ASHH GROUP

Competitive Strategy for ASHH group in India

Executive Summary

Sustainable tourism is now at the peak, and like Heritance Kandalama, there are many hotel chains which have implemented this philosophy. In sustainable tourism, main focus is on three areas namely ecological, cultural and economics. The Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings (ASHH) is a Srilankan hotel group which wants to open hotel in India. In India, it also wants to apply the Heritance Kandalama philosophy because of its success in Sri Lanka. In applying this philosophy in India, ASHH group is facing two problems, which are also presented in the case study. First, ASHH has to face a large number of competitors in the Indian market. Second, how it will deal the consequences while applying the sustainable development model in the diversified Indian society. As we know, India is second most populous country of the world and also the birth place of four religions. All the religions, cultures and languages have their own identity and history. In the rural areas, there is less diversity and communities are representing particular area. In these areas, people are loyal to their cultures and do not tolerate the diffusion of culture.

The intellectuals from these areas have also established organizations to protect the interests of local people. However, in the urban areas, there is more diversity and people are not caring about these things. They have followed modern/western culture, and their new generation is totally away from their forefathers. In these areas, most of the hotels are not following the sustainable tourism policy. Ecologically, there is no care of environment, and they are using conventional sources of energy. There are not too much natural scenes, greenery and local people in the hotels. It is because; their customers are also from the urban areas who are professional, politicians, sportsmen, journalists, and foreigners. There are many local and international hotel chains which are operating in these areas, but still there is a demand-supply gap of about 100,000 rooms. It means, in urban areas there is huge potential and ASHH group can exploit it without following the sustainable policy. There are competitors, but such a huge demand will not affect on the ASHH group. In the rural areas, there is a need of sustainable policy and cultural heritage can be applied in the hotels. Additionally, local people can be employed in the hotels which will help in the winning of loyalty of the local community. Before the start of construction, the ASHH group should take integral assessment. It will help in finding the bad consequences which can be created during and after the construction. There are some limitations in this research report like the lack of primary data collection, finding the best location in rural areas and integrated assessment test. In the future, the ASHH group should consider the usage of technology in the sustainable model and also put some efforts in the research.

CHAPTER 1: CASE BRIEF5

1.1 Background of study5

1.2 Problems to be addressed6

Diminishing profit in Local society6

Diversified Indian society7

To compete ...