The phenomenon of consumer loyalty in the hospitality industry

The article examines the phenomenon of consumer loyalty as the most important modern trend in the hospitality industry. The article is aimed at studying the nature of consumer loyalty as the main driving tool for the development of catering enterprises, its impact on profitability and brand awareness. The authors analyze the works of previous authors on the topic, the consider views and theories of leading marketers, proving the expediency of studying customer loyalty as a socio-economic phenomenon accompanying the development of the industry. Customer satisfaction depends on correspondence between proposed product and service and the customer's expectations, which leads to a subsequent purchase transaction. The relevance of the research is to consider the development of loyalty programs as a competitive advantage in modern conditions of economic globalization and the state of the industry after the pandemic crisis. The authors through field research in particular restaurant chain investigated the key factors influencing the consumers’ loyalty. The study is based on methods of theoretical analysis, empirical research, and a survey of the target consumer audience. Survey results confirmed the assumptions about the key factors affecting consumer loyalty in the hospitality and catering industry. The main of them are age category, gender, aesthetic and hedonistic preferences of visitors. The analysis of the literature has shown how consumer loyalty directly affects the profitability of the enterprise, which contributes to the further growth of competitiveness. The study led to the conclusion that it is important to develop loyalty programs for each enterprise of the hospitality industry, aimed at taking anti-crisis measures to further maintain profitability and development of both the individual organization itself and for the entire industry as a whole. It has been proven that making a repeat visit of a loyal customer is a more profitable event than attracting a new consumer, for this reason loyalty programs deserve special attention as an object of study. The development of such programs involves working on the product, receiving and processing feedback from consumers, modernization and optimization of production.