Market Research
Sports tourism is a not a new concept, people who love sports they travel from across countries wherever the sports events are held. This provides scope for sports tourism, where people travel just to experience and enjoy their favorite stars. The destinations that organize and where the events are held see a surge of tourists in that particular time. It creates a need for a number of tourism related services that are required by the tourists. The demands for the various services are to be fulfilled by the local service providers. Tourists require accommodation, restaurants and car rental services (Ashrafi et al., 2013).
Singapore is undoubtedly a very beautiful and attractive country and an excellent destination for various events, for years it has been hosting a number of cultural events, like festivals and concerts. The country has also started organizing and hosting a number of sports events, since then, and it has been seen that whenever this events are organized many tourists visit Singapore. It creates a need for accommodation facilities, though there are a number of hotels but still when there are some events, the demand for the accommodation facilities have increased. This gives scope for the service providers in this field (Ashrafi et al., 2013).
In November 2017 and sports event is going to be held in the National stadium of Singapore. Battle of the matches, it is a football match that will be held in Singapore, the match will be held between Arsenal and Liverpool, the match will be held as a part of Masters Football Asia. Ticket booking for the match has already started and until now many people have done the bookings, Liverpool and Arsenal are both very famous football teams so the fans are expected to come to witness the battle from all around the World (Ashrafi et al., 2013).
Wyndham Hotel group has recently entered Singapore and has been catering the needs of the travelers. It is called Ramada, it will be located in Zhongshan park, near Balestier Park area. The hotel is 17 storied with three hundred and ninety rooms provides facilities like a full service restaurant, fitness center, swimming pool, business center and the meeting space of the hotel is more than 600 square meters. The hotel is first from the Ramada group to have entered Singapore. The hotel is fully prepared for the sports events that will be held in November. They have made a business plan so that they can easily utilize the opportunity to get profits and grow during the sports even that will be taking place in November (Schlothauer & Wilhaus, 2016).
Company Analysis
“At Ramada Hotel, we are committed to caring for the needs of our clients and associates. We are committed to continuous development and improvements and we will change the needs of our clients and the associates alike. It is our responsibility to ensure that you enjoy your time with us and we are determined to ensure that happens”(“Singapore Hotel – Ramada Singapore at Zhongshan Park”, 2017).
Ramada hotel caters the need of all kinds of customers from different segment of the market. With the professionalism of their associates, the hotel is providing the best quality service in the multi-cultural environment of Singapore. They appropriate franchisee affiliations and the management team of the organization is very experienced. They have and are dedicated towards making a significant mark in travel and tourism industry with their excellent hospitality. The hotel is providing premium accommodation and facilities that aligns with the needs of the customers; they provide exceptional service to their customers (Alexandris & Kaplanidou, 2014).
The vision of the hotel is to become a leading hotel with a fast growth rate. It is a Sharia-Compliant hospitality company in Singapore. The financial base of the company is very strong and the hotel group is trying hard to develop its portfolio and uphold the hospitality ion all the aspects (“Singapore Hotel – Ramada Singapore at Zhongshan Park”, 2017).
The hotel industry in Singapore is a very flourishing industry, since Singapore is a center for trade and commerce business tourists keep arriving in this place. Apart from that there is huge flow of tourists in this place all year round, so there are ample number of hotels in Singapore that is fulfilling the demand of the tourists all the year round. All kinds of Hotels are available in Singapore to fulfill the needs of the customers (Ashrafi et al., 2013).
As far as Sports tourism is concerned, in the year 2008 Singapore Grand Prix was first organized in Singapore that was very successful, since then Singapore became famous and started attracting the sports enthusiasts and a number of small sports events are organized every now and then, like the tennis, badminton and soccer matches. Sports tournaments like WTA are organized in the Indoor stadium, football matches are generally organized in the National Stadium of Singapore. Sports events do not last for just one day, and so the hotel bookings done by the tourists are for two nights. For attending this sports events people from different countries come.
Mission Statement of Ramada
The competitors of Ramada hotels are, Best western international PLC, INC, Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC, Choice Hotels International Inc. This hotels have been providing accommodation services to the customers and the services match the standards of the services provided by Ramada Hotel. The hotel is facing a very tough competition with its competitors who with the help of their services and efficient research and development team beat the competition they face from Ramada (“Singapore Hotel – Ramada Singapore at Zhongshan Park”, 2017).
The customers of the Ramada Hotels will be the tourists that will be arriving in the time of the Match, the sports enthusiasts and if any officials who are interested to stay in that hotel. The customers of Ramada hotel have been the people from the upper middle class. In the occasion of football match there will be lot of travelers and sports enthusiasts who will be visiting the place, the location of the hotel is perfect for the people who would be visiting the football match because the location of the stadium is very well connected to the Hotel. The spectators can easily travel to the stadium and be back (Joseph, 2013).
Key partners- The key partners of Ramada group of Hotels are Logistic partners, legal partners, their investors, financing partners, for advertising and promotion, media partners and tour operators of Singapore.
Key activities- The key activities of Ramada Hotel are accommodation, lodging, boarding, other essential services provided in hotels.
Value Proposition- Ramada with its world class services and facilities have been creating value among its customers, their current position in the market has been created by the services of the hotel and because of the excellent advertising and promotional strategies they implement. Their services cannot be matched by the other hotels that operate in Singapore. The pricing strategy of the hotel is being revised every now and then like during any event in Singapore like the shopping festivals and other cultural festivals that attract the tourists. The online booking facility of the hotel is very convenient for the international travelers, and this is the reason it is very popular among the foreign tourists. The guests have appreciated the food and the room service is of the hotel. The hotel chain has created a good will in the Hotel (Schlothauer & Wilhaus, 2016).
Key resources- The Hotel has a huge amount as retained earnings, which is used by the organization to further develop the facilities and services so that more guests are attracted to visit the hotel.
Vision
Customer relationships- The hotel has built good relationship with its customers and that is the reason the guests who visits the hotel once desires to visit it again. During the previous sports, events that took place in the National Stadium many guests stayed in the Hotel and they gave good reviews to the Hotel. Their customer care service is very efficient and the helpline for the guests are open for 24 hours. They offer loyalty points and discounts for their loyal guests (Kirkup & Sutherland, 2017).
Customer segments- Their customers are urban population. The customers of the hotel are both international and domestic travelers, some of the customers are very old and have visiting because they have enjoyed the service of the hotel before and therefore they look forward for staying in the Hotel. Many sports celebrities have stayed in the suites of the hotels. For the event in November, the Penthouse has already been booked for a VIP client. Usually the customers have been from the upper middle class but whenever there is some kind of festival and the rates are revised, the middle class customers also try to book rooms in the hotel (Walker, 2016).
Channels- The various channels that Ramada uses for advertising are newspaper, online advertising, televisions, radio, billboards and flyers. Almost all the media channels are used by Ramada for advertising and promotion of its Hotel. Their campaigns are organized in social networking sites (Joseph, 2013).
Revenue Streams- The hotel generates revenue from lodging, boarding and rentals like, car rentals, banquet, and conference halls for business meetings (Ashrafi et al., 2013).
Cost Structures- The cost is involved in all the parts and activities of the business model (Dudin et al., 2015).
Under the action, plans of Ramada a number of activities are being carried out to promote the services especially during the football matches that are going to be held on November.
Under this, the hotels will include a number of additional services for the guests that will be visiting the hotel. The hotel will provide free pickup services for the guests up to the National stadium, this service will be provided to the customers who have booked tickets for the matches. The hotel have added more rooms for their customers to accommodate them in that particular time. The tourists who will be staying in the hotel for more than one night they will be provided travelling facilities for the local sightseeing and shopping, the timings for the sightseeing will be flexible as per the requirements of the tourists. Apart from that the tourists will be given opportunity to customize their services as per their requirements (Joyce & Paquin, 2016).
Industry Analysis
The hotel has decided to offer discounts for its guests who visits during this time. The discount will be based in the basis of the number of days the guest stays in that particular. The guest who will be staying more than, one night will be getting an additional discount of 10 percent on the base discount of 20 percent (Getz & Page, 2016).
The hotel have collaborated with the football federation so that they any of the guests and authorities if they require accommodation they can contact the hotel. They are planning to pool maximum number of guests during this period. The hotel has planned that they will invite or two of the celebrity footballers and organize a small cultural event, for which the guests can book advance tickets. In menu of the food available at the restaurant owned by the hotel, they will be adding additional dishes that will include dishes from all around the world.
The marketing team of the hotel has also decided to carry out a number advertising and promotional activities (Parent & Chappelet, 2015).
Under the management and production structure the hotel has planned that will revise its current structure of Management, because there are certain drawbacks that it has found in its structure. The hotel has planned that it is going to hire more employees so that they can efficiently handle the customer flow that it is going to face during the time of the football match. The existing trainees will be made volunteer for the event that it is going to organize after the of football match. The hotel reception will be open for 24 hours as usual; the car rental services will also be available for the tourists for 24 hours. The employees will be given beforehand training so that they can easily cope up with the tourist surge that the hotel might face during the peak season (Gardini, 2015).
In the introductory rooms the sales are higher compared to other rooms. The marketing initiatives are going to increase in the coming months, sales per unit for the mid-level and premium level rooms will be increased in comparison to the introductory level rooms. The sales of Room service depends upon the rooms sold per night. Normally, each night of a premium room rental corresponding to a room service purchase, 70% of mid-level room rentals and 40% of introductory-level room rentals (Joseph, 2013).
Competitors’ Analysis
Prices will increase on average in the next three months as the business because of the
Sales is estimated to increase to maximum level (300 rooms x 90 nights for the next three months = 9000 room nights) but do not reach more than 80% of this number. This is because the hotel does not discount rooms so highly that is the reason the occupancy rate does not go above 60%. Off-peak season the rate of sales is generally slower, but the hotel maintains its premium-level pricing so that it does not incur loss (“Singapore Hotel – Ramada Singapore at Zhongshan Park”, 2017)
Month 1 |
Month 2 |
Month 3 |
|
Unit Sales |
|||
Premium level room nights |
3000 |
4,000 |
5000 |
Mid-level room nights |
2000 |
2500 |
4000 |
Introductory level room nights |
4500 |
5000 |
5500 |
Room service meals |
6000 |
8000 |
10000 |
Total Unit Sales |
15500 |
19,500 |
24,500 |
Unit Prices |
Month 1 |
Month 2 |
Month 3 |
Premium level room nights |
$300.00 |
$400.00 |
$500.00 |
Mid-level room nights |
$200.00 |
$250.00 |
$400.00 |
Introductory level room nights |
$450.00 |
$500.00 |
$1000.00 |
Room service meals |
$600.00 |
$800.00 |
$1000.00 |
The marketing expenditure budget categorizes the expenses into the following major categories:
- Advertising category depicts print and online external ads.
- Direct mail shows the postcard and letter mailing campaign to high net worth individuals. The mailings will differ between the two formats each month and the expenditure will be variable a bit as the letter mailings involve huge costs.
- Focus groups are expensive because the discounts and free services offered to customers are recorded as an expense on the accounts, so is the direct cost for the lunch offered.
- Web development involves maintenance of website and hosting, virtual tour development, email newsletters, and the company blog.
- Marketing training depicts the cost due to time consumed and materials that are required for orientation, training and exams for employees.
- Quality assurance depicts the expense for time and materials to review the issues of the customers and their ratings, as well as the bonuses from the quality assurance program.
Total expenditure will increase in the month of November as few activities, like the car rentals, and discounts will be offered to the guests who would be visiting in that time (“Singapore Hotel – Ramada Singapore at Zhongshan Park”, 2017).
Month 1 |
Month 2 |
Month 3 |
|
Advertising |
$50,0 |
$60,0 |
$70,0 |
Direct Mail |
$70,0 |
$80,0 |
$80,0 |
Focus Groups |
$30,0 |
$50,0 |
$70,0 |
Web Development |
$40,0 |
$60,0 |
$70,0 |
Marketing Training |
$10,0 |
$20,0 |
$25,0 |
Quality Assurance |
$20,0 |
$25,0 |
$30,0 |
Total Sales and Marketing Expenses |
$2200 |
$2900 |
$340,0 |
Conclusion
Sports events give a boost to the economy of the hospitality sector, Ramada Hotel has prepared a marketing plan for the sport event; “Battle of the Masters” a football between the Liverpool and Arsenal. The marketing budget have been made for three months so for the activities that will be carried out can bring maximum profit for Ramada Hotel in the time of the event. Ramada is a very famous hotel and the owner is very hopeful after doing the market analysis that the result will be very fruitful.
References
Alexandris, K., & Kaplanidou, K. (2014). Marketing sport event tourism: sport tourist behaviors and destination provisions. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 23(3), 125-127.
Ashrafi, A., Seow, H. V., Lee, L. S., & Lee, C. G. (2013). The efficiency of the hotel industry in Singapore. Tourism Management, 37, 31-34.
Dudin, M. N., Kucuri, G. N., Fedorova, I. J. E., Dzusova, S. S., & Namitulina, A. Z. (2015). The innovative business model canvas in the system of effective budgeting.
Getz, D., & Page, S. J. (2016). Event studies: Theory, research and policy for planned events. Routledge.
Gardini, M. A. (2015). The Challenge of Branding and Brand Management: Perspectives from the Hospitality Industry. In Tourism and Leisure (pp. 247-268). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Joseph, B. O. U. S. (2013). U.S. Patent No. 8,458,023. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Joyce, A., & Paquin, R. L. (2016). The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design more sustainable business models. Journal of Cleaner Production, 135, 1474-1486.
Kirkup, N., & Sutherland, M. (2017). Exploring the relationships between motivation, attachment and loyalty within sport event tourism. Current Issues in Tourism, 20(1), 7-14.
Masterman, G. (2014). Strategic sports event management. Routledge.
Parent, M. M., & Chappelet, J. L. (Eds.). (2015). Routledge Handbook of Sports Event Management. Routledge.
Schlothauer, M., & Wilhaus, D. (2016). Lotte: A Case Study on Market Entries Through Acquisition. In Multinational Management (pp. 239-254). Springer International Publishing.
Singapore Hotel – Ramada Singapore at Zhongshan Park. (2017). Ramadasingapore.com. Retrieved 3 September 2017, from https://www.ramadasingapore.com/#gref
Walker, J. R. (2016). Introduction to hospitality. Pearson Higher Ed.