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The hotel has a few distribution channels that are bringing in customers however BBS Hotel has not been attracting the international markets. Market Trends The market trend for hotels in adventurous destinations is an increase in occupancy seen on a national scale. For years, hotels in the mountainous areas existed underneath the radar of the general population. When most people went on vacation, they would tend to make reservations at hotels away from the actual areas of their activities.
Within the last two years, people have begun to discover hotels at the locations of their activities and appreciate the additional services that they offer and enjoy the convenience to being close to their activities. The industry has seen an increase in occupancy, from out of state or region travelers, as well as and more importantly, local people that are looking for a place to escape from their homes. -3- I will commence with a STOW analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of BBS Hotel.
Strengths: As the marketing manager I determined that BBS Hotel has the following strengths: ; It’s a renowned location. The size of the hotel A home-like feeling ; Individual service Wireless internet The location of the hotel is definitely one of the strengths, mostly because it is located n the Dressmakers and in a beautiful location with one of the highlights being its hiking attraction which therefore makes it an attractive destination for adventurous tourists.
The size of BBS Hotel is also categorized as a strength as it is small yet a feeling of cosines. Being a small hotel it gives the opportunity to serve each customer more personally. This makes the new and old customers feel comfortable and welcomed and it also creates a home-like feeling in the hotel. BBS Hotel offers wireless internet in the midst of the mountainous ranges. Should guests wish to innocent with their loved ones while their away, the wireless internet is an added advantage in the hotel. 4- Outdated brochure information ; Insufficient marketing ; Homepage on the internet dull and boring All of the above were major weaknesses identified. It has been determined that the hotel’s brochure has not been updated with new and attractive information. The insufficient marketing of the hotel and its surrounding attractions is also seen as a weakness. BBS Hotel’s homepage is one of the biggest weaknesses; it has not been updated over the past five years.
The homepage does not reflect the surrounding attractions and highlight the beauty of the hotel as well as the destination. The BBS hotel is out-dated in its process to seek and put in motion new ideas that could help bring more customers to the Hotel. Opportunities: Look at marketing: finding the right distribution channels ; New fresh ideas Hotel facilities Internet ; Invitations to different companies to visit Opportunities can be seen in strengthening the hotel’s marketing and find new distribution channels.
It is important to keep up with the time and always keep coking for new and innovative ideas to market BBS Hotel. Possible opportunities would be to renovate the hotel’s facilities to a more adventurous look and perhaps change or add additional dishes to the menu that would cater for some sort of -5- exotic cuisine (wild boar, springbok, etc. ), especially if we want to target international backpackers. Have BBS Hotel meet regularly with the Zulu-Natal Tourism board to seek out new events in the vicinity and draw on this to attract new and existing customers.
As the hotel’s website on the Internet is seen as a weakness, a good opportunity is to improve the pages and make a more accurate presentation of the hotel and what it has to offer especially for international backpackers. The internet also has a lot to offer in terms of marketing and there are still many different ways the internet could be utilized to market the hotel to attract international backpackers. An example could be BBS Hotel to have a competition where one could win a week stay at the Hotel or perhaps advertise the hotel at discounted rates.
Another opportunity identified was to invite representatives from travel-agencies and tour impasses to come and visit the hotel to get first-hand information and get better acquainted with BBS Hotel’s services. This will make it easier for them to sell BBS Hotel’s services to international backpackers once they physically see what the hotel has to offer. Threats: As BBS Hotel is the only hotel located at the foot of Umlaut Mountains, a definite threat would be a new hotel located nearby. This would result in a significant decrease in customers coming to BBS Hotel.
The low seasons can also easily create a real threat for BBS Hotel. -6- In the second step in the marketing plan Angelino and Barker (2013:162) states hat the marketing manager considers marketing opportunities such as current markets; buyers; growth markets; product service development and innovation; and targets that provide an opportunity for the organization’s products and/or services. Incorporation of accommodation and hiking tours is currently not being catered for in this hiking region. BBS Hotels target market is the international backpacker travelers but not limited to this group.
There is an opportunity to design, develop and customize these adventure holiday packages with the incorporation of hiking tours inclusive of a tour guide. Such a product/service is one of the unexplored markets in the Dressmakers area. Designing and developing packages that would incorporate accommodation, hiking tours with individual or group tour guides to international backpackers could add growth of the product/service and ultimately to the growth of BBS Hotel. In time the product/service can be changed to incorporate other adventurous types of activities that could be included in the package that BBS Hotel would offer. . 3 Step 3: Marketing objectives According to Angelino and Barker (2013:162) during this step, the marketing manager considers the relevant factual data that was obtained during the situation analysis step. The marketing manager will consider important aspects such as data gathered from the -7- situation analysis, opportunities identified, setting goals and objectives, and assigning responsibilities and projections for the future. Responsibilities should also be assigned to employees who can achieve these objectives (Farrell & Hairline, 2008:141).
Angelino and Barker (2013:163) states that primary objectives include financial objectives (current and projected sales, profit margins, market share objectives), while functional objectives are set when the careful blend of the marketing mix is considered in detail. Marketing the campaign for backpacker travelers is one of the main goals; both short and long term. The key factors are to develop and improve marketing as well as making sure it targets the right customer groups which are the international backpacker travelers.
BBS Hotel’s website is in need of up-dating and forming new websites to attract international backpackers to the hotel. Another main goal was to renovate the hotel; maybe Just start with small wings such as putting a microwave and a bar fridge in each room. To provide a holiday package inclusive of individual or group guides for hiking adventures in the Dressmakers area. A short-term objective is to balance customer flow during high and low seasons. The hotel has the largest number of customers during the school holiday seasons. There should be a lot of effort put into attracting more international customers also in low seasons.
Special and attractive offers could be advertised to attract customers. This of course can be continued into long-term objectives; getting ewe customers, both one time visitors as well as regular customers. The main objective for this marketing plan is to -8- attract international backpacker travelers to come stay in BBS Hotel. 3. 4 Step 4: Strategies and action plans Angelino and Barker (2013:163), it states, in this step, specific strategies are designed and implemented through specific marketing actions that are in accordance with the objectives that have been set.
Farrell and Hairline (2008: 323) point out that strategies and action plans are usually also designed in line with the organization’s mission and vision, and organizational culture. Marketing strategies include product, pricing, advertising, media and marketing communication strategies. 1) Association membership and advertising: A large number of visitors will look to regional Hotel associations for information about the different hotels in the Dressmakers area. Most associations publish a guide to the local hotels and the BBS Hotel wants to be in this guide.
One of the other perks of membership is visibility on the association’s website with a link to ours. Additionally, we will be a member of the Zulu-Natal Tourism Board because people typically inquire with the local Zulu-Natal Tourism section when planning a vacation. 2) Website: BBS Hotel will have a full-service website that allows the visitor to view the hotel, read details about what it has to offer, provide information on regional activities, especially it being an attractive hiking destination and even allow the visitor to book an online reservation.
With the growing use of the Internet, the Web has become an -9- indispensable tool people have for planning vacation to areas that are not close enough to check out in person. 3) Existing/Regular Customers: The hotel can start taking its customers’ information and updating it into their hotel reservation systems, this way customers’ contact information can always be found and customers can be contacted more easily with special offers and other news and information of BBS Hotel and activities that will be taking place.