THE NEWLY APPOINTED MARKETING EXECUTIVES CHALLENGE

Congratulations! You, and the rest of your team, have been appointed as the new marketing executives at Elysium
Resort & Spa. It is a 5 star deluxe resort hotel located on a prime beach front location at Kallithea, on the island of
Rhodes, in Greece. Although not an adults-only hotel, it primarily addresses itself to couples (mostly between 25-
55 years) in major European markets like UK, Germany, Switzerland, and Russia. In contrast to the majority of 5
star hotels in Rhodes, Elysium is not an all-inclusive hotel, thus offering its rooms on bed & breakfast and half-
board basis. As a result, sales of its various departments play a significant role in its total revenues. Although most
of the hotel guests book their stays via Tour Operators, the hotel has a significant volume of online sales (i.e. via its
own website and major OTAs like Booking.com and Expedia) that is steadily increasing year after year.

Among the hotel’s main product ingredients is its Serenity Spa. It operates as a franchisee of UK’s ESPA. As you can
read here http://www.espaskincare.com/about-espa/ ESPA operates “over 450 spas in 50 countries. Each is a
unique reflection of our philosophy and the spa’s environment – the city, geography and culture in which it lives.
The result is a remarkable collection of bespoke, destination spas”. Actually, Elysium’s spa is one of the two ESPA
Spas operating in Greece, the other being within the iconic Hotel Grande Bretagne (a Starwood Luxury Collection
Hotel) in Athens.

The hotel’s head of marketing is obsessed to increase revenues from the spa. Sales of the spa currently take place
only during the stay as a result of in-house promotion. However, he strongly believes that there is potential for
sales prior to arrival, during the hotel’s booking process. He strongly believes that potential guests, who visit the
hotel’s website during their accommodation information search process, should not only learn as much as possible
about the spa, but also be able to buy spa treatments by booking in advance.

The head of marketing asks: Is the spa adequately featured in the website? Is there room for improvement? How
can we ensure that website visitors get the most out of the spa’s online presence? What products can be featured
and be available for online sales prior to arrival? How can this be done effectively?

He suggests you to start by studying the current situation: an audit report of the hotel’s website in terms of the spa
presence having in mind how visitors navigate from searching to booking. This needs also to include examples
from other resort hotels worldwide that seem to be doing a god job of how they promote their spa. Then, he
expects you to prepare a strategy document with the objective of increasing spa sales prior to arrival. This needs to
include specific suggestions on what products (e.g. treatment packages or combos) need to be offered, on what
price, and specific actions on how these will be promoted throughout the consumer journey from searching to
arrival at the hotel (e.g. website / post-booking emails / social media / other). It is expected that a budget and a
note on other required resources should be included.

Under no circumstances you are to contact the organisations. For questions please direct them to Iride in the first
place.

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