1. Introd Introduct uction ion:: Avari Lahore Ramada Renaissance Hotel, a hotel reflecting the traditional hospitality of Lahore combined with five star standards. It was situated down down the beautiful beautiful tree-line tree-lined d Shahrah-e Shahrah-e-ui -uid-e-A d-e-A!am !am overloo" overloo"ing ing the !oologica !oologicall #ardens #ardens and convenie conveniently ntly ad$acent ad$acent to the %rovinci %rovincial al Assembl Assembly y and commerci commercial al !ones of Lahore. 2. Competitor Analysis &eing one of the only two ' star hotels in Lahore, Avari Ramada faced a taut and direct competition with %earl (ontinental Hotel. %earl was situated one "ilometre from Avari so it was essentially in the same neighbourhood ad$acent to #overnors house and near beautiful )innah #ardens. %earl had similar pricing policies as those at Avari, with the same rate structure and reassessment reassessment policies. However, However, the room rates of %earl had always been marginally lower than Avari*s. +ovember was the first time the room prices of %earl had overta"en the prices of it competitor. /he summer pac"age of %eal in was a greater success than Avari*s. /his was believed believed to be due to people s predilection predilection of %earls %earls fresher fresher loo" with bigger bigger rooms and widespread lawns. ‟
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3. Marketing Recommenda Recommendations tions Brand Building 0ne of the ma$or wea"nesses of Avari Ramada hotel was the lac" of &rand Image in the minds of the consumers. /his can also be categorised as an opportunity if the mana manage geme ment nt is able able to buil build d a diff differ eren enti tiat atin ing g and and dist distin inct ct bran brand d imag image e for for itself. (reate the &rand 1Avari2, so when a potential customer thought of Lahore they thought of Avari. Initially at the nascent stage of brand building Avari should harp Service as their 13ni4ue Selling %roposition 53S%62. Leveraging its eakness Avari can ma"e ma"e its bac"ground bac"ground and history a selling selling proposition proposition in the second second stage of mar"eting. 7ith the deep routed tradition t radition and culture of %a"istan, it can differentiate itself from %earl, an e8periential bouti4ue hotel offering more than $ust stay. It can leverage its smaller si!ed property to %earl by calling it a hotel with a more intimate setting. /his strategy will provide Avari and edge over %earl, especially for leisure travellers who will be coming to %a"istan to feel the country*s essence. !. "uestions "1 # $%ould Ra&a seek to increase t%e occupancy rate or average room rate' (%at are t%e trade)o**s' (%at *actors s%ould %e consider' Avari Avari Ramada +otel: ,ricing +otel Rooms /he management at Avari seemed fine at not gaining the summer pac"age share as long as their 9: occupancy target for the year was achieved. /his was not the right approach; since they were already giving discounts and promotions to the guests it will be in the best interest of Avari to ma"e these rates competitive to those of %earl*s. Increasing t%e -ccupancy Rate Along with having competition and demand pricing approach, Avari Avari Ramada should concentrate on profit oriented approach. /he hotel*s main focus at this point in time should be to increase the occupancy rate. 0ut of months in , occupancy for months had been higher for %earl. Avari should concentrate on increasing not $ust occupancy solely, but %rofitabl %rofitable e occupan occupancy cy.. In the month of +ovembe +ovemberr <': occupancy occupancy was with individu individuals als
carrying <' to =9: discount as per the Special rates. /hat is a colossal percentage seeing that the special rate has an adverse affect on the revenue. 0ne of the strategies would be to limit the number of rooms given in Special Rates for corporate and to try and increase the influ8 of >8ecutive &usiness service (lients. /o attract more of ?re4uent Individual /ravellers and >8ecutive &usiness Service clients the hotel should do some sort of sophisticated pricing strategies li"e bundling. Since Avari will not be able to change their infrastructure to compare it to %earls spacious rooms and e8tensive lawns, they need to follow a more competitive pricing strategy to gain mar"et share. /heir average room rate for the months of @ay, )une and )uly was almost Rs higher than %earl*s. Bundling /he hotel can pac"age two or more products together to gain a pricing advantage. /his can be done by combining two services li"e room stay and dinner together. /he hotel can charge a little higher price than the room rent for this service but still "eep the prices lower, if ta"en either of them of them separately. "2# (%at ot%er metrics could s%ould Ra&a use to evaluate t%e per*ormance o* %is pricing structure' (%y' /he pricing strategy should be simplified by classifying the rates by not only client type but room type as well. It should be segmented in the right manner as per our recommendations for it to help in inviting more guests and increasing its occupancy.
,ricing Recommendations 1. Room /i**erentiation: At this point of time Avari Ramada hotel has various pricing strategies for different clientele. /hey should classify the rooms, starting from basic, delu8e to superior. /he distinguishing factors can arise by providing increasing amenities as you go along in ascending order. ?or all the (ontract and #arbage rates the hotel should provide the basic room type with an option of upgrading by paying a little e8tra amount. /his is not only going to help the hotel increase its revenue but also help it to tap into the entire inert consumer surplus. 2. 0tili&ing additional sources o* revenue: @ore than '9: of the hotel revenue was from sales other than those of rooms, these sales included - ?ood, &everage 5from restaurants and room service6 and other miscellaneous sales li"e spa, gymnasium etc. /he main focus of Avari management should not be restricted to the room revenue but should e8pand towards these additional amenities. Avari should peruse strategies on increasing this untapped source of revenue, by promoting the facilities to the incoming guests as well as potential customers. 3. $ummer ,ackages: %romotions are one of the most crucial tools used to increase the occupancy of a hotel. >ven though Avari was aggressively providing various different deals with the summer pac"age, they were not able to successfully outdo their competitor, %earl*s promotion. /he emulous gain on summer pac"age will be even more crucial, once the flights from >urope and 3nited States with the influ8 of leisure travellers coming to %a"istan during summer. 4.
Conclusion Avari Ramada has an opportunity to build its brand image in the minds of potential customers and the management should steer their mar"eting strategies towards the attainment of this goal. It should be positioned, in the minds of the customers, as a brand with not only unparallel service but also a deep routed cultural heritage. ‟
