SEGMENTATION APPLIED TO THE TIBERIAS HOTEL CASE STUDY

In May 2005 the Board of World Mission of the Church of Scotland presented a disturbing report to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. This showed that by the end of the year the £13m (US$22m) Tiberias resort development by the Sea of Galilee would drain the Church of a further £555,000 (US$996,000). The board admitted that the development ‘inevitably has a negative impact on its work elsewhere in the world' in forcing the Church to cut back on overseas aid and on AIDS prevention work. Dr David Watt Torrance, a young Scottish doctor, who believed in his mission to heal the people of the Holy Land, established the original medical centre in the nineteenth century. He first arrived in Tiberius in 1884, as the head of the Church of Scotland mission and, motivated by the poor health and sanitary conditions, worked day and night to serve the rapidly expanding population. In January 1894 the first Tiberias hospital was opened with the specific purpose of being available to all regardless of race or creed. During the 1950s, following Dr Torrance's death, the centre was taken over by the Church of Scotland.

As the house was located in the middle of Tiberias, only a few miles away from some of the holiest sites in Christendom, the Church decided to open a guest house for pilgrims and visitors from across the world. Although it was popular with pilgrims the new centre cost a great deal to run and maintain but did not bring in much revenue. Consequently, in 1999, Church planners decided to undertake a major refurbishment of the guest house to make the most of its beautiful location, which included a beach front site. Planners decided that it was imperative to conserve the original buildings and provide first-class service in a place of reconciliation for all people including Jews, Christians and Muslims as a tranquil multicultural, multi-racial retreat, a flourishing site of faith in a very special atmosphere. In 1999 the hotel development project commenced and since then the Board has spent over £10m (US$18m) in converting the house. In 2004, after a number of long delays, the new centre opened for business

1. Evaluate the segmentation approach adopted by the Church of Scotland with respect to the Tiberias development.

2. Given that the Church administration spent a great deal of money on this development and that it may continue to act as a drain on Church resources, you are asked to conduct a segmentation exercise as the basis of a report to the Church authorities. Having conducted your analysis, you should come up with a list of target segments and be able to advise the Church administration on an appropriate positioning strategy.

3. At present the marketing of the centre tends to be directed towards the independent traveller. How might the hotel's marketing task differ if it targeted tourists travelling in organized groups as opposed to the independent traveller? Is the hotel wise to avoid block bookings from tour operators, as it does currently?