Haven Family Holidays - Microeconomic Concepts - Assignment Example

?Haven family Holidays business report Table of contents Executive summary…………………………………………………. Pg 2 Introduction………………………………………………………… pg 2 Business objectives, products and services…………………………..pg 2 Internal factors……………………………………………………… pg 3 External factors……………………………………………………….pg 5 Relevant market structure………………………………………........pg 7 Conclusion …………………………………………………………..pg 8 Recommendations…………………………………………………...pg 9 References …………………………………………………………....pg 10 Executive summary Haven Family Holidays is one of leading tourism companies in the UK. The company operates 35 holiday parks and provides a wide range of holiday services such as bars and restaurants, sporting facilities, gaming activities and holiday resorts. Some of the internal factors that have made the organisation expand its market share include superior customer services, modern physical facilities, aggressive marketing efforts, excellent management leadership style and flat organisational structure. The company is geared at achieving its mission and strategic objectives. The external factors affecting the organisation include harsh economic environment, changes in technology, social environment changes, natural environmental protection issues and strict legal and regulatory framework. The company market structure is pure competition due to many competitors in the industry and availability of numerous substitutes. The company should differentiate the services, offer superior added services and extend the product portfolio in order to attain market leadership position in the industry ((Tribe 2005, 176). Introduction Haven family Holidays is a tourism company that operates 35 holiday parks in the United Kingdom (Haven family Holidays 2012). The company boosts of the best facilities for the guests in camping and accommodation. Some services include sports clubs, live entertainment for guests and child-friendly venues and activities for kids. Additional activities include swimming programs, football and basket ball coaching (Haven family Holidays 2012). Business objectives Haven family holidays provide three specific types of holidays that include self-catering, caravan and camping and half-board. The company is the largest provider of domestic holidays in UK with recreational parks spread across England. Some of the products offered include luxurious holiday resorts, sporting facilities, corporate conference facilities, and meals (Haven family Holidays 2012). The objectives of Haven family holidays include growing the profits of the company each year in order to provide guests with additional value added services. Another objective is to ensure and environment whereby resources are utilized effectively and employee welfare is maintained through fulfilling jobs (Haven family Holidays 2012). Haven Family Holidays is also committed to providing holiday resort services in a safe, secure and environmentally-friendly manner in order to improve the attractions to the holiday resorts (Haven family Holidays 2012). Internal factors affecting Haven family holidays The internal environment consists of factors that are within the management control. Any business organization can alter the internal factors in order to attain competitive strength in the industry. I believe that some of the internal factors affecting Haven Family Holidays include human resources, physical facilities, the leadership capability, the mission and objectives of the organization, the corporate culture, the marketing activities, customer loyalty, the organizational structure and research and development activities. Haven Family Holidays attracts and retains qualified personnel in all business processes. In my view, company views the employees as the most valued assets of the organization. I do understand that the company is also committed to training and development of the personnel. The company has been able to gain market share and improve profitability due to excellent customer service and jovial tour guides. I believe that the company has controlled labor disputes by motivating the employees through fair compensation, bonuses and recognition for attainment of their job performance metrics (Haven family Holidays 2012). Another internal factor that has led to competitive advantage is the physical facilities. This is because the company operates 35 holiday parks that are spread across England (Haven family Holidays 2012). The company provides secure and safe holiday resorts that customer thus providing a unique service experience to its customers. The company has attained competitive edge since it has enough resorts, hotels, camping parks and play grounds to cater for tourists during the peak season (Haven family Holidays 2012). In my view, third internal factor that has led to increased profitability and competitive advantage of Haven Family Holidays is aggressive marketing campaigns. This is because the company is committed to implementing effective marketing communications through print, electronic and multi-media advertisements on radios and television in many parts of England. The company has been able to control location barriers through internet marketing and enabling domestic tourists to book for their holidays and resorts through the internet. The company has aligned its mission statement to the strategic objectives. The mission of the company is to provide its customers with memorable holiday experience. The company objectives include providing excellent and various holiday services like water and pool games, bars and restaurants and other sporting activities within the park. The company has been able to attain customer loyalty through providing differentiated services and provision of discounts through a loyalty program. The company has also segmented its customers in to family groups, sporting groups, social groups and special interests groups. The company also caters for corporate clients who are interested in celebrating anniversaries or corporate achievements. Another factor affecting Haven Family Holidays is the organizational structure and management leadership style. The company has flat organizational structure that allows for a quick decision making. The organisation is able to respond quickly to changing market conditions due to faster decision making and ability to identify the changing needs, tastes and preferences of the customers. The company also committed to research and development activities in order to meet the variety of customer needs and holiday preferences. Haven Family Holiday corporate culture supports the mission of the organisation. The company has deep values, traditions and beliefs of offering unique and memorable service experience to all visitors to the holiday parks. The corporate culture is also based on excellent customer service (Haven family Holidays 2012). External factors affecting Haven Family Holidays The external factors that are currently affecting Haven Family holidays cannot be controlled by the management since they affect all the companies and businesses in the tourism industry in the United Kingdom. These factors include the political factors, the economic factors, technological factors, social factors and legal factors, natural environmental factors and competition in the tourism industry. Political factors One of the external factors affecting Haven Family Holidays is political factors. These can be demonstrated by extend of government influence on the tourism industry and the political stability. The current political environment in the UK is stable. However, issues of terrorism have negatively affected the tourism travels across UK (Worthington & Bsritton 60). Economic factors Another external factor affecting the tourism industry in the UK is economic factors. These factors include the rate of economic growth, the interest rates, the exchange rates and inflation rates in the country. The UK economy is projected to grow at the rate of 1 percent which is 4 percent below the pre-recession growth rate. The threats of possible escalation of the European economic and debt crisis may also dim the prospects of UK economic recovery. The construction sector that is a key pillar of UK economy has experienced a 3.9 percent decline in output. Generally, the harsh economic environment will negatively affect UK tourism sector due to decline in business profits and consumer incomes (Worthington & Bsritton 98). Social factors The social factors affecting UK include changes in lifestyles, culture, demographic trends, the population shifts and attitudes towards work and leisure (Worthington & Bsritton 136). The social environment will positively affect the business activities of Haven Family Holidays. The increase in the number of households with the two couples having a stable income will increase the demand for family holidays and sporting activities. The ageing population in the UK will increase the demand for sporting and fitness clubs thus increasing the profitability of Haven Family holidays. Another external factor affecting Haven family holidays is technological changes. The recent technological revolution and increase in electronic communication will facilitate the marketing activities of Haven Family Holidays. For instance, the organisation is able to advertise its services through the internet and provide information to potential services through the website. The organisation has taken advantage of the increasing access to the internet in many homes to reach out to potential customers through many social marketing platforms and the website. The changes in technology will improve the business prospects of Haven Family Holidays (Worthington & Bsritton 171). Legal factors The legal factors include the business laws, tax policies, labor laws and environmental laws affecting Haven family Holidays in UK. Haven Family holidays needs to comply with the tax, the employment laws and environmental protection laws. However, the company has encouraged diversity in the workforce (Worthington & Bsritton 187). Ecological factors The last external factor affecting Haven Family holidays is the natural environment protection issues. There are numerous environmental conservation interest groups that are currently advocating for non-pollution of the environment and economical use of the natural resources. The organisation is expected to protect the natural habitant and reduce the destruction of biodiversity in the holiday resorts (Worthington & Bsritton 212). The relevant market structure of Haven family holidays The market structure that is most relevant for Haven Family Holidays is oligopoly market structure. There is smaller number of tourism companies with large resource base in the UK. Most of the tourism products and services in the economy are standardized and include hotels, leisure travels and sporting facilities. The established firms like Haven Family holidays have controlled the tourism market through high barriers of entry like the government restrictions in setting up game parks and hotel patents. Haven Family Holidays has attained high economies of scale in its operations due to the volume of services and client base. There is interdependence between the tourism firms in the UK in the pricing mechanisms since each firm is committed to maintaining the minimum cost structure in its services (Worthington & Bsritton 375). Another factor that makes Haven Family holidays fit in oligopoly market is the aggressive marketing and market share defensive tactics. The company has exploited all marketing communication channels such as websites, television advertisements and billboards in advertising its superior services to the customers (Tribe, Tribe 2005, 161). Conclusion Haven Family Holidays is a tourism company that operates mainly in the UK market. The company objectives include meeting the customer needs and offering memorable holiday experience. Some of the internal factors that affect the competiveness of the company include the talented employees, customer loyalty, aggressive marketing efforts and flat organisational structure that allows for faster decision making process. The company has implemented research and development activities in order to create differentiated products and services in line with the changing customer needs. External factors affecting the company include harsh economic environment, social factors, technological changes and legal regulations. Recommendations Haven family holidays operate in a competitive business environment. The company can attain a competitive edge and increase market share through the provision of differentiated and value added products and services. The company should aggressively market its services, offer discounts and loyalty programs to customers. The company should also comply with the legal business environment and utilize technological innovations in order to increase the market share. The company should diversify the product and service portfolio in order to cater for the changing customer needs. The company should conserve the environment through preserving the natural biodiversity in the holiday parks. Bibliography: Haven family Holidays website (2012). Accessed on 26th October, 2012 from. http://www.haven.com/. Tribe, J. (2005).The Economics of Recreation, Leisure and Tourism. Oxford. ELSEVIER. Worthington, I & Bsritton, C. (2006). The Business environment. Harlow. Financial Times Prentice Hall. Read More