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Marketing Research Project for Secret Garden Resort and Restaurant Introduction This is a marketing plan for the Secret Garden Resort and Restaurant. The plan starts from a close look at the current business of the resort, as well as how its future business looks like from current plans and trends. From there, the paper undertakes a situation analysis of the resort, looking at the macro environment, the different aspects of the market that includes market trends; market demographics, market needs and market growth; an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the company; a survey of the competition; and key success factors for the resort industry. After completing the overview of the current and future business of Secret Garden Resort and Restaurant, and undertaking the situational analysis, the paper dives headlong into an analysis of the different data collection methods. It shall give the advantages and disadvantages of this data collection and as a final note, the paper will decide on the best data collection methodology for this Secret Garden (Google 2006). Marketing Research Problem Secret Garden Beach Resort and Restaurant is a small company located in one of the tourism hubs in Thailand.
The white and golden beaches of Samui, with its palm trees and exotic fruits, are lined with countless resorts claiming to offer the best services that include accommodation, entertainment, relaxation facilities and many more perks for the millions of tourists visiting the place every year. Secret Garden Beach Resort and Restaurant in Big Buddha Beach is one of these of companies striving to attract visitors and locals alike who are searching for a refuge, guaranteeing both satisfaction and comfort. However, in order to survive in this kind of commerce, one needs to maintain the companys competitive edge. This is done by keeping abreast with the changing times: the ever toughening competition that comes with the rise of new establishments and the advancement of the existing ones, the constantly fluctuating tourism market and most importantly, the fickle and discriminating preferences of the consumers.
Secret Garden and Resort and Restaurant, located in one of Thailand's tourism centers, is a small enterprise offering both lodging and a dine-in place to its clients. Other than that, it is also well known for one thing: Sunday live musical performances that feature talented musicians and celebrities. Perhaps its strength can be summarized in its slogan that states, Superb location right on Big Buddha Beach. (Google 2006). Objective Beside a wonderful natural environment close to the beach and a garden of ornamental and fruiting plants, its accommodation facilities include three bungalows classified as standard, superior and deluxe. All are special in that they have their own balconies, are light, clean and airy with varnished teak floors, wooden furniture and white bed linen (Secret Garden).
Another important highlight of the resort is its restaurant that boasts of a Thai and European menu cooked by internationally trained chefs. One can have a particular dish cooked to ones preference and have it served and eaten at an unrivalled location, on the beach right next to the water (Secret Garden). And lastly, the resort is famous for its live musical performances every Sunday starting in the afternoon until late evening. These sessions, where everyone is invited to participate, epitomize Thailand's energetic nightlife.
Situational Analysis Macro Environment A massive market for tourism and resorts is said to have started building up outside of the US and Europe as early as the mid 1990 s, with the resorts in the emerging economies of Asia, in particular, viewed as being promising. Some estimates place the total market growth potential for resorts and tourism in Asia to be bigger than the growth potential of the United States and European markets combined. However, from a macro perspective, the destination resorts properties industry is said to be facing problems in the near and medium term, as a result of the recession during the Asian crisis, overcapacity and overbuilding, and uncontrolled costs. Moreover, unlike the traditional real estate business, resort properties are said to businesses with seasonal patterns, are service-oriented and are operationally intensive (Mcelyea and Cory 1998). Generally, with the Japanese economy showing signs of solid rebound, the Chinese economy surging ahead, and the rest of the Asian economies of Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Southeast Asia expected to grow at a healthy clip in the coming years, this paper expects that that the growth in the resorts industry will be commensurate with the growth of the Asian and world economies.
In terms of resort types and how the resorts market has evolved over the years, a study notes that the industry has evolved from the traditional resorts in the United States in the 1960 s, to planned resort communities, mega resorts and fantasy resorts, boutique resorts, the business / meetings market, and resorts developments by traditional hotels. The business / meetings market development in the resort industry, in particular, is said to be the biggest development in the resort industry over the past twenty five years, with occupancy for large resorts due to business groups now accounting for anywhere from 45 and 70 percent of occupancy (Mcelyea and Cory 1998). The resorts businesses of major international hotel chains, on the other hand, are said to cost more to build than traditional hotels, but are greater revenue generators because of longer guest stays, higher rates of occupancy and the provision of other on-site services. Occupancy rates for the top 25 resorts are said to have reached 76 percent in 1990, compared with 71 percent for the top 25 traditional hotels. Net operating incomes as percentage of total revenues are also said to be 30 percent higher for resorts than for traditional hotels on average, while rates for resorts, at US 136 dollars per night on average, are higher than the average rates for traditional hotels that averaged US 94 dollars during the same period. Other differences between traditional hotels and resort properties include the fact that traditional hotels cater to weekday guests while resorts experience seasonal business fluctuations, with good resorts achieving about 80 percent occupancy rates during their peak season.
In terms of rates, while hotels offer discounts on weekends, resorts do the opposite and charge higher on weekends and cheaper during their off-peak. Resorts are also ahead in terms of revenues from food and drinks, variety of offerings in retail shops, and range of provided amenities (Mcelyea and Cory 1998). Market Segmentation From a macro perspective, the resorts industry uses a common method for segmenting its market based on place of origin: the tourist, or foreigner market segment and the domestic market segment. In the first macro segmentation category, the market is segmented by nationality, a sample of which is in Appendix 2, which details tourist arrivals by nationality for identical quarters in 2002 and 2003 (Asian Market Research News 2003). The domestic segment is further segmented in different ways, including by purpose of visit (whether for business or leisure) and by domestic place of origin. That said, one can imagine other ways by which the market can be segmented.
Some of these are by demographics such as age, socio-economic classification, gender, and civil status. These segmentation categories, on reflection, can be applied to the macro segmentation's of foreign and domestic segments. Other segments related to travel which are also applicable to resorts are friends and relatives, family sightseers, outdoor vacationers, resort vacationers, and foreign vacationers (Mill 2002). Another way to segment the market, proposed for ski resorts but which may also find suitable application in tropical resorts such as those in Samui, is via frequency of visits (Tsiotsou 2006). For the purposes of this marketing plan, we use the common method of segmenting foreign tourists by nationality, and segmenting the domestic market in more sophisticated terms, including the use of demographic categories and other more detailed segmentation categories such as those cited above, as applicable. The Market and Population Market Demographics Generally speaking, Thailand's economy is generally dependent on tourism and related industries, including the resorts properties industry, and is able to attract high levels of foreign exchange because of it (Asian Market Research News 2003).
This means that the target market for resorts are generally tourists, though a study also placed an emphasis on increased domestic and intra-ASEAN travel as a mitigating effect to the drop in tourist arrivals and tourism revenues at the height of the SARS scare in Asia during the early latter part of 2002 and most of 2003 (Asian Market Research News 2003). For the part of Thailand under consideration, the target customer of the resort under study are those in the lower to medium income bracket since the price range of each bungalow is relatively cheaper than the competitions. The usual visitors are the working or professional class off for a leisurely holiday and also families enjoying quality time with each other. Current marketing set-up includes a company webpage, radio and television exposure, brochure and inclusion in Thailand's Department of Tourism's hotspots. The government itself provides the promotional campaigns and helps in maintaining the natural beauty of the place as it offers incentives to companies that follow rules and requirements. Market Needs and Trends Some of the emerging trends in the resorts industry towards the end of the 1990 s and the beginning of 2000 include the provision of health spas and fitness facilities, soft adventure programs, gaming, and ecotourism.
The provision of health spas and fitness facilities is said to be in line with the greater health consciousness of resorts patrons, so that such facilities are becoming standard amenities in many top resorts. Soft adventure programs are programs offered by the resorts to enhance the resort experience of visitors, and include white water rafting, three-day hikes, and wild-game hunting. Soft adventure programs are said...
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