main report
TRANSCRIPT
Objective:
Primary Objective:
To compare the ITC Luxury Hotels in Bengaluru with the other hotels of its
kind and to position it in the way the guests would perceive it in various
parameters.
Secondary Objectives:
To find out which hotel enjoys location advantage over its counterparts.
To see if there is any trend which is seen in the arrival pattern of the
guests or preferring the hotel in which they will stay.
To find out various factors on the basis of which each of the hotels
considered in the study can either boast of or grab on to attract guests, or
they require to work on to improve to serve their guests better.
To compare and study the Presidential Suite of ITC Royal Gardenia (a
seven star hotel) with its counterparts around the globe.
Research Methodology:
My whole project was divided into 4 major parts, the analysis of which would
help me in mapping all the 5 star & 5 star deluxe hotels in Bangalore.
Analysis 1: Location Appreciation:
In this analysis, all the roads within 5 Km radius of each of the seven
hotels (ITC Royal Gardenia, ITC Windsor, The Leela, The Oberoi, The
Taj West End, Lalit Ashok and Le Meridien) were identified along with
the corporate parks, Malls and shopping complexes, Historical sites,
gardens, theatre, Art Gallery, Hospital, Stadium and other leisure.
A hotel if situated in proximity of all these locations it would attract
guests of different taste & preferences.
All the data collected in this analysis are secondary data, i.e. through map
and internet search using relevant search phrases such as corporate/IT
parks in Bangalore, hotel name and the corporate parks, etc.
Analysis 2: Guest Arrival trend:
For this analysis, visit the airport (i.e. the source of our customer) was
done, to find out the normal arrivals of the business passengers in both
the domestic & the international flights and to find out how they are
moving out from airport to the destination or preferable to which hotel are
they going to stay.
Observing the passengers and looking at the pluck cards outside the
arrival gates which provided the details about the passengers coming
from the airport. From the pluck cards, information like name of the
passenger, company’s name, hotel in which they are staying and even the
car rental which they will be using.
All the data collected here are primary data, i.e. through observation and
communication. Visiting to airport was done for 8 days, only on Monday
to Thursday (as maximum business passengers travels on weekdays), for
2 continuous weeks.
Analysis 3: SWOT Analysis of all 5 star hotels & 5 star deluxe hotels
in Bangalore.
For this analysis some of the vital details of all the eight 5 star & 5 star
deluxe hotels of Bangalore were required on the basis of which, strength,
weakness, opportunity and threats of these individual hotels were to be
identified.
The analysis was divided into 5 parameters like, the accommodation, the
banquet facilities, the restaurants, the business centre and the spa, gym,
swimming pool etc.
Here the data collected are trough the hotel’s website or else trough
personal calling or even visit to these hotels, so the data are primary data
only.
Analysis 4: Comparing the Presidential Suite of ITC Royal Gardenia
with that of the few International brands in hotel industries:
ITC Royal Gardenia is basically a 7 star hotel (as 7 star category is not
applicable in India, it is rated as a 5 star deluxe hotel) so the facilities
which are offered here must be in comparison with the other 7 star or the
top class brands of the Hotel in the world. Especially the Presidential
Suite, which is one of its kinds in India, should give the services at par
with the international brands.
Here the only way of finding out the details of the Presidential Suite of
the international brands are through websites and all the data are from
primary sources through observation of product information on the
website of the hotels.
Assumptions:
First assumption of this report is that the target customers are the business
travellers. As Bangalore is better known as the IT Hub of India, so every
software company have their offices in the city. Also there are not many
tourist spots in Bangalore.
The sections of people who normally stay in the hotel are either the top
shot personalities or the Manager who holds important positions in the
company. Normally these guests travel only trough airlines. Also the
major section of customers comes from International flight.
ANALYSIS 1: Location Appreciation:
Location is a very vital point for any hotel. It should be centrally located to all
the facilities of the city. As mentioned earlier that the target customers are the
business travellers so the very vital parameter here is the commercial area or the
business or the tech parks in Bangalore. Even in the hotel it is been seen that the
maximum rooms are booked on the week days compare to that of the weekends.
Apart from this other parameters which need to be looked into is the shopping
complex, stadiums or grounds etc wherein big events take part, which again
invites big shots to come down to the city, say for e.g.; IPL or Cricket matches,
Bangalore Economic Summit, etc. so even these event also attracts many guests
to the hotel as the guest would love to stay close to event venue.
Apart from these two most important factors for any hotel’s location even other
leisure activities should be taken care of. After a tiresome day any guest would
like to spend time for his/her recreation or for relaxing. Here the guest can
choose any place, i.e. either stays inside the hotel or may be move out and
experience the city’s life. So the hotel should be located in such a location that it
should shopping malls, theatres, gardens etc are situated at nearby.
The summary of data collected is provided below:
Hotel
Names
Roa
ds
Corpora
te Park
Mal
ls
Historic
al Sites
Garde
ns
Theatr
es
Art
Galle
ry
Stadiu
m
Other
Leisu
re
The Leela
Palace50 26 22 3 3 2 5 7 11
The Oberoi 143 19 55 6 8 16 14 12 32
The Taj
Westend144 14 50 4 8 18 12 11 27
The Lalit
Ashok144 14 50 4 8 18 12 11 27
Le
Meridien144 14 50 4 8 18 12 11 27
ITC
Windsor144 14 50 4 8 18 12 11 27
ITC Royal
Gardenia173 23 58 7 12 16 14 15 33
TOTAL 202 45 62 7 12 20 14 15 38
INFERENCE:
The Leela Palace is situated near the old airport which used to be its USP
as it was the only hotel which was so near to the airport but recently with
the change in the location of the airport it is now the furthest hotel from
the airport and ITC Windsor became the most nearest hotel from the
airport (as of now). Even though The Leela Palace is still the most
preferred hotel for most of the companies because of the name it has
earned over past few years by its spectacular service.
Within the 5 KM radius of The Leela Palace there are not many roads
because on one side of it is the Air Force Defence Colony and the other
side is the airport. The only major business area which it covers is the
Indranagar, Domlur and the Marathalli area which house for many IT
giants in Bangalore. Further the area around The Leela Palace is
developing and there are many major tech parks etc are coming up which
is just km away from it.
With the smallest coverage area of the roads, the hotel still is in close
proximity to many of the IT companies in Bangalore as the city is packed
up with other business house and so they are moving to the outskirts of
Bangalore where they can get and cheaper place to for new tech parks.
The Taj Westend, Lalit Ashok, Le Meridien & ITC Windsor are located
in close proximity to each another. So there is not much comparison
among these hotels but then when we compare with the other hotels we
can see that they are located in the heart of the city. As mentioned earlier
that the newer tech parks are coming up in the outskirts of the city which
is a major drawback for these hotels.
ITC Royal Gardenia here is situated in the best location covering both the
coverage area of all the hotels. It is just about 7 km from The Leela
Palace but still it is well within the city, covering in both the corporate
parks, and also the amenities of the city. This is again strength of the
hotel which they should be putting forward to their client.
ANALYSIS 2: Guest arrival trends.
As already mention that the only way getting the details of the guest is trough
the arrival of the passengers from the airport. The only way to found out was
either to look at the pluck cards of various hotels/company or to build friendly
relation with the guys out at the airport and then in an informal way need to get
the data out.
The target customers are business class, who usually travel on weekdays rather
than weekends, so the days considered here are weekdays only. Main objective
of this data collection is to find out the name of the passengers along with the
company and also the hotel which they will be staying. The following is the
summary of my data collected:
Date
12-
05-
2010
15-
05-
2010
16-05-
2010
18-
05-
2010
19-05-
2010
20-05-
2010
25-
05-
2010
26-
05-
2010
Total
No. Of
Arrival 8 7 14 80 58 33 36 31 267
Competitor
Hotels
Leela
Palace1 2 10 5 4 22
The
Oberoi 5 1 1 1 3 11
Taj West
End14 4 4 1 3 26
Taj
Residency 6 1 2 9
Taj
Gateway 1 1
Lalit
Ashok1 1 1 5 1 1 4 2 16
Taj
Vivanta 3 3
Ista 2 1 3
Le
Meridien 3 2 1 6
Clarke
Extorica
2 2
Royal
Orchid 3 2 5
Royal
Orchid
Central
2 1 3
In this analysis the all the details of the passengers were very hard to find out
because of the restriction to interact with the guests and also in the puck card
it’s either, the passenger name and the hotel name were displayed (for passenger
how have requested for the hotel cars for pick up facility), or the passenger
name and the company name were displayed (for those passenger whose either
have taken the rental cars or the company’s car). Also for the 1 st few days early
morning was the preferable time and then in the evening as maximum
passengers details can be made then, also the International flight, which was the
main target, used to arrive either late night or early morning.
From the above summary it is been clear that the maximum passenger where
heading towards either The Leela Palace or The Taj West End. All these are
surely going to be a high profile guests as they have either asked the hotel for
the airport pick up or else it is a complimentary service in their charge.
Of these few high profile guests few were able to identify their company. The
summary of this data is as below:
Competitor
Hotels
Company's
NameNo. Of Guests
Leela Palace
Net App 1
IBM 1
Dell 1
Tristar
Worldwide 1
Net Jet 4
HP 2
The Oberoi
MCML
Systems 3
Dell 1
Taj West EndWipro 14
HP 2
Taj Residency
Accenture 1
Dell 1
Wipro 2
Lalit Ashok
Fagor 1
Naukari 1
Labs
Akkenaer 1
Taj VivantaValtech 1
Oracle 2
IstaTexas 1
Levi's 1
Royal Orchid JTA 1
INFERENCE:
In this analysis it is clear that the maximum guests have preferred The Taj
Westend and The Leela Palace over the other hotels of the same category.
Also from the main database, one can observe that out of 98 companies
which have flown into Bangalore, maximum passengers works for the IT
companies.
Also it is been noticed that there are few passengers who take the services
of the airport transfer from the hotel itself. Either they hire a rental car or
preferably take the companies car only.
ANALYSIS 3: SWOT Analysis of all 5 star hotel & 5 star deluxe hotel in Bangalore.
Objective of this analysis is to find out details of all the eight hotels which fall
in this category (ITC Royal Gardenia, ITC Windsor, The Leela Palace, Taj
Westend, Taj Residency, The Oberoi, The Lalit Ashok and Le Meridien) and
then judge them on six parameters (Accommodations, Restaurants, Banquet
Facilities, Business Centre, Spa & Health Care). Based on these parameters and
also taking the above analysis into consideration, SWOT analysis is required to
be done for each of these hotels individually.
SWOT for The Leela Palace:
STRENGHT:
One of the oldest hotels in the
Bangalore, which is gives, the
nostalgic touch of the palace of
India.
Situated near the old airport and
so was preferred by many
people as they used to stay in
that hotel and were very happy
with the services offered there.
Apart from hotel there are also
offices of many companies in
the corporate wing and also an
underground shopping complex
WEAKNESS:
In the garden of the hotel one
can hear the sound of the
vehicles moving by.
For the base category rooms
their size and price are almost
the same of the other hotel but
they don’t have any
complimentary.
In their website they have a line
saying: “Every room and suite
at the Leela Palace mirrors the
royal resplendence befitting a
business hotel created for the
which brings the entire thing
together (stay, work and
leisure).
They have the maximum
categories of rooms (9 rooms’
category) which cater to the
need of all the class of people
who visit Bangalore and also
have the maximum rooms
compare to other hotels.
emperors of the IT world.” This
can send a wrong message to the
other companies which are not
into IT.
OPPORTUNITY:
Many business parks and tech
parks are coming up in the area
around the hotel.
They have Royal Club facilities
in the hotel where guest can
interact with each other. It also
gives a feeling of being in a
club.
Have maximum number of
Banquet halls and meeting room
to offer than any other hotels in
Bangalore.
THREAT:
As the airport has been shifted,
it is the farthest of all the hotels.
So new travellers may not prefer
it.
ITC Royal Gardenia has come
up, which is hardly 7 km from it
and offers equivalent services.
SWOT for The Taj Westend:
STRENGHT:
It has the architecture beauty of
that of the British time and also
it has the gardens surrounding
the hotel in the midst of the city.
even the location is excellent. It
is within the city but one can get
the feel of living in the outskirt
of the city.
It is the only hotel in Bangalore
that offers a tele presence
service.
WEAKNESS:
They have an excellent outdoor
party area, but Bangalore
weather is very unpredictable
and so this can spoil it.
They do not have a 24 hrs
restaurant.
OPPORTUNITY:
They have guards armed with
guns and guarding the gates
which is rarely seen in any of
the hotels.
The name TAJ Group of Hotels
is among the best brands in the
world.
THREATS:
Other three hotels (The Lalit
Ashok, Le Meridien and ITC
Windsor) are very close by; they
have no advantage over the
location factors.
No option of buffet dinner.
SWOT for The Oberoi:
STRENGHT:
The brand name “Oberoi Hotel”
is its key USP.
They have rooms with option of
shower cubicle and bath tub.
WEAKNESS:
There base category rooms are very
small compare to other hotel of its
kind.
They do not provide any additional
security to single lady traveller.
Even the banquet halls are very
small.
OPPORTUNITY:
In spa they have a weekend
program wherein the guests
have to stay for a night at the
hotel. This opportunity can be
used as a demo sort of services
which they provide to the in
house guests.
THREATS:
Suites are been offered with almost
same facilities and size of base
category rooms of that of Leela
Palace & Royal Gardenia.
They don’t have club facilities every
guest can interact among themselves
like other hotel of its kind have.
SWOT for The Lalit Ashok:
STRENGHT:
They have the 2 largest banquet
halls in Bangalore (with pillar).
WEAKNESS:
Rooms in all categories are very
small comparing its counterparts
in its competitive hotels.
OPPORTUNITY:
Only hotel to provide a
complimentary massage to the
in house guests. (In selected
rooms only).
It can be best placed to those
travellers who cannot afford a 5
star deluxe hotel but still avail
the luxury of living in the 5 star
deluxe hotels.
THREATS:
Provide Mahindra Logan car for
airport transfer. Also the city
taxis are the same model.
Suites are been offered with
almost same facilities and size
of base category rooms of that
of Leela Palace & Royal
Gardenia.
SWOT for Le Meridien:
STRENGHT:
Only hotel (apart from ITC
Windsor) to have a pool side
restaurant.
WEAKNESS:
Have only one signature
restaurant.
Spa is smaller in size and also
they do not have much option in
their spa menu.
OPPORTUNITY:
Rooms are bigger than Lalit
Ashok & Taj Residency and
also it is been priced low.
Can be targeted to those sections
of customer who aspire to live
in a 5 star deluxe hotel but
cannot afford to do so.
THREATS:
They do not provide any buffet
dinner.
SWOT for The Taj Residency:
STRENGHT:
Only hotel to have 24 hrs pastry
shop.
Banquets are very big compare
to most of the hotels in
Bangalore.
WEAKNESS:
Rooms are smaller in size
compare to its counterpart in
other competitive hotels.
Offers fewer categories of
rooms.
OPPORTUNITY:
Only hotel to have a European,
Italian signature restaurant.
Can be targeted to those sections
of customer who aspire to live
in a 5 star deluxe hotel but
cannot afford to do so.
THREATS:
Its top category suites are even
smaller than the base category
rooms of The Leela Palace and
ITC Royal Gardenia.
SWOT for ITC Windsor:
STRENGHT:
Apart from Taj Westend this is
the only building which has the
touch of British architecture,
which is rarely seen in the city
of Bangalore. Even it is located
at the heart of the city.
Have a wide variety of signature
restaurants to serve the guests
with cuisines of various
cuisines.
WEAKNESS:
Do not have many categories of
rooms for in suite to offer.
OPPORTUNITY:
Only hotel (apart from ITC
Royal Gardenia) where they
have a separate wing for the
single lady traveller called the
EVA floor where only ladies are
allowed to enter.
It is now the one of the nearest
hotel from the new airport,
which is located at the heart of
the city.
THREATS:
Taj Westend, Lalit Asok, Le
Meridien are located in close
proximately to each other. So
the only differentiate itself is by
the service it can offer to its in
house guests.
SWOT for ITC Royal Gardenia:
STRENGHT:
Asia’s first and world largest
LEED platinum- rated hotel. It
is a perfect combination of
luxury along with environmental
friendly responsibility.
Largest Presidential Suite in the
country (5040 sq ft area) with a
heliport directly connected to it.
Have the largest pillarless hall in
Bangalore. Also the botanica
(Garden area) can be covered if
it starts raining.
WEAKNESS:
Does not have a garden where
the in house guest can roam
around as in The Leela Palace.
Nothing is mention about the
Heliport and largest banquet
halls in the website. More
details about the hotel must be
added to the website.
OPPORTUNITY:
Only hotel (apart from ITC
Windsor) where they have a
separate wing for the single lady
traveller called the EVA floor
where only ladies are allowed to
enter.
Has the maximum number of
signature restaurant.
Culinary plus program includes
all the hotels of ITC which are
THREATS:
The Upper Crust and the
Business Centre at the same
place while all the other hotels
have that in separate location.
Even though it is a very new
property in Bangalore, it needs
to establish itself very fast, as it
can face a tough competition
from already established The
Leela Palace or from the
ANALYSIS 4: Comparing the Presidential Suite of ITC Royal Gardenia with that of the few International brands in hotel industries:
For any International guests who will be coming down to India for the first time
to Bangalore and they have no idea about the 5 star deluxe hotels he will first
visit the hotel website and then consult the travelling agents. This analysis is
basically focused to these sections of customers. The main objective of this
analysis is to compare ITC ROYAL GARDENIA’s website with that of the few
5 star deluxe hotels who are the big players and also with the competitors in
Bangalore.
The sample size for this analysis is 13 hotels which are compared with ITC
Royal Gardenia. The parameters for evaluations are the size, amenities,
inclusions and helipad services. Tough the data source is from their website
only so all the information were not available there. The hotels are:
The Leela Palace, Bangalore,
The Taj Westend, Bangalore,
The Taj Mahal, Mumbai,
The Taj Mahal Mansingh, Delhi,
The Burj Kharifa (Armani Hotels), Dubai,
4 Season’s London, New York and Mumbai,
Waldorf Astoria, New York,
Oriental Mandarin, Bangkok,
Peninsula, Bangkok & Hong Kong,
Raffles, Singapore.
INFERENCE:
ITC Royal Gardenia and Peninsula, Bangkok is the only hotel which
provides a helipad service. This can be used by Royal Gardenia as one of
the key USP to sell itself. But if one take a glance in the website one
would not find anything mention about it.
Comparing the amenities of all the national property, ITC Royal Gardenia
is almost at par or even higher. But with International brands there are
certain branded or non branded amenities which are still not present in
ITC Royal Gardenia.
Size of the Presidential Suite is bigger than that of many Presidential
Suite of other hotel. This can also be a key USP to sell the property.
RECOMMEDATION:
Website of ITC Royal Gardenia should be reorganised as many of the key
USPs that should be mention are missing in it. So, customers who would
first look at the website would be confident in making the booking. Also
the virtual tour of the rooms is missing from the website. With the help of
virtual tour only one can provide a free demo to those guests who cannot
come down to Bangalore.
ITC Windsor can be placed as a historical property and the theme must be
that of British time as there are very few property left in Bangalore. This
can be a key point which can be used to distinguish it from the other three
properties which are there nearby.
ITC Royal Gardenia is LEED Platinum rated hotel and it provides
environmental friendly luxury. Now this USP must be used to bring
benefit to the guest who stays at the property. ITC Royal Gardenia can
join hand with some Government institute or any NGOs, which
encourage environmental friendly practices, and starts a program for
awarding those companies are giving a certain room nights per
month/year, with some certificate or recognition. This can be down by
publishing a small page ad in the newspaper or magazine stating that so
and so company have contributed so much to the environment and are
among those companies which are environmentally responsible.
ITC hotels are in collaboration of Starwoods Hotels which are big player
in International level. So they ITC Hotels can come out with some
program which would provide with some incentives and discount to those
international customer who can come down and in the ITC group of
Hotels.
ITC Windsor can come out with a program for those guests who are in
Bangalore for work and also want to spend a few days for holiday. They
can design a program were in the guest can have their business work over
in the weekdays and then on weekends can move out to nearby places for
sightseeing or holidays.
ITC Hotel groups one of the largest chains of hotels in India which covers
the entire nations. They can come out with a new program where in all
the hotels of ITC can participate. In this program instead of giving awards
to the privilege members, they can provide spot discount and other
incentives to them. Here, they can have different category of members
along with some condition which needs to work on. In this program, they
can also provide some discounts to low member group to encourage using
the luxury hotels in the city/country.
Conclusions:
After the analysis done by me, I came to the conclusion that the competition of
hotel in Bangalore is very fierce. In short there are every few differences in
which the hotels can be put into. In my opinion, ITC Royal Gardenia, The Leela
Palace and The Taj Westend are the top hotels in Bangalore which services the
elite section of guests arriving in the city. The second section in which includes
ITC Windsor, The Oberoi, Le Meridien and Lalit Ashok comes. Even there are
many other big players like JW Marriot, Hilton and Trident (Oberoi) which will
be operational in the coming years would be tough competition to the existing
players.
ITC group of hotels has a very good brand name in the market for the flawless
services which it renders to the guests. This is the only vital aspect for any hotel
to exist and have an edge over its competitors. Come can only attract loyal
customers to the hotel with the services and the ambience it offer to the guests ,
which are excellent with all the ITC Hotels in India.
Working with ITC Hotels was a great experience with for me. Coming from a
different background and understanding the working of the hotel industry was a
whole experience for me. ITC Hotels have more than 70 properties all over
India and is one of the largest chains of hotels in India. If all the section in the
hotel division can come with an integrated program it would cater all the
different level of companies operating in India.
Even its association with an International brands like Starwood, Sheraton it can
step into the international market too. Again a joint programme with these
hotels can bring in awareness among the international customer which is the
major section of customers coming down to the hotel.
ITC Hotel group has very rich resources available for its disposal and if these
resources can be put in a proper channel than ITC Hotel group is surely be the
cash cow for ITC group.
Limitations:
Customers are inaccessible, because our customers are the high profile
persons and they are not easy to get to them. Also the customers are
based outside the city.
Competitor’s data are extremely difficult to obtain from primary
sources. Even the basic details were not given out due to security
reasons.
Use of observation method to gather data hence there can be a chance
of subjectivity in interpreting.
Internal data are no easy disclosure, again for security reasons and for
the privacy of the customers. Also before revealing any information
they check the person’s profile as they do need to maintain the status
of their hotel.
Reliance on data collected from public domain (such as maps and
third-party provided information from the Internet). This can either be
misleading, old or even incomplete.
References:
www.google.com
www.itcportal.com
www.itcwelcomgroup.in
www.theleela.com
www.tajhotels.com
www.thelalit.com
www.lemeridien-bangalore.com
www.oberoihotels.com
www.hotelassociationofindia.com
www.tourism.gov.in
www.burjkhalifa.ae
www.fourseasons.com
www.waldorfastoria.com
www. mandarin oriental.com
www.raffles.com
www.peninsula.com