Banyan Tree.

Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts had undoubtedly achieved a distinctive position in the luxury resorts industry. One of the main challenges that lay ahead of the company was how it could retain its competitive advantage to safeguard its market position. Though Banyan Tree enjoyed a prominent status among its competitors when it first started out, with time it has been facing increased competition from various contenders offering similar products and services. This paper attempts to focus on some aspects of how Banyan Tree has achieved its leading player status in the luxury resorts and spa market in Asia and how it can leverage its strengths and unique competencies to deal with its market rivals.
Blue-Ocean Thinking and The Market Nicher: It is interesting to note how Banyan Tree’s founder hit upon the idea of creating an innovative niche product in the luxury resorts market. He created a product that had no direct competitors at that time. The value proposition of exotic individual villas providing romantic and intimate escapades for guests at an untapped price range was unique, innovative and something the industry had never offered before. In my opinion, this would be Blue-Ocean thinking. Subsequent to its inception, Banyan Tree focused on its target customer segment which was high-end wealthy customers looking for exclusive luxury holidays. Banyan Tree knew exactly which customers they wanted to target and carried out its brand positioning accordingly. The advertising was very minimal to maintain“exclusivity” and it was carried out in top-of-the-line travel magazines that targeted its preferred customer segment. It never went in for a mass market strategy by selling through wholesale and retail agents. It became so successful and profitable owing to the fact that it ended up knowing its target customers so well, it met their needs better than other giant chains such as Hilton and Shangri-La. The major risk Banyan Tree was now facing was that its market niche was