Roker Hotel: Marketing Plan for Sunderland Tall Ship Race 2019

This report details a marketing plan created for the Roker Hotel, focusing on leveraging the Sunderland Tall Ship Race in July 2019 to boost customer engagement and sales. The plan begins with an executive summary, outlining the hotel's aims and objectives, which include increasing sales by 10%, raising brand awareness, and establishing Roker Hotel as a key hospitality brand. A thorough situational analysis, including SWOT and PESTLE analyses, is conducted to assess the internal and external environments. The report then delves into segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) strategies, outlining how the hotel will cater to different customer segments. The marketing mix, encompassing product, price, promotion, place, people, process, and physical evidence, is elaborated upon. An action plan with timelines and a detailed marketing budget, including personnel costs, market research, marketing communications, and other expenses, is also provided to guide the implementation of the marketing strategies. This plan aims to capitalize on the event's popularity, attracting visitors and enhancing their experience to drive business growth.

MARKETING PLAN

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.................................................................................................................3
Marketing plan........................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................11
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing refers to a study area which is concerned with the exchange of
relationships. It is basically a procedure of establishing relationships along with
satisfying consumers. It helps business in creating awareness about the offerings of
the company, attracting customers with the objective of serving them with the best
quality products and services ( Chaffey, Smith, 2012)). In the present project report, a
marketing plan will be created for Roker Hotel which is planning to offer something
different and exiting to the visitors who will be visiting Sunderland Tall Ship Race in
July 2019. The report will include a detailed marketing plan of Roker for increasing
the customer engagement during the event.
MAIN BODY
Marketing plan
A marketing plan can be described as the document or report which lays out the
marketing strategy for the future period. It comprises setting of aims and objectives of
the marketing, detailed analysis of market, position of competitors, positioning of
business in the market, budget of the marketing and monitoring & controlling. Below
is the marketing plan for Roker Hotel :
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Sunderland Tall Ship Race is a five day cultural event which hosts millions of
visitors every year. The place offers number of entertainment services to the people
along with this main event. Roker Beach is the place where people will be expecting
grand parade, fireworks, amazing food & music. The present study is about the
marketing plan of Roker Hotel which desires of utilizing this tall ship race
opportunity for increasing their sales and customer experience. The event is so
popular that in the year 2018, 1.5 million visitors attended this event and over 80 tall
ships participated in this cultural event. Thus, it is for this reason that Hotel wants to
prepare an effective marketing strategy for attracting large number of tourists when
they attend the race and increase their engagement with the brand.

AIM: “To increase customer engagement and sales during Sunderland Tall Ship Race
Event 2019”.
OBJECTIVES:
Every business organization is to serve their offerings to as many customers as
they for increasing their sales and profitability. The ultimate objective is to expand its
business and create an exceptional brand recognition. The specific objectives of Roker
Hotel are :
 To increase the sales by 10 % during the race competition in July 2019
 To increase the brand awareness amongst the visitors
 To establish Roker Hotel as a key accommodation & hospitality brand in
domestic and international tourism market.
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
It refers to the system which consists of various methods and techniques which
the marketing managers applies for analyzing the internal and external business
environment for the purpose of assessing the internal strengths, weaknesses,
conditions of macro-environment which could potentially impacts the operations and
sales of the business and position of competitors ( Mariani & et.al., 2014).
A market analysis is required for achieving the above mentioned objectives of
Roker Hotel so as to develop a clear, cohesive and concise marketing strategy. Below
is the situational analysis of Roker Hotel:
SWOT Analysis :
This technique assists the managers in assessing the internal capabilities and
weaknesses of the firm.
Strengths
 It is one of the longest standing hotel
in the city of Sunderland, United
Kingdom.
 Highly trained staff & managers
 Location is one of its strengths which
has helped it in gaining the attention
of visitors. Exceptional quality services and is
known for hosting of variety of
Weaknesses
 Prices of the services is relatively
higher
 Continuous refurbishment of hotel is
one of its weakness which has
resulted into distracting the tourists
( Kotler & et.al., 2014).

entertaining events for its customers.
Opportunities To attract large of number of people
during Tall Ship race event To increase the sales & profitability
 Online services for the customers for
advance bookings ( Sigala, 2012 ). Appropriate pricing of the services
could result large occupancy at the
hotel
Threats
 Intense competition from other
accommodation and hospitality
services providers.
 Weather threats could discourage
visitors for attending the festival or
could result into shorter stay in the
city.
PESTLE Analysis :
It is one of the marketing research analytical tool which is concerned with the
assessment of the external environment of the business which includes all the possible
macro environmental factors which possess the capability of affecting the growth and
profitability of the business.
The PESTLE analysis of tourism industry in Sunderland is as follows:
Political factors :
There are many political factors such as government policies related to tourism
development, political stability in the Sunderland, corruption level, visa system etc.,
which affects the development of tourism industry in the city.
Sunderland Council supports the development of tourism in the city and it is
actively participating in promoting and supporting Tall Ship Race event in the city.
This is so because this events contributes to the economy significantly as millions of
people visits and attends this event through which foreign income is earned by the
local hospitality and adventurous businesses. From this, it can be said that Roker
Hotel have an opportunity of increasing its sales during the event as it is supported by
the political condition of the city( Mullins, L. 2010).
Economic factors:
GDP is the main indicator of a nation and if the trend of GDP is growing trend
then it means that employment rate, inflation rate, investment conditions are
favourable for the tourism businesses. The economy of Sunderland was amongst the
top ten economies of United Kingdom in the year 2017. Sunderland enjoyed year-on-
year Gross Value Added growth of 1.5% in the last quarter of 2017, which allowed it

to be the sixth best performing city in the UK (Sunderland's economy among the UK's
top ten at the end of 2017, 2018). Roker Hotel can achieve its desired objective as the
city’s economy is a growing economy in which the conditions are favorable for
expanding the operations of the business.
Social factors:
Social factors involves education level, demographics, ethnicity, cultural
influences, natural heritages etc. The population of Sunderland is educated and the
city possess some amazing natural attractions points such as Roker beach is one of
highly visited place in the city. Also, Sunderland’s people are typical orthodox when
it comes to their culture and heritage which shows that culture is very highly rich.
These factors will help the Roker hotel in attracting the visitors to their place.
Technological factors:
Technologist advancement in the city in the form of transportation and
communication infrastructure largely impacts the tourism industry of Sunderland. The
city is considered as one of high tech city of UK which has one of the three Low
Power Wide Area Network(LPWAN). The city provides great connectivity and has
international airports and public transportation at an affordable prices which
encourages travelers to visit the city ( McCabe, Scott, 2014).
Legal factors:
Tourism legislation, legal system, are some legal factors which affects the
development of tourism industry in the city. There are different tourism development
law in the such as Tourism Development Act 1969 etc., that governs the development
of tourism in the country and also provides the framework which is meant for
providing protection to the visitors and travelers as well (Barth,S.2009). Roker Hotel
shall adhere to all the legal compliance for avoiding any legal actions against in the
future and shall carryout its business in the most lawful manner possible.
Environmental factors:
Pollution level, environmental protection regulations etc., are some factors that
are influences the development of tourism in the country. Sunderland has pollution
free beaches, county park, park conservation area, Seaham beach. Such pollution free
natural sites plays a great role in developing tourism in the city. Roker Hotel can take
advantages of such environmental factors for attracting and engaging the customers.

SEGMENTATION, TAREGETING & POSITIONING (STP)
Segmentation : It refers to the types of customers exists in the market and what are
their specific needs. It involves identification of markets and ascertaining the
characteristic of each markets. Roker Hotel has segmented the market on the
following bases:
 Demographic: Hotel has segmented the market on the basis of socio-economic
status of people and would accordingly mould its services.
 Behavioral :The hotel would take care of the behavioral needs such as some of
the visitors are adventurous and some travels relaxing. It will holds events and
other hospitality services accordingly ( Middleton, Morgan, Ranchod,2009).
Targeting : It means choosing the intended or potential customers to whom the
organization desires of selling its services or goods is known as targeting. Roker Hotel
would target the audience which is interested in luxurious and adventurous services.It
would also target the people who are food & part freaks and would arrange some
amazing events which could attract them.
Positioning : It involves the strategies regarding how the products and services shall
be placed in the market. This is done through the tool of marketing that is marketing
mix. Roker Hotel has followed the following marketing mix:
Marketing mix elements Strategies
Product The products/ services of Hotel must be
capable meeting the requirements of
people is the essence of this element.
Roker has range of services such as
recreational services for leisure visitors,
music events for party animal, quality
food etc.
Price Setting the correct price of services and
products is crucial for success of an
organization. Penetration pricing strategy
has been selected by Hotel for increasing
its sales during the race event.
Promotion How the information regarding
company’s products & services will be
communicated to the potential customers

is included in promotions. Roker Hotel
will social media such as Instagram,
Youtube channel, Facebook etc., as one
of its main promotional tool for spreading
the brand awareness ( Ryan, Jones,
2012). Brochures and Billboards are other
promotional tools which are going to be
applied by Roker Hotel. Internet
marketing would be promotional and
advertising platform for the hotel where it
will showcase the services it is going to
offer during the Tall Ship Race event in
Sunderland in July.
Place This means accessibility or convenience
of getting the products or services of the
company. Roker has made its online
website highly user friendly over which
customers can avail all the services which
it offers.
People In hospitality industry, people providing
the services are of utmost importance .
Roker has planned to devise a training
program for its staff so that they attend
the customers with more effectiveness
and help in achieving the goal of
customer engagement ( Nickson, 2011)).
Process An organization indulge many processes
for making a product/service available to
customer from production to market
place.Roker Hotel has created a process
of effective customer support services for
engaging its customers and satisfying
them to the best level possible.
Public evidence It involves customer experience with the

physical place of the organization. Roker
has decided to make its place more
decorated, highly engaging ambience.
ACTION PLAN
Time scale
Aims& Objectives: 7 days
Marketing budget : 8days
Selection of media channels for promoting the brand & Tall Ship race event : 15 days
Executing the plan & marketing strategies : 5 days.
MARKETING BUDGET:
A budget can be defined as a spending plan. It includes est expense estimated and
revenue for a specific future accounting period. Following is the marketing budget of
Roker Hotel for attaining its objective of increasing its sales by 10% and enhancing
customer engagement during the Sunderland Tall Ship Race in July 2019.
Particulars May June June
Personnel
Salaries 2500 2500 2500
Payroll taxes 100 100 100
Bonuses & incentives 1500 1000 2000
Total 4100 3600 4600
Market research 3500 2000 1500
Situational analysis 4500 2500 1000
Total 8000 4500 2500
Marketing communications
Promotions 12000 15000 8000
Brochures 800 1000 2000
branding 10000 18000 15000
Internet marketing 8000 13000 14000
Total 30800 47000 39000
Others
Postage 1200 1800 2300
Stationary 1400 850 450
telephone [phone]
Computer and office equipment 10000 8000 12000
Total 15600 15650 22750
Total marketing budget 58500 70750 68850

MONITORING:
There are various techniques of monitoring and evaluating the plan so formulated
for achieving the desired results. Roker Hotel would applied the following techniques
for evaluating the effectiveness of its plan:
Key performance indicators: This is a tool for evaluating and measuring the
effectiveness of the various aspects of the organization. Roker applied low level KPIs
for assessing the effectiveness of its various departments such as finance, HR,
marketing, etc. While it used high level KPIs for evaluating the overall performance
of the Hotel. This helped the management of the company to know where they are
lagging behind from their planned performances and what strategies could be it could
use in future so that same things does not get repeated ( RoutledgeKotler, Bowen,
Makens, 2010).
Cost benefit analysis: This is another technique of making strategies for the
company. In this method, managers calculates the cost of a project and then compares
it with the benefits which such costs are going to provide in the future. The cost of
promoting and marketing the campaign of Roker Hotel for achieving the objective of
increasing the sales was 100000 pounds while the benefits were estimated to be
250000 pounds in the month of July when the Ship Race event going to take place.
CONTROLLING:
It is the process of measuring and comparing the performance of the organization
with the actual performance for an objective of finding out any deviation and if any
major deviation is detected then corrective actions are taken for bringing the plan on
Right track. The marketing manager has employed the technique of variance analysis
through which it would analyse the effectiveness of the marketing plan of increasing
sales by 10% and improvement in the customer engagement.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report, it can be concluded that for achieving higher sales,
profitability and customer satisfaction then marketing function of the organization
play an important role. It is the marketing department of the company which is
responsible for creating a brand awareness of the products and services of the firm in
the target market. Communication with the customers is an important function of
marketing manager. In the report, a marketing plan was created with an objective of

increasing the sales of Roker Hotel by 10% in the upcoming Sunderland’s Tall Ship
Race event which is going to be held in July 2019. In the plan, management of the
hotel applied the penetrating pricing strategy for gaining the larger share market, it
established and molded its services as per the needs of the travelers to which they
desire the sell their services. It planned of hosting cultural and musical events for the
customers for attracting and engaging them.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barth,S.(2009) Hospitality Law: Managing Legal Issues in the Hospitality Industry,
Wiley;
Chaffey, D., Smith, P.R.(2012) Emarketing Excellence: Planning and Optimizing
your Digital Marketing, Oxon;
RoutledgeKotler, P., Bowen, J. T., Makens, J.C.(2010) Marketing for Hospitality and
Tourism, Boston: Pearson;
Kotler & et.al., (2014). Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism. .Harlow, Essex:
Pearson;
Mariani & et.al., (2014). Tourism Management, Marketing and Development,
Importance of networks and ICTs. .NewYork: Palgrave Macmillan;
McCabe, Scott, Ph.D (2014). The Routledge handbook of tourism marketing.
London: Routledge;
Middleton, V.T.C., Morgan, M., Ranchod,A. (2009) Marketing in Travel and
Tourism .4th Edition. Oxford: Butterworth‐Heinemann;
Mullins, L. (2010) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 9th Edition. Harlow:
Pearson Education Ltd;
Nickson, D. (2011) Human Resource Management for Hospitality, Tourism and
Events. Oxford: Butterworth‐Heineman;
Ryan, D., Jones, C.(2012) Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for
Engaging the Digital Generation. Kogan Page;
Sigala, M.(2012) Social Media in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality (New Directions
in Tourism Analysis). Surrey, Ashgate
Online
Sunderland's economy among the UK's top ten at the end of 2017. 2018. [Online].
Available through <https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/sunderland-s-economy-
among-the-uk-s-top-ten-at-the-end-of-2017-1-9121070>