‘A Proposed New Hotel – Can potential occupancy levels justify investment?’
WHO: A provincial town centre management team
The client is a Town Centre Management team for a provincial town in the UK. The team has been tasked with re-developing the town centre area and retail and leisure improvements are already underway.
WHAT: To establish the level of support from local business for the building of a new hotel
The town and its surrounding area has a limited supply of quality hotels and bed spaces and anecdotal evidence from local companies suggested that there was a requirement for a quality hotel serving the corporate market. The brief was to provide quantitative evidence to clarify the level of support from the local business community for any new hotel, to identify the facilities required in any new hotel, and to provide an estimate of the number of bed spaces required to satisfy any corporate demand. Additional research considered demands from the leisure market and the wider geographical area.
WHY IRN: A knowledge of the local business community combined with extensive experience of the hotel industry complemented by market research expertise formed a unique, ideal combination
Telephone interviews were undertaken with 35 of the largest local companies and organisations, and companies identified by the client as major users of existing hotel facilities. A further 5 companies, identified by the client as key employers in the local economy were interviewed face-to-face.
THE RESULT: Clear recommendations for development substantiated with a high level of analytical detail
The results provided the client with a clear understanding of local demands for a business hotel, and the potential number of bed spaces that would be required in any new hotel. IRN’s recommendation was that the client should consider the development of a premium business hotel with at least 50 rooms to satisfy demand from the local community and other markets. The client is now acting on the research and moving forward with its hotel plans.