Objectives
CN Tower is located in Toronto, Canada. CN Tower was established in 1976 and stands one hundred and forty-seven stories above the ground (Green, 2004). Scenic views, exquisite restaurants and thrilling activities at tremendous heights and are the favorite experiences on the tower, therefore, it is Canada’s national heritage and a consistent tourist attraction. Major tourist attractions to CN Tower entail the thrill of living and observing the city at high heights. A competitive analysis of CN Towers experiences is the basis for this study. Innovative tower experiences in the world have posed a stiff competition towards the market share of CN Tower (Green, 2004). CN tower is struggling to keep up with competition from other towers, and keeping up with the trend of other towers requires borrowing of ideas to stay ahead of the game.
Apparently, the competitiveness between world scenic towers has hiked following the construction of modern and innovative towers in the United Arab Emirates. Moreover, there is need to stay competitive by adapting to innovative ideas on tower experiences. The study thus seeks to analyze current practices by other towers in the same market niche, and then adapting to the best practices, and avoid collapse to the tower attraction. Without innovation, towers get obsolete with the invention of new experiences (Porter, 1985). Hence, the study will isolate the best practices that can be applied to CN Towers to maintain or increase its competitive advantage.
Methods
Information about competitive towers was obtained through a review of secondary data. Data was obtained from magazines, organizational newsletters, and other publications. Target organizations included tower enterprises like Burj Khalifa, Montparnasse tower and Qingdao tower which have better innovative experiences than CN Tower. Consequently, towers which have better creative experiences are easier to imitate on their advancements than those towers without innovative experience (Porter, 1985).
Current Practice Research
Competitors and Current Practices
As stipulated earlier, leading opponents to CN Towers includes other leading Towers in the world like Burj Khalifa and amusement parks which give the same thrill as towers. Amusement parks that compete with CN Tower include Warner Bros Movieland in Queensland and Dragon Khan in Shambhala. Current practices observable in competitors include the extent to which towers go in manifesting height superiority; the higher the tower, the betters the competitive advantage. Current practices adopted for towers to remain competitive are elucidated in the table below.
Best Practices
Reasons
Best practices dictate the success of an entity in a competitive market. First, consistent innovation is a crucial weapon in being competitive; hence gaining a competitive advantage. Competitive advantage often results when a tower provides superior quality services than its competitors, through competitive innovation. Principally, competitive innovation involves taking an enterprises strategy, the modifying it to surpass the current technology (Porter, 1985). Best practices were outlined to provide a basis for change. Furthermore, there was a need to reduce competition for the tower experience attraction.in this accord, best practices that are adoptable by CN Towers to increase its competitive advantage.
Process
In the process of identifying relevant best practices to pursue, the emphasis was put on a visitor’s experience of awe. The study isolated those practices that made CN towers less competitive, then focusing on those practices, and how they can be added to the experience of CN Tower. Some practices were omitted because they had become obsolete, and could not help to increase the competitive advantage of CN tower. A comparison of observation procedures from three different towers, which hold the biggest market share revealed various practices that provided them with a competitive advantage.
Practices
Competition between tower attractions has driven CN tower to conduct a ‘best practices’ analysis to remain competitive in the recreational market. Among the best practices that the study recommended pertained the improvement of the lookout section, elevators, and the Horizon restaurant. For instance, elevators in CN in towers are slow compared to towers with better elevator technology (Green, 2004). Elevators in CN towers reach a maximum speed of 22km/hour while Montparnasse tower in France reaches a top speed of 60km/ hour. Elevator speed is a best practice that CN tower can adopt to stay competitive in the essence of speed thrill.
Moreover, Montparnasse Tower in France and Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates have visual markers in their lookout and outdoor terrace to aid viewers.CN Tower don't have visual markers (Green, 2004), and this is a best practice that can be adopted to increase the competitive advantage of CN Tower.in addition to the visual marker best practice, service practices can be improved in the restaurant. Wayfinding is a challenge within horizons restaurant place. Burj Khalifa tower, Qingdao tower, and Montparnasse towers have wayfinding strategies within their restaurants and recreational houses, and tourists do not get a hard time finding places in the towers. In this perspective, CN Tower should adopt the practice of wayfinding signs in the horizon restaurant place. Tourists enjoy the ease of navigating through the tower conveniently, hence an increase in competitive advantage.
Lastly, most observation towers have increased the capacity of skywalks, and elevators to accommodate more tourists, hence achieving efficiency. Towers with a bigger capacity include the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates (Goldsworthy, 2013).
However, the adaptability of best practices and their integration to a running enterprise depends on the price of adoption. Despite their productivity and competitiveness, some practices cannot be adopted without dire consequences. For instance, reinstalling skywalks to conform to a pleasing design cannot be done because it would compromise the integrity of the structure. In conclusion, best practices discovered in the study can help CN Tower to improve competitiveness.
References
Goldsworthy, K. (2013). Burj Khalifa. New York, NY: Weigl Publisher.
Green, M. (2004). The CN Tower. San Diego: Blackbirch Press.
Porter, M. E. (1985). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. New York: Free Press
