Ice Hotel Business Review Report

Introduction

For the last ten years Ice Hotels have changed to a new brand of luxury living and they are attracting people from worldwide. There are some ice hotels in the World and they are really fat in revenues. Basically the frost-bitten places of the world attract a lot of tourists and the promoters of ice hotels want to capitalize on this. The first concept of ice hotel came to Yngve Bergqvist, who is the founder and CEO of Ice Hotel, a hotel chain. “In the year 1989, he visited Japan during the cold winter season, especially to the town of Sapporo during their annual snow and ice festival”¹. This gave him the idea about how the snow filled rivers and landscapes can be used for tourist attraction and earns revenues from this. In the November of that year, they started the First Ice Seminar and brought snow sculptors in Kiruna. Two Japanese chefs were also invited along with artists who showed them the necessary skills for serving patrons who will come to visit them in ice. But the breakthrough came in next year as the build a snow house and hosed an art exhibition there. It was a 60 meter arch shaped building and the exhibition attracted a lot of tourists. Actually at that exhibition once some people had no place to stay and decided to stay in the ice exhibition hall. Every one of the staffs was excited to know that how comfortable was the stay was for the boarders and they were really fascinated by the experiences to live inside an ice house. This was the first time that some one actually stayed in the ice hotel².

The Making of Ice Hotel

Every year the process of making the ice hotel starts from the start of winter. A number of experienced snow-builders, architects, designers and artists devoted their hard labor and artistic skills to build the unique ice hotel. The process of making an ice hotel generally ranges from one to one and half months. After it is completed guests start to pour in. It is noted that every year thousands of guests come to the ice hotel and hundreds of marriage take place in the ice hotel. The ice hotels are one of the most popular destinations of modern world³.

There are 12 ice hotels in the world in recent times:

1. ICEHOTEL-This is situated in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. The first and probably the best ice hotel in the planet, it has facilities such as an ice bar and an ice church inside the hotel.
2. Ice Hotel Canada– It is situated in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, Quebec. The specialty of this hotel is a chapel. It is a major tourist attraction.
3. Snowland– This ice hotel is situated in Finland. It is basically an ice restaurant, but the most important attraction that it has a number of sleeping igloos.
4. The Aurora Ice Museum: This hotel is unique as it is situated at a hot spring. But the place does not have hotel rooms for overnight stays for people as once they had⁴.
5. “The Igloo Village ice hotel.
6. Lainio Snow Village: This is in Finland too where conventional and icy accommodations both are available.
7. LumiLinna SnowCastle: This is also in Finland and is one of the customary ice hotels.
8. The Alta Igloo Hotel
9. The Kakslauttanen Cabins & Igloos
10. Hotel Ice Balea Lake
11. Iglu Dorf
12. Snow Village”⁵

Michael Porters Five Forces Model

Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model is an important tool to understand the power in a business situation, basically to be more precise it shows where the power lies in any business situation and a widely discussed model internationally⁶. It simultaneously shows that the strength the reviewer and what he has to achieve at the end.⁷ When it is clear that where the power is than one can take advantage of any situation. This can be achieved by avoiding taking any wrong footings. It helps to improve on the weaknesses. It also makes a great planning kit too. It can be used as to understand new products too.

The five important forces are as follows:

1. “Supplier Power
2. Buyer Power
3. Competitive rivalry
4. Threat of Substitution
5. Threat of New Entry”⁸

This model is really very important in the context of creating an ice hotel. The ice hotel is mainly build by ice and to make an ice hotel one has to depend on the skilled engineers and artists who can build a hotel out of ice, and also to the skilled persons who can run this types of unique hotel. The management has to keep in mind that the ice hotel is completely different from any general hotels that are available in the market. If someone builds a hotel the hotels stays for long. But ice hotel is temporary it only stays for a season. So the company who is building the hotel has to calculate all the steps before venturing into the ice hotel market.

Then, the area where the ice hotel has to be made is taken into consideration. The company has to be sure that it must not be made in any deserted part of a country where people will find hard to reach. Actually, staying in an ice hotel is a type of recreation and so people who would go there will always want good transport system to be provided there to reach there. Sometimes the company making the ice hotel can also make arrangements for the transport. It has to be remembered that some people come to get married and the company has to make sure that the experience to be a memorable and lifetime experience⁹.

In the case of competitive rivalry, there are already a number of ice hotels in the market and they are popular too. A new company has to compete against these companies at the start of the business. The company has to study all the strengths and weaknesses of the other ice hotels and plan their business strategies accordingly. Along with all these they also have to think of the threats of substitution from the market too¹⁰.

Customer relationship management is the process to organize and synchronize all the business processes like sales, marketing, customer services etc by using technology. It is a broadly recognized and also very popular strategy. The main goals of it are to find new clients and retain the old ones, which are to expand the business. There are some benefits of customer relationship management like:

1. “Ensures higher sales
2. improved service
3. Reducing expanses of the company
4. high profit
5. marginal costing”¹¹

But the process can be challenging to be implementing in large companies. The companies sometimes can not able to bear the required funding to implement the process and it lacks effectiveness.

After the company has build the ice hotel or decided to build the ice hotel and finalized the spot and other important details, another important aspect comes to front. This is the aspect of publicity and it is really something very important now-a-days. In the era of globalization, new avenues of promotion and marketing are opening and internet, as one of the most popular mediums in modern world is used in marketing of every aspect.

Marketing through Social Networking Sites

In modern internet, social network sites are really popular and they can be used as marketing tools. Generally social networking sites contact with friends and relatives who stay far and is one of the most popular interacting tools of the world. They also offer a number of additional services. And now-a-days the social sites are really in increasing demand for marketing. Here we give the names of the most popular ones:

By the analysis, we can understand that these sites are really a goldmine for publicity. And using these sites for publicity will be an intelligent thing. From the very beginning, online marketing is really different than general publicity. In this process one can interact with a person who is not connected with the person in any length. The social networking sites generally attract a lot of people mostly in the age bracket of 18 to 35 and who are really interested in their favorite brands and they also want to try the new things. They also sometimes like adventure. And Staying in an ice hotel is a hell of an adventure¹². Let us thoroughly go through the details of the social network marketing.

Social networking sites is revolutionizing how people communicate with each other and marketing through the sites needs definite strategy. The new trend that is prominent is really powerful and open. And if we look at the sites about what they do we can find these things:

• by these sites one can contact with friends and unknown persons alike
• One can easily create and publish content he or she wishes any time.
• Others can comment and rank the content too.
• The communications here in these sites involve many options and most importantly, they are free or very cheap, and this is the first and foremost cause of the popularity¹³.

Social network marketing strategies have to be developed as the company’s requirements and it has to be presented in a unique manner so that it will serve the company’s existing business strategy too by adding new tools and promotional equipments. But a successful social networking site based promotional campaign has to have several perspectives like:

• “The potential customers of the hotel
• The objectives of the company by making the hotel
• The message of the company
• The platforms of the company on which they want to base the hotel
• The intellectual property of the company.
• The networking of the company.
• Planning, structure, resource gathering and final implementation of the plans
• The measurement of the project”¹⁴.

The ultimate effort of the promotion will be educating the members about the product and the strong points of the ice hotel with respect to other available options in the market. As like all the business strategies social network strategies require a well thought out process in the approach to the work and they have to an integrated part of marketing and communications strategy. And they must have unique characteristics of user generated contents that is any user can comment on the company or the hotel. If the service and other features of the hotel are good then the word of the mouth publicity will be great with the use of the social networking sites. Marketing, IT, communication, management, intellectual property, all is included in the marketing along with a lot of legal steps. So starting this kind of marketing comes with a lot of responsibility.

The steps:

To make a successful social network strategy, one must take some well thought steps in the case.

• In the very first case the company has to profile the audiences, and these means they have to look at all the economical conditions of the hotel and what type of people will come there and all

1. The second step will be defining the objectives
2. The third and very important part will be the formulation of the budget of the company and ensure that the company must not lose in any ground
3. Defining the intellectual property in the social networking sites will be one of the most important steps as in any social networking sites the people will only read about the hotel and if they get interested by the writing then they will be interested in further actions. Sometimes pictures of the property and the facilities provided by the hotel can be highlighted in the cases¹⁵.
4. The people who will have the responsibility to promote the property through the internet and most importantly the social networking sites must be well experienced in both marketing and social networking sites. A person with knowledge in marketing and who can write catchy things in the internet and can easily interact with people in any means is the best suited person for the job.
5. As for all marketing campaigns go, the company has to decide the plan, processes and the budget accordingly.
6. Measuring the results will be one of the most important steps in the case.

Communicating with the people who are interested in the Hotel

After promotion there will be a number of people who will be interested about the hotel and all. Then the question comes that how the company should communicate with them. It can be said that the communication can be multidimensional and peer-to-peer communication, and this is the most important aspect of the social communication. It can be said that the people who visited the hotel can be made member in a community under a social networking site where the members will discuss about the hotel. May be in some cases the employees of the hotel run the community and they can send emails to other peoples who have an e-mail id for a single browser, and ensure that the mail does not land in the spam mail of the receiver. This is a new technology of promotion¹⁶.

The success of social network marketing depends on some very important aspects and the aspects are as follows:

1. Critical success of the marketing process- the critical appreciations of the marketing process, if it is innovative or different in some other way, will surely catch the attention of the users of the social network sites.
2. The peer groups or the members with common interests, if they are active in their profiles will surely increase the success-quotient of the hotel.
3. The site has to be very easy to use and that will help the less tech savvy people to join too.
4. The site has to be open and it has to easy to use.
5. And finally the social networking fanatics who regularly use the sites. If the community catches the attention of the fanatics it will surely boom in popularity. These “champions” will drive the discussions and also invariably contribute high quality content to the community, which will ultimately benefit the company¹⁷.

Social networking provides organizations to provide new avenues for communications and promotion and this is one of the most important facts to associate more richly. There are virtually no barriers in this type of communication. It increases the intellectual content of a company and it ensures future success too.

From the construction to the marketing of a new ice-hotel will need a lot of steps. In the final analysis we can discuss the total steps in short:

• The planning of the job, the determination of the budget, the hunt for the location of the ice hotel and the selection of the architects and designers who will ultimately make the hotel.
• The initialization of a transport system if the hotel is far from public living place
• The recruitment of the employees who will be there to help the boarders
• The promotional works regarding the hotel and other things¹⁸.

Conclusion

In the work we have discussed about the promotional strategies of the hotel through social networking. Along with the social networking sites the conventional methods must be applied in the promotion of the hotel. The most important thing for the hotel would be that it must not use any negative publicity against any competitors in the market rather than focus on their strengths and the offers and comforts they are providing. Ultimately the company has to remember that the most important way to stand in today’s highly competitive market is good service and they will have to provide that. Bad service but good publicity will not help in the development of the company. And the word of the mouth publicity is also crucial too. With all the aspects going well the hotel will surely do well. It can be placed in one of the best ice-hotels in the World.

Reference list

Brake, R, ‘On the Rapid Rise of Social Networking Sites: New Findings and Policy Implications’, Children & Society, vol. 24, no. 1, 2010, pp. 75-83.

Chung, LH, Integrating hotel environmental strategies with management control: a structuration approach’, Business Strategy and the Environment, no. 17, no. 4, 2008, pp. 272-286.

Duven, CJ, ‘Privacy and social networking sites’, New Directions for Student Services, vol. no. 124, 2008, pp. 89-101.

Lugosi, P, ‘Hospitality spaces, hospitable moments: consumer encounters and affective experiences in commercial settings’, Journal of Foodservice, vol. 19, no. 2, 2008, pp. 139-149.

Miller, FC, AF Vandome & J McBrewster, Hotel: Lodging, Accommodation, Modern History, Facility, Bathroom, Air Conditioning, HVAC, Mini- Bar,Capsule Hotel, Public House, Bar (establishment), Ice Hotel, Motel, Eco Hotel, Boutique Hotel, Alphascript Publishing, Boston, 2010.

White, C, ‘The relationship between cultural values and individual work values in the hospitality industry’, International Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 7, no. 4-5, 2005, pp. 221-229

Zimmerman, J, Destination Ice: A New Marketing Tool, BLT Pb., Auckland, 2009.

Footnotes

1. FC Miller, AF Vandome & J McBrewster, Hotel: Lodging, Accommodation, Modern History, Facility, Bathroom, Air Conditioning, HVAC, Mini- Bar,Capsule Hotel, Public House, Bar (establishment), Ice Hotel, Motel, Eco Hotel, Boutique Hotel, Alphascript Publishing, Boston, 2010, 63.
2. J Zimmerman, Destination Ice: A New Marketing Tool, BLT Pb., Auckland, 2009, 145-147.
3. FC Miller, AF Vandome & J McBrewster, Hotel: Lodging, Accommodation, Modern History, Facility, Bathroom, Air Conditioning, HVAC, Mini- Bar,Capsule Hotel, Public House, Bar (establishment), Ice Hotel, Motel, Eco Hotel, Boutique Hotel, Alphascript Publishing, Boston, 2010, 64.
4. LH, Chung, Integrating hotel environmental strategies with management control: a structuration approach’, Business Strategy and the Environment, no. 17, no. 4, 2008, pp. 272-286.
5. J Zimmerman, Destination Ice: A New Marketing Tool, BLT Pb., Auckland, 2009, 144.
6. P Lugosi, ‘Hospitality spaces, hospitable moments: consumer encounters and affective experiences in commercial settings’, Journal of Foodservice, vol. 19, no. 2, 2008, pp. 139-149.
7. LH, Chung, Integrating hotel environmental strategies with management control: a structuration approach’, Business Strategy and the Environment, no. 17, no. 4, 2008, pp. 272-286.
8. C White, ‘The relationship between cultural values and individual work values in the hospitality industry’, International Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 7, no. 4-5, 2005, pp. 221-229.
9. P Lugosi, ‘Hospitality spaces, hospitable moments: consumer encounters and affective experiences in commercial settings’, Journal of Foodservice, vol. 19, no. 2, 2008, pp. 139-149.
10. C White, ‘The relationship between cultural values and individual work values in the hospitality industry’, International Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 7, no. 4-5, 2005, pp. 221-229.
11. LH, Chung, Integrating hotel environmental strategies with management control: a structuration approach’, Business Strategy and the Environment, no. 17, no. 4, 2008, pp. 272-286.
12. R Brake, ‘On the Rapid Rise of Social Networking Sites: New Findings and Policy Implications’, Children & Society, vol. 24, no. 1, 2010, pp. 75-83.
13. CJ Duven, ‘Privacy and social networking sites’, New Directions for Student Services, vol. no. 124, 2008, pp. 89-101.
14. R Brake, ‘On the Rapid Rise of Social Networking Sites: New Findings and Policy Implications’, Children & Society, vol. 24, no. 1, 2010, pp. 75-83.
15. CJ Duven, ‘Privacy and social networking sites’, New Directions for Student Services, vol. no. 124, 2008, pp. 89-101.
16. R Brake, ‘On the Rapid Rise of Social Networking Sites: New Findings and Policy Implications’, Children & Society, vol. 24, no. 1, 2010, pp. 75-83.
17. CJ Duven, ‘Privacy and social networking sites’, New Directions for Student Services, vol. no. 124, 2008, pp. 89-101.
18. R Brake, ‘On the Rapid Rise of Social Networking Sites: New Findings and Policy Implications’, Children & Society, vol. 24, no. 1, 2010, pp. 75-83.