Delta Hotel in Victoria, BS
Delta hotel Victoria is a resort and spa situated in the inner harbor of Victoria. The hotel was built in 1992, celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2012. Being a newly renovated hotel, there are some features that seem attractive to individuals and citizens of Victoria. Its newly opened restaurants shopping malls and attractions are one of the key reasons that the residents love visiting the hotel. The services offered by the hotel are unsurpassed, and improve its attraction factor. Delta is a modern hotel that offers unsurpassed guest service, a modern waterfront setting, full resort amenities and exceptional wining (Delta Hotels and Resorts). The award winning spa with a complementary health club and indoor racquet/ tennis courts and swimming pool improve its rating amongst the society in Victoria (The Spa at Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort). The peak months at the hotel, for both business and leisure travelers, are May through September. It is conference groups that sustain the hotel for the rest of the year.
Since its incorporation, the hotel has had many successes. It is, however, vital to note that with great success, comes some forms of failure in the market. Delta Hotel’s outstanding success has to be the manner with which it has opened a lot of subsidiary branches across the country. With the head office in Toronto, Ontario, the delta franchise boasts of over forty hotels across Canada in the Delta portfolio. Their expansion and introduction of new hotels in the market is a key success for the company. They are in the process of opening more franchises across Canada and beyond. The fact that these subsidiaries are operational and face no significant operational threats and risks is a considerable success for the company.
One of the failures by the hotel is their minimal advertising in that a majority of the citizens in the horizons are unaware of their existence. This loses a lot of clients because visibility in the market, especially for a hotel, is a prerequisite of success in the market. It is evident that advertising it one of the areas on which the management of Delta Victoria needs to place emphasis.
The Fairmont Empress hotel, the Victoria Marriot Inner Harbor and the Grand Pacific are some of Delta Victoria’s chief competitors. This is largely because these are the four diamond hotels in the greater Victoria region, as opposed to Delta Victoria. One of the greatest marketing challenges that the hotel faces is the existence of third party net-based channels, which continue to promote the idea that clients have to wait till the last minute to have access to the best deals. This is fuelled by the fact that their reach surpasses that of Delta Victoria’s in the outlying regions. The guests are not aware that hotels always match those deals if the client gets in contact with them directly. In an effort to reduce the amount of commission paid to third parties, hotels would rather make a reservation directly with the client (Personal communication).
The social media is privy to the information that individuals are in search of discounts at the last minute. In an effort to maintain the value integrity of their product, the hotel often discounts the rates at the last minute. The pay-per-click is one of the major tactics that the hotel uses to ensure that it is listed amongst the first hotels on websites that are frequently used. The reduction in prices at the last minute is a challenge because it undermines the value of the hotel as well as its integrity (Personal communication). Joanne Irvine, one of the managers at the Delta Victoria hotel understands that it is vital for the company to retain its integrity in the market and remain a market leader in terms of the services that they offer and the customer service to clients.
There are numerous marketing opportunities in the market. They are accessible to individuals and hotels that are intrepid enough to venture into murky territories and risk entry into new and untapped markets. Delta Victoria has not exploited its full advertising potential hence their unpopularity in the outskirts of the city. With enough advertisement and value proposition, there is an ideal market for the services that they offer (Shah, 2009). For Delta Victoria to be the market leader that they strive to be, they have to ensure that they are recognized in their niche and beyond. This is potential available to the company if they exploit their advertising potential, and reach out to the large pool of untapped guests that are not aware of the hotel. Advertising introduces the hotel in new markets and reaffirms its grandeur amongst the existing clients (Skinner, 2006).
Delta Victoria’s management needs to be aware of the extent of the markets into which it has not yet veered. In the outskirts of Victoria lies a majority of business and leisure travelers that need to understand the value of the services that Delta Victoria offers. Advertising is the surest avenue for the hotel management to reach out to this pool of visitors and make them aware of the products that they have to offer.
References
Delta Hotels and Resorts. Delta Victoria’s Ocean Pointe Resort and Spa. Retrieved on 5th Feb 2013, from https://www.deltahotels.com/Hotels/Delta-Victoria-Ocean-Pointe-Resort-Spa
The Spa at Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort. Health and Fitness Center. Retrieved on 5th Feb 2013, from http://www.thespadeltavictoria.com/
Personal communication. Interview with Joanne Irvine conducted on 31st January 2013.
Shah, P. (2009). Advertisement and Promotions. New York: Oxford Printing Press.
Skinner, S. (2006). The Advertisement Book. Chicago: John Wiley and Sons printing press.
