Singapore holds a strong position internationally, has FTA with numerous countries such as US., China, India, Japan, Korea, and Australia. The stable politics make Singapore a healthy environment to establish business. Economically, low-income tax and steady GDP growth make Singapore attractive to investors. Inflation rate is relatively low (1.49%) compared with Australia (2.21%) on average since 2010. However, currency appreciation against the major inbound tourists including China, Indonesia and the US., proper plan is needed when appreciation is extreme. Socially, being a multicultural and tourism country, a high hospitality experience standard is highly expected by global tourists. The rise of Airbnb is taking hotel’s market share for its convenience and cheap price. Major inbound tourists are from neighboring countries such as China and Indonesia, however, the highest percentage of accommodation spent is from America (40%), India (38%) and South Korea (37%). Being an island country, the labor force is a consistent problem and relies on import labor from Indonesia or China.
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Technologically, with the development of technology, all industries begin to work with high-tech appliances.
The launch of the Smart Hotel Technology Guide assists hotels to identify technological solutions to improve guests lodging experience. Tools used include smart cameras, robotics, data analytics, cloud technology and artificial intelligence.
Environmentally, the 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) program was implemented in 2011 and designed to reduce the wastes, reuse the plastics and recycle the possible materials. In 2014, hotels with more than 200 rooms are required to submit waste data and waste reduction plans annually. 2018 was announced as the year of climate action, including actions are zero waste, efficient use of electricity and water, and keeping air clean.
The business model is based on uniqueness that is hard to imitate thus providing competitive advantage. Singapore as a location is market-led with high demand in tourism activities from a rich cultural background to diverse culinary specialties. The tourism industry trends are forever evolving. Being aware that trading is not in an oligopoly market and therefore, must always strive to be above the competitors.
To effectively position the brand and capture the right target market, researches have been done on a number of aspects of the market and its surrounding environment as detailed in PESTEL analysis in the previous section. As aforementioned, Singapore, due to its political stability, economic growth, cultural diversity, and low-income tax, has become a tourism hub, especially international visitors. Hence, demand for hospitality services has been increasing more and more, making it a favorable market for the hotel business. However, it is worth noting the hotel will not be trading in an oligopoly market and therefore, must always strive to be above competitors. It is supported by the Porter’s analysis discussed above that the threat of competitors in this industry is high. In addition to the external research, information from internal sources like company’s reports, feedback and complaint system, and consumer’s ratings and reviews platform will also be gathered and monitored so that consumer behaviors can be better understood.
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The market action plan is best described through the marketing mix 7p’s as explained below.
Singapore has been chosen as the location of the hotel due to its tourist attractive features as discussed previously. A great way to describe the market in Singapore is through an evaluation of the GDP. The country is led by a high population of business empires. The target market of the passage focuses on mid to high-income travelers to Singapore for business or leisure, As discussed in the Gale Journal 2020, operating business in such an environment (among population with high GDP) is favorable to the business. Hence, this is part of the strategic decisions leading to the location choice.
The Passage will be displayed in a combination of heritage and contemporary style design to express evolutionary changes brought by in different generations. The entry to the lobby will be designed with a mix of cultural symbols and pictures, some interesting paintings to attract the attention of guests and promote their urge to explore the place. They will then be welcomed by the friendly staff in uniform. Lighting will be kept warm to create a relaxing environment, yet bright enough for the guests to enjoy the view of the hotel. To create distinctiveness and differentiate itself from the competitors, each room will have its own style of different cultures in different eras to demonstrate the fun of travel in Asia-Pacific.
The core product of the establishment is luxurious accommodation with great attention to detail and state of the art décor based on tradition and cultural background. The tangibility of the product is the comfortable luxurious accommodation, diverse traditional culinary specialties from different cultures. The Augmented product is the experience of the guest staying in the hotel for example; the guests who choose to stay in rooms from their own cultural background comes with a positive nostalgic feeling whereas, staying in a different room represents newness. The opportunity to create the world in one establishment is a literal definition of the famous saying that “The World has become a global village”.
“Unique designs, decor and professional trained employees are among factors that contribute to the hotel’s product standardization. The Singaporean government uses slogans such as “The food capital of Asia” contributes to the promotion of tourism in the country through market and product led strategies which further leads to a successful hospitality industry in the country easing the strain of business operation and maximizing economies of scale.”
