Report on International Marketing Plan for Malmaison Hotels in Europe

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Malmaison Hotels' international marketing strategy, focusing on its expansion into the European market. It begins with a critical review of the hotel chain's existing marketing and promotional activities, highlighting both successes and criticisms. The report then develops a detailed marketing plan, including micro and macro environmental analyses, international marketing practices, and a segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategy. It evaluates the costs and sales promotion, identifies issues affecting the overall strategy, and recommends a promotional strategy using the marketing mix. Furthermore, it assesses the risks associated with implementing the promotional strategy and concludes with recommendations for future marketing endeavors. The report emphasizes the importance of adapting marketing strategies to different geographic locations and customer segments, and the use of Porter's analysis to understand the competitive landscape. This report is a valuable resource for students, providing a practical application of marketing principles within the travel and tourism sector.

INTERNATIONAL
MARKETING FOR
TRAVEL AND TOURISM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
CRITICAL REVIEW THE EXITING MARKETING AND PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY OF
MALMAISON.................................................................................................................................1
MARKETING PLAN......................................................................................................................2
MICRO AND MACRO ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS............................................................2
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING PRACTICE........................................................................4
SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING STRATEGY...................................5
EVALUATION OF THE COST AND SALES PROMOTION..................................................5
ISSUES AFFECTING THE OVERALL STRATEGY...............................................................7
RECOMMENDATION OF PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY WITH THE HELP OF
MARKETING MIX.....................................................................................................................7
RISK ASSESSMENT AT THE TIME OF IMPLEMENTING PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
.....................................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
International marketing has become an important aspect in the travel and tourism industry
because of the increasing trend of tourist in the country. It has become significant for the
hospitality industry to market their products and services to create profitability for their
organization. This report is made on the Malmaison hotels which is a big hotel chain in London
has around 13 branches in various cities of London. The report will showcase the promotional
strategy of the hotel and will focus on the marketing plan. It is essential for the hotel to make it
marketing plan for expanding their hotel in Europe. Further it will emphasize on the issues while
formulating the promotional strategy.
CRITICAL REVIEW THE EXITING MARKETING AND
PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY OF MALMAISON
Malmaison hotels are the chain of hotels in UK and they are known for the services
which they render to their employees. As it is operating in the competitive environment so the
hotel has adopted certain marketing and promotional activity to create competitive advantage
among its competitors. This hotel chain gives emphasis on the promotional activity as they feel
that with the help of advertising they can attract customers to their hotels. In the present time
they have done their hotel promotion by giving advertisements on television. Another strategy
which have adopted is of the billboards (Bitner and Booms, 2002). They have made the boards
which features the sexy image of the female. The significance of this billboard is that they have
chosen this image to because as it is weird so the individual will look at it once. This
promotional strategy was adopted by the Malmaison hotels because they believe that at this has
not been done by any other hotel so it is the new way to promote their hotel. The advertisements
which were made by the Malmaison hotels were successful in attracting the customer and it was
liked by all the customers (Craig and Campbell, 2012).
But this promotional strategy was criticized by many of the authors. As they say that it
contains beefy male models as well as female’s models. It is showcases the conflicting message
regarding the females who are showcased on the billboard. This gives negative image on the
customer about the female and the main drawback of the promotional strategy is that it is
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emphasizing on the sexuality of the females. These were some of the issues which were recently
witnessed by the authors and the promotional activity was criticized by major audiences. Even it
was also said that as this hotel chain the noble price winner so it should encourage the women in
the male dominated society (Crooks and et.al., 2011). To upraise the brand of Malmaison hotels
a marketing plan can be made regarding the promotional and marketing activity in the future.
MARKETING PLAN
Marketing plan is necessary for all the organization as it helps the firm to identify the
strategies as well as goals which can help to achieve success. In the process of marketing plan
the Malmaison hotels will get the overview of the scenario in which it is operating its function.
MICRO AND MACRO ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS
It is essential for the hotel to analyze the factors of the environment which affects the
working of the company. Micro includes the internal factors whereas the macro constitutes the
external factors.
Micro
 Customers- Malmaison hotels have to make the services according to the needs and
requirements of the users. They are the one who majorly affects the services of the hotels.
Like the Malmaison hotels can segregated the services according to the needs of the
customers (Goeldner and Ritchie, 2006). They have made different package for rich and
middle class customers.
 Government- the working of the Malmaison hotels depends upon the rules and
regulations which are made by the government. They have to abide by certain hotel
policies which are executed by the authority.
 Suppliers- without the suppliers the services cannot be delivered in the appropriate time.
The hotel has to build an effective bond between the suppliers and the hotel should make
timely payment so that no issues can arise (Gretzel and Yoo, 2008).
Macro environment (pestle)
 Political factors- In the present time, the most important factor which affect the
operations of Malmaison hotels are the terror of terrorism or the military attack.
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Because of this aspect it is affecting the business of the hotel. The tourist visits the
place less which hampers the profitability of the hotel (Park and Yoon, 2009).
 Economic factor- by ongoing the economic turmoil in Europe the individual are
thinking of saving their money. As travelling comes in the category of luxury so the
customer spend less on these types of activities.
 Social and cultural factors- by analyzing the present scenario the social factors are
favorable for the Malmaison hotels as the customers are willing to travel to different
countries. This has increased the demand for tourist and because of this the hotel
profitability will also increase (Xiang and Gretzel, 2010).
 Technological factors- with the upgrading technology the Malmaison hotels have
adopted the online method through which the customer can book their hotels through
net. Even they want to enquire about the price they can visit their official website.
 Legal factors- there are certain legal laws which are made for the hospitality sector.
The hotel has to abide by these laws regarding the permission license etc.
 Environmental factors- By operating the hotel business they have to protect the
environment from various harmful effects which they emit. Even the environmental
laws regarding the noise have to be abided by the Malmaison hotels (Ferrell, 2012).
Competitor’s analysis (Porter analysis)
For analyzing the competitor, porter model can be used by the Malmaison hotels as it will
depict the scenario of the rivalry firms.
 Threat of new entry- the hotel venture is considered as the most profitability
venture. So the threat of the new entrant is high in the case of Malmaison hotels
as anyone can enter into the hotel industry.
 Bargaining power of buyers- In the hospitality industry the bargaining power of
the buyer is high because there are many substitutes of the services which are
provided by the Malmaison hotels (Acton, 2012). The major drawback is that the
major services which are provided by the competitors are same. There is very
high bargaining power.
 Threats of the substitutes-There are many substitutes available for the customers.
But they can maintain their brand image by concentrating on one segment and
providing the differentiated products. The major substitute of the hotel is the
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technology as if the customer wants to meet the relative then they can use the
video calling method instead to buying the bill for their hotels (Adair and Ritchie,
2004).
 Bargaining power of suppliers- The bargaining power of suppliers is also high in
this industry. If the relationship between the hotel and the suppliers are good then
they can switch their customers. This is because the same products are
manufactured by the hotels so it becomes easy to switch to other buyers.
 Intensity of competitive rivalry- There is fierce competition between the rivalries
in terms of customers as well as the services which are provided by them to their
users (Gorman, 2007). There are many hotels which are operating their business
at the same segment in which Malmaison hotels is doing.
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING PRACTICE
Malmaison hotels is operating its hotels in many countries so the geographic location in
which it is functioning is very vast and their customers are also many. It has been seen that
geographic location matters a lot for the successful business of the hotel industry. Malmaison
hotels are operating in the 13 locations in UK but the profit which comes from every location is
different. This is because of the target customers, rivalry of the competitors as well as the
barriers to the entry (Hall, 2008). Like in case of Glasgow the profit which is earned by this
branch is more as compare to others. It is because in the recent time Olympic was held in
Glasgow which gave the opportunity to the hotel to flourish their business. Even the customers
who were targeted by the hotel were the celebrities who were paying huge amount for the
accommodation services.
The opportunity lies in the target market which they have been focusing. The area
in which the hotel should operate should be the destination spot of the tourists so that they can
visit the place. Because of this reason the profitability would be increased. For making it
successful market selection is also important because if the hotel has selected its lower segment
then it will get the opportunity from the tourist who visits the place (Holden, 2008).
Malmaison hotels have not expanded its business in the international market but in the
near future it can think to expand its business in Europe. This would be profitable for the hotel
because as it is the tourist destination and the customer who visits the place are of different
segments (Pesonen, 2013). If Malmaison hotels are focusing on the business customers then also
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it has major opportunity to expand its operations. Europe has company’s branch of many
countries. Even the tourist can be selected as if there is off season for tourism then also business
customer will give profit to the Malmaison hotels. But there are several entry barriers because of
the EU commission. There are certain laws which are made so the Malmaison hotels have to
abide by all these rules and regulations. The main entry barrier is the EU laws as they have made
rukes regarding the privacy. Another entry barrier is the competitors who are operating their
business in Europe (Ratten and Tsiotsou, 2010). So it is beneficial for the Malmaison hotels to
target the tourist as well as the business guest who come for meeting or some business work.
SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING STRATEGY
Segmentation will help the Malmaison hotels to make the strategy specific according to
the segment which they have chosen to target. Malmaison hotels can do the segmentation on the
basis of the income level as well as occupation. They can majorly target the business class
customers as well as the tourist who come to visit the place. This is because the facilities which
are provided by the hotel are according to the elite class who needs all the luxury and comfort.
But as it is planning to expand in Europe so it can also target the tourist because Europe has been
witnessed as one of the popular tourist destination of the country (Bitner and Booms, 2002).
Targeting strategy is another important strategy which assists the Malmaison hotels to
target the customer on the basis of their USP. The targeting strategy which can be adopted by the
Malmaison hotels can be differentiated strategy. Even they can position their product on the
basis of the attributes. The hotel can advertise its service by focusing on the attributes which they
are giving to the customers. For the business customers they can collaborate with the airlines or
with the travel company (Crooks and et.al., 2011). Through this the Malmaison hotels can
provide them convenience. For the tourist the hotel can organize night shows so that they can
enjoy their stay. The positioning strategy should be done on the characteristics of the services.
This is the best strategy which can be used by the Malmaison hotels in Europe.
EVALUATION OF THE COST AND SALES PROMOTION
It is important for the company to evaluate the cost which is involved in the promotional
activity of the organization. There are different types of cost associated with the promotional
strategy. There are different field and all the areas have different cost associated with it. Sales
promotion requires major finance as it is one of the most important activity of the hotel to attract
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the customer towards them (Future trends in the tourism industry, 2012). The cost benefit
analysis is the appropriate method to evaluate the cost of the sales promotion activity. This is the
technique which is used by the company to compare to the total cost as well as the benefit
attached to it (Gretzel and Yoo, 2008). Like in case of sales promotion Malmaison hotels will
require efficient employees who can conduct the promotion. Further the hotel will require the
appropriate resources as well as tools can technique to promote their services.
This cost benefit analysis is used at the time when the hotel is starting something new as
it helps to evaluate the different options which can be used for sales promotion. In the
international market it has been witnessed that the cost which will be incurred by the hotel will
be more as compare to the domestic market. Through the means of advertisement, the hotel can
create awareness in large customers (Park and Yoon, 2009). But this process is expensive. To
target the business customer, Malmaison hotels can organize a seminar in which all the business
tycoons will be invited. This is also an expensive technique but the cost insured can be equal
with the benefit because there are several advantages attached to it.
In the cost benefit method, the hotel will list down all the benefits and the cost of the tool
which is employed by the hotel. After comparing it they get the effectiveness which they will get
after implementing it. In case of business customers, the expenses like the cost of the areas,
employees, the decoration, food etc will be included. On the other side the benefit and the
awareness will be seen (Xiang and Gretzel, 2010). With the help of this they can identify the
effectiveness of sales promotion activity of Malmaison hotels. The disadvantage of this method
is that it does not calculate the intangible benefits which come from promotion. Like recognize
of hotel comes in intangible benefit and it is the advantage for the Malmaison hotels (Role of the
Government in Tourism, 2011)
Another method which can be adopted by Malmaison hotels is the cost effectiveness
method in which the broader areas will be included in that. Even they evaluate the change on the
monetary terms so that accurate result can be provided. This method is applied by promoting
through advertisement to the local people who lives in the city. But the drawback is that it does
not evolve expense of the media used by Malmaison hotels for promoting among the customers.
This generally not depicts the cost effectiveness properly (Ferrell, 2012).
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ISSUES AFFECTING THE OVERALL STRATEGY
There are several issues which will be affecting the expansion of the Malmaison hotels in
Europe. The major issues which are witnessed by the hotel are the employees. In expanding the
business the hotel requires the human resources which are efficient. Even the labor rates in
different countries are different. So they have to cope with the problem as the hotel can
experience the lack of manpower in Europe. Another major issue which is faced by the
Malmaison hotels is the corruption which is prevailing in that country (Gorman, 2007). Mostly
the political parties have more shares in the operations of hotel. So the hotel has to build a strong
bond with the political partiers so that they can work effectively in the Europe.
The major issue which will affect the strategy is the political issues regarding the rights
and duties as well as the interference of the government in the operations .if the hotel is newly
establishing its business in the Europe then it has to face the discrimination done by the political
parties as well as the government (Pesonen, 2013). This problem is faced because no other hotels
want their rivalry to enter their area. This results in declining the profit of the company. So the
Malmaison hotels have to make connection with the political; parties as well as they have to have
upper hand of the tycoons so they can establish their business without any hindrance. Lack of
employees and increasing rates of human resources enhances the cost of the business. These are
the issues which are faced by the hotel regarding expanding their business (Ratten and Tsiotsou,
2010).
RECOMMENDATION OF PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY WITH THE HELP OF
MARKETING MIX
The promotional strategy which can be adopted by the Malmaison hotels for the tourist
segment can be using the price segment as the major factor. They can promote their services with
the cost which are in the budget. For this they can use the advertisement as their promotional
medium to create awareness among the customers (Goeldner and Ritchie, 2006). Even for the
tourist the Malmaison hotels can use promotion as a technique for creating competitive
advantage among the users.
For the business segment, they can focus on the additional services which are provided
by them. The Malmaison hotels will focus on the attributes of the services. For promoting their
product they can conduct the seminars as well as promotional programs. With the help of the
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place the Malmaison hotels can provide convenience. The location can be taken in reach of the
airports so that inconvenience can be avoided (Park and Yoon, 2009).
RISK ASSESSMENT AT THE TIME OF IMPLEMENTING PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
The major risk which is identified at the time of promoting the strategy is changing the
rules and regulations as well as the policies of the country. For this the Malmaison hotels would
have to change the strategies which they are planning to apply. Even with the advancement in
technology, the technology which they will be using can become outdated. The major risk is with
the lack of personnel as per the estimated one (Hall, 2008). So The Malmaison hotels have to
make certain procedures so that it can overcome the risk factors which are affecting the
promotional strategies. They hotel can hire others employees if they this problem comes. For the
changing policies they should make the strategies which are flexible so that it can be changed
with the situation.
CONCLUSION
From the report it can be concluded that many issues will be arising in front of
Malmaison hotels but it has made certain strategies to overcome the problems which can occur.
The major USP of this hotel is its brand image and the services which are provided by the hotel.
It will be beneficial for the hotel to expand its market in Europe as it is the best tourist place and
even the business hub for many countries. With the help of the promotional strategy and services
it could easily attain the competitive advantage. Lastly, it can be inferred that there are many
options through which it can increase its customer base.
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REFERENCES
Books and journal
Acton, Q. A., 2012. Issues in Hospitality, Travel, and Tourism: 2011 Edition. ScholarlyEditions.
Adair, D. and Ritchie, B., 2004. Sport Tourism: Interrelationships, Impacts, and Issues. Channel
View Publications.
Bitner, M. J. and Booms, B. H., 2002. Trends in travel and tourism marketing: The changing
structure of distribution channels. Journal of travel research. 20(4). pp.39-44.
Craig, T. and Campbell, D., 2012. Organizations and the Business Environment. 2nd ed.
Routledge.
Crooks, V. A. and et.al., 2011. Promoting medical tourism to India: Messages, images, and the
marketing of international patient travel. Social Science & Medicine. 72(5). pp.726-732.
Ferrell, C, O., 2012. Marketing Strategy Text and Cases. Cengage Learning
Goeldner, C. R. and Ritchie, J. B., 2006. Tourism: Principles, practices, philosophies. John
Wiley & Sons.
Gorman, D. K., 2007. The hospitality phenomenon: philosophical enlightenment?. International
Journal of Culture. Tourism and Hospitality Research. 1(3). pp.189–202.
Gretzel, U. and Yoo, K. H., 2008. Use and impact of online travel reviews.Information and
communication technologies in tourism. pp.35-46.
Hall, C. M., 2008. Tourism planning. Policies, processes and relationships. Harlow: Pearson
Holden, A., 2008. Environment and Tourism. London: Routledge.
Park, D. B. and Yoon, Y. S., 2009. Segmentation by motivation in rural tourism: A Korean case
study. Tourism management. 30(1). pp.99-108.
Pesonen, A. J., 2013. Information and communications technology and market segmentation in
tourism: a review. Tourism Review. 68(2). pp.14–30.
Ratten, V. and Tsiotsou, R., 2010. Future research directions in tourism marketing. Marketing
Intelligence & Planning. 28(4). pp.533–544.
Xiang, Z. and Gretzel, U., 2010. Role of social media in online travel information search.
Tourism management. 31(2). pp.179-188.
Online
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Future trends in the tourism industry. 2012. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.ttgmena.com/Future-trends-in-the-tourism-industry/> [Accessed on 23rd April,
2016].
Role of the Government in Tourism. 2011. [Online]. Available through:
<http://tourismphenomenon.blogspot.in/2011/09/role-of-government-in-tourism.html>.
[Accessed on 23rd April 2016].
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