Marketing Management in Tourism - Lab Report Example

? Marketing Management Contents Page Page A. Introduction 3 B. Facilities and services of BTR 3 B1. Facilities 4 B2. Services 5 C. The Analysis of Marketing Strategy 6 C1. Planning 7 C2. Formulation 7 C3. Implementation 8 C3a. Product (service) 9 C3b. Place 9 C3c. Price 9 C3d. Promotion 10 C3e. People 10 C3f. Process 11 C3g. Physical Evidence 11 D. Evaluation 12 E. Conclusion 12 F. Reference List 13 A. Introduction Tourism industry is among the key and top earners in the global market and it involves an array of businesses ranging from hotels, resorts to travel agencies and airlines. Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts are among the main players in the Asian Tourist markets and, since, its entry in 1994, it has grown at a tremendous rate to establish a global brand. It is founded by Mr. Ho Kwon Ping and his wife Mrs. Claire Chiang. The company operates in a numbers of countries including Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and Thailand where it has established a strong presence. As a result of its success especially in providing quality services in an environmental friendly manner, in addition its marketing strategy, a case study on the company is going to be analyzed, researched. An analysis will be offered in relations to the company’s services and marketing strategy. B. Facilities and Services of BTR Banyan Tree Resorts (BTR) currently offers a wide array of facilities and services that can constitute to a luxury resort experience. This is much so when related to the prices they are offering and the type of market or clients that are targeted and access services. A luxurious resort experience contains a number of things ranging from the type of services, the quality of services, the price offered, type and quality of facilities available among others. In relation to this, the following discussions identifies the services and facilities at BTR and provides the justifications for the reasons why the two (services and facilities) constitute to a luxurious resort experience. B1. Facilities The BTR resorts around Asia offer a variety of facilities that enhance the experience of clients to a whole new level. First and Foremost, the resort’s units are mostly constructed on natural environments that involve making minor adjustments such as including a few added artificial features or removing a few natural features. This is, when the units are constructed, it involves removing a few of natural aspects that might not provide a comfortable experience and at the same time, add a few artificial aspects such as electricity lighting among others. This in addition with the use of local furnishings created from local materials constitutes to a natural, peaceful, relaxing and enjoyable experience. The location and construction of the resort units is usually one of the key contributing factors of a luxurious resort experience that most hotels in crowded and noisy cities are unable to provide. This feature is in line with the company’s vision and mission of providing clients with an experience that meets their five senses and most notably, their smell, sight and sound where breath taking view and breezes offer an unforgettable experience. Secondly, BTR offers spa galleries that are branded as Banyan Tree spa. This facility is one of the most exquisite features in the resort and guarantees its clients a memorable and luxurious experience. The fourth sense of touch and personal rejuvenation are experienced by clients is a courtesy to this facility. In addition, the type of products, level and quality of expertise offered by the staff in these facilities make the experience more unforgettable, luxurious and enjoyable. For the sake of this facility, BTR has an academy where it trains local experts for different services and most notably the massage services. Thirdly, BTR especially in its Banyan Tree Phuket Resort has a Banyan Tree Gallery brand concepts that are closely associated with the spa facility, where it is mainly concerned with retailing massage oils, skin and body lotions among other products. These products are usually made from mostly local materials and by local artisans. Therefore, the experience is relived by the client even after visiting the resort. In addition, this gallery offers products that in synch with the local environment and this helps in making the experience of the client more enjoyable, luxurious and comfortable. Everything a client needs that concerns the body is readily available around the resort. As a result of all this, the facility offers and facilitates enjoyable and luxurious experiences for clients and the targeted market. Lastly, BTR has other facilities such as pools, tennis courts, dining rooms, conference rooms, golf course, libraries and a number of other essential facilities that facilitate the luxurious experience. The facilities are equipped with the latest equipments and tools such as books and magazines for libraries and golfing kits for golfing. In addition, all of these facilities provide the outmost experience and value for the prices paid and effectively match most of the needs for the market that the company targets. All these facilities combined with the natural setting and location of the resorts can only result to luxurious, fun, enjoyable and relaxing experience. Most of these facilities provide a luxurious experience for the couple looking for a romantic and relaxing experience, where for those who come in groups for business purposes, facilities such as corporate rooms provides a relaxed and luxurious place to hold meetings. B2. Services BTR offers an array of services that are both creative and quality. In fact, the level of quality and the diversification of services have earned BTR the reputation and competitive edge it has today. In addition, these services have come to offer clients with a luxurious and satisfying resort experience that is beyond their expectations. First, the types of personal and discreet services offered by the staff or personnel are top notch. BTR top management has ensured that the company employees adopt the company’s culture polices and, in addition, undergo enough training. This type of personalized and efficient services offered by the resorts’ personnel is particularly evident in spas where massage therapist with traditional skills are recruited and trained in a resort academy where they attain more skill in modern practices and in the process learn international languages like English. Secondly, as briefly mentioned in earlier discussions, BTR offers a wide range of quality services that include massages and other forms of therapy like aromatherapy. Body treatment services are offered to clients as either single treatments, or as a deal that comes in a package offered by the company. These services are applied and presented to clients by a trained and qualified staff that generally accords the client with a luxurious and enjoyable experience. Moreover, these services not only benefit the client in the time of stay in the resorts, but also long after they depart from the resort. These services fit and match the market that BTR targets, which includes couples looking for a romantic and relaxation. C. The analysis of marketing strategy Relying on the case study report and information, it is rightly to conclude that Banyan Tree Hotels and Resort team had planned, formulated, implemented and evaluated a marketing strategy for the BTHR thorough a series of activities. The team knew exceedingly well that it could not navigate efficiently through the unstable economic conditions without going through the above steps. Therefore, this compelled the team to engage in a series of activities in different stages as indicated below. C1. Planning After the BTR Chairman Ho Kwon Ping identified the type of service to provide and the market to target, the BTHR team took up from there and went ahead to plan a marketing strategy for the service. This is indicated by a number of activities that are indicated in the case study. First, the team carried out sufficient research on the environment and the tourism industry in general. Through this research, the team identified the tourism projections within the region in comparison to other regions. Secondly, the team carried out a sufficient situational analysis. In relation to the case study, the situational analysis entailed analyzing prevailing conditions in the market in terms of competition, financial conditions that prevailed and other external affairs. For this reason, the team analyzed that there was a price gap in the resort sector, and at that time, the team also analyzed that there was moderate competition, which meant that entering the market will be encountered with few challenges. It was also established that the sector did not effectively cater for a certain market that involved mildly affluent couples purposely seeking a private time. C2. Formulation After the situational analysis, the BTHR team came up with a formulation strategy. This formulation entailed setting out clear objectives and mission that the company and its services would be based upon. Therefore, the team set out a mission to create and manage resort boutiques that were luxurious, environmental friendly and set up in the Asia traditions. This mission was then summed up in one sentence where the company was set to provide a blend of rejuvenation, romance and exotic sensuality in a serine and natural environment. To facilitate this, the team came up with a set of objectives that involved the following. Set the resort in an indigenous location with unique structural architecture that will provide an opening view point thereby appealing to the sight. Set the resort in natural environment that provides natural smell and aroma, thereby, facilitating relaxation, body treatment and therapy. Set the resort in noise free location that will facilitate in enjoying the surrounding sceneries and environment. Have a trained and qualified personnel for offering a wade range of services Utilize local products and resources in services delivery and compliance with environmental concerns. The objectives outline above provided the guidelines under which the mission of the company was to be implemented. In addition, the mission statement adopted by the team turned out to be effective, achievable and in line with the company’s vision. The direction set forth by the mission also ensured that the company did not stray from what it set out to accomplish and achieve in the long run. C3. Implementation According to Pickton & Masterson (2010, 199), a marketing mix is a blend of product, place, promotion and price of a service or product in order to come up with an integrated plan to implement the objectives and mission set. In the service industry, additional 3Ps have been in the resent past included in this mix when marketing services to constitute to the 7Ps marketing mix to (Pickton & Masterson. 2010, 199). People, process and physical evidence are the other 3Ps that make up the 7Ps. From the case study, it can be observed and concluded that the BTHR team extensively exploited the use of the marketing mix in their implementation strategy through the following activities. C3a. Product (service) Through identification of the right type of service to provide, the team through the manager identified resorts that would provide relaxation, rejuvenation and romantic experience to the clients. The identification of this service or product was the first step to the implementation of the strategy. In addition, the identification on the nature and type of services to provide and facilitate main one stated above was critical to providing a unique service experience to clients. C3b. Place BTHR team identified the Asian Market as an attractive market that had yet to be fully exploited. In regard to this, the team identified tourist hotspots in the Asian market which at the time was peaking pace in terms of favorite tourist destination. In particular, Thailand, China, Singapore and Hong Kong reported the highest numbers of visitors and tourist. This presented the team with a better idea of where develop their resorts and provide the services they had in mind. As a result, resorts were developed in Phuket Thailand, Bangkok and Bali among other places. C3c. Price The price played an integral part in the marketing mix of BTHR. The identification of the market niche was largely influenced by the prices in the market. BTHR team decides to come up with a price that was between the high-end market resorts and the ultra-high-end market resorts. The team decided that they would maintain the price at a constant level. The team chose to set a price of US$ 280 compared to the US$120 to US$140 offered at a high-end resort markets and US$ 400 offered in the ultra-high-end resort market. In addition, this price was set to exploit the vast margin between the two ends of the market. This price was also set to match the type and quality of service provided, and to be in line with the Asian market prices. C3d. Promotion Promotion played a prominent role in the implementation of the marketing strategy for BTHR. According to Pickton & Masterson (2010), promotion entails a variety of activities ranging from PR, branding advertising to sales management among others. Advertising activities that the team decided to pursue and rely on were word-of-mouth promotion strategies before embarking on advertising through tourist agencies. This implementation strategy was carried out to because it was much cheaper, but effective at the same time. Later on when BTHR attained a satisfactory level of awareness, the team embarked in other form of promotional activities that involved relying on event-related advertising, public relations, developing brochures that displayed images and depicted the real nature of services provided by the resort and utilized popular international magazines such as the Tatler Travel Guide from UK among others. This type of utilizing internal marketing resource ensured that the clients were communicated to efficiently and effective by accessing real and pertinent information about the services offered. C3e. People According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing (2009), people who come in contact with customers play a significant role in creating a positive or negative perception or image about a product or service. Therefore, it is for this reason that BTHR team decided that the staff would have to be well trained and possesses prior knowledge and skill based on traditional practices. As a result, an academy was formed to offer the local massage therapist with additional knowledge on the current practices and products for massage. In addition, the employees were trained to offer quality services by training them international languages such as English and German in order to facilitate their service delivery. C3f. Process The process in terms of implementing service marketing strategy refers to the manner in which services are offered especially in relation to the behavior aspect of delivery (Chartered Institute of Marketing, 2009). BTHR team ensured that information about the services offered was easily available to clients and most importantly the team made use of the Asian culture where humility, courtesy and respect are ingredients. The staff was required to combine these cultural practices with professionalism, which they were taught to provide a personal kind of service that would leave the client satisfied. This was in synch with the type of services offered, the place where the resorts were located and the people directly in touch with clients who were in most cases employees. C3g. Physical Evidence This involves the ambience and facilities that are offered in service delivery. For reasons that services are intangible and therefore they cannot be seen, the environment, facilities and behavior of staff among others plays a crucial role in instilling confidence and creating a positive attitude in t clients about the service. BTHR team ensured this by developing state of the art facilities in their hotels and resorts, coupled by digital images of the company’s facilities and staff. This came out as an appropriate mix to add in order to implement their marketing strategy. D. Evaluation The company is remarkably successful in running this business efficiently and profitably because of the type of leadership that is offered by the Chairman Mr. Ho. He is an experience, visionary and charismatic leader, whose decisions has guided and contributions ahs made BTHR a success it is today. In addition, the 7Ps marketing mix used was largely based on the Business to Consumer (B2C) where the BTHR team was more concerned with communicating to consumers through other parties such as travel agencies and magazines. The essence of the marketing mix seems to be much based on getting the message across to consumers of services, thereby, leading to the service satisfaction. Since the early 2000’s, the BTHR marketing team has heavily utilized Internet for communication and achieving the seventh P of physical evidence, thus, leading to what is called the B2C E-marketing (Boone & Kurtz, 2011). E. Conclusions A lot of lessons can be drawn in the above discussions, especially the manner in which the planning, formulation and implementation of marketing strategy was carried out. The identification of the market niche and the product (service) is usually the first and foremost step to a successful business, followed by the marketing strategy to be adopted. One particular point of reference is the, utilizations of the right mix of marketing tools. The Team responsible carried out a thorough research and came up with unique and yet effective marketing mix. The success of BTHR emphasizes the point that marketing mix forms one of the cornerstones in penetrating a market, introducing a service and ensuring the company’s success. F. Reference List Boone E L & Kurtz L D (2011) Contemporary Marketing. 15th Edition. Cengage Learning, Mason, Ohio. Chartered Institute of Marketing (2009) Marketing and the 7Ps: A brief summary of marketing and how it works, CIM, Berkshire, accessed on 2011, Nov 9 and retrieved from http://www.cim.co.uk/filestore/resources/10minguides/7ps.pdf Pickton & Masterson (2010) Marketing: An Introduction, 2nd Edition, SAGE Publications Ltd, London. Yang Xia & Gleave Tom (2003) Banyan Tree (A), Nanyang Business School. Read More