Business Development Plan for Radisson Blu in Larnaca, Cyprus

This report discusses about the business development plan for Radisson Blu in Larnaca in Cyprus. From the previous assignment which discuss about the SWOT analysis, it has been identified several weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the Radisson Blu which resulted in developing different strategies for the hotel to deal with such challenges and threats.

Running Head: RADISSON BLU 0
Hospitality Industry Studies
Student Details
3/5/2019

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Executive Summary
This report discuss about the business development plan for Radisson Blu in Larnaca in
Cyprus. From the previous assignment which discuss about the SWOT analysis, it has been
identified several weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the Radisson Blu which resulted
in developing different strategies for the hotel to deal with such challenges and threats.
SWOT analysis described threat of competition from other competitors which resulted in
developing differentiating and Kotler’s positioning strategy for price and quality. Opportunity
for the hotel lies in the fact that market trends are changing continuously and frequently and
today customers want luxurious services and thus Radisson Blu included product strategy to
provide best quality services and products to the customers which also differentiate them
from their competitors. To reach more number of visitors and guests, hotel has focused on
promotional strategies which include using various techniques for promoting its services and
brand.

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Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................1
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Detailed Plan and Implementation.............................................................................................4
Market Analysis.....................................................................................................................4
Product Strategies...................................................................................................................5
Guestrooms and Suites.......................................................................................................5
Restaurants and Bars..............................................................................................................6
Competition Strategies...........................................................................................................7
Promotional Strategies...........................................................................................................8
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Radisson Blu is an upper upscale brand in hotel industry which provides personalized and
positive services to the customers. Radisson Blu hotel has started its new branch in Larnaca,
Cyprus. Cyprus is considered as one of the oldest inhabited countries in the world and thus is
a perfect location for the hotel opening enhancing the growing business of Radisson Blu and
the tourist profile of the town where more than two million tourists visit every hour (Cyprus
Hotel Association, 2019). It is the first business hotel of Cyprus which is located in the centre
of Larnaca, 10 minute away from the international Airport. Radisson Blu announced its
Master Development Agreement with SunnySeeker Hotel in Cyprus to develop and grow its
already existing profile further up-to six hotels in the country and almost 1000 rooms by the
year 2025 (Brussels, 2019).
Source: (Radisson Blu, 2017)
The location for the hotel is strategically selected in city centre at southern shore facing
towards sea port. This hotel provides visitors with the experience of both the modern and
ancient culture of Larnaca as well as its prospering port industry. Facilities of hotel include
54 standard and superior guest rooms, 52 business rooms, access to high speed internet, in-
room mini bars and movies (Fox, 2018). Visitors can enjoy the meals in their rooms as well
in on-site restaurants. Other facilities include outdoor pool, modern fitness room, and spa
rooms to provide various treatments. Strong and unique personality and identity of hotel

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attracts mostly business travellers and the guests who want to explore the third largest city of
the country and glittering southern shores of Cyprus (rezidor, 2018).
Source: (RHG, 2019)
This report discuss about the business and strategic plan of Radisson Blu to achieve higher
rate of success in Cyprus through promotional strategies, product strategies, and competition
strategies.
Detailed Plan and Implementation
Market Analysis
Hotel development in this area of Cyprus is very beneficial and profitable due to its capability
of experiencing economic upturn. Position of Radisson Blu hotel is well established and it
has the capability of attracting tourists and guests all around the year and thus seasonality has
very less or minimum effect on the business of it. Also tourists in the peak season are so
much that allows the hotel to sustain its business during off season also. Radisson Blu is
expanding its business in collaboration with SunnySeeker hotel which is an already
established brand and in partnership with Radisson Blu since 2015 (Cyprus Traveller, 2018).

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During SWOT analysis, it has been identified that opportunity for growth for Radisson Blu
lies in changing market trends and improving services. A complete research on the market of
Cyprus has identified loyal customers of the hotel which help in developing services
according to the needs of these customers. This study identified customers of hotel as
corporate executives, business people, tourists, and guests (Cyprus Daily, 2019). Therefore,
hotel has developed all its services in keeping focus this categories of customers.
Product Strategies
Radisson Blu has developed its hotel in Larnaca with an investment of £40 million. It is the
first business hotel that belongs to an international hotel chain. The hotel is located at the
distance of just 15 minutes from the airport and at the southern port which provide the
stunning sea views to the travellers from the distinctive hotel building. As the hotel is just 2
km from the Mediterranean beach, provides amazing experience to the swimmers and
sunbathers by allowing them to spend their day relaxing on near the sea beach. There are 106
rooms in the hotel with modern design and all rooms have a balcony that provides the
spectacular view of sea to the guests (Market Screener, 2019). To provide the best experience
of the Cyprus city to the travellers, hotel consists of fitness centre and outdoor swimming
pool. The lobby of the hotel is impressive with minimal interior design of earthy colours and
wooden furnishing. Then there is a large comfortable room which provide a view of the sea,
in-room Nespresso machine, a rain shower, steam bath, and large beds that provide a sense of
bliss to the business travellers (My Cyprus Insider, 2019).
Guestrooms and Suites
All rooms of the hotel consist of a balcony that provides open sea view to the guests allowing
them to breathe in the fresh air along with the spectacular view of the city. Rooms are
designed with modern designs to provide comfortable ambiance to the guests. Ambiance of
rooms provides the comfortable and homely environment to add on the experience of guests.
Rooms are provided with the facility of interconnection to form a two bedroom apartment as
per the needs of the customers.

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Source: (Fox, 2018)
Hotel is providing rooms in three categories namely deluxe side sea view, superior sea view,
and Premium Sea view according to the guests’ requirements. Premium sea view rooms are
specially designed to meet the demands of leisure and business stays which offers the
facilities of larger rooms having modern and sophisticated style, high speed wireless internet,
work desk, and satellite TV with HDMI cable connection (Gold News, 2018).
Restaurants and Bars
To provide the best experience of dining to the guests, a remarkable restaurant “Harbor Blu”
of the hotel is situated at the fifth floor. Diners can enjoy international cuisines with a taste
that they have never tasted before alongside panoramic views of Larnaca (Hospitality Net,
2018).
Source: (Hotel News Resource, 2018)

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There are three different concepts of bar which include Blu Lounge Bar, Aqua Blu, and Sky
bar at its 16th floor allowing guests to experience the craft cocktails and ocean views. Blu
Lounge bar provides a quick breakfast and light lunch from the bar’s menu. It also offers
light snacks, cocktails, and delicious refreshments (HVS, 2014). Aqua Blu bar is at the 5th
floor offers services during summer season. It provides light snacks and refreshments, and
cocktail which taste out of this world while basking in the sun. To provide an experience of
wonderful evening with colleagues and friends, hotel has Sky Bar at 16th floor which offers
incomparable view of Larnaca (Insights, 2018).
As Radisson Blu is the first business hotel of Larnaca, it provides stand out features of
modern meetings and events space. It has five meeting rooms and a large conference rooms
to allow business meetings efficiently (Hospitality News, 2018). Meeting services of the
Radisson Blu has won the award for its services which assure business travellers of having an
experience unlike any other specially the experience in the rooftop conference room.
Apart from these services, Radisson Blu offers fitness room, spa, and free parking services to
the guests which attract guests more (Rate Gain, 2019).
Competition Strategies
SWOT analysis of Radisson Blu in Larnaca showed that the major threat to Radisson Blu is
competition from other competitor hotels in Larnaca. One of its major competitors is Golden
Bay Beach Hotel and other competitors include Sentido Sandy Beach Hotel & Spa, Lordos
Beach Hotel, Palm Beach Hotel & Bungalows, The Ciao Stelio Deluxe Hotel, and Sun Hall
Hotel. Golden Bay Beach Hotel is the biggest competitor of Radisson Blu in Larnaca as it is
also providing the services and products equivalent to Radisson Blu and is located just near
or at the same location of southern sea (Radisson Hotel Group, 2019). Other competitors exist
but they are not providing the services equivalent to the Radisson Blu as all other competitors
are four star hotels. But still their competition is considered as their services are not as low
and also at much lower prices (Caption Hospitality, 2017).
Golden Bay Beach Hotel consists of total 193 rooms with modern décor and comfortable
furnishing which is perfect suite for leisure and business travellers. Rooms of Golden Bay
Beach Hotel are divided into different categories such as presidential suite, grand suites, mini
suites, superior rooms, and standard rooms according to the needs of the customers. Yacht
Club is the main restaurant of the hotel where both national and international food is served
in rotating variety themed and experience of breath-taking view of sea. Another restaurant

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that is Thalassa provides the beautiful views of sea and pool along with contemporary and
imaginative menu options. Petrino restaurant offers menu which focuses on Cypriot flavours
with a lively ambience. This restaurant main focus is on unique and homemade products for
the residence of Cyprus (Cyprus Mail, 2018). Pool Bar of the hotel offers nibbles and
refreshing drinks along with light snacks and refreshing beverages which provides experience
of ultimate summer and outdoor seating. Cocktail Bar offers favourite drinks of customers
throughout the day in the atmosphere of live music and shows on the outdoor terrace
watching the beautiful sea view. Additional experiences that enhance the guests’ stays at the
hotel include tennis courts for outdoor relaxation, swimming pool, kids club, spa, and gym
(Nair & Amresh, 2016). Therefore, from the above discussion it is clear that Golden Bay
Beach Hotel is a tough competitor for Radisson Blu and thus need effective strategies to
sustain this tough competition.
One strategy that Radisson Blu can adopt is differentiating strategy which differentiates the
products and operations via intangible assets. One example of differentiate strategy is
inclusion of innovative and new products or services and customer relationship management
can provide differentiation from competitors of Radisson Blu (Morello, 2018). According to
Norton and Kaplan, there are four basic strategic themes as mentioned below:
1. Franchise Building: This strategy is applicable to individual franchisee as well as the
to the brand managers to enhance that brand name.
2. Improve Customer value: Today customers want to stay in luxury hotel and they are
ready to pay more or extra for that, but they require value for each extra penny.
3. Achieve Operational Excellence: Todays’ customer are not good with just
satisfactory services, they need great services. Hence, provide them unanticipated
services.
4. Be a good corporate citizen: Better employees develop more repeat business which
comes in the form of increased revenues.
In the hotel industry, it is required to build a grid of qualities of Radisson Blu that compares
its business with its competitors. Elements that are important in context of success for a hotel
are location, brand, meeting space, ambience, restaurant, cleanliness, lounge, design, amenity
package, website, and social media usage. Higher weightage is given to the location and
brand and then to restaurant and lounge (Hotel Guru, 2015). As Golden Beach Bay Hotel is
equivalent to Radisson Blu in all aspects except that of brand value. Radisson Blu has a big

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brand value all over the world and thus utilizes its brand name to take advantage over Golden
Beach Bay Hotel. As comparison to Radisson Blu which offers three restaurants and bar,
Golden Beach Bay offers five restaurants and bars. But according to the researches, a hotel
with limited services have better impact than a hotel with full service in similar or like
circumstances. Further improvements or strategies that could be beneficial for growth and
sustain competition include cost containments and operational enhancement initiatives. One
other strategy that is helpful in providing competition advantage to the Radisson Blu is price
or quality positioning strategy explained by Kotler which enables to tell the customers that it
provides the best value products and services (Hotel Guru, 2015).
Promotional Strategies
Promotional strategies are helpful in competitive industry as like hotel. All hotels in the
industry are competing to attract same potential customers. Therefore, hotels use various
marketing strategies to make their hotel visible and to make their hotel as the best available
choice for the customers. Target customers for the Radisson Blu include people of high
income class and business travellers (Cyprus Hotel Association, 2019). Promotional
strategies that can be used by Radisson Blu to target these customers include:
1. Brand Website: A hotel’s website is the single and most important distribution
channel and marketing tool which can generate direct sales. Website of a hotel
provides the useful information to the customers about the hotel and also they can
visit the gallery to get an idea about its services and make bookings. This requires
installing an easy engine for bookings which is simple and attractive (Rate Gain,
2019).
2. Best Practices for Search Engine Optimization: Having a website is not enough
until it is not easy to find. Use of keywords and other SEO tactics help in optimizing
the website and thus website visibility boost on search engines will attract more
visitors.
3. Marketing of USPs: Marketing strategy of hotel includes promoting services and
products that are unique in hotel. Radisson Blu has modern and luxurious
infrastructure alongside the sea view. It is located at just 10 minutes away from
airport, thus provides easy and quick access, saving time of travelling (Caption
Hospitality, 2017).

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4. Connect with GDS and Online Travel Agencies: Today majority of the bookings
come from OTAs and thus they are playing critical role for generating increased
exposure. This is important because GDS has enormous reach and provides access of
customers from all around the world.
5. Value Added Promotions: Value-added promotions include providing reward to the
customers for their stay in the hotel. This strategy makes it easy to sell a property for
travel agents. For example, if the competitor hotel is providing a double room for $80
per night, then if the same room is offered by the hotel along with services such as
free breakfast, internet access, and free pick up and drop to the airport will make the
hotel on the top position of customers’ choice. This strategy cost low to the hotel as
airport is near to the hotel, breakfast is not that expensive, and hotel already has
internet services. Therefore, combining these offers not cost much to the hotel but has
high potential for return (Morello, 2018).
6. Discounts: Discounting works in the same for the hotel as it does in any other
business. Discount strategies are applied cautiously as they fall short for visitors who
visit only once. Therefore, hotel can provide discounts on extended stays or frequent
visits.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that the analysis of SWOT analysis
of Radisson Blu in Larnaca identified its several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats which helped in developing strategies for the hotel to compete with these challenges
and utilizing the opportunities. Threats for the Radisson Blu include competition from other
hotels in the area such as Golden Beach Bay Hotel and thus needs a strategy of providing
services and products which differentiates its services from the competitors. This resulted in
introducing differentiating strategy and positioning strategy of Kotler which focuses on
providing unique and best services to the customers. Today customers want services which
are great and not just satisfactory as they are ready to pay more, hence, Radisson Blu has
focused on quality of products and services they are providing to the customers. Promotional
strategies help the Radisson Blu to reach in the access of more people by using different
media of marketing such as website, discounts, search engine optimization, and value added
promotions, USPs marketing, and collaboration with online travel agencies.

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References
Brussels, 2019. Radisson Hotel Group and Sunnyseeker Hotels sign Strategic Development
Deal for Cyprus. [Online] Available at: https://www.radissonhotelgroup.com/media_press-
releases&article=radisson-hotel-group-and-sunnyseeker-hotels-sign-strategic-development-
deal-for-cyprus.
Caption Hospitality, 2017. 5 Simple Hotel Promotion Strategy to Maximize Hotel Revenue.
[Online] Available at: https://blog.captionhospitality.com/en/blog/5-simple-hotel-promotion-
strategy-to-maximize-hotel-revenue/.
Cyprus Daily, 2019. The new gem … Radisson Blu leads Larnaca into a new era. [Online]
Available at: https://english.cyprustimes.com/business/the-new-gem-radisson-blu-leads-
larnaca-into-a-new-era/.
Cyprus Hotel Association, 2019. Radisson Blu Hotel. [Online] Available at:
https://www.cyprushotelassociation.org/radisson-blu-larnaca-3-star-hotel.
Cyprus Mail, 2018. Official opening of Larnaca’s Radisson Blu Hotel and QBlu Plaza.
[Online] Available at: https://cyprus-mail.com/2018/10/11/official-opening-of-larnacas-
radisson-blu-hotel-and-qblu-plaza/.
Cyprus Traveller, 2018. Radisson Blu Hotel, Larnaca officially opens its doors for guests.
[Online] Available at: https://cyprustraveller.com/radisson-blu-hotel-larnaca-7252-2/.
Fox, J.T., 2018. Radisson to open beach resort in Cyprus next year. [Online] Available at:
https://www.hotelmanagement.net/development/radisson-to-open-beach-resort-cyprus-next-
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Gold News, 2018. Radisson Blu Hotel, Larnaca: Cyprus’ First Business Hotel. [Online]
Available at: http://www.goldnews.com.cy/en/hotel--tourism--leisure/radisson-blu-hotel--
larnaca--cyprus%E2%80%99-first-business-hotel.
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https://www.hospitalitynet.org/announcement/41001436/radisson-blu-hotel-larnaca.html.
Hospitality News, 2018. Radisson Blu debuts in Cyprus. [Online] Available at:
http://www.hospitalitynewsmag.com/en/event/radisson-blu-debuts-in-cyprus/.

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Hotel Guru, 2015. Competitive Strategy for the Hospitality Industry. [Online] Available at:
https://hotelguru.com/competitive-strategy-for-the-hospitality-industry/.
Hotel News Resource, 2018. Radisson Blu Hotel Larnaca Opens in Cyprus. [Online]
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HVS, 2014. In Focus: Cyprus. [Online] Available at:
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Insights, 2018. Radisson Blu Hotel, Larnaca opens in Cyprus. [Online] Available at:
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cyprus/.
Market Screener, 2019. Radisson Hospitality publ : Hotel Group and SunnySeeker Hotels
sign strategic development deal for Cyprus. [Online] Available at:
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Nair, C.K. & Amresh, P., 2016. Development of Strategic Plan for Hotel Industries through
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Radisson Blu, 2017. Rezidor Hotel Group announces second Radisson Blu in Larnaca,
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https://www.radissonhotelgroup.com/media_press-releases&article=radisson-hotel-group-
and-sunnyseeker-hotels-sign-strategic-development-deal-for-cyprus.

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