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way to market a product. The last one is organizational innovation that denotes a new
organizational method in organization’s business practices.
This paper is an exploratory study aiming to illustrate the integration of various approaches
to promote innovation in hotel industry, and increase better understanding of innovation
dynamics in recent hotel industry developments. The objective of this paper is to analyze
innovation in hotel industry in terms of four innovation types of product, process, marketing
and organizational innovations (OECD, 2015), and, in turn, to exemplify this innovation
variety based on a case study of Marriott hotel in accordance to their recent innovation
developments.
Why was Marriott hotel chosen as a case study for innovation? Marriott hotel (Marriott
International, Inc) is ranked among today’s leading technology innovators and takes a
position as an innovator and leader within the hotel industry (Marriott Ranks High on
InformationWeek 500 as an Innovative User of Technology, 2009). In 2014, Marriott
International won CHTA Innovation Award 2014 for Mobility Leadership for its pioneering
performance in applying mobility technologies in hospitality industry, and they strive to
reach the next generation travelers by being the leader in Mobile-Digital Technology
(Marriott International Wins CHTA Innovation Award 2014 for Mobility Leadership, 2014).
Product innovation: creating sustainable and environmentally-advanced hotels
A product innovation refers to the introduction of a good or service that is new or
significantly improved with respect to its characteristics or intended uses. This includes
significant improvements in technical specifications, components and materials, or other
functional characteristics (OECD, 2015). Product innovations can utilize new knowledge or
technologies, or can be based on new uses or combinations of existing knowledge or
technologies. Literature review indicates that product innovation is essential for business
success (Malhotra et al., 1996; Lenfle and Midler, 2009) as it is directly observed by the
client as a new benefit (Hjalager, 2010).
Today integrating environmentally-friendly improvements into hotel operations and brand
concepts largely affects hotel success and competitiveness as a product innovation in
general. By fully integrating sustainable development into the hotel as a product and a
brand, hotel industry is responding proactively to emerging customer expectations and
growing needs. The increased environmental awareness has a significant impact on hotel
selection, since the hospitality sector has a significant impact on the environment through
energy and water consumption, expansive consumption of wide-range products and waste
generation. Indeed, sustainability issues impact nearly all aspects of hotel operations.
Therefore, adopting sustainable hospitality programs can provide a significant competitive
advantage to businesses in the hospitality sector (Brazdauskas and Gaigalaite, 2015).
In this respect, Marriott hotels could be viewed as sustainable product innovations. Indeed,
Marriott has taken many actions to promote their sustainability and environmental
innovations (Marriot Sustainability Report, 2014). Marriott is recognized for its
environmental and sustainable leadership in the hotel industry by many organizations like
Ceres, an alliance of investors and environmentalists, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, and many others. Working in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council for
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