Assignment Sample on HTM729 Strategic Management
Executive Summary
The core purpose of this study is to analyse the marketing plan for the Europa hotel in Belfast. It is one of the most popular hotels and one of the attractions of international customers. The company aims to provide luxurious experiences to the customers along with improving their experiences. The core competencies of the hotel include its location and luxury facilities such as, elegant decor, contemporary bistro and others. The hotel is famous for holding several international prestigious events and ensuring a competitive edge in the market. However, there are some challenges faced by the hotel that need to be addressed for providing quality services to customers and increasing sales growth. The marketing objectives of the company include improving the relationship with local suppliers and source goods from local suppliers to reduce the cost. Additionally, improving the online presence is one of the significant objectives of the company that can help the company to attain a sustainable position in the market. Furthermore, creating a new brand portfolio and improving the sales and marketing are the objectives of the company. The adoption of effective marketing strategies can help them to reduce the impact of threats and embrace the opportunities.
Introduction
Company history/ Mission statement
Europa Hotel was founded in 1971 and is located at Great Northern Railway Station in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The hotel became a popular place to hang out for the journalists and was often seen in the newspaper headlines. In August 1993 the hotel was acquired by the owner of Hastings Hotels and after major makeovers, it began its operation in February 1994. The primary mission of the hotel is to provide a luxurious experience to its guests and continue improving the experiences further (The Europa Hotel Belfast, 2021).
Core competencies
One of the core competencies of the hotel is its location in Belfast. The hotel is located in the City Centre of Belfast. The luxury facilities along with the elegant decor, piano bar, contemporary bistro and bustling bar are turning out to be the core competencies. These competencies are helping in attracting the interests of a large consumer base. The hotel is also known for its better arrangement and hosting of many renowned events. From this, it can be understood that Europa hotel has not only established itself at a prime location but also has provided services providing great experiences to all customers. Thus, location and services are the core competencies of the hotel (The Europa Hotel Belfast, 2021).
Company’s brand/positioning
The hotel provides 272 bedrooms having advanced technological and other facilities to meet all the demands of the guests. The hotel also offers 92 executive suits and bedrooms which the guests can select depending on their needs and interests (The Europa Hotel Belfast, 2021). Considering all such services and facilities from the hotel it can be inferred that Europa hotel has positioned itself at the premium end of the consumer market. The hotel is already famous for hosting different prestigious events and is the most preferred location for celebrities and VIPs.
Proposition
The key proposition of the brand is to continuously provide the guests with the best experience irrespective of all existing challenges and troubles. The hotel has a record of bouncing back from all dire situations and meeting the needs of the guests coming to Belfast. The hotel, being the centre of interest, had been targeted for severe attacks such as bombing. However, it had endured all challenges and problems and had returned back to offer its premium services to the customers. In fact, Europa had fought with the pandemic situation and has opened its business by complying with all rules and regulations of preventing the spread of the virus.
Competitive advantage
Europa hotel is located within the premises of Grand Opera House, Ulster Museum, Titanic Belfast, City Hall, SSE Arena and Waterfront Hall. Therefore, in terms of location Europa hotel is ahead of its competitors and attracts more visitors. The hotel has hosted many international and national events thereby adding to the advantage. Even after experiencing great devastation the standard of quality provision has not been affected. The hotel has adapted necessary changes to meet the needs of the guests. All these aspects act as competitive advantages on the part of the hotel.
Current key segments
Europa’s hotel business is presently offering accommodations to guests, holding various events, supporting business meetings and assisting the guests to enjoy their stay or visit in Belfast.
Synopsis of Audit
PESTLE Analysis
| Factors | Impact | |
| Political |
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Political stability of the country determines the firmness of rules, regulations and policies. The government initiates to ensure satisfactory wages for the low wage workers. After Brexit more than 400,000 migrant workers in the entertainment, hotels business surfers to get visas (Hough, 2019). After its exit from EU the hotel industry face huge losses
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| Economical |
|
The economy of Northern Ireland is considered the smallest economy of the UK. Prior to the pandemic the entire economic activities of the country were unrecoverable (David, 2019). However, according to the latest report the economic activity has improved remarkably. |
| Social |
|
The Increasingly diverse population of the country provides a huge workforce. It is a traditional society that limits the communal pattern (David, 2019). It has been found that the social-cultural pattern of the country aligns with the religious and political differences. |
| Technological |
|
Several job roles are replaced by the online workers and online agencies after the investment on advanced technology. Currently, the business organisations are employing people who are technically skilled to improve their performances. |
| Environmental |
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The 1.9Million population of Northern Ireland accounts for 4% of emission of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases. However, since 1990 the country has reduced approximately 20% of greenhouse gases. It is advised to reduce the emission by 82% to attain the “net zero emission”. |
| Legal |
|
The government of the country ensures minimum wages for all workers across the organisations. Its diverse society provides equal opportunities to people irrespective of their class, race and regions. However, the pay gap issue is increasing concern for the government. |
Analysis
The above table indicates the political, social, economical, technological, legal and environmental factors of the country that have an impact on the performances of the organisations. It has been found that the political stability of the government helps the organisations to implement the policies, rules and regulations imposed by the government. The government is initiating to ensure that the low wage workers can earn money that allows the organisations to increase their productivity. Besides the political factors, the economic factors have also a great impact on the organisations. The hotel industry in Northern Ireland is sustaining more than 65,000 jobs and contributing to the growth of the national economy (Statista, 2021).
It has been observed that the diverse and traditional society of Northern Ireland provides equal opportunities to people. However, the social pattern aligns with its religious and political differences and thus gender and age influences social life. It has been found that “migration” is one of the contributing factors of increasing population that contribute to increase the productivity of the organisation (Mak, and Chang, 2019). Several industries including the hotel industry have adopted the advanced technology to improve their business activities and provide quality services to customers.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
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Weaknesses
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Opportunities
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Threats
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Analysis
From the above table the internal and external factors that have a great impact on the Hotel Europa can be understood. It is undeniable that the Hotel Europa is one of the most popular hotels in Northern Ireland as it holds several international prestigious events. Despite being the world-class attraction of the visitors the organisation faces severe threats that can impact the performances of the company (The Europa Hotel Belfast, 2021). It has been found that the lack of online presence of the organisation imposed a severe challenge for the hotel in the competitive business market. Additionally, the Brexit deal puts pressure on the business activities of the hotel and decreases their visibility. Due to Brexit the international customers from Europe may avoid visiting Northern Ireland. Besides the challenges it has some opportunities that can help them to retain the positions. For instance, the digital experience allows them to put innovative activities and digital marketing strategies. This will help them to meet the demands of both international and domestic customers.
Porter’s Five Forces
Threat of new entrants: The hotel industry in Northern Ireland is mainly characterised by huge capital costs and multiple risks. The outbreak of pandemic has severely affected this industry across the globe and thus, the new entrants must have effective and innovative marketing strategies to give competition to the existing organisations. Therefore, the threats of new entrants in this industry are low.
Bargaining power of buyers: In northern Ireland the hotel industry is facing several challenges due to the outbreak of pandemic and lack of digital presence. It has been found that the intense competition in the market increases the bargaining power of buyers as they have several options to choose the best quality services (Porter Analysis, 2021). Thus, it can be said that the bargaining power of buyers is high.
Bargaining power of suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers in the hotel industry of Northern Ireland is relatively low. The reason behind this is that this industry is mainly subjected to the power of a skilled workforce and thus has huge demand for them. Additionally, several organisations import goods from the international market.
Threat of substitute products or services: The threats of the substitute services and products in the hotel industry are comparatively low. The reason for this is that customers prefer quality services with affordable prices and this industry is price sensitive (Porter Analysis, 2021).
Rivalry among the firms: The rivalry among the existing firms in the hotel industry of Northern Ireland is high. The fierce competition among the organisations is required to improve the performances and allow them to focus on the wea areas for improvement.
Figure 1: Porter’s five forces
(Source: Porter Analysis, 2021)
Marketing Objectives
Based on the country, company and market analysis inferences can be drawn that Europa hotel needs to come up with new marketing strategies. These strategies will help in coping up with the situations created because of the BREXIT and Covid-19 pandemic. Modifications of the strategies are needed to incorporate the opportunities identified in the above analysis.
Marketing objectives for new strategic direction for the hotel,
- To develop partnerships with local suppliers and source goods locally to reduce the increase in business costs by 5% by the end of the second quarter of 2022
- To improve the online presence of the hotel and attain a 7% increase in website traffic by the start of the new year
- To create a new product portfolio for attracting customers from the mediocre segment of the market
- To increase the sales by 3% by the end of the final quarter of 2021
The above objectives are necessary for protecting the business from increasing import costs due to BREXIT. The fulfillment of the objectives will also help in strengthening the local economy and increasing the national customer base of the hotel. The hotel needs to manage the aftermath of the pandemic situation and therefore targeting all segments of the Northern Ireland market will help in achieving the interests of the locals. Domestic sales along with international sales will boost the competitive advantages of Europa hotel.
Strategy
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
Segmentation is needed to be changed after the consequences of the BREXIT and Covid-19 pandemic situation. The pandemic situation and the modifications in the immigration policies have already affected the frequency of visits from other countries. Thus, it is time to review the segments emphasised upon by the hotel (De Pelsmacker et al. 2018). Europa hotel needs to consider the application of big data and data mining techniques to understand the demands and interests of the customers (Siakalli et al. 2017). This technique will also help in analysing the current buying and spending behaviour. Therefore, behavioural and psychographic segmentation is essential to be used by the Europa hotel to deal with the effects of pandemic and the BREXIT situations.
In terms of targeting the hotel is required to give importance to differentiated targeting. Differentiated targeting includes offering separate offers to the customers (Sofronov, 2019). So far the hotel has followed concentrated targeting where only premium customers have been given importance. The economic spending of the locals has improved due to the measures taken by the government. Thus, it is a suitable time for the hotel to diversify its services and focus on all segments of the market and target the mediocre segment along with high-end customers. As observed from the earlier analysis it is seen that Europa hotel has always established itself as a premium brand in the market. Therefore, it is beneficial for the hotel to focus on the national or domestic market along with the international market. In doing so, the brand needs to diversify and establish itself in the medium class of society.
From the above analysis, it can be stated that Europa hotel needs to review and modify its marketing strategies significantly. It is not proving to be feasible for the hotel to continue with its focus on the premium segment of the market. This market is quite concentrated and the modification in the travelling regulations and restrictions due to the pandemic has limited the profits for the business. Therefore, Europa must not continue emphasising a particular segment if it has to sustain the adverse market conditions. Focusing on more than one segment will result in diversifying and gaining profits from more customers both national and international.
Marketing Mix
Product – In addition to the premium set of bedrooms and executive suites and bedrooms the hotel needs to include a certain set of rooms which will fall under the level of competitive pricing.
Place – Presently the hotel has a mediocre presence on online platforms. The official website provides basic information about the services and offers provided by the hotel. However, there is a lack of vivid content and posts. The website needs to have a separate section for news feeds and important posts that can increase the interests of the locals and outsiders (Sofronov, 2019). The marketing content needs to be creative and innovative for influencing the emotional quotient of the customers. In other words, the hotel needs to expand in the online business environment.
Price – The demand has become uncertain following the situations of pandemic and the BREXIT. In fact, comparing the previous patterns and the present patterns will not help in effective forecasting of demands since the requirements of the market have been changing frequently. Awareness about the competitors and their pricing strategy is quite crucial during times of uncertain demands. Considering this fact it is necessary for the hotel to emphasise competitive pricing techniques apart from premium pricing strategies. Competitive pricing strategies will help in offering a new set of products to customers other than those belonging to the premium market segment.
Promotion – The marketing team of the hotel is needed to focus on strengthening its presence on different online platforms. The hotel needs to create innovative and vivid content and post them on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for attracting the emotional quotient of a large number of consumers. Retaining an active presence on the online platforms will help in engaging people across the world.
Resources and Controls
The two important resources needed to ensure the success of this marketing plan are human resources and budgetary resources. From the perspective of human resources, a team needs to be developed which will look after the implementation of big data and identification of the changes in customer needs and buying behaviour. The team members need to have a certain extent of experience in digital marketing and capabilities to create creative and innovative content for the hotel. The team will also be responsible for identifying opportunities for utilising advanced technologies and tools.
The budgetary resources are required to support the development and designing of the marketing campaigns. These marketing campaigns are required to strengthen the presence of the company on different online platforms.
| Requirements | Expected costs (£) |
| The hiring of different experts | 6,000 |
| Creation of the contents | 10,000 |
| Online promotion | 50,000 |
| Offline promotion | 30,000 |
| Monitoring and control | 8,000 |
| Total | 104,000 |
After the allocation of the necessary resources, it is necessary to ensure proper control of the resources and support effective utilisation. The marketing developed must be given the role to evaluate the progress of the plan by tallying with the objectives set. The team needs to check the rate of likes, views and percentage of comments on the content uploaded on the different platforms. Modifications must be made in the content for increasing the percentage of views and comments. The data mining and interpretation concerning customer data must be conducted so that behaviour and demands can be tracked to decide and forecast sales. The reports from the team are to be used by the management for developing strategies to achieve the other objectives set in this marketing plan.
Conclusion
The discussions in this report have been focused on developing a suitable marketing plan for the Europa hotel based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. From the analysis of the situation of the hotel, it is observed that it is a popular brand among visitors and locals. The location of the hotel, the facilities and services and the ability of the hotel to cope with all challenges have strengthened its sustenance in the market in comparison to its competitors. However, the BREXIT and Covid-19 pandemic situation has compelled the hotel to give importance to the current challenges in the hospitality industry and modify its marketing strategies to ensure an increase in profits. The areas on which the marketing plan has focused are pricing strategy, development of partnership with local suppliers more to avoid increased import costs, diversify products, adopt differentiated targeting and work on improving presence on different online platforms.
References
David, J., 2019. PESTEL analysis of the UK. Retrieved October, 30, p.2019.
De Pelsmacker, P., Van Tilburg, S. and Holthof, C., 2018. Digital marketing strategies, online reviews and hotel performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 72, pp.47-55.
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Mak, A.H. and Chang, R.C., 2019. The driving and restraining forces for environmental strategy adoption in the hotel Industry: A force field analysis approach. Tourism Management, 73, pp.48-60.
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Sofronov, B., 2019. The Development of Marketing in Tourism Industry. Annals of Spiru Haret University. Economic Series, 19(1), pp.117-127.
Statista. 2021. Topic: Northern Ireland. [online] Available at: <https://www.statista.com/topics/3829/northern-ireland/> [Accessed 20 November 2021].
Teague, P., 2019. Brexit, the Belfast Agreement and Northern Ireland: Imperilling a fragile political bargain. The Political Quarterly, 90(4), pp.690-704.
The Europa Hotel Belfast. 2021. The Europa Hotel | 4 Star Hotel In Belfast City Centre | Official Site. [online] Available at: <https://www.europahotelbelfast.com/> [Accessed 20 November 2021].
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