A International Resort Banyan Tree Hotels

A successful international luxury resort named Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, was founded in 1994 by Singaporean entrepreneur Ho Kwon Ping, and his wife, Claire Chiang. The first hotel was established in Phuket, Thailand in 1994 on a piece of derelict land. In 2009, there were 15,000 employees across approximately 30 countries and earned 313.3 million Singapore dollars. Mr. Ho started the business envisioning a global Asia-based brand. Banyan Tree has been globally expanded with a service standard based on Asian culture, despite the founder knowing the difficulties. He believed that “business can achieve universal appeal without sacrificing their culture heritage” (BBC NEWS, 2010). To provide multiple services to satisfy the distinctive customers’ needs, the service includes lodging industries, spa services, and galleries which retail local handcraft products. Indeed, the company is dedicated to corporate social responsibility (CRS) to drive sustainable development through the three core values: economic, society, environment. The contributions include: hiring and training the local workforce; providing school resources for better learning environments; minimizing damages to the environment by marine and coral conservation, recycling and creating green communities. Having won over 600 awards since 1994 is evidence that Banyan Tree’s contributions have earned them an advantaged place in market. Banyan Tree has gained a strong position in the marketplace through their luxurious services, environment and customer-care reputation. However, it is an important concern for the owner to think about how to maintain the present position. Moreover, continuously developing new services is another task that adds value to both customers and the organization. This paper firstly discusses the concept of strong market-orientated brand reputation. It then focuses on the strategies of maintaining and developing a competitive market position. Finally, the tactics of developing new products will be composed in terms of the above two parts.

There are two major marketing concepts: product orientation and market orientation. Product orientation focuses on cost, whereas market orientation is based on placing more emphasis on customers and satisfies their needs (Jobber, 2009). There are three vital characteristics of marketing orientation: “customer focus, competitor orientation, team approach” (Best, 2000:7). The strong customer focus allows companies to be flexible in facing challenging customers, and keeps satisfying their requirements. Additionally, through examining competitors, it enables companies’ strategies and products to correspond more to customers’ needs than those of their competitors, resulting in an advantaged position. Moreover, it is important to build a thorough understanding of market orientation in an organization, therefore, successful market-based strategies would be implemented with cross-functional skills through