europe does notably better than the rest of the world, representing 39% of total tourism receipts, followed by Asia and the Pacific with 30% and the Americas with a share of 23%. Top European performers were Southern Europe destinations, accounting for the highest growth shares in comparison to 2018 (+8% in arrivals and +7% in earnings). On the other hand, Northern Europe, within which the United Kingdom features as well, recorded rather flat or variable outcomes.

The Americas accounted for 216 billion visitors and USD 334 billion earnings.

North America, in particular, saw an increase of 4% in arrivals compared to 2018 but showed no improvement in terms of tourism receipts.

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15 3. Insight into the hospitality sector

The excellent results that the tourism industry continues to achieve have surely had a positive effect on hospitality in its entirety. It is important to note that, even though a broader overview on the latest tourism trends was necessary, the world of hotellerie is a separate, parallel one, which does not always imply the provision of services addressed to tourists. Indeed, especially when dealing with high-end lodging facilities, the services they offer might also be purchased by locals willing to take a moment to enjoy some spare time in the comfort of an exclusive location.

This might involve having a meal at a renowned dining facility or purchasing a spa service, but also holding an event at the property. Therefore, it proves paramount to define hospitality and what it implies. First of all, the word

“hospitality” was first recorded in the late Middle English. Its origin suggests that it derives from the Old French hospitalite and from the Latin hospitalitas and hospitalis, ‘hospitable’. The word root is the latin hospes, meaning ‘stranger’, ‘host’.⁸ Furthermore, the said term shares the same root as hostis, which still denotes a stranger, but with a negative connotation that makes it a threat, an enemy.

Hospitality marks the relationship between host and guest, with the former being the person who welcomes the visitor or stranger. In light of what suggested by Lynch et al. in Theorizing Hospitality, the concept of hospitality also entails a metaphor, together with the related metaphors of hosts and guests, where the leading idea conveyed is that of “belonging and comfort, protection and inclusion, difference and strangeness, violence and exclusion within everyday encounters between people, objects and places”.⁹ Philosopher Jacques Derrida had also theorized a philosophy of hospitality, concluding that absolute hospitality represents an enigma. The impossibility of unconditional hospitality is represented by the necessity of a double commitment from both host and guest.

On the one hand, the host should welcome the guest at no conditions and make him a gift of his hospitable manner, without knowing the “other” and by simply committing an act of faith. On the other hand, the guest should welcome the possibility of being changed by this gift and should keep away any parasite intention. In the words of Derrida “The very precondition of hospitality may require that, in some ways, both the host and the guest accept, in different ways, the uncomfortable and sometimes painful possibility of being changed by the

8 Cf. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries s.v. hospitality

9 Lynch et al. 2011: 12

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other”.¹⁰ If Derrida’s philosophy of hospitality is directly related to the concept of unconditionality, it goes without saying that this is not applicable to the hospitality industry, given its commercial nature in light of which hospitality is only granted in exchange for money. As a matter of fact, while historically such services were mainly provided by a host out of goodwill, hence as a charitable action aimed at offering shelter and help to individuals in need – Derrida’s unconditional hospitality – in a more contemporary framework, the hospitality industry came to generally refer to the provision of housing services to paying customers.¹¹ Notwithstanding, regardless its commercial character, it is undeniable how important it is for a business operating in the said industry, to demonstrate kindness, openness, friendliness toward the “other”, identified in a guest the host knows very little about. In this regard, the concept of hospitality as an act of commitment towards the guest might be applicable also to the hospitality industry, where businesses operate within the broader sphere of the service industry to provide visitors with a range of offers aimed at their satisfaction, at meeting their needs, at making them feel at home. With this in mind, it is possible to accept Derrida’s statement in defining hospitality as a “true gift”, as “an act of generosity experienced by the ‘guest’, which turns a stranger into a friend for a limited period of time”.¹²

A more technical definition of the concept at hand is provided by Xotels.com, which points out that the hospitality industry is “part of the service industry and is comprised of 5 major sub-sectors which include lodging service, food and beverage service, events, tourism & transportation”. The companies operating in the said industry are, first of all, accommodation facilities, such as hotels, resorts, B&B and the like, which might simply offer a place to stay overnight or, as anticipated, to this a range of related services might be added. Along with lodging facilities, companies offering food and drink services fall under the category of hospitality, together with an extensive range of events’ services that go from the planning of weddings to that of private parties, from small business meetings to conferences. As evidenced by the above-mentioned definition, the tourism sector is a branch of hospitality, and the two do not represent the same thing, but rather parallel concepts which might in some cases overlap. According to Wall and Mathieson (2005), “tourism is the temporary movement of people to destinations outside their normal places of work and residence, the activities undertaken

10 O’Gorman 2006: 50-6; available at link

https://pureapps2.hw.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/4162817/Jacques_Derrida_s_philosophy_of_hospitality.p df

11 Cf. Xotels.com s.v. hospitality industry

12 O’Gorman 2006: 50-6

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17 during their stay in those destinations, and the facilities created and services provided to cater to their needs”.¹³ The two authors go further and provide the worldwide accepted technical definition of tourism, as emerged by the Tourism Satellite Account¹⁴, to comprise “the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited”.¹⁵ As a matter of fact, the word tourism is technically preceded by international, in that the consumption of tourism services is always out of the home place. Following the above-mentioned definition of hospitality as the provision of services that include accommodation, food and beverage, transportation and leisure activities, it emerges that every tourism activity includes the partake of a hospitality service. Hence, the world of hospitality came to build a whole commercial system, an economic activity that consists in the provision of hosting and entertaining services to paying guests who are not necessarily out of their living location. The hospitality industry is much broader in that it includes a range of services related to the enjoyment of spare time – hence leisure activities – that are not simply addressed to foreigner visitors but come to include also locals.¹⁶

In consideration of its commercial nature, it is relevant to note that, alongside the consistent growth of tourism, also the hospitality industry recorded ever- improving results in the last years. For the purpose of the present research, the focus will be on the lodging branch of the broader hospitality industry.

The proliferation of accommodation facilities was noted by a report published by Zion Market research, according to which “the global hotels market was valued at approximately USD 147.57 billion in 2018 and is expected to generate around USD 211.54 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of around 4.6% between 2019 and 2026”.¹⁷ Such results have led to an increase of competition, where new businesses are constantly started, while the existing ones that do not manage to overcome the threats posed by the market collapse and are hence forced to run out of business.

Guests are more and more demanding, and standards need to be maintained high

13 Wall and Mathieson 2005: 1

14 “The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) is a standard statistical framework and the main tool for the economic measurement of tourism. It has been developped by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Organisation for Economic Co-opération and Development (OECD), the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) and the United Nations Statistics Division”

(https://www.oecd.org/cfe/tourism/tourismsatelliteaccountrecommendedmethodologicalframework.htm)

15 Wall and Mathieson 2005: 14

16 https://www.revfine.com/hospitality-industry/

17 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/03/08/1750501/0/en/Global-Hotels-Market- Expected-To-Reach-USD-211-54-Billion-By-2025-Zion-Market-Research.html

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in order to keep up with customer trends and expectations.

Considerable amounts of money are produced and moved every year within this industry. Providing an insight into some data according to the world regions that are object of the present research, the overall revenue resulted from the U.S. hotel industry in 2018 accounted for 218 USD billion, showing ever-improving values from 2009, when the revenue recorded accounted for 133.3 USD billion.¹⁸ Moving forward to another country of interest, according to Trademark Italia, leading consulting company in the tourism sector in Italy, in 2017 the turnover for the overall hotel sector was 110 billion in Euro terms, which accounted for 6,9% of the national GDP. As for UK, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that businesses operating in the whole industry of accommodation and food services reached ever-improving results, with a turnover of £86b in 2015,

£92b in 2016 and £98b in 2017.¹⁹ Such positive results are expected to grow further in the immediate future. Indeed, values of this kind have considerably affected the hospitality industry on the whole, encouraging entrepreneurs to make business in the said sector. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, there are more than 54,200 hotel properties and over 5 million guestrooms in the United States.²⁰ In Italy, the overall number of accommodation facilities as of the latest updates of 2017 is 32.988 (16,4% share in the EU market), resulting in 2.239.446 beds. According to Scenari immobiliari, which has issued a 2019 edition report on the hospitality market, in 2018 the hospitality sector in regard to its real estate market recorded a positive trend, with a turnover worth 3 billion in Euro terms and an increase of 9% compared to 2017.²¹ On the other hand, data regarding another European nation, namely UK, points out a number of accommodation facilities equal to 39.715 (according to the latest updates in 2016). This value represents 19,7% share in the EU market and makes UK the leading country for number of lodging facilities on the market, immediately followed by Italy.

Moreover, the overall number of beds registered accounts for 1.950.485, slightly less than Italy. Within the whole UK economic framework, an interesting result appears from the data published on the occasion of the UK Hospitality Industry – productivity report, namely the fact that, since the 2008 economic downturn, the general accommodation & food service activities’ sector has recorded the best results in terms of labor productivity growth, with a 3% increase in the period 2008-2016.²² Moreover, based on the data published by the ONS, the sector at

18 https://www.statista.com/statistics/245841/total-revenue-of-the-us-hotel-industry/

19 https://www.businessleader.co.uk/what-is-next-for-the-uks-20bn-hotel-industry/59809/

20 www.ahla.com

21 https://www.scenari-immobiliari.it/2019/06/26/mercato-alberghiero-italiano-fatturato-5-stelle/

22 https://www.ukhospitality.org.uk/page/Productivityreport

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19 hand registered a positive overall growth in 2019 equal to 2.6%, compared to 1.6%

growth in 2018.²³

As for the statistics provided by the digital platform Statista, among the relevant performance indicators for the hotel industry in broad terms, it is worth mentioning first of all the global market size, measured in terms of its retail value expressed in USD. From 2014 to 2018, the said market size accounted for 600.49 USD billion. Within the industry, a key player to contribute to such result was the Marriott International, a company with a revenue of 22.3 USD billion and well 6542 properties spread across 127 nations. Another noteworthy international hotel company is Hilton Worldwide, which recorded 8,9 USD billion (2018).

Nonetheless, its flagship brand Hilton Hotels & Resorts resulted in the highest brand value²⁴ in 2018, worth 6.33 UDS billion. In consideration of the great results achieved by these two companies in particular, there followed the decision to include in the list of hotels featuring in the present research two properties owned by them, namely the Ritz-Carlton in Los Angeles, part of Marriott International Inc, and the Rome Cavalieri, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, owned by Hilton Worldwide.²⁵ The international hotel chains mentioned are role examples of companies operating in the lodging facilities’ industry, in that they are committed to continuously updating their proposal by means of a diversified offer that takes account of consumers’ needs and preferences, along with their expectancies. New facilities are constantly opened with an attempt to expand in most regions of the world.

Notwithstanding, to grant them a good positioning on the market and optimize revenue, it seemed crucial to create several affiliates sorted by category and addressed to specific segments, including, among the most notable ones, the luxury, the budget, and the business segments. For instance, Marriott International now includes 30 brands across 133 countries and territories and well 7,200 properties.²⁶ Similarly, Hilton Worldwide owns about 6000 properties spread across 114 countries and diversified in 17 brands. These two examples were taken to provide an idea of how important it is for an accommodation company to collocate on the market multiple proposals and hence grant oneself competitiveness. Moreover, as the latest development of tourism see travelling as a leisure activity no longer at the disposal of an elite of wealthy individuals but also to the benefit of ordinary people that have worked on their budget and

23https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusiness activitysizeandlocation/2019

24 The brand value indicates the financial worth of the brand, that is an estimate that assesses the purchasing value of the brand (https://www.prophet.com/2016/09/brand-equity-vs-brand-value)

25 https://www.statista.com/topics/1102/hotels/

26 Cf. Marriott International corporate website (https://hotel-development.marriott.com/)

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savings to afford a vacation, on a parallel line, the accommodation market has seen an important segmentation, which has consequently led to a more varied offer. For the marketing, this has contributed to generating a whole new way of interpreting the market and offering lodging services. It is now paramount for companies to address to specific market segments. This is only possible once a thorough interpretation of the segments of interest is completed. The immediate consequence of dealing with different typologies of the same service is that the whole selling process needs to be adapted to the proper recipient. Hotel companies like those mentioned above have undergone a process of market segmentation by diversifying their offer into several brands. Companies segment their markets in order to meet potential customers’ needs and desires more efficiently, with an objective of enhancing sales and improve economic outcomes.

Market segments identify groups of potential customers within a market that appear internally homogeneous in terms of typology of needs and the way in which they respond to marketing stimuli; parallelly, to make the segmentation work, groups need to be different from one another. The reason for such diversification is the market penetration, which is only possible if the marketing activities for the promotion of a particular product or service are efficiently thought for their potential customers. The process of market segmentation and the identification of the target segments represent a key phase for the harmonization of the marketing plan according to the actual needs of paying customers. To make a practical example, Hilton Worldwide has differentiated its offer into 17 brands, ranging from the category of budget hotels (e.g. the Tru brand) to the luxury segment (e.g. the Conrad or Waldorf Astoria brands). It goes without saying that the marketing processes these two categories of hotels are involved in need to be different, mirroring the actual diversification of services offered. Therefore, Hilton Worldwide will attempt to first define a portfolio of target groups of customers, together with identifying their relative characteristics; after that, it is possible to proceed with the elaboration of a portfolio of brands to serve specific segments.

Following, the company will develop a product/service-market matrix, where each of the products or services present within the company portfolio will be assigned a target market. This process enables to make estimates of the market size and to identify growth opportunities as well as limits, by means of basic marketing procedures, such as the SWOT analysis, to mention one. The name of such analysis is an acronym for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat, which are the variables that a company wishing to assess its positioning will consider.

Hence, companies will investigate their offer in comparison with the available competition and in light of the overall market situation. It is certain that budget

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21 hotels will highlight elements such as convenience and will focus on communicating rather practical things, such as contact details, opening times, what is included in the price and so forth. They are thought for modest and unpretentious travellers who do not look for exclusive services and mostly travel to take a break from ordinary life but without losing control of their wallets. To meet the needs and high demand of these kind of travellers, lodging facilities such as B&Bs proliferated lately. Iconic is the case of the digital platform Airbnb, thanks to which private owners of dwellings or rooms can display them on the platform and rent them at, generally, more affordable prices than a hotel would do. On the contrary, luxury hotels are of interest of wealthy people who can afford high-end services and do not pay too much attention to expenses. The range of services offered is extensively greater than that of a B&B, where simply the two basic services of overnight stay and breakfast are at guests’ disposal. An exclusive proposal is presented to the luxury hotel guest, where the range of services is extensive and diversified. This is particularly relevant in consideration of the fact that the consumption of exclusive services also marks the status of individuals able to afford such prices, thus delivering a specific image of them.

For the purpose of the present research, the specific category of luxury hotels will be under consideration, in an attempt to outline key characteristics and with a special focus on the way they communicate.

3.1. An overlook over luxury hospitality

Luxury hospitality should be taken into account separately from the whole accommodation services’ sector. Indeed, the data reported so far do not provide any distinction in the typology of lodging facilities. The high amounts of companies operating in the accommodation industry does not reflect the actual luxury offer, which represents a niche within the field. High investments are required of entrepreneurs willing to start a business in the luxury category of hospitality, together with a wide range of standard requirements that are necessarily to be met in order to be granted a recognition of this kind and a good positioning on such a competitive market.

To confirm the relevance of the luxury segment within the hospitality industry, some data might be helpful.

According to GlobalData, Travel & Tourism Intelligence Center, the number of luxury hotels in the US is continuing to grow. Evidence of this is showed by the

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latest results, which indicate a gradual increase year after year. As a matter of fact, the number of luxury hotels accounted for in 2017 was 1.036; such value grew to 1047 in 2018. By the end of 2019, 1067 luxury hotels are expected to be counted in the US.²⁷ Further estimates are also provided, suggesting that a presence of 1,123 accommodations in the luxury segment is expected by 2022. As for Italy, the data published by Istat suggests that in Italy 5-star and 5L-star hotels account for 499 as of 2017.²⁸ Even though the highest degree of presence is still represented in Italy by 3-star hotels, representing in 2017 54,9% of the overall hospitality offer, it is important to note that in the period 2000-2017 the percentage of luxury hotels increased from 0.4% up to 1,5%. Furthermore, the incidence of 1- and 2-star facilities on the total has been consistently downsized since 2000, when such category represented almost half of the Italian overall offer, to be reduced to 25,9%

in 2017.

Such positive results are due to an increase in the attractiveness of luxury in broader terms, which consequently also affects the hospitality industry. In 2016, the luxury market in the global economy was rated 1091 billion in Euro terms, to which the greatest contribution was given by luxury cars, accounting for well 438 billion; following, personal luxury goods accounted for 249 billion. Luxury accommodation was third in the ranking, with a value of well 183 billion.²⁹ Parallelly, luxury travel has proven to grow faster than the broader travel industry. This of course is not restricted to hospitality but comes to include every aspect of the travel experience, such as transportation, accommodation, activities and so forth. According to a report published by Amadeus (2016) and based on the data of Tourism Economics, “over the next 10 years, the growth rate in outbound luxury trips is projected at 6.2%, almost a third greater than overall travel (4.8%)”.³⁰ The positive trend of luxury travel might also be explained in light of the fact that individuals are moving more and more towards enrichment than materialism. Hence, given the highly experiential character of travels, people might be keener to spend some extra money to grant themselves an exclusive, remarkable vacation. It is to be noted, however, that the perception of luxury is considerably personal and might largely vary from individual to individual. One thing is certain: luxury is intangible. It is the combination of ingredients together what makes a product or service luxurious. It is a sensation, a feeling of

27 https://www.hotelmanagement.net/development/number-luxury-hotels-u-s-set-to-grow

28 www.federalberghi.it

29 https://www.independenthotelshow.co.uk/images/Whitepaper-Evolution-luxury-hospitality-20172.pdf

30 Dykins 2016: 10

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23 exclusiveness, relatability, enhanced enjoyment. In the words of the Amadeus report Shaping the Future of Luxury Travel Future Traveller Tribes 2030,

“luxury does not mean one thing to all. However, it’s clear that in mature markets, luxury has evolved to become increasingly bound up in experiences rather than things. One key trend driving the future of luxury travel is the shift in values from the material to the experiential – rather than saving up to buy luxurious possessions, people are choosing to spend their money on experiences.”³¹

To what extent individuals rate luxury and demand for services of this kind might be explained by the report in its attempt to outline a hierarchy of luxury travel needs parallel to Maslow’s pyramid of human needs. Maslow’s pyramid places at the bottom the basic physiological needs of shelter, water, food, necessary to survive, followed right on the upper step by needs of safety; on the third step, Maslow places the need of inclusion, of feeling part of a community and being loved; moving closer to the top of the hierarchy, he goes on to mention more personal needs, such as esteem, respect and fulfillment within the society. At the very top of the pyramid, he places the need for self-actualization and acceptation, which deals with the very personal perceptions individuals have about their lives.

Along similar lines, the report has elaborated an own pyramid adapted to luxury travelers’ needs. According to such pyramid, basic needs to be generally satisfied for such typology of travels are trusted travel guardian, mirrored in the demand for knowledge and upgraded competences, that is, for example, in the possibility of receiving high-quality advice, services, convenience and 24/7 support.

Following, needs in terms of service level (door to door, on trip) or product quality standards might be identified. On the third level, it is pointed out how the preference of individuals is rather moved toward authentic experiences – for instance, those carrying high cultural meaning and where a high degree of personalization is detected. More exigent travelers seek for exclusive services that mirror unique or niche vacations. Finally, the most highly rated need of luxury tourism is related to security and privacy. It emerges that if customers are to pay exorbitant prices, they will expect to be granted the provision of measured-up services; they anticipate their expectations to be exceeded, not only met, in that they entrust the knowledge and competence of the people working in the said sector: they are expected to be experts in luxury and highly committed to making the best out of the visitor’s experience. In addition to a series of needs, luxury travelers have specific values that their travels must conform to. The real luxury for this typology of individuals is not only to dispose of the money to afford high- end services but also of the time to enjoy them. Luxury travelers place great

31 Ibid.: 15

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importance on the concept of time: they expect every moment to count, reflecting the art of the slow travel. If the aim is to unplug from the daily routine, which binds individuals to an uncontrollable rush, it seems evident that what these people are seeking is not to worry about time, hence avoiding to count minutes but rather living every minute as if it was an hour, filling it with uniqueness and a sense of freedom that keeps them far from nowadays tumultuous and fast-paced society. Luxury hospitality, with its one-of-a-kind offer purports to do exactly this:

to gift the guest with the illusion of endless time and with memorable experiences.

In a luxury hotel, not simply a charming dwelling and design decors are valued.

When it comes to luxury hospitality, key players are high-end, remarkable services, which considerably make the difference in the whole guest experience and justify the demanding price levels. Such particular segment of hospitality is not for everyone and neither seeks to be. If it was not addressed to an elitist audience, but was rather at the disposal of everyone, it would lose its very nature of exclusivity, which is what luxury travelers look for to highlight their status.

In an attempt to define luxury hospitality, Xotels.com provided a series of common characteristics. The luxury experience starts in the very early stages of the booking, which needs to be smart and simple. Similarly, the check-in and check- out procedures need to be clear, illustrative, but fast, and, since personal details are here provided by the guest, the process needs to be discreet and to guarantee privacy. In terms of accommodation, the room needs to conform to the expectations, that is to the pictures and descriptions provided to the customers and, hence, to what has been paid for. In compliance with that, the room décor must be unique and retain a personal character and the room amenities and equipment should convey an idea of comfort. In consideration of the inclusion of multiple services in the overall luxury hotel offer, the range of related services needs to be measured-up as well. Indeed, such lodging facilities normally have a gourmet restaurant (it is common that they are even Michelin-starred), a Spa, pool(s), several leisure areas and possibilities. Within the dining sphere, breakfast is highly valued: it should be able to please guests’ diversified range of morning habits, from the most common to the most peculiar ones. In-room dining is then to be granted 24/7. Further services should include “24-hour fitness center, laundry service, unpacking and packing service, babysitting, petsitting, dog-walking, personal trainer referrals”. The hotel personnel must be highly professional, from the courtesy of front office department to the all-encompassing knowledge of the concierge, not to mention the meticulousness of the housekeeping department in

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25 granting an ever-clean ambience.³² All combined, these elements should convey a sensation of enhanced relaxation and amusement where the guest does not need to worry about anything other than entrusting the hotel personnel’s expertise in shaping luxury. A sapient melting pot of ingredients should be able to produce a

“wow effect”, something which does not simply result from outstanding decors or the presence of a spa. According to Suzanne Godfrey, professor of luxury hospitality brand management at EHL (Ecole Hotelier de Lausanne), “Luxury is no longer just about the best quality furnishings, facilities and technology. Many people, especially those who can afford to stay at high-end hotels, already have these in their homes. These are expected.” A sense of overall quality is to be transmitted. Such quality must be detectable both in the tangible and in the intangible things. Most importantly, quality is in the attentive care for details, which suggests the most comfortable materials for linens to grant a relaxed sleep or the most up-to-date technology at guests’ disposal in the hotel facilities; quality moves the hand of the chef to gently compose the plate as if it was a painting and directs the spa manager to the choice of the most emotion-stimulating scents.

Parasuraman et al. (1988) have identified five dimensions that contribute to determining service quality and have developed an instrument, the SERVQUAL, for the evaluation of the said quality. The five components include tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. In particular, tangibility refers to physical assets like facilities, equipment and personnel; reliability refers to the ability to meet expectations by performing the services promised at the stage of promotion; responsiveness identifies the company’s commitment to help customers and how prompt it is in the provision of services; assurance is linked to commitment and is related to a series of characteristics that customers require to the company, in particular, the employees’ knowledge and courtesy as a manifestation of trustworthiness; empathy involves the more and more vivid need of personalization of service, as a result of attentive care to customers’ demands.³³ Overall, in the luxury hospitality industry offering service quality is about committing oneself to guests’ well-being, creating the special ‘home-from-home’

feeling that travelers seek after when they are outside their ordinary living environment. In the words of Sébastien Chebaiki, guest relations manager at Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris:

“In luxury, things can be more powerful than words. Service. A view. Something you don't expect. Something more than you’d expected. It's the ‘wow!’ factor that goes

32 Cfr. Xotels.com glossary s.v. luxury hotel

33 Cfr. Parasuraman, Zeithaml, Berry 1988; available at link

(https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d26a/2423f00ca372b424a029ae22521299f00ede.pdf)

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MODENA E REGGIO EMILIA

Contents