Customers in Marina Bay Sands Casino - Case Study Example

Analysis Marina Bay Sands Casino is one of the most advantaged casinos in the world. This is because it has relatively low competition beinga duopoly while still enjoying the lowest interest rates of as low as 5 percent. To add on this, it has an amazing architectural multipart including a sky park of its kind and it is located in Asia; a region recovering from economic difficulties and has a large pool of millionaires (Tanasijevich, 2011). Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Hotel is devising its market strategy to fit the Indian outbound markets in Asia. The Southeast Asian market is targeted for Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events (MICE). It has also targeted the Free Individual Travellers (FIT) and gaming. The hotel management has had discussions and is continuing to conduct further discussions with the event planners, especially the wedding planners from the Indian community in order to expand its customer base. It will also conduct road shows and take part in wedding conventions to promote and create awareness of their products. This region is projected to account for over a third of the hotel’s revenue in Singapore. Primary targets of MBS include Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam (Majumder, 2010). According to Tanasijevich (2011), Malaysia is expected to produce 10 percent same as Thailand and Indonesia while 8 percent is expected from Vietnam. China, on the other hand, accounts for 6 percent of the Marina Bay Sands business. The hotel has an advantage with respect to its location at the centre of the city. The hotel’s operations are expected to be consistent with minor variations in the number of customers during weekdays and weekends during which customers spend their leisure time. There is also another market that Marina Bay Sands is eyeing, that is the Middle East. Marina Bay Sands is expecting to be flying customers between Singapore and Middle East. The need of Singapore to enhance tourism in their country through promoting MICE business and increasing family entertainment opened a vast gaming market for Marina Bay Sands which falls into their target market. This gaming market is described as more aggressive and large; therefore, Marina Bay Sands is extending liable gaming training to everyone so that the gaming evolution is understood to enhance understanding of this service. The Marina Bay Sands management explains that the casino gaming business is a principal target market in the early years. This is because it is expected to significantly surpass the MICE and room business before levelling up in the long term (Chiang, 2010). Chiang (2010) says that Marina Bay Sands also targets local and regional markets of music lovers, anime enthusiasts and aspiring artists to stage their creative work by sponsoring events such as SAAP Singapore and Anime Festival Asia. It has something for everybody such as a big swimming pool that outsizes a football field, shops, fast food and restaurant, nightclubs and lounges. In terms of demographics Marina Bay Sands is targeting almost equally with respect to gender where expected male market is 51 percent as compared to 49 percent of the female market. The hotel has also targeted the middle aged population ranging from 25 to 55 years expected to have a percentage of 66% while that of below 25 years being 20% and the remaining 14% is expected to be older people aged above 55 years. Couples without children are expected to outnumber those who have children in their households by 65% to 35% respectively. Caucasians are expected to dominate the customer base by 71 percent followed by Asian ethnicity at 11 percent. People with income below USD50000 are expected to be fewer i.e. 16% as compared to those earning above USD 50000 at intervals of USD 50000 having a small difference not exceeding 2% (Pdlangen, 2010). The high demand and Controlled supply of gaming when merged with the design of Marina Bay Sands makes the hotel to stand a chance of being the most Profitable casino in the region and the world at large. This is because each square foot in this casino generates as much as twice Macau casinos and six times compared to the rate of big Las Vegas casinos. This implies that this casino can make billions of dollars annually. The running of the casino was made even easier by the events centre, art and science museum and the theatre (Globalisation Partners International, 2010). The hotel is looking forward to attract more guests to the gaming floor than never before (Peter 2011). This is expected to be accomplished by rightly placing a wide variety of amenities so that guests can have much more to do than just visiting the gaming floor. It is a strategic plan to balance the amenities mix so that guests can readily visit the floor. By doing this it is thought that there is a potential of the non-gaming population to be attracted to the gaming floor thereby promoting the gaming target market. There is also another specific design of nightclubs intended to attract non-gaming younger population. This strategy is lifted with the idea of using modern media technologies and a brand given to it, which is ‘A place to be’. In Singapore a perfect shopping area is not just defined by location, but also the tenant mix. The retail industry is quite competitive and many huge malls are in existence and others coming up; all these pose a risk to the shopping complex in this hotel. To respond to the challenge, Marina Bay Sands uses word of mouth to pass on to every supporter provision from the heart to increase sales. Regular feedback is requested by the passionate team from customers while customers are reassured of aftersales service which leaves everyone happy. On the other hand, the rapid change in technology today calls for much more flexibility in regards to infrastructure and management to avoid losses and hitches with the new ways of communication and interaction methods with customers (Globalisation Partners International 2010). Another challenge faced by Marina Bay Sands is the fact that there is an increase in problem gambling in Singapore after casinos were legalised in 2005 by the government in an attempt to raise the visitor arrival to 17 million. To deal with this problem the management of the property is trying to conduct conscientious gambling guidance to acquire a clear understanding of the problem. This will help to improve the public relations and satisfy their customer base. Rejection by those Singaporeans who dislike huge numbers of foreigners that may cause high-ceilinged property prices and fear that casinos will bring with them crime and other problems, poses a risk to Marina Bay Sands. To minimise the impact strategic education is necessary (Macau Business, 2010). There is a decline in real estate value and the fact that the region is undergoing economic recession the hotel’s market is not performing that well either. Dependence to MICE and FIT business is what causes this and thus the management is placing gaming market ahead to drive the critical revenue source because casinos depend on active daily business (Kristof, Yang and Ryan, 2010). Language barrier with Japanese, Russian and Chinese customers is among the challenges facing the delivery of better customer service. As it is known that placing the customer first is the basis of a desirable service delivery, the employees are recruited in such a way that language barrier as a challenge is reduced and other qualities like body language are improved. These measures will ensure customer loyalty and wider customer base. Level of customer satisfaction is not necessarily dependant on the experience but rather it is keeping the customer at heart and letting them feel valued (Majumder, 2010). The staff should also put an effort in capturing customer reactions expressed through body language. Competent personnel should understand that customer service holds the key to sure success in tourism and hospitality industry. When it comes to customer emotional feelings about their stay in Marina Bay Sands there are a variety of mixed reactions with some stating that customer service is quite a problem but the rooms and other amenities are fine, others suggest the other way round. To ensure high quality standards of service the hotel needs to improve on employee training and effective supervision (Chiang, 2010). Marina Bay Sands encourages customers to charge everything which later on the information on purchases and all the interactions is collected by the system then analysed to result to better insights in developing efficient target market segmentation. Through pricing, coordination, resourceful planning and customer satisfaction the hotel is able to ensure that each component profitable all year round. References Chiang, L. (2010) Marina Bay Sands: Adelsons Latest Creation, viewed 29 Dec 2012 from . Globalisation Partners International (2010) Marina Bay Sands case study, viewed 29 Dec 2012 from . Henderson, J.C. (2012) Singapore approves two junkets; thoughts on regional impact, viewed 29 Dec 2012 from . Kristof, K., Yang, A.S. & Ryan, C. (2010) Strategic Report for Las Vegas Sands Corporation, viewed 29 Dec 2012 from . Macau Business (2010) Only in Singapore, viewed 29 Dec 2012 . Majumder, D. (2010) Marina Bay Sands Singapore targets MICE, FIT and Wedding segment in India: Aims to promote property as integrated entertainment destination, viewed 29 Dec 2012 from . Pdlangen (2010) Marina Bay Sands sees positive visitor numbers, viewed 29 Dec 2012 . Peter (2011) Marina Bay Sands (MBS) In Singapores New Gaming Industry, viewed 29 Dec 2012 from . Tanasijevich, G. (2011) Marina Bay Sands, viewed 29 Dec 2012 from . Read More