Target Market Demographics and Characteristics

1. Grand hotel has already started the process of acquiring smaller infrastructures apart from building its own. The process of acquiring new hotels, help in establishing its stronghold in the international market (Lam, Ho and Law 2015).
2. The group has its operational existence in a number of countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. Therefore, the workforce is vivid and multicultural. The adaptability is strong and diverse. A diverse workforce is always helpful in becoming an international brand.
3. Having its operation in a number of countries and possessing a large number of properties in a number of places the group is financially stable and having further plan of expansion and growth vertically and horizontally..

1. Australia
2. New Zealand
3. Fiji
4. Indonesia
5. Malaysia
6. Guam Hagatna
7. Marshall Islands
8. Micronesia
9. Sri Lanka
10. Philippines
11. Singapore
12. Cambodia
13. Myanmar
14. Maldives

1. Market Size And Growth—

• In Malaysia tourism contributes about 9.3% of the total countries GDP. A huge number of 10 million visitors come here annually (Statista.com 2018). In 2018, the revenue generated from the Hotels amounted to more than $538. In New Zealand tourism industry generated a GST revenue of $2.8 billion (New Zealand Tourism 2018). 7.5% of the total work force employed in the country are employed in the hotels and tertiary tourism industry (New Zealand Tourism 2018).
• In Australia alone, there is a 11.5% growth in foreign tourists (Savills 2018). In Malaysia the hotel Industry is booming which has a growth of 2.2%. The influx of tourists continues to be more than 10 million and the expected growth is 12.4% (Statista 2018)
• Top competitors in Malaysia are Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, Four Season Resort Langkiwi, Shangri La Kuala Lumpur, Lexis Hibiscus Port Dickson, JW Marriott Kula Lumpur, Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur. In New Zealand main competitors are Sofitel Auckland, Azur Lodge, Sofitel Queenstown, Blanket Bay, The Spire Hotel, The Langham Auckland, and Hilton Auckland.
• The quality of currently available rooms and hotels range from budget to luxury. The hotels in New Zealand take the advantage of its natural beauty and picturesque locations.

1. Market Accessibility—

• The tariff rates for hotels in Malaysia are relatively low ranging from 75 US Dollars to 500 US Dollars. In New Zealand, the tariff rates are higher. It starts from about 150 US Dollars and goes up to very high rates.
• In the region there are a number of newspapers and news channels where the advertisements of the hotel can be put up. The foreign tourists mainly come through the airports, hence billboards and banners near and around the airport will help.

1. Economic Condition

• The average income of a household in New Zealand is about 5000 Australian Dollars per month. In Malaysia, it is much lesser accounting to 1670 US Dollar a month.
• One Australian Dollar is about 3.13 Malaysian Ringgit. Again one Australian dollar is equal to about 1.10 New Zealand Dollars presently.
• The best option in the risk protection factor related to currency exchange is to open a temporary foreign currency account.

1. Cultural, Legal And Political Factors

• There was a recent incident in Malaysia where people not belonging to a certain religion were asked to eat secretly during in the fasting month of the majority religion. Similar religious orthodoxy may hamper natural growth of foreign nationals. In New Zealand, there are small sections of radical nationalists who may pose a problem.
• In Malaysia the political situation is democratic headed by Prime Minister. The country has Islam has the major religion, but there are minority Buddhists. Political rift among the two sections are common. In New Zealand the political situation is stable but there are protests about illegal immigrants.
• In Malaysia to open a hotel or branch one requires to draft an article for association, registering with the authorities of tax and revenue department, and submitting the details and documents to Companies Commission of Malaysia. In New Zealand one has to register and get a company tax number, appoint a lawyer and accountant and register with the Companies Office to start a hotel.

1. Access Of The Appropriate Marketing Communications

In New Zealand people are more digitally oriented. Communication which are digitally enhanced will work in this region. Marketing communication mix includes the 4 PSs “Product, Promotion, Price and Place”. The product is the hotel service here, price as to be determined according to the target audience, place is New Zealand and promotion will be developed according to that. In New Zealand the economic condition is stable and people are affluent enough hence marketing can be done through social media and the internet, apart from traditional media like television and news paper. In Malaysia the economic condition i not as affluent as the former country hence pricing has to be done keeping that in mind.

1. Distinctive Needs Of Hotels In Malaysia And New Zealand

• The starting point of hotel price in Malaysia is about 20 Australian dollars which can go up to 1000 dollars depending on the luxury provided (Mosbah and Saleh 2014). The hotel price for Grand is kept at 300 to 800 dollars. In New Zealand the price is higher starting from about a 100 dollars ranging up to 3000 to 4000 dollars. The prices for Grand will be from 800 to 3000 dollars.
• Services other than rooms include dinner, parking, beverages, spa, theme restaurants and shopping.
• The website booking for New Zealand is higher than Malaysia. Online hotel booking in New Zealand has gone from  65% to 80% between 2007 to 2015. In Malaysia the number is expected to grow to 0.5 million by 2022 (Tourism.gov, 2018). Grand will be having a dedicated online booking website and will be linked to leading travel booking websites.
• As a leading hotel chain Grand will keep its door open all the time of the day so that people can check in. The customer helpline and the online booking will be open through the day.
• The weekend pricing will be 20% more than the weekdays. But the people who will be booking in the weekdays for weekends will get a normal pricing.
• In the peek seasons of tourism like the spring the prices will be 10% higher throughout the season.

1. Access Into Primary Source

• The company will access primary data by interviewing, surveying and online questionnaires. Interviews are views of people and are qualitative data, whereas surveys are numbers and are quantitative (Matthews and Ross 2014).

1. Access Into Secondary Sources

• Secondary data are those already collected and analyzed by a third party. The government websites and portals provide such data (Bryman and Bell 2015).
• There are agencies and data processing centers which give data in lieu of payment.
• Internet research and surfing into various authentic sites also provide data which the company will use. Example- Statista.com.
• Newspapers and reports often go for researchers about market profile which can be accessed (Sekaran and Bougie 2016).

In New Zealand the population is economically stable, though there are various sections of population who still need economic up liftmen. The main target population that is aimed is working affluent professionals, and the international tourists. The international tourists are the main target group and the executive class are the next target option.

• The consumers who have need for better hotels in New Zealand are the tourists who cannot find suitable accommodation during peak tourist seasons.
• The current and potential users of luxury hotel service include the tourists and the executive class who travel for work.
• People in related categories are political leaders, business leaders, motivational speakers, delegates of other countries, sportsmen.

The potential user of the luxury service provided by Grand Hotel would mainly include the tourists and the executive class of the country. The Chinese tourists are the largest number in this region (Sun, Zhang and Ryan 2015). The large number of Chinese tourists can be targeted as potential users of the service. The executives of large MNC companies and senior managers use a large amount of services from luxury hotels. Frequency of service usage is in the peak seasons  when tourists pour in. The targeted members can be reached via social media, internet and advertisements around the airports.

The expansion plans as stated includes markets in the Australasian region. The countries mentioned in the target market include regions with both high and medium internet usage. Advertisement in the region can be taken up by using international news channels into consideration like BBC or CNN. Both TV and radio can utilized. Marketing experts from those regions would be employed to develop the proper marketing mix.

The target markets are diversified with cultural, ethical and religious differences. New Zealand is mainly a Christian country whereas Malaysia is a Islamic nation. Their values are different. The marketing strategy should be developed keeping that in mind. The cultural values should be given maximum importance in order to enter new markets and not offend the majority of population of that region.

References:

Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015. Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.

Lam, C., Ho, G.K. and Law, R., 2015. How can Asian hotel companies remain internationally competitive?. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(5), pp.827-852. 

Matthews, B. and Ross, L., 2014. Research methods. Pearson Higher Ed.

Mosbah, A. and Saleh, A.A., 2014. A review of tourism development in Malaysia. Euro J Bus and Manage, 6(5), pp.1-9.

New Zealand Tourism., 2018. About the industry. [online] Tourismnewzealand.com. Available at: https://www.tourismnewzealand.com/about/about-the-industry/ [Accessed 22 Jan. 2018].

Savills., 2018. Savills Hotel Market Report. [online] Publications.savills.com.au. Available at: https://publications.savills.com.au/hotelsreport/?_ga=1.176398051.791909754.1485131638 [Accessed 22 Jan. 2018].

Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R., 2016. Research methods for business: A skill building approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Statista.com., 2018. Hotels – Malaysia | Statista Market Forecast. [online] Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/outlook/267/122/hotels/malaysia# [Accessed 22 Jan. 2018].

Sun, M., Zhang, X. and Ryan, C., 2015. Perceiving tourist destination landscapes through Chinese eyes: The case of South Island, New Zealand. Tourism Management, 46, pp.582-595.

Tourism.gov., 2018. Tourism Malaysia. [online] Tourism.gov.my. Available at: https://www.tourism.gov.my/statistics [Accessed 25 Jan. 2018].