Discuss about marketing strategies of Sandal resorts international.
Tourism sector is one of the most potential and competitive business sectors in the current global scenario. Moreover, with the increase in the competition in the tourism sector, countries with having most tourist destinations are witnessing huge growth in the recent time (Zaei and Zaei 2013). Caribbean islands are having some of the world’s greatest and exotic tourist destinations that attract million of the tourists every year (Han and Hyun 2015). Various tourism organizations are operating in these islands catering to the needs and requirements of the customers. Thus, competition is rapidly increasing in the tourism sector in the Caribbean islands. This is proving the need and importance of having effective and holistic marketing strategies for the tourism organizations in order to stay ahead in the competition.
Sandal resorts international is one of the leading chains of resorts in the Caribbean islands. Currently, they are having total 24 properties in different countries in the Caribbean islands. It was founded by Gordon Stewart in 1981 and expanded in the following years. Sandal resorts international is the largest non government employer in the entire Caribbean regions with having the status of the highest foreign reserve contributor in the economy (Sandals Resorts 2018). Thus, in accordance to their market status, they have involved various innovative and effective marketing strategies in order to stay relevant in the market while facing stiff competition.
This report will discuss about the various elements of the marketing strategies being involved by Sandal resorts international. The source of their competitive advantages will be discussed along with identifying the marketing mix promoted by them. In addition, this report will also discuss about the segmentation strategy of them. A few recommended steps will also be discussed to enhance the business effectiveness in future.
Sandal resorts international possesses different strategies in order to gain competitive advantages in the market. In addition, the resources and capabilities of them are contributing in gaining competitive advantages in the market (Lin and Wu 2014). VRIO framework will be used to identify the key resources for them along with using the Porter generic strategies to identify the competitive strategies of them.
Some of the key resources of Sandal resorts international are the human resources, financial positions, locations and brand value. These resources of them help in having competitive advantages in the market and to deal with the competition with other players.
From the above identified resources, human resources enhance the values for Sandal resorts international. This is due to the reason that, the human resources of them are trained and experts in providing particular customer services (Kozlenkova, Samaha and Palmatier 2014). This helped them in achieving various awards in terms of the customer service. Thus, this helps them to have satisfied customers in place, which further helps in increasing the retention ratio of the existing customers along with enhancing the generation of the positive word of mouth.
Financial positions of Sandal resorts international are also key valuable resources. This is due to the reason that, due to their financial stability, majority of the properties of them are situated in the most exotic locations along with providing the most valuable services to the customers (Mele and Della Corte 2013). Thus, the financial position of them helps to stay ahead in the competition.
As discussed earlier, Sandal resorts international is situated in the exotic locations of Caribbean islands. This is one of their natural resources being gained by them. Due to their presence in the exotic locations, Sandal resorts international attracts more traffic of tourists compared to other locations. Moreover, having the scenic beauties helps to enhance the valuation of their properties.
Brand value of Sandal resorts international is another valuable source of competitive advantages. This is due to the reason that, Sandal resorts international is the leading holiday resort in the Caribbean islands and the brand value of them increase the preference of the customers towards them (Iglesias, Ind and Alfaro 2013). Thus, all the above identified resources are helping Sandal resorts international in enhancing their value in the market.
Human resources of them are not rare due to the reason that, all of their competitors are having human resources. However, the skills possessed by their human resources are specific to Sandal resorts international only. Thus, the skill set of the internal stakeholders is rare. Locations can also be considered as rare due to the reason that, all the competitors in the market are not having the access to the exotic locations as Sandal resorts international (Leonidou et al. 2013). Brand value is also not rare but the positive and huge brand value being gained by Sandal resorts international over their competitors is rare and cannot be achieved by every others organizations
The skill sets of the employees cannot be imitated due to the reason that, the characteristics of the human resources vary from person to person. Moreover, the training given to them in enhancing the skill sets of the internal stakeholders is also cannot imitated (Saqib and Rashid 2013). On the other hand, locations can also not get imitated. This is due to the reason that, exotic locations are natural resources and cannot be imitated. Brand value of Sandal resorts international also cannot imitated due to the reason that, it involves huge cost and other activities in gaining positive brand value in the market.
Sandal resorts international is having effective and efficient process of providing training and development program to their employees. Moreover, with having their access to the stable financial sources, initiation of newer technologies and infrastructure are effectively promoted by them (Toytari and Rajala 2015). In all these years, they have gained huge experiences in the tourism sector, which helps them to determine the market requirements more effectively.
Porter generic strategies will be used in order to identify the competitive strategies implemented by Sandal resorts international. These model state three models namely, cost leadership, differentiation and market focus to be followed by the organizations in order to gain competitive advantages in the market (Tanwar 2013). However, Sandal resorts international involves only differentiation and market focus strategy over the cost leadership. This is due to the reason that, the target market of them is the higher end customers from the top of the pyramid. Moreover, they are mainly concentrated towards providing quality service to the customers.
Initiation of the differentiation strategy helps Sandal resorts international in creating distinctive image in the market. They involves offering of different services with having different properties to the customers (Zehir, Can and Karaboga 2015). For instance, according to the information being available in their official website, they mainly offer three types of accommodation services to their customers. The all inclusive suites, crystal suites and millionaire suites offer different facilities and amenities to the customers. Thus, it helps Sandal resorts international to have holistic service experience for their customers with having more options.
Activities such as the concept of all inclusive services help the visitors to have seamless holiday during their stay without having any issues related to the payments and other complementary activities. This helps them to offer distinctive services to the customers compared to other competitors. Initiation of the differentiation strategy of Sandal resorts international also involves offering the unique and exotic locations to the customers. As discussed earlier, exotic locations offered by them is rare and inimitable in nature. Thus, it also helps them in having distinctive image in the market.
The focused market for Sandal resorts international is the couple across different age groups. In accordance to that, they promote their service offerings as honeymoon tours and other couple tours. Moreover, the service design is also being made according to the taste and preference pattern of the couple from different age groups (Urde, Baumgarth and Merrilees 2013). One of the key advantages being gained by them from this strategy is the effective determination and the fulfillment of the requirements of the target group. Sandal resorts international is having the advantage of not catering to diverse needs of different segments and focusing on single target segment.
In the recent scenario of the tourism industry, especially in the tourist locations such as Caribbean islands, more entrants are coming in the market with offering similar set of services (Nasution et al. 2014). Thus, the risk of Commoditization is rapidly increasing due to the probability that, customers will relate the whole tourism as a commodity over the particular brand. In this case, the differentiation strategy being involved by Sandal resorts International helps to enhance the brand value over the intensity of Commoditization.
Another strategy that can help in dealing with the concept of Commoditization is to offer innovative and updated services compared to the industry standards (Reimann, Schilke and Thomas 2015). This will create the added value over the industry oriented services to the customers. Another strategy will be offering diverse services other than what the industry is offering. This will help them to attract customers on the basis of holistic user experiences rather than just offering what all the competitors are offering.
Sandal resorts International have their effective segmentation strategy in order to identify the trend of the target market. The segmentation of them is being classified in terms of different elements. In terms of the demographic segmentation, the targeted age groups are the couple from different ages. However, preferences are being given to the younger couples due to the reason that, they are having the most purchasing power (Craft and Hassan 2015). Couples are only considered as the target market over the single travelers. This is due to the reason that, couples are having the preferences for the complete holiday experiences rather than the adventurous holidaying of the majority of the single travelers.
In terms of the geographic segmentation, Sandal resorts International is having their properties in total seven countries in the entire Caribbean islands. Thus, the geographical area is also wider and extensive for them (Cross, Belich and Rudelius 2015). With having their properties in different locations, Sandal resorts International offer different service value to the customers. They are also having more stocks and inventories due to their properties in different locations. Thus, this is in turn increases the footfall of the visitors. In terms of the psychographic segmentation, customers from the upper middle and upper class society looking for all inclusive holiday experiences are being targeted.
Product
Sandal resorts International is a service provider and thus, they do not offers tangible offerings rather than they are providing experiences to the customers. However, in terms of the service marketing, the assets that are used for the offering the services are being considered as products (Khan 2014). In the case of Sandal resorts International, the assets are their properties in different locations. All the properties are being designed in accordance to the requirements of the target market. Having number of properties enables them to offer diverse services to the customers.
Price
It is already discussed in the earlier section that, the target customers of Sandal resorts International are from the top of the pyramid. Thus, premium pricing is being initiated in order to target the higher end customers (Khan 2014). Moreover, initiation of the premium pricing also helps in maintaining the exclusivity of the services. Niche marketing with the help of the premium pricing strategy helps in gathering more revenue from the market. However, the premium pricing strategy of them is further classified based on the services offered. This is due to the fact that, the price for millionaire suit and all inclusive accommodation is different.
Promotion
Majority of the promotional activities of Sandal resorts International is intensive by the means of their agents. Travel agents of them are situated in different countries around the world, which assists the potential customers in visiting their properties. On the other hand, social media marketing is also being initiated by them in order to communicate with huge number of potential customers around the world along with gather the feedback regarding their services. They do not promote through any traditional media such as print media. This is due to the reason that, the target market of them will only be targeted by intensive marketing rather than extensive marketing.
Place
Place is the key factor for Sandal resorts international. This is due to the reason that, exotic locations of them are the source of gaining more tourist traffic. All the properties of them are designed in such a way that, the requirements and expectations of the target customers will get fulfilled. As per the information from their official website, the properties are being built and designed in such way that it will provide the maximum scenic beauty to the visitors.
Sustainability approach
Sandal resorts international involves extensive approach of sustainability in their business operation. According to the information being gathered from their official website, they involve the activity of adopting schools and taking care of the children in the community. The concept of community development is being incorporated by their founder from the initial stage of their operation (Govindan, Khodaverdi and Jafarian 2013). Other sustainable approaches of them include protecting the environment by promoting solar energy and initiation of the concept of eco-village. They are also having their foundation in order to carry out the philanthropic activities. These sustainability approaches of them help in gaining positive word of mouth market along with maintaining the ethical business considerations.
The existing strategies of Sandal resorts international are effective in nature. However, the following sections will discuss about a few recommended steps in order to further enhance the effectiveness of their business operation.
Conclusion
Thus, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that, Sandal resorts international is having effective strategies in place to operate in the competitive business environment. This report discussed about the different marketing strategies of Sandal resorts international including differentiation, segmentation and market mix of them. It is being concluded that, they are mainly targeting the higher end customers and offers their services accordingly. The sources of gaining competitive advantages of them are mainly their access to huge capital and positive brand value. Apart from all these strategies, the sustainability approach of Sandal resorts international is also discussed in this report. It is found that they are having extensive approach to sustainability by having holistic impact on their surrounding environment. This report also discussed about a few recommended steps that will help Sandal resorts international to enhance their business effectiveness in their future business operation.
References
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