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EMERGING INTO THE CHINESE

MARKET

RENAISSANCE CONSULTANCY

20TH MAY 2020

mona-lisa.curry@northumbria.ac.uk

georgia.k.harris@northumbria.ac.uk

b.garrick@northumbria.ac.uk

jade.barefoot@northumbria.ac.uk

PREPARED FOR:

MARGARET LIVINGSTONE - EVANS AT LANGLEY CASTLE HOTEL

Contents

1.0 Executive Summary .....................

2.0 Introduction ....................................

3.0 Langley Castle Hotel .....................

3.1 Review of organisation .............

4.0 Project Scope ....................................

5.0 Competitor Analysis ......................

5.1 List of competitors ......................

5.2 Key analysis findings .................

6.0 Primary Research ...........................

6.1 Ethical Considerations ................

Contents

Executive

Summary

Renaissance Consultancy proposes this consultatory report for

Langley Castle Hotel and Executive General Manager, Margaret

Livingstone - Evans. This report will concentrate on the possibilites

available for Langley Castle to enter the Chinese market and establish

the opportunities and threats that present themselves when

penetrating this expansive market. After an extensive analysis using

primary and secondary research methods, Renaissance has put forth

a number of recommendations for Langley Castle that with hope will

aid a successful entrance into the market.

Langley Castle Hotel is a 14th Century fortified castle offering a

historical dining and accommodative experience. The castle fuses

heritage and hospitality and offers extravagant accommodation in

stately grounds. Castle hotels are recognised for their luxurious

conditions and aristocrat style of living, Horváth and Nagy (2012). The

castle occupies 27 rooms, positioning them centre most in size when

compared to other castle hotel competitors located in the North East

of England.

In order to conduct a valuable and prosperous consultatory analysis,

Renaissance has intensively investigated Langley Castle Hotels'

marketing strategies and product offerings which have been

comparatively evaluated in line with comprehensive research the

Chinese market. Renaissance compiled an investigative questionnaire,

formed using secondary research findings. The research

questionnaire enabled us to collect invaluable data from (X)

respondents, that aided us in assembling insightful recommendations

that cover the brief.

Introduction

This consultatory report aims to address the objectives

outlined by Langley Castle Hotel in a specific project brief,

that was presented to Renaissance Consultancy. The

project objectives are as followed:

1. To gain an understanding, via market analysis, of the

Chinese market for both accommodation and weddings

in the UK.

2. Gain clear insight into the key decision drivers of the

Chinese market when selecting a venue for a)

accommodation and b) weddings

3. Competitor analysis of other similar venues and gain an

understanding if/how they promote to the Chinese

market

4. Produce a recommended marketing and

communications plan to build awareness and generate

sales.

Langley Castle's prevalent issues have been identified

through discussion with Margaret Livingstone - Evans.

Leading issues concerning Langley Castle include both the

location and awareness of the hotel whilst previous

experiences with the Chinese market have indicated that

complimentary visits have failed to generate further sales

and increase room capacity rates. Renaissance has

addressed each of these issues throughout this report,

detailing suggestions on how these issues could be

resolved.

Langley Castle

Langley Castle Hotel is a 14th century fortified castle, located in

the rural districts of Northumberland. The hotel boasts 27

classical rooms, charmingly designed to mirror the authentic and

archival feel of the building. The traditional design is intertwined

throughout the entire hotel including the restaurant and drawing

room, providing guests with a consistent historical experience.

Awarded 4 star rating

and 2 Rosette status

by the AA, from 2009

The castle is situated within its own 10 acre

estate, catering for weddings, conferences,

baby showers and more. Langley's idyllic

countryside setting makes the hotel a

luxurious choice for a special occasion and

through its Stuart Suite, Langley can cater for

up to 120 guests.

The 27 feature, deluxe and castle view rooms

provide an assortment of accommodation

types for a mixture of customer needs and

wishes. Currently, Langley's prominent target

market consists of couples and has seen them

win 'Best Hotel For Romance' in 2018. With

features such as four poster beds, saunas

and dressing rooms, it doesn't come as much

surprise.

Review

of

Organisation

Project

Scope

The following report is written to meet the scope ‘identify

the viability of the Chinese market and produce a marketing

strategy for this new market for both accommodation and

weddings.’ Data collected from 106 respondents represents

the general Chinese population to generate refined

suggestions. Renaissance ensured that only Chinese

respondents took part, these individuals were contacted

through small societies or via Chinese social platforms.

Theory suggests that at least 100 responses are required

when examining a major sub-group such as a specific

demographic. Therefore, we were satisfied with this

threshold and closed the survey soon after this number was

met to avoid over-saturating the quantitative data. Further

research from a secondary perspective will be included to

determine a reliable and consistent conclusion on Chinese

market trends to assist in the suggestion creation stage.

A multitude of objectives will be explored. These being:

Market analysis, decision drivers, competitor analysis and

recommended marketing and communication plan. The key

mission for this report is to conduct a plan which directly

leads to heightened awareness in the Chinese market and

stronger sales results,

Competitor

Analysis

A competitor analysis will identify the

competencies and constraints of existing and

potential competitors, including presumed future

moves Porter (2008).

This segment of the report will highlight the

prominent findings derived from a competitor

analysis performed for the purpose of this

project.

This competitor analysis was constructed using a

competitive positioning matrix tool which

theorists suggest creates a competitive

landscape of the market. Price and primary

benefit is compared, to successfully anticipate

and compete against rival strategies ().

Needham's (2012) direct and indirect theory has

been applied to identify key competitors

significant to Langley Castle's service offering.

Additionally, Bergen and Peteraf's (2002, p160)

framework focussing on marketing commonality

and resource similarity has been utilised to

provide an in-depth analysis.

Direct

Competitors

#1

Otterburn Castle,

Northumberland

9th Century luxury castle, consisting of 17 rooms with idyllic

countryside views, acres of land and private fishing spot.

Lumley Castle,

#2

County Durham

600 year old castle comprised of 73 rooms, boasting a 4*

rating and a unique escape room.

Western Walworth Castle,

Darlington

#3Best

12th Century building, with access to A1 and A68 for guests

who don’t wish to be isolated yet are still in the countryside.

Chillingham Castle,

#4

Alnwick

12th Century haunted castle, offering 8 unique apartments

that all cater for a different number of guests. Ghost tours

and private fishing grounds offered.

#5

Bamburgh Castle,

Bamburgh

1400 year old Castle – offers accommodation in the form of

self-catering cottages etc. on the castles estate. Coastal

setting with rooms boasting fishermen views.

#6

Indirect competitor as does not offer accommodation. 14th

Alnwick Castle,

Alnwick

Century and second largest inhabited castle in the UK,

served as a military post, teaching college and film set.

Key

Findings...

Social Media

Location

Majority direct/indirect competitors (exclusion of

Chillingham Castle) are within easy access of local

towns/other attractions such as shops and

restaurants - meaning visitors are not restricted to

just the hotel.

Langley Castle has a reasonably strong social media

presence that is significantly larger than other

competitors such as Otterburn Castle. However, larger

scale competitors such as Chillingham Castle, Bamburgh

Castle and Alnwick Castle have a much more significant

presence that we believe has a direct correlation with its

recognition status. Visit Northumberland provides

information regarding local castles available for visitation

and accommodation, yet Langley Castle has not been

identified and could be a useful marketing technique.

Unique Selling Point

Perhaps the most prominent finding from this analysis -

Langley Castle's lack of USP. While the hotel is able to offer

a traditional castle experience, other castle hotels are

providing the same but with an extra addition. For

example: Private fishing land at Otterburn Castle; Escape

room experience at Lumley Castle; Haunted experience at

Chillingham Castle; Coastal setting at Bamburgh Castle and

film experience at the second largest inhabited castle in

the UK, Alnwick Castle.

P

R

I

M

A

R

Y

ESEARCH

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Ethical

consideration

Renaissance recognised the importance of correct

ethical approval and considerations, within this area of

research. Throughout the collection of all primary

research, ethical sensitivity was considered.

Within our primary research questionnaire, ethics

were a concern because we had to make sure

information provided by respondents was kept

confidential. When dealing with this, Renaissance

made all respondents aware that their personal details

and comments would be kept anonymous.

Along with providing all respondents with the

opportunity to withdraw their responses from the

project, anytime during or after the data collection.

Renaissance made sure all respondents were aged

over 18. All data was stored on the university network

throughout the project, to ensure it was protected

LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY

CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE

LANGLEY CASTLELANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE


























LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY

CASTLE

ata

LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY

collection

CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLELANGLEY CASTLE


CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE


CASTLE LANGLEY

methods

CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTLE LANGLEY CASTL





RESEARCH

QUESTIONNAIRE

Renaissance conducted a primary research

questionnaire which consisted of 72

Chinese respondents. The respondents

also vary in multiple demographic

categories e.g. age, sex, income. This was

encouraged to ensure that an extensive

range of results were provided.

The questionnaire was dispersed using a

variety of platforms. Secondary research

highlighted key popular social media sites in

chinese culture. Therefore the survey was

shared via platforms such as: Weibo and

WeChat to ensure the demographic was

contacted.

To guarantee that the survey was effective,

we followed a range of theory to irradicate the

potential for biased questions. This was also

continued in our scaling method whereby only

5 options were used.

Results

Demographics

Prefer Not to Say

Employed Full-Time

Employed Part-Time

Retired

Self Employed

Student

Seeking Opportunities

Key

Findings

R

S

E

SEARCH

C

O

N

D

A

R

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Y

key

Analysis

and

Observations

Coronavirus

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Short Term

Recommendations

Medium Term

Recommendations

Long Term

Recommendations

1.

2.

3.

Contents of

Appendices

References

Bergen, M., & Peteraf, M. A. (2002). Competitor identification and competitor

analysis: a broad‐based managerial approach. Managerial and decision

economics, 23(4‐5), 157-169.

Horvath, Z., & Nagy, A. (2012). Baron for a day: guests’ perception of historical

past in castle hotels. Journal of Tourism Challenges and Trends, 5(2), 103-123.

Needham, K. (2012). Retrieved 5 May 2020, from https://www.cmu.edu/swartzcenter-forentrepreneurship/assets/Olympus%20pdfs/Competitive%20Analysis%20.pdf

Porter, M. E. (2008). Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries

and competitors. Simon and Schuster.

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