Jeddah Trident Hotel-Saudi Arabia

Internship Report
Name
Student no
Class
Internship
Jeddah Trident Hotel -Saudi Arabia
Institute
February 12th 2014.
Table of Contents
Introduction.………………………………………………...……………………..…………....1
Brief description of Jeddah Trident Hotel-Saudi Arabia..……………………………………....1
Role and duties performed during the internship……..………………………………………...2
Skills and competencies utilized during the internship…………………………………………..3
Skills, knowledge and competencies acquired during internship………………………………...4
Internship impact on Jeddah Trident Hotel-Saudi Arabia…………………….………………....5
Overview of the internship experience with regard to personal development………………...….6
Introduction
This Internship report describes my experiences at the Trident Hotel where I served as an intern in the sales and marketing department for four months since 1/9/13 to 1/1/14. It is a chance to reflect on what was leant at Swiss Hotel Management School throughout the semester in the sales and marketing program. The report elaborates how my professional skills and competences have developed over the period as a result of the internship. In addition, the report seeks to explain ways in which the internship impacted on the hotel and also assesses my personal development and growth.
Jeddah Trident Hotel-Saudi Arabia
This hotel is an associate of other hotels under the brand name Oberoi Hotels. It is located along Mina Road near the highway to Holy Makkah and close to the busy shopping malls of Balad area, the industrial Zone near the Islamic Port of Jeddah and 30 kilometers from the Airport. This hotel was built in 1993 and remodeled in 2001. Trident Hotel, offers elegance, exquisite and comfy first class hotel services in an efficient way to satisfy hotel guests, holiday makers, national guests, travelling international guests and business people.
The Oberoi group that founded the Trident hotel in Saudi Arabia was formed in 1934 and operates thirty hotels present in six countries. This group of hotels has other investments with over five hundred trained staffs that provide luxury services in the leisure hotels around the world. The Oberoi group has a management structure that manages all the hotels. The Trident Jeddah Hotel has its management and operations trickling down from one executive Chairman, Mr. P.R.S. Oberoi who provides overall leadership and management.
Roles and duties performed during the internship
The internship provided me with great exposure in the field of hotel sales and marketing. During the four month internship period at the Jeddah Trident Hotel, my role and duties involved participating and supporting the sales team, assisting sales team in building and maintaining Trident Hotel client base, aggressive marketing and advertising campaigns for the hotels’ products and services. In addition, my duties included building brand awareness for the Hotel.
Key tasks and activities as an intern involved enhancing teamwork relationships with field marketing agents, analyzing prices of products and services for local and international hotel competitors, meeting existing and potential clients. Other tasks assigned involved emailing and calling clients to inform them on available hotel services. The role also required me provide high end customers with services that meet their expectations, monitor their needs through follow ups, presentations and research on the services compatible with clients needs. In line with my role and duties as an intern also required me get involved in specifying new business requirements and products development opportunities.
Skills and Competencies utilized during the internship
Strauss, 2010, argues that, sales and marketing are fields that require a wide range of skills in order to assess clients’ needs, present products and services to clients in a presentable way through negotiation skills, sales planning, market research, use of sales tactics, networking and effective communication among others. During my internship at The Trident Hotel, most utilized skills and competencies were; good communication skills, up skill negotiation, networking, collaborating with sales team, business acumen, consultative selling skills, customer value creation and strategic sales planning among others.
Communication Skills
In order to build a great network with clients at Jeddah Trident Hotel, communication skills were optimized in making deals and maintaining relationships with clients. In most cases, my role involved discussions with clients on the available products and services which means listening carefully on what the clients were saying without interruption, probing clients to uncover their needs and in some instances, making follow up with clients through a phone call or emails to receive their feedbacks.
Effective communications skills enabled me analyze customers attitudes, behaviors and styles based on a particular product or service they required from the Hotel. During the negotiations for agreement, making product presentation and negotiating with clients, my communication skills were useful in creating trust and enhancing understanding by clients. Most of my sales presentations utilized effective communications skills in preparing, designing and delivering marketing presentations during meetings with clients. To deliver sales trainings to clients, good communication skills enabled me conduct informative training sessions, prepare products manuals and support materials. Furthermore, communication skills enabled me to effectively educate, influence and motivate colleagues in the sales department, conduct successful telephone sales calls, use media technology to market and reach international travelling clients.
Consultative selling skills
To create an effective impact and reach out to existing and potential clients of Trident Hotel, a list of prospective clients’ was designed from the existing customer base, business referrals, trade associations and networks by utilizing electronic customers’ database at the Hotel. We used this list to contact more clients f...