Brand Development in the Hospitality Industry

This research paper is devoted to the study of the management of brand development in the hotel industry. The author of the work put forward the hypothesis that in order to improve the brand of the enterprise of the hotel industry, consistency in positioning according to different audiences of stakeholders is necessary. The aim of the work is to identify the features of brand development management of hotel chains using HR-branding and PR tools. The channels used by chain hotels for communication with employees and the attributes of the employee value proposition (EVP) act as tools for HR branding. The PR tools used by chain hotels are PR channels, as well as various technologies implemented as part of PR. HR branding and PR directions were analyzed according to the criterias selected by the author: hotel belongingness to the exact chain, hotel location, hotel location in a country / city, which is occupying a certain position in the ratings of the most popular tourist destinations, number of points assigned to a hotel based on analysis of quests reviews. Based on the tools and criterias mentioned above, a statistical analysis was carried out, as a result of which the main trends, similarities and differences were revealed. In addition, a content analysis of these tools was conducted, as well as the missions, vision, philosophy and values ​​of the surveyed enterprises with the aim of identifying positioning within HR branding and PR (according to external and internal stakeholder groups). As a next step, a comparative analysis of the identified positioning of each hotel chain under study was carried out. As a result, some chains of hotels have been identified, within the framework of which activities there is consistency in positioning according to different audiences of stakeholders. This fact indicates that the hypothesis put forward by the author has been partially confirmed. Also, the results obtained on the basis of the conducted analyzes became the basis for developing recommendations for managing the development of the brands of enterprises in the hotel industry. Keywords: HR branding, HR brand, PR, hotel industry, chain hotels, EVP, PR technologies