Marketing plan for ananda himalayas

Marketing plan for ananda himalayas Ananda Himalayas is a trend setting concept in both business and luxurious spa.ananda Himalayas is a part of IHHR Hospitality owned by Mr Ashok Khanna.It is a luxurious spa situated in the tranquil Himalayan foothills, nested on a 100 acres estate surrounded by graceful Sal forests overlooking the river Ganges, close to the towns of Rishikesh Haridwar. Ananda Himalayas was established in 2000 its Indias first destination spa. it is a pathway to the ultimate, discovered through the union of body, mind soul. it provides a breathless redefine lifestyles with the well-known traditional Indian wellness regime of Ayurveda,yoga and Vedanta. IT is considered to be one of the best spa in the world and also rated no.1 destination spa in the world by most of the travel agent as well as newspapers magazines(Travel and leisure). Ranked by top new hotels of 2008by Conde nest traveller,76 hot spas across globe by travel leisure and 26 best business hotels in South ASIA. Mission and Vision Statement Mission:- to create a unique design product offer world class hospitality with a distinctive warmth and humility improve and innovate constantly to crate exceptional value for people,their individuality and to their growth VISION:- to be a world-class hospitality chain in India benchmark in spa industry to have a world-class spa institute in India expending capacity of existing property as well as expending with more new properties. Ethos:- E-empathy T-teamwork H-honesty O-ownership S-selflessness Corporate objectives:- Increasing revenue from 500 m to 550.75 m. Reaching to 100% customer satisfaction instead of 8.3 to 9.3%. Targeting profit from 45.64 to 58.42 Taking gross profit ratio to 12-15%. Mktg Objectives :- Increasing revenue from 50% to 100% Achieving customer satisfaction and quality standards to 100% Increasing profit from 80% to 100% Increasing growth profit ratio from 12% to 15%(CIRRUS 01 SEP 2008). Mkt segmentation:- Market Segmentation broadly identifies the potential markets from a general population for further refining and targeting. The market segmentation for ananda Himalayas will be done on the two bases. 1.geographic segmentation (it will contain both international and domestic markets) 2.demographic segmentation. Geographical Segmentation Country of Origin of Guests in Rishikesh star hotels COMPOSITION Five Star Deluxe and Five Star hotel % ASEAN 2.4 Australia 2.1 Canada 1.6 Carribbean 0.6 China 3.4 France 2.0 Germany 6.6 Japan 3.2 Middle East 2.5 Other European 1.4 Russia 1.2 SAARC 1.0 South Africa 1.4 UK 8.4 USA 24.8 Other 37.4 Total 100 (FHRAI, Indian Hotel Industry Survey 2008-2009) The table above shows the percentages of people from different origin that prefer staying in the five star deluxe and five star hotels in Rishikesh. According to this survey done by FHRAI, the number of tourists from US(24.8%) is the maximum which is followed by UK(8.4%) and Germany(6.6%) which have a marginal difference between them. These statistics clearly show us that there is a decent amount of tourists from The US for which we already have a good market. Therefore, there is a scope for targeting more people from UK and Germany. Though, we still cannot target a specific market with these statistics alone which will be done in the later parts Demographic Segmentation Foreign tourist arrival in India on the bases of gender (FHRAI, Indian Hotel Industry Survey 2008-2009) For the year 2006, the percentage of foreign male tourists was 57% against the female tourists which comprises of 36%. Whereas, there are 7% of the tourists which did not report and are missing from the stats. Similar is the case for the domestic tourists as well. The percentage of men travelling is slightly high than that of females all over India. Therefore, by evaluating all the data given above, we have chosen a differentiation market segment method to specify the target markets. Our specific target market will be; Foreign business travellers from UK and Germany Domestic tourists- leisure with high income (4.9% in all of India) Meeting Participants Target Market:- Corporate:- as this hotel is situated in a religious tourist place. Leisure:- this can be the major target market as it is basically a health and wellness spa. it attracts tourists who wants to rejuvenate. Groups:- groups improves sales as well as provides hotels a good market reputation and also capture major share of market. Positioning:- Market Positionining Perceptual Mapping; Foreign Business Travellers Expensive High Moderate Service Ista . Less Expensive (naresh k.malhotra(marketing research p-700) Domestic Tourists Expensive High Moderate Service Service Ista . Less Expensive (naresh k.malhotra(marketing research p-700) Key-findings for market positioning:- If we take price and customer satisfaction ratio into consideration, Ananda has lower price than its competitors and a good customer satisfaction but not the highest. If factors like brand reputation and value for money is considered than it has got the highest brand name. Corporate marketing strategy:- objectives Strategic tactics Implementation period revenue 500 m to 550.75m Tie-up with the travel agencies. Air-line packages Corporate rates Group rates Should start from april Should start through out the year Customer relationship 8.3m to 9.3m Set-up of various information centres Start from april and should continue through out the year. Total profit 45.64m to 58.42m Cutting down all unnecessary spendings Through out the years Profit percentage 12-15% Add-on services with packages Start from april Marketing strategy:- As per the product our hotel is offering,most of the facilities are delivered directly.to make it more successful we need to promote our product in market to increase market share.this can be done through various channels of advertising(travel agency,media advertising). As our target market is corporate and foreign clients so for this we need to tie up with prospective business to enhance the sale.hotel is in the growth level as per product life cycle,but due to recession the market share percentage has gone down.to come out of this,we are going to use the differentiationmarketing strategy.in this,the focus will be on different market segment with competitive price and product with quality service. Another reason is our target market is divided into small segmentations so,can easily increase our market share through these segmentations.our brand strategy is to provide high level of services and customer satisfaction with low rates and first objective is to increase the market share. The marketing mix strategy is based upon the two ps factors.we consider price and product.our aim is to provide different experience than other hotels and increase market share by establishing the brand value with in the customers. Markets Ansoffs Matrix Existing New Products Products 3.product development 1.Market Penetration Existing Markets 4.diversification 2. Market Development New The Ansoffs Matrix shows four different ways of marketing. It is basically a combination of four similar but different things. Existing Products and new products ,and, existing markets and new markets. In the case of the hotel ananda, we are going to follow the two methods that are Market Penetration and Market Development as shown in the figure above. We already have a product with us and we do not plan to create or add something new to our product line. Our plan is to enter further into the markets that we are already in. As explained earlier, we plan to increase our market share within the same market and try to reach the customers who fall in the same category but different profiles. The second plan is to create new markets with our existing product to offer the customers. In this case we have planned to create a new target market in the form of the domestic tourist which comes for purpose of leisure and holidaying. This is being done because according to the research that we have done in the beginning it shows us the scope of the domestic tourists. Another reason that supports this strategy is that we also have the right kind of product offering for this market. Budget:- Financial Report Percentage of Revenue (2008-2009): Hotels ananda Grand hyatt sheratons Vivanta(taj) Occupied Rooms Hotel 33,699 22,206 38,729 39,828 Occupancy percentage 55.4% 63.4% 66.7% 65.7% Rate per room $209.59 $220.09 $203 $186.59 Room Revenue 65.20% 66.8% 63.9% 55.7% F B Revenue 23.5% 20.8% 26.3% 31.4% Banquet conferences 6.6% 9.2% 2.0% 9.7% other 4% 2% 7% 3% Total 100% 100% 100% 100% Imp:- subject to further research Evaluation of marketing plan for ananda Himalayas:- Objective: Increasing customer satisfaction level from 6.2 7.5 Key Performance Indicator: Customer Satisfaction Surveys Frequency of Evaluation: Monthly Objective: Increasing Revenue from 500m 550.75m. Escalating profit from 45.64m 58.42m Key Performance Indicator: Revenue Report, Financial Audit Frequency of Evaluation: Annually Objective: Growing profit ratio 12.00% 15% Key Performance Indicator: Monthly Revenue reports, Cash flow Frequency of Evaluation: Monthly Note: (subject to further research) Contingency plan:- In the event that suggested marketing plan measures prove to be ineffective or below threshold following measures are suggestedency plan:- 1. PRICE+PROMOTION: start with new products along with wellness packages. 2. PRODUCT +PLACE : cant change the product services. 3. PROCESS+PEOPLE: Can stick to same old training methods) only to 10% of stock per store. 4. Cost cutting and cost management regards to budgeting and investment plans. The product offer: Ananda, Himalayas offers a comfortable and contemporary rooms with a beautiful view of landscape grounds.this hotel has 21,000 square feet spa(only one in India).all rooms are designed with a high level of comfort and as per the need of guests. Along with rooms this hotel offers a range of packages that includes scheduled aerobics,hiking trips in the foothills of Himalayas,meditation and yoga classes,wellness and treatment packages,cooking classes etc.this hotel has 75 deluxe rooms,5 suites and 3 villas.all rooms are equipped with all modern amenities. Pricing strategies:- Pricing needs to be decided as plays a very vital role in hotel growth.every hotel has a set target and goal,due to recession prices have come down. rate rationalization is the biggest change after recession. Penetrating pricing strategies: following this strategies would help ananda hotel to capture more portion of market share. In this strategy ananda hotel would be offering guests competitive rates with best standards of service which could be given in same class of hotel. Following penetrating pricing strategies would help ananda strengthening its position in market and establishing its brand name among customers. Penetrating pricing strategies would give elasticity to demand. Competition based pricing strategies: Keeping an close eye on every step of your competitor is very essential, specially pricing strategies. Price is the only factor which would play prime role in attracting customers. Competition based pricing basically means pricing according to your competitors and try giving better or something unique to them which would be our unique selling point of business. Competition based pricing will help ananda to fight competition and establish its market. Promotion:- Corporate and commercial rates Air-lines packages Corporate packages Group discounted rates Off-season special packages On-line deals Promotional spa packages Ananda place in tourism system:- Ananda is a hospitality service provider in destination. Destination is composed of different elements that together make up a destination mix. Basic components of destination mix are facilities, attraction, infrastructure, transportation and hospitality service provider commonly used as acronym FAITH (Weaver Lauton 2005). Ananda is an established name in hospitality service sector, just because of rescission it lost its market share and profit started declining. To revive from the situation of rescission ananda need to establish cordial relation with other component of Destination Mix. It has seen that hospitality service provider cant alone make tourist experience better of visiting place. The hospitality service provider needs to work in coordination with other component so that tourist can get better services and he is satisfied with hospitality given to him. For example:- Guest comes from united kinghdom to attend seminar or companys meeting when he would arrive airport first thing he would require would be transportation to hotel, after reaching hotel he would require facilities that would support his travel purpose. If guest would be getting all these facilities without hassle he would be a satisfied guest and repeat guest in future or guest commercially important person for hotel(CIP) for hotel who could give more business to hotel in near future. We would suggest ananda to apply push strategy. This strategy involves pushing the product through distribution channel to final consumer. Push strategy will induce distribution channel to put more effort for selling the hotels room and service as they would be having personal motive or interest that is profit or commission from hotel by doing so. Using push strategy will help ananda hotel to increase scope of capturing more market because by choosing distribution channel we could widen scope of advertisement and promotion of our products. For example hotel ananda could give lucrative offers to travel agent like 10% of room cost as commission in addition to their normal commission for booking. A push strategy provides an incentive for channel member to promote product to their customer or push product through distribution channel (Kotler, Bowen., Makens2006 pg 561). People:- Orientation Culture Change Internal marketing Process:- Process ananda hotel is using is based on technology and e-marketing. Physical evidence:- Brand image related to vision position. Environment:- The situation analysis that can be done for the hotel will include all the external factors which have an effect on the working of the hotel. These external factors can be studied by the help of PESTEL (political, economic, social, technological, environmental, legal) analysis and how these factors affect the working of the hotel. It is a strategic planning technique that provides a useful framework for analyzing the environmental pressures on a team or an organization. (Edmonstone, Havergal, 1999). Political Environment: this includes all the government policies, the laws in which the hotel has to deal and the pressure groups which affect the hotel performance. The Political instability such as tax rates and other matters like the policies and rules with which the hotel is concerned. The hotel has to be in the parameters of govt policies and have to follow all the rules and regulations. Economic Environment: This environment mainly deals with the money capacity of the consumer.this plays a vital role in deciding the promotion or downfall of the hotel business.The economic meltdowns lead to a downfall in the tourism sector, leading to a drop in the business of the hotel. The economy has started to improve and the international corporate travelers who form the major part of the target market of the hotel have once again started to come to the hotel. The economy will need some time to improve and this time can be utilized to make new marketing strategies which will attract more such travelers and suits their needs as well. Socio-Cultural Environment: It includes behaviors, perceptions, choices and the values of various individuals who constitute the society. This part includes both the employees and the society in which the hotel is working. The hotel needs to keep proper care of its employees and their needs in order to achieve high standards of work. The hotel also has some social responsibilities. The hotel can social events, the earnings of which can go for charity, it can also have an effective disposal system for garbage, water and gases which may help in maintaining a healthy environment for the society around it. Technological Environment: These factors act as the facilities in the hotels and are also the main aspects which help in the differentiation of one property to another. The ananda hotel has all the modern technologies being used forthe spas compared to other hotels. The hotel can always come up with some innovative ideas to place itself at a better position than its competitors. Natural Environment: The natural environment does not have much effect on the business of the hotel as anada,Himalayas situated in the beautiful landscape of Himalayas with natural and pollution free environment. This factor effects only when the marketers can use it for the promotion of the hotel. Legal Environment: This part includes the various rules and the policies that the hotel needs to follow in order to run the operations efficiently. These legal issues include the payment of taxes, giving proper remuneration to the staff, following of the legal government policies and others. Tax paid by tourists in India is the highest in the world, Indian hotels charge about 40% taxes compared to other Asian countries where it varies between 3% and 6%. (World travel and tourism council, 2010). Such factors as mentioned above shows the different legal requirements that are expected to be fulfilled by the hotel. Proposed Environmental Scanning System for anada,Himalayas hotel: Environmental Factor Source of Information Person Responsible Frequency Competitors Newspapers Staff/ Management Daily Guests Staff Daily Magazines Management Weekly Internet Staff/ Management Weekly Annual Reports Management Yearly Customers Customer feedback Staff Daily Staff Management Weekly Travel agents Management Monthly Regular guests Staff/ Management Monthly Internet Staff/ Management Weekly Economic Economic newsletters Management Weekly News papers Management Weekly Internet Management Weekly Average room rates Accountant/ Management Daily Balance sheets Accountant/ Management Yearly Internet Management Monthly Technologies Trade magazines Management/ Department heads Monthly Trade shows Accountant/ Management Yearly Internet Management Monthly Newspapers Management Weekly Television Management Daily The above mentioned three key areas need to be followed for the purpose of the environmental scanning. The hotel became one of the top rated hotels in the rishikesh, but due to the recession in late 2008 most of the business was lost. The above mentioned SWOT and PESTEL analysis, if followed properly, will help the business to reach high levels of business and market share. Service Concept/productivity:- Anada,Himalayas could get competitive advantage if, they properly plan and implement their supporting products. They must meet customers needs and expectation, to overbeat their competitors (Hertneneky, B,P.2006. p.g 281). In this critical stage of reviving from rescission, ananda hotel should not only concentrate on providing core product or basic product that would be food, shelter, and safety of guest. They should look upon providing augmented or supporting products, which are very important for delivering quality service and meeting expectation of guest. The augmented product includes accessibility, atmosphere, customer interaction with service organization, customers participation and customer interaction with each other (Kotler, Bowen., Makens2006 pg 307). Augmented product is important to be understood because it tells what is delivered and how is to be delivered. ananda hotel have to work seriously upon this service concept of augmented product because these product have huge impact on guest and will help to capture major portion of markets, by customer satisfaction which is key element in hospitality industry. Facilities we are providing are:- Wi-Fi internet access   ananda hotel can provide Wi-Fi anytime anywhere, whether in-room, by the pool or in other public areas sleep comfort   ananda hotel can provide ergonomically designed beds and a pillow menu with a wide range of comfort pillows. Business Centre   High speed internet access and board room style meeting rooms. Spa   21,000 square feet spa with all the required equipments. Pool Fitness Centre   ananda hotel is giving temperature controlled swimming pool for all seasons, state of the art gymnasium with personal trainers. Tailor-made food-ananda provides food as per the customer body type and famous for cooking without oil.food is inspired by ancient times and prepared with natural ingredients. Organisation:- The best part about anand,Himalayas is its staff as all staff is between the age of 21 to 35,customer oriented,friendly,well versed with the knowledge of therapies.they should have this kind of staff only as customer should feel at home and comfortable only than they will be able to enjoy the treatment. strategy:- Advertisement: it is one of the major promotional tools which can be used by hotel anada,Himalayas for promotion of their products and services. Advertisement could be one the very successful tool which can be used for increasing market share. If advertisement is well positioned and planned it could help to overcome competition and help to revive from recession (Jhon,L.2009.p.g 6). Various form of advertisement which is used for promoting its products and services could be: 1.Internet: This is one of the most widely used medium through which hotels can promote its product and services. It could be very effective in promoting products and services. 2.Printed Media: For example: magazine, journals and news papers. This is very useful because it would help promoting product among corporate clients and corporate employee. 3.Visual Media: For example: television, this is said to be very effective as it gives both visual and audio effect to guest. They can actually feel the product or services. 4.Sales promotion: They attract consumer attention and provide information that may lead the consumer to buy the product. Ananda can use sales promotion tool as to get quicker and stronger response from consumer. Various sales promotion tools which can be used could be: 5.Promotional letters to existing guests: ananda hotel can send promotional letter which includes lucrative discount offers, and various packages at discounted rates. This strategy would help ananda from recovering from recession and capturing more shares in market. Distributional Strategy: Distributional strategies which can be used by hotel ananda for capturing market share and overcome competitors could be:- 1.Trade Show: This could be very effective in distributing of products and service because trade shows are being attended by various travel agents and travel tour operator. This would help them to build cordial relation with them, in return of that we could business from them. 2.Exhibitions: these are very important in distribution of the hotels product and services as during exhibition hotel managers could get chance to interact with other hotel managers and managers of other companies to whom they could explain their product or service which could help in increasing sales revenue. 3.Airlines: magazines in airlines and airline companies could be important source for distribution of product and services of hotel. 4.Corporate Companies: Relation with corporate companies and advertisement in corporate magazine could help in promoting hotels product services. Swot analysis Strengths:- Location- situated in the green lush of Himalayas with natural flora and fauna. Heritage property Spa- the only hotel with 21,000sq feet spa and first spa hotel in the country. Cuisine-food prepared is different from routine preparation and individually designed as per the body type and cooked without oil. Weakness:- Cost- rooms are extremely expensive and not suited to domestic traveller. Limitations-hotel mainly offers spa and wellness packages ,limited to a less part of the society. Opportunities:- Govt support- attract tourists with new promotional schemes which results in higher outbound tourists. Common wealth games- as games to be held in 2010,will be a boom for the industry. Aviation hospitality- both with joint venture helps in increasing travellers by offering cheap packages. Threats:- Recession Competitors-many small hotels opened near about with cheap yoga n spa packages and it can reduce the rate of visitors to ananda. Natural hazards-like fire,flood etc. Cheap airlines packages-customer want to go international after international air fair falls down. Political issues-like service tax,labour union policies etc. Key-findings for Ananda Himalayas:- biggest strength of Ananda Himalayas right now is its brand reputation being only spa in India(which is 50%)although it has to improve on weaknesses and less productivity than its competitors. At the same time,can increase the sale or mkt share with an increase in number of people who want relaxation and better health(as it is health and wellness industry).