Strengths and Weaknesses of the Westin Dawn Beach Hotel - Research Paper Example

Westin Dawn Beach Resort Westin Dawn Beach Resort Product analysis and positioning i. Address, location and Summary of Features Westin Dawn Beach Hotel is a high-class hotel located in Netherlands, Saint Maarten along the 144 Oyster Pond Road. The hotel services are offered 24 hours in a day. The phone number used in the hotel is (721)543-6700. Customers or any person can call that phone number for enquiries. The area has good road transport system that can be used for driving to the hotel. The hotel offers different services that include 317 guestrooms, casino, restaurant, bar, lounge, outdoor pool and full-service spa. Those attending the hotel can also have access to other facilities around the area like dawn beach, on the beach, Saint Maarten Zoo, Museum of Saint Maarten, Guana Bay Beach and the University of Saint Marten. The property is well situated, and it provides a good place to spend holidays and honeymoon in St. Maarten. People visiting the hotel have fun at the white sand beaches and the blue-green waters (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). ii. Strengths and Weakness of Revenue and Non-Revenue Areas and the Intangibles The property is located alongside other properties that offer recreation and education services. Some people visiting recreation centres in the area end up spending their nights at the hotel. Dawn beach is adjacent to the hotel about 0.4 km away. The beach is usually busy with people from the area and others from other places of the world. Dawn beach is advantageous because most of the people visiting the beach end up spending at the hotels rooms. On the other hand, people who visit Dawn Beach pollute the environment making most of the people not willing to spend in the hotel. Another property in the areas is Guana Bay Beach, that has the same value with the Dawn Beach. The Museum of Saint Maarten is another property that is important to the hotel. People visiting the museum include students, families, couples and business people. Most of the people visiting the museum spend time at the hotel, eating, drinking and spending at the hotel rooms. The University of St. Maarten has increased the population of the area providing more customers to the hotel. The university is located 4.9 km from the hotel. Most of the students at the university come from different countries and spend their free time at the beaches. Students from the University visit the hotel for drinks and launch. The lecturers and staff also use the hotel for the conference and special meeting. The university visitors spend their nights at the hotel (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). b. Key Property Positioning In Saint Maarten, there are many hotels that compete direct with the Westin Dawn Beach Resort. The managers and the directors value and rate the hotel higher than the competitors. Though the competitors offer the same products and services to the customer Westin Dawn beach resorts attracts more customers than other hotels in Saint Maarten (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). i. Comparison with Competitors In the region other hotels which offer the same services include Sonesta maho beach resort and casino, hotel riu place St. Martin, Sonesta great beach resort, casino and spa, belmand la samanna, grand case beach club, oyaster bay beach resort, simson bay resort and marina and palm court hotel among others. As compared to the competitor Westin Dawn Beach Resort offers low prices leading to a high volume of the customers. The hotel is adjacent or next to the beach, and the customers enjoy watching the beach while in their rooms. Westin Dawn Beach Resort is also adjacent to the sea, and people are able to view the blue water while taking their drinks and foods at the hotel. Westin Dawn Beach Resort employs professionals who handle the customers careful with excellent customer care services. At the hotel, the customers are advised to give out their feedback about the quality of services that helps the management to improve. Consideration of the customers feedback makes the customer feel certified as they take part in making opinion. The hotel gives out free services of WiFi and parking for the customers. The free parking offered attracts customers, because they can park their cars at the hotel. The hotel also has sufficient security and many customers like visiting the hotel because of the safety. The customers visiting the hotel can also have access to many services offered in the hotel like casino, fitness centre massage. Due to the above-mentioned factors Westin Dawn Beach Resort has remained the prominent hotel in Saint Maarten attracting more customers and having a lot of the second-time clients (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). c. Types of Guests and Clients The hotel has different customer visiting for different reasons. Most of the customers are family and couples coming for honeymoon. Other guests include business people, government officials and those visiting for leisure purposes (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). i. Breakdown of the guest base Guest visiting the hotel includes family members, business people, government officials, and leisure purposes. The hotel accommodates about ten thousand people in a month. The table below represents the number of guest base in percentage (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). Guest Base Percentage Family 24 % Couples 21% Government 10% Leisure 25% Business 20% Total 100% ii) Guest Demographics The guests come from different regions. The guest’s age, sex, income, family size, occupation and marital status vary. The number of married guests is large as compared to the unmarried guests. Most of the customers are men as compared to their female counterparts. The women visiting the hotel are accompanied by their male counterparts. Most of the guests have a family of four and are working with a good income. Men visiting the hotel are 65 % as compared to 35% women. The chart below shows the number of men guests as compared to women (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). 1) Origin of the guests. Most of the guest comes from Netherland and United Kingdom. Others come from others parts of the world like America, Australia, Canada, Africa, India and Asia. The chart below represents the number of guest in respect to the origin in percentage (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). 2) Length of stay The hotel has peak and a low season. The peak season starts from November to January and then from April to June. The low season takes place during the month of July to October and from January to March in each calendar year. Most of the customers spend a week in the hotel. Same of the guests visiting the hotel in the month of December spend the whole month at the hotel. The guests spend or take most of their time in the bar. They spend like five hours in the bar each day. Students from the University of Saint Maarten spend their day at the bar and leave during night hours (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). 3) Getting in the property Most of the customers get into the hotel by use of private cars. The customers from other regions hire cabs from the airport to the hotel. Other customers come to the property by use of organization or government vehicles (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). 4) Sources of Reservation The hotel is more advanced and guests can book rooms and accommodation online via the property’s website. The guests pay using their MasterCard or Visa then they identify the time in which they intend to visit the hotel. Most of the rooms are booked online, but some customers visit the hotel and book (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). 5) Lucrative Market segments to be targeted for future promotion Lucrative market segments to be targeted in future include the cultural practises and recreation services in the hotel. The hotel should have cultural items like sculptures, drawings, and clothes from different parts of the world. Involvement of cultural items in the property will attract tourism to the region. The recreation facilities like fitting centre that is available should be improved to have training section for the willing guests (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). D) Advertising, Public Relations and Promotion The hotel has professionals and experienced marketers. The marketers create awareness of the hotel to the people through the internet on socials media platforms. The guests in the hotel are given business card to make inquiry anytime and also refer friends. The hotel has a Facebook page that assist in reaching people visiting the social media. Through effective promotion and advertisement, the hotel has managed to get more customers from different parts of the world (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). 2. Environmental Analysis (SWOT) Westin Dawn Beach Resort has strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A chart summarising the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the property is attached at the Appendix. Strengths Strengths include the advantages and things that the property does better than the competitors (Burrow, 2008). Online booking system- The hotel has a system that supports online booking for rooms and spaces. Online booking saves guests time because they do not have to go to the hotel physically. Online booking has enabled the hotel to have more customers since they book for rooms before arriving. Humble free parking and WiFi- The hotel provides free parking and WiFi, and this attracts customers with private car because they do not incur extra parking fee. Guests also enjoy spending their time within the property, because they can access internet services for free. Different services offered- The property offers many services like bar services, hotel services, and massage, swimming, accommodation and fitness services. The hotel guarantees all services to the guest meaning that the guest do not have to look for services at other places. Good customer care services- The property is managed by professionals with good public relations and customer care services. Guests are always certified to be served by professionals. Weaknesses Weakness includes the factors that make the property lose sales and customers (Burrow, 2008). Lack of free transportation- The hotel should provide free transport services to the customer from the city and airport. Some customers do not know the area and find it hard to locate the hotel. High cost- The services offered at the hotel are more expensive. Only the high-class or rich people can afford the services to the hotel. The competitors can slice their price in order to get more customers. Lack of cheap services for the low-class people- The hotel does not offer low price services for the low-class people. The property should have different prices for rooms and restaurants in order to fit people from different class. Opportunities The opportunities include the things in which the property can spot for improvement (Burrow, 2008). Advancement in technology- Currently, technology is advancing in the globe. The hotel provides services and marketing over the internet. The hotel reaches many people in marketing because most of the people visit social media daily. Provision of recreation services to university students and staff- University students like recreation services provided by the hotel. The recreation services have made the hotel attract more customers from the University of Saint Maarten. Availability of good transport and communication system- The area has good road transport system that makes it easy for guest to move from the city to the hotel. Communication network is also good in the area, and the guests are able to use mobile phones and internet communication services. Threats Emergency of new competitors in the region- The region is still developing, and more investors are willing to create hotels. The area already has many competitors, and emergency of new competitors can lead to customer decline. Unfavourable government regulation- Government regulations keep on changing. The government is strict on casino business, and anytime a new regulation can be implemented and jeopardise the business (Burrow, 2008). 3. Audit Analysis: a) Competition Analysis i. Competitive fact sheets Westin Dawn Beach Resort Oyster Bay Beach Resort Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino Number of rooms or seats /breakdown 317 267 297 Location Saint Maarten Located near the Westin Dawn Beach Resort Located near the Westin Dawn Beach Resort Overall reputation/quality Very good Good Good Meeting/banquet space/service 10 Meeting place available 7 banquet spaces available Services like fitness, massage, recreation and leisure activities offered 6 Meeting place available 3 banquet spaces available Services like fitness, massage, recreation and leisure activities offered 5 Meeting place available 4 banquet spaces available Services like fitness, massage, recreation and leisure activities offered Restaurants/ lounges 1/1 1/1 1/1 Marketing Very good Good Fair Customer mix Excellent Good Good Positioning 2/7 4/7 6/7 Performance record Excellent Good Good Hotel Westin Dawn Beach Resort Oyster Bay Beach Resort Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino Competitive rate analysis 8/10 7/10 7.5/10 Need fulfilment by market segment Partially fulfilled Partially fulfilled Partially fulfilled Market share and fair share Good Fair Fair Revenue per available room $400 per night $ 350 per night $ 360 per night Profitable guest groups served by competitors 4 2 Competitive benefit /advantage restaurant enjoys It has free parking and WiFi It is adjacent to the beach It is created in that the bar is set after the sea Guest can enjoy swimming while taking beer. Does not have free WiFi but has free parking It is not adjacent to the beach The bar is way from the sea Guest can not enjoy their drinks while swimming No free WiFi Not located after the sea It is not near the beach Guest can not enjoy the beach waters while having their drinks Weakness in competitive marketing strategies It uses a lot of money in carrying out internet marketing Spends less in marketing Spends less in marketing Restaurant Westin Dawn Beach Resort Oyster Bay Beach Resort Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino Competitive menu Analysis Excellent Good Good Profitable guest groups served by competitors 5 3 Competitive benefit /advantage restaurant enjoys Fair prices Good customer care service Discount Higher prices Average customer care service No discount offered Higher prices Average customer care service No discount offered Weakness in competitive marketing strategies It uses a lot of money in carrying out internet marketing Spends less in marketing Spends less in marketing 4. Market Place Analysis a. Property’s Current Position and Potential Promotion Opportunities Currently, the property is in a good position generating enough income. The property has over 1000 employees and more than 10,000 guests each month. The property should focus on promoting the services over the television and also have most of the products and buses branded by the propertys name. The property should also focus on the billboard promotion in major cities across the world (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). b. Environmental Opportunities and Problems Saint Maarten has a good environment with green trees. The area also has enough water supplies. The trees help in attracting rain hence ensuring enough rainfall in the region. The water in the area is used to generate electricity. People like touring in the area due to the good environment. Dangerous water insects appear due to the stagnant water at the beach. Dead organism in the water also causes air and water pollution (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). c. Marketplace Factors i. Demographics Change The change in demographic is rarely evidenced in the region. ii. Positive/ Negative events in the region, community, state and nation Political rallies held in the area make people fear spending in the hotel due to insecurity (Burrow, 2008). The political events also help the hotel because most of the political party leaders spend in the hotel or hold meetings in the conference rooms. iii. Energy cost and availability The property has enough supply of energy. The electric power is available and a power backup generator. Energy is cheap since the government charges $ 0.20/kwh (Burrow, 2008). iv. Government regulation Government requires an individual operating casino, hotels and restaurants to obtain a licence, and the property has complied with the terms. The government also requires the property to pay for Value Added Tax (VAT) and it complies (Burrow, 2008). v. Travel cost Most of the guests hire cars from Netherland town to the property, and it is cheap because they charge $ 100 (Westin Hotel and Resorts, 2015). References Burrow J. (2008). Marketing. New York: Cengage Learning. Westin Hotel and Resorts. (2015). The Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa, St. Maarten. Retrieved 15 January 2015, from http://www.westinstmaarten.com/map APPENDIX SWOT Chart Strengths Weaknesses Online booking system Humble free parking and WiFi Different services offered Good customer care services Lack of free transportation High cost Lack of cheap services for the low-class people Opportunities Threats Advancement in technology Provision of recreation services to university students and staff Availability of good transport and communication system Emergency of new competitors in the region Unfavourable government regulation Read More