Internal environment analysis
Company background
Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre is located at 33 Ardlie Street, Attwood, VIC 3049, Australia (Best Western Australia 2014). The premises belong to the Hume City Council, positioned within Melbourne’s most picturesque areas known for its dramatic landscapes and historical landmarks. The area is known for its quality wide production, diverse Australian flora and fauna, as well as rich aboriginal history (HumeLink 2011).
Positioning
Within the Hume City Council territory, there are 19 accommodations, including those of lower RACV (Royal Automobile Club of Victoria) rating, as well as RACV 5 star rating. Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre has a RACV 4 star rating, due to its wide range of services and facilities, including conference & meeting rooms (HumeLink 2011).
Marketing Mix
Marketing mix can be classified into four categories, comprising of product, price, place, and promotion (McCarthy 1964). The Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre’s marketing mix is analysed below with respect to these individual elements.
Product
Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre is a multi-faceted property. The motel includes 103 guest rooms, and the visitors can enjoy bar and restaurant, as well as book conference and meeting facilities. In addition, the company also operates budget self-contained facilities at adjoining caravan/holiday village (Best Western Australia 2014). Room types that are offered by the Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre include queen room, twin room, spa room, deluxe room, deluxe twin room, business room, interconnecting room, family suite, executive deluxe room, and executive deluxe twin room (depicted in Appendix 1 – Appendix 10). Conference and events services include function room, conference venue, wedding reception and meeting rooms (shown in Appendix 11 – Appendix 14). Moreover, the visitors can enjoy a wide range of services, including bar & restaurant with speciality dishes and regional wines, as well as those from other locations around the world (as shown in Appendix 15).
Place
Customers wishing to stay at the Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre can book the rooms or other facilities via a wide range of websites, including Booking.com, Tripadisor.com.au, Expedia.com.au, HotelOne, google.com, Wotif, trivago, and Hotel club, as well as through the company’s proprietary website (Best Western Australia 2014, Booking.com 2015, Expedia.com.au 2015, Google 2015, HotelClub 2015, HotelsOne 2015, Tripadvisor.com.au 2015, trivago 2015, Wotif 2015). In addition to these online services, customers can make bookings via telephone or directly at the premises (Best Western Australia 2014).
Price
The rooms are priced according to their type, and presently Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre charges $158-252 AUD per night (see Table 1).
Table 1 Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre room Prices per day, depending on the accommodation type
Room Types Price ($AUD)
Queen Room 158
Twin Room 158
Spa Room 181
Deluxe Twin Room 178
Business Room 168
Interconnection Room 252
Family Suite 158
Executive Deluxe Room 178
Executive Deluxe Twin Room 178
Source: Best West Australia (2014).
Promotion
Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre is currently advertising its products and services via its proprietary website, where visitors can explore various accommodation options and associated prices, make online bookings or ask questions. In addition, the company makes use of other online platforms that are typically used by those wishing to book a hotel rooms or meeting/conference facilities. It currently has presence on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. In addition, Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre is advertising its products and services through various promotions, such as getaway parking package, room and dinner voucher, 2-room family suite-kids eat free, reflection weekend steak night and conference room hire hot deal (Best Western Australia 2014).
2.2 Macro external environment analysis
PESTEL model is one of the most effective tools for macro external environment analysis, as it accounts for a wide range of forces that can affect business performance, such as political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal (Berger 2011). However, in the hotel and hospitality sector, some of these elements are not particularly relevant, as most visitors are driven by price and service quality when deciding where to stay. Thus, the two most important variables in the PESTEL model for the Best Western Airport Motel & Convention Centre are the economic and sociological factors (Hsu & Powers 2002, Fyall & Garrod 2005). Most importantly, as these two factors occur on three levels of the external environment—namely global, national, and local level—they can provide a comprehensive picture of factors that influence busin