60.1K

Verified Solution

Link Copied!

CASE STUDY /big 4 Consultants has been appointed by a leadinggroup in hotel industry to prepare feasibility report for opening afive-star hotel in Ras al Khaima. The group had been mostsuccessful one in the hotel industry and had always kept its eyesopen for new opportunities.

In view of the very fast industrial growth in the city of Ras alKhaima, the city had attracted the attention of the group. It ishistorically known as Julfar, is one of the seven emirates thatmake up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Its name could be taken tomean \"headland of the small huts\", which can be attributed to theindigenous buildings that existed along the coast. The Emirate isin the northern part of the UAE, bordering Oman’s exclave ofMusandum. RAK, apart from being a developing city, has addedadvantage of pleasant weather and several places of touristattraction in the neighborhood. Moreover, the closeness to Dubaiand Abudhabi, a city of international stature, has made it veryeasily accessible to international tourists.

For this Consultancy, this was the first time in this area thatan assignment concerning hotel industry had been received. They,however, soon realized that the assignment was not as simple as itappeared to be in the first place. The feasibility of such a hotelwould depend essentially on two factors. Businessman visiting thecity for work would constitute one segment of the market, whiletourists would constitute the other. Further, the tourists could befrom UAE or foreigners. The success of such a hotel would alsodepend upon the relative attraction of other tourist centres in thevicinity. Further, it was necessary to estimate fluctuations indemand for hotel accommodation so that attractive discounts couldbe offered during the off-season for business conferences,executive developmental programmes, etc.

The consultants realized that they would have to undertake amarket research on a national scale to assess the tourist potentialof the city. They would also have to survey the foreign tourists toestimate one of the most important segments of the market. Theywondered whether such a survey will have to extend over a period ofone full year to completely take into account the seasonalvariations in tourists’ traffic. Moreover, they were undecidedabout the manner in which survey should be conducted. The companyalso feared that in absence of an accurate definition of theproblem, they may land up surveying the complete tourist market inUAE rather than studying feasibility of a hotel in RAK.

Thus, the problem appeared well defined and that they wereconcerned as the preliminary report explaining methodology of theresearch and the questionnaires to be used to be submitted to theclient along with the estimate of expenses within one month.

QUESTIONS

1. Apply your ideas in defining the problem of assessingfeasibility of hotel in RAK so as

    to help designing thesurvey.

2. It is important to plan a survey for collectinginformation on expected demand for

    hotel space. Illustrate.

3. Being the coordinator of this research at Big 4Consultants, explain various steps you

    would suggest to your research teamin preparing the report to the Hotel management.