I am currently managing a Resort comprising a Luxury Hotel, Apartments, Spa, Sports Centre and Golf Course in the province of Murcia, and am immersed in its
repositioning following several years of uncertainty brought about by the banking crisis.
It is sometimes difficult to explain what repositioning a hotel project of these characteristics entails: the scale of the project, the importance of undertaking it and the effort involved.
In reality, the intense competition in this segment makes embarking on repositioning processes all the more important.
What does repositioning a hotel complex mean? I would say that it consists
of securing a position that helps it enhance its competitive advantage in the market, with everything that this entails.
In other words, achieving a competitive advantage over competitors in one or both of the following ways:
- Providing the same value as competitors at a lower price.
- Offering superior experiences through excellence or differentiation, at a higher price but with greater value and quality.
In hospitality, business strategy revolves around competitive advantages, and Repositioning Strategy is one of the techniques we use in hotel strategy to achieve the desired objectives in terms of competitive advantage.
As I mentioned earlier, the market and the hyper-competitive situation it has reached in recent years mean that hotels must do more than merely react to changing market conditions. They must analyse and understand current market conditions very intelligently in order to foresee future ones and anticipate them, through the appropriate repositioning strategy that enables them to maintain an advantageous competitive position.
Seen this way, it may even appear to be an easy task, manageable through a couple of adjustments. However, reality tells us that Repositioning is not an easy strategy to implement, as some hotels, in the process of implementing a repositioning strategy, cause their loyal guests to lose confidence in their product or service. Therefore, it is important that any hotel planning to implement a repositioning strategy understands
that Values and Purpose are sacred and non-negotiable, as they are the brand’s fundamental intangible assets.
No matter which strategy a hotel decides to implement or how good its planning may be, if a hotel strays from its brand, it will most likely lead to a disastrous situation.
The only path a hotel should take in a Repositioning process is one that allows it to continue operating and building without moving away from its fundamental intangible assets. Ultimately, it must build on its values and avoid straying from them. To achieve this, the management team must do everything possible to evolve its brand in line with the changing market environment, reinventing its product, service level, standards, procedures and commercial strategy in order to optimise growth and gain greater market share while remaining faithful to its non-negotiable principles.
Another important point hotels must understand is that
repositioning is not always the right solution.
Too often,
hotels decide on a strategy to solve a particular problem without truly understanding the underlying factors causing it. For example, a hotel experiencing low sales revenue that then decides to invest more in market research before repositioning itself to target a new customer base may be allocating its scarce resources incorrectly. The problem may lie with the employees: inadequate training, poor team motivation, lack of leadership, insufficient dedication or lack of commitment may be just some of the reasons why a hotel experiences poor sales results.
In this case, the remedy attempted through repositioning may prove even worse than the disease itself.
