INNOVATION IN FAMILY FIRMS: AN EAGLE-EYE VIEW OF HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The hotel industry is considered the most significant branch of tourism because of its ability to provide revenue and satisfy the needs of the guests. There is huge competition in the hotel industry so in order to be able to maintain or improve their market positions and reputations; they need to develop innovations targeted at the customers. Because it is not difficult to copy the innovation ideas from each other, they have to think about building very special hotels for target groups. Innovation raises attention, helps positioning, brand recognition and differentiation. The study explore the contextual definitions of innovation and emphasis on the application of sensory marketing tools in the hospitality industry. The article provides an overview of the "seven sensual notes of hospitality", i.e. "sight", "hearing", "smell", "taste", "touch", "intuition", "impression". However, this paper developed hypotheses and survey the sense of sight, sound, smells and tastes as they commonly appeal to hotels in the study area. The study concluded that the application of innovative sensory notes as strategies of hospitality firms may be a distinct competitive edge of family owned hotels and attract new customers.