The Accra Beach Hotel:
Block Booking of Capacity during a Peak Period
Question 1
What factors lead to variations in demand for rooms at a hotel such as the Accra Beach?
Answer:
There are 3 factors that will lead to variations in demand for rooms at a hotel, which are seasonal cycle, economic cycle and days of the week.
Seasonal cycle - Hotel such as Accra Beach will depends highly on seasonal cycle, hotel will be in low demand on September (64.7%) as it is in peak hurricane season. High demand on January through March (87% to 92%), when Caribbean is in nice weather and people need to get away from the horrid season in North America and Northern Europe.
Economic cycle - Business travelers, which are one of the main customers in Accra Beach Hotel (ABH), will be affected by the economic cycles. When there is an economic downturn, business will be down and there will be less business travel, in fact there will also be a decrease in the number of conferences. Thus this will lead to variations in demand for rooms.
Days of the week – There will be differences between the days chosen by the vacationers and business travelers. Usually business travelers will stay on weekdays, might be from Monday to Thursday. While vacationers will usually look for weekend getaway, might be from Friday to Sunday.
Question 2
Identify the various market segments currently served by the hotel. What are the pros and cons of seeking to serve customers from several segments?
Answer:
There are various market segments that are currently served by the hotel. Based on behavioral segmentation that segments market according to their purposes, it could be categorized into four segments:
–Corporate customers
–Tour group participant
–Individual vacationers
–Individual business travelers
While based on geographical segmentation, it could be categorized into two segments:
–United Kingdom
–Canada
There are several pros and cons that should be taken into