Safir International Hotel Kuwait Safir International Hotels

Safir International Hotel Kuwait

Safir International Hotels is a subsidiary of Kuwait Hotels Company. The company offers accommodations in Kuwait, Syria, Lebannon, Algeria, Egypt, and Qatar. In Kuwait, Safir offers five different locations, including the Safir International Hotel Kuwait, in Bneid Al Gar. The hotel is known for its luxury and ambience, as well as its ideal location for both business and leisure travelers. The Safir International Hotel is located near the heart of Kuwait City and faces Kuwait Towers. With 146 guest rooms, the hotel an array of services and amenities to meet the needs of discriminating guests ("Overview," 2008). However, the Safir International Hotel has strategic choices it must consider, in order to remain competitive in a highly competitive industry. Additionally, they must take steps to ensure their succession planning is both effective and efficient to help facilitate the hotel's growth in the future.

Strategic Choices for Safir International Hotel Kuwait:

The hotel industry, as a whole, has seen increased competition across the industry. Travelers are becoming more discriminating, thanks to not only more worldly-traveled travelers, but also the Internet and the amount of information available online regarding a destination and the variety of hotels available in a particular area. Not long ago, both business and leisure travelers often selected their hotel accommodations based on brand identity. Price also was a primary means of differentiation within the industry. A hotel could either build their brand image or compete on price point as two primary strategies to enhance competitiveness. However, today, travelers not only can shop for the most cost-effective hotel accommodations with a few clicks of the mouse, but can also see photographs of the hotel's facilities, the amenities they offer, nearby businesses, and oftentimes even peruse the hotel restaurant's menu.

For Safir International Hotel Kuwait, there are many hotel chains that are similar to Safir International. Several have recognized the growth opportunity in Kuwait, and have expanded, or plan to expand to this geographic region. This will further increase competition for Safir International Kuwait. Some of these competitors may have greater financial resources and financial flexibility, which may lead to enhanced purchasing power, and increased pricing pressures for Safir International.

As such, a strategy Safir International Hotel Kuwait may undertake is to differentiate themselves on amenities and services. As mentioned, this is an increasingly important decision factor for travelers. Currently, Safir International Hotel Kuwait offers an array of services and amenities, including: an on-site health and fitness club, conference rooms, room service, and two on-site dining options ("Overview," 2008). However, to be more competitive, the hotel could further diversify their amenities, perhaps develop an on-site spa to complement their health club and further enhance the luxury identity of the hotel's brand.

Additionally, Safir International Hotels, in general, may wish to look towards expansion into other geographic regions. High growth areas of the world, such as Asia, offer new opportunities for this hotel chain which is centralized in the Middle East. Expansion will help improve the chain's economies of scale, which will benefit Safir International Hotel Kuwait specifically, through reduced costs and the ability to operate more price competitively.

Succession Planning:

Succession planning is the process organizations utilize to identify and develop their internal employees, to eventually fill critical leadership positions within the organization. At Safir International Hotel Kuwait, this succession planning is necessary to ensure the hotel's success continues beyond just one generation of leadership. There are five steps that the hotel should undertake in order to effectively implement succession planning.

First, management needs to identify employees who are well-suited to fill these key positions within the hotel, when they come available. This should be an extensive examination of all employees, to identify those who have the potential skills and ability to take on the mantle of leadership (Finn, 2010). These employees may be in middle management positions currently, or even in lower positions at the hotel. Only through this intensive evaluation process should a potential candidate be ruled out.

Once a successor has been identified for a position, a formal training plan must be implemented. This training program should cover the critical functions of the company and the position. The successor should be given the opportunity to work in each of these areas of the hotel, so they can see the depth and breadth of the hotel's operations. Much of this training needs to be done in a more 'hands-off' approach, with the successor being allowed to take the lead in certain situations, under broad guidelines, and allowed to make mistakes on their own. In this way, they can grow and learn from their mistakes (Finn, 2010).