Mermaid Hotels & Resorts IMC Strategy

This assignment analyzes the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) strategy for Mermaid Hotels and Resorts, proposing an expansion to Lombok Island to target tourists from Singapore. The plan outlines market analysis, competitor assessment, promotional strategies, and a comprehensive IMC approach to achieve business objectives. It emphasizes the importance of experience-selling in the hospitality industry and building a strong brand reputation.

Running Head: INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS 1
Business Economics
Name
Institution

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Target Market
Analysis on the target market aims at establishing if the Mermaid Hotels and Resort
should open a new property at Lombok Islands. The focus is to expand the firm’s operations and
avail services to potential customers in the region. Specifically, Mermaid hotels and resorts
targets at expanding its operations to South East Asia in the future (Chaffey & Ellis, 2016).
Aimed at achieving the goal, the organization has created awareness and built a positive image
for its products to impress potential customers. Apart from attaining booking targets, the
company has worked to improve its reputation. This ensures that the firm’s operations are a
success.
Opening a new hotel at Lombok Island exposes the firm to many potential customers.
The target market is Singapore. The Singapore state is viewed as among the primary market
generators (Ferrell & Hartline, 2012). Among the tourists who visit Lombok Island are targeted
to have originated from this country. The secondary market for the Mermaid Resorts and Hotels
in Indonesia are travellers from South Korea, Malaysia, and New Zealand.
The firm plans to register up to 35,000 bookings within the first year of operation. The
figure is generated from the equation of 10,000 reservations at the end of the year with an
estimated stay period of 3.5 nights (Fifield, 2012). The principal target audience is tourists from
Singapore. However, the secondary audiences are the tourist from South Korea, Malaysia, and
New Zealand. The promotional focus in the first year will be on a three generating market
pairings. These pairings are Japan and South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, and Australia and
New Zealand.

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In the year 2016, an estimated 12.02 Million travellers visited Indonesia. This was
approximate of 15.55 increase from 2015. In 2015, an estimated 9.73 million tourists made a trip
to Indonesia (Fill, 2013). The visitors stayed in the hotels for a period of about 7.5 nights, and
their spending was averaged at $1,142. From 2000-2016, Singapore is the leading state whose
citizens make most trips to Indonesia. It is followed by Malaysia, Australia, Japan, and South
Korea.
According to Singapore national tourism organization, in November 2017 1,547,000
Singapore citizens made visits abroad (Hall & Page, 2012). This was an increase from the
previous month by 4.6%. Out of 1 1,547,700 visits abroad, 130,168 were visits to Indonesia.
Around 59% of all visitors to Indonesia travel for holidays while only 39% make business trips.
This shows that Singapore is a brilliant market target. Tourists aged sixty-five years and above
are accounted for more than one in five tourism nights for private purposes (Hampton
&Jeyacheya, 2015). Individuals aged fifty-five and above are accounted for 39% of tourism
nights for private reasons. This was 2% above persons aged 15 years and above whose private
nights ranged from 37%. According to World Economic Forum survey, Singapore had a travel
and tourism competitiveness index score rating of 4.2 in 2017. The country was ranked forty
seconds among 136 nations. This shows that Singapore is a brilliant market target.
From the collected data, it is evident that Lombok Island is at a higher chance of getting
customers from Singapore. A high number of Singapore citizens make a trip to Indonesia.
Hence, the hotel will be required to customize its products to cater for clients from other
countries. By ensuring this is met, the tourist industry is expected to grow. As a result, this will
account for increased booking to Mermaid Hotels and Resort (Naeem, Bilal &Naz, 2013).

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Singapore is estimated to have a population growth estimate of 6.9 million by 2030. The
targeted population increase would translate to increase the number of tourists who would visit
Lombok Island(Naeem, Bilal &Naz, 2013). Visiting Lombok Island would make customers visit
the Mermaid Hotels and Resort. The rise in population in Singapore favours the hospitality firm.
The country as well as a reputation for innovation and high standards of living. It is regarded as
the world’s most crypto-friendly nation. It is the world’s most expensive place to live (Morgan,
Katsikeas&Vorhies, 2012). The country has maintained this for the past four years. The
luxurious life of Singapore citizens would lead to a considerable number of individuals visiting
Lombok’s Islands. They visit to either enjoy the scenery or experience hospitality services away
from home. Additional, the country has a booming economy which motivates investment from
local and international investors. The laundry of Singapore’s achievements makes it one of the
ideal places to market a business. This would lead to the growth of Mermaid Hotels and Resorts.
IMC Market Plan
Primary Research
Mermaid Hotels and Resorts provides an analysis of target markets by conducting
qualitative research. The research was done using the online platform. Additionally, information
was enquired from the country’s public domain regarding tourist levels in the area (Percy, 2014).
Cross-analysis of the area where the resort was to be opened was conducted. The purpose of
reviewing the area was to identify if the location offered an attraction to tourists and travellers.
The research objective was to generate 35,000 bookings within one year. The purpose
was to identify the strategy to be put in place to create10,000 bookings with an estimated stay of
3.5 nights. This translates to 35,000 reservations for Lombok’s resort in the first year of

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operation. To determine the likely visitors to the Mermaid’s Hotels and Resorts, the
demographics various nations were evaluated. This includes identifying means of transport used
by travellers.
As a marketing strategy, possible competitors were determined and evaluated. These
hospitality institutions offered similar services to those of Mermaid Hotels. The purpose was to
enable it to approach the marketing strategy in a way that made the firm appear better and
superior to its rivals (Williams, & Lew, 2014). To help in marketing the hospitality firm,
Lombok Island was chosen as the best location due to the large number of tourists who visit the
area. This would translate to a high number of customers. This tourist attraction scenery has been
used as a tool for marketing Mermaid’s Hotels and Resorts.
To ensure that the firm gains competitive advantage and meets customers’ needs, the
following marketing strategies are adopted. First, the company should create a corporate identity
for Mermaids Hotels and Resorts. This involves generating logos, business cards, and letterheads
and ensure that they are distributed to the public. Brochures and catalogues should also be
developed for potential clients. Second, a complete public relations campaign should be
designed. This hospitality firm should participate in public functions, create monthly e-
newsletters, and develop a crisis communication plan (Yeshin, 2012). This aims at improving
public relations.
Third, an online marketing plan should be developed. Most of the target customers are
from different countries. Coming up with an online marketing plan such as Facebook will
enhance customer coverage(Morgan, 2012). Lastly, the firm should develop an advertisement for
local and international media. Advertisement space in the media should be made available. This

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would be used to make announcements pertaining Mermaid’s Hotels and Resorts. The media
helps in delivering information with high impact at the lowest cost per customer reached.
To achieve their marketing goals, Mermaid Hotels and Resorts should make use of the
following marketing options; first, the company should leverage video content to market the
company’s content. There is a 90% estimate that most of the internet traffic will be visual by
2017. Hence, the firm should develop creative content to showcase their brand. Second,
Mermaid should focus on in-depth content. This can be done by ensuring that their content is
experience-oriented. Third, the organization should go for influencer marketing. Inviting
influencers to review the company’s products and services is an excellent strategy to boost
conversion. Lastly, Mermaid Hotels and Resorts should build and sell the experience. Travelling
is all about the experience. Individuals talk about the places they visited, what they saw, and how
this made them feel(Judisseno, 2015). Mermaid Hotels should create a link to their services and
what is offered around their environment. The firm should sell a full package by informing the
tourists what is in store for them. This could include nearby attractions. This can be topped with
impressive images on accommodation and the surrounding environment.
The overall IMC strategy for Mermaids Hotels and Resorts is to expand its operations to
other places. Implementation of an IMC plan will result in wide market coverage. The opening
of a new Mermaid Hotel and Resort in Lombok Island will attract primary markets from
Singapore. According to the analysis, Singapore is an appropriate target market for the Mermaid
Hotels and Resorts (Hollensen, 2015). It is true to say that by opening a new firm at Lombok
Islands, the hospitality industry would maximize its outputs and meet its objectives. Mermaids
Hotels and Resorts has a positive reputation which would attract tourists from Singapore. The

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positive reputations include offering quality services to clients and providing luxury
accommodation.

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References
Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2016). Digital marketing. Pearson.
Ferrell, O. C., & Hartline, M. (2012). Marketing strategy, text and cases. Nelson Education.
Fifield, P. (2012). Marketing strategy. Routledge.
Fill, C. (2013). Marketing Communications. Harlow.
Hall, C. M., & Page, S. (2012). Tourism in south and southeast Asia. Routledge.
Hampton, M. P., &Jeyacheya, J. (2015). Power, ownership and tourism in small islands:
evidence from Indonesia. World Development, 70, 481-495.
Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.
Judisseno, R. K. (2015). Destination Strategies in Tourist Development in Indonesia, 1945–
2014: Problems of Bali Centredness (Doctoral dissertation, Victoria University).
Morgan, N. A. (2012). Marketing and business performance. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, 40(1), 102-119.
Morgan, N. A., Katsikeas, C. S., &Vorhies, D. W. (2012). Export marketing strategy
implementation, export marketing capabilities, and export venture performance. Journal
of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(2), 271-289.
Naeem, B., Bilal, M., &Naz, U. (2013). Integrated marketing communication: a review
paper. Interdisciplinary journal of contemporary research in business, 5(5), 124-133.
Percy, L. (2014). Strategic integrated marketing communications. Routledge.

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Williams, S., & Lew, A. A. (2014). Tourism geography: critical understandings of place, space
and experience. Routledge.
Yeshin, T. (2012). Integrated marketing communications. Routledge.