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Industry Analysis Description The Peace Villa concept is categorized under several industries, with definition as a resort or hospitality industry as central. Supporting industries are retail and wholesale for the imported decorative accessories, food for the café, and service for the spa and classes.
Trends Current trends in all of these industries are varied, but customer and client demand for holistic, environmental, green, and eco products and services have been making headway into the mainstream markets. High-end food retailers like Whole Foods Market have faced competition with smaller, less expensive chains (Trader Joe’s) and introduction of organic foods in supermarkets like Dominick’s and Jewel’s in the Chicago area. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA’s) have returned to age-old practices, embracing organic models over high-yield approaches to growing food. The South East has aggressively encouraged tobacco farmers to change over to organic produce farming specifically because organic foods have a ready market and are competitive in income generation to tobacco yields.
This demand for quality, back to the earth products, has affected every sector of the economy. The travel industry, hospitality, retail, wholesale, and all other sectors have healthy businesses offering earth friendly products and services. However, as most of these involve fair trade practices and have higher overheads than mainstream competitors, they tend to come at a higher ticket price, which in the current economic slump presents a sincere challenge. Customers endorsing a long-life energy conservation light bulb may still buy a cheaper mainstream bulb simply to save money. The Peace Villa’s strategy to overcome this barrier is to offer several levels of affordability with options for camping to the more luxurious dwellings, a café that caters to simple, but interesting recipes, and a gallery offering low-end impulse buying products (incense, soap, coin purses) to high-end decorative furniture and accents (exotic beds, hand-made carpets and architectural pieces).
Another trend we have observed simply from being in the business of selling ethnic art in the last 15 years is that success is moving from highly concentrated urban areas to smaller, less competitive rural areas. The City proves itself as a costly enterprise with high overhead and too much competition. Our peers enjoying success are located in smaller urban or rural areas where overhead is low and where marketing efforts are met with enthusiasm by local media. The Peace Villa has many more points of entry in marketing itself in a smaller tourist center than it does in a major city like Chicago where major brand names and chains have the capital to enjoy capturing the attention of the larger markets.
Growth Rate The travel industry as a whole is attempting to recover after a disastrous two-year drought due to 9/11 repercussions, two wars and a dismal economy. However, several signs for recovery, especially on a national scale are being reported in travel industry websites. On August 8, 2003, the Associated Press (Philadelphia) reported that hotel occupancy was up 2.4 percent in July across the nation. AAA’s expectations were that 33.4 million people would travel over the labor day holiday, the most since 1995. Jan Freitag, an analyst at Smith Travel Research in Henderson, Tennessee, said both leisure and business travelers were helping to fill hotels. Occupancy at resort locations was up 3.4 percent in July 2003 over 2002. "This probably has something to do with the fact people aren't going overseas,'' Freitag said.
Competition The Peace Villa’s immediate competitors are other hospitality venues offered in the area. Even with similar pricing strategies, the Peace Villa faces tough competition with long-time established hospitality businesses enjoying a long-standing reputation in the area. Many offer comprehensive entertainment packages and excellent self-contained facilities for recreation. The Peace Villa intends to provide some recreational options for residents (swimming pool, basketball/volleyball court, ping pong tables), but prefers to network and refer to other recreational businesses in the area for the bulk of its offerings.
The Peace Villa’s specific agenda, multi-cultural social goals and ethnic crafts and décor, serve as a sieve. Customers will either find this intriguing and refreshing or will have no interest in this niche market. Some may even take offense to our social agenda, viewing it as un-patriotic or un-American. Even with a non-political agenda, a peace mission can be perceived as political in this climate of pro-war endorsements. Honoring peacemakers has not been in vogue since September 11th. The Peace Villa views itself as a niche market that can draw enough support from the Asheville pool to achieve profitability. It does not intend to be all for all.
In fact, some criticism may arise from some of its own “choir” members, as it may not be radical enough for die-hard green or eco subscribers. The Peace Villa faces some national competition from leaders in poverty alleviators who are building facilities with some similar characteristics. For example, Habitat for Humanity is building a Global Village in Georgia that will serve as an educational tool for visitors on its housing projects oversees. It is investing 3 million dollars on sample dwellings that it builds in developing countries will be decorated with handicrafts from that region. Their goal is to educate and inspire visitors on their efforts in combating poverty and increasing life standards for the poor in those countries. Habitat for Humanity will not offer overnight guest housing. Heifer International is building a similar site in Arkansas and will offer guest housing. Their approach is to offer a simulated experience on how the poor live in other parts of the world. Guests eat the same food and sleep on the same pallets indigenous peoples would use in those countries.
The Peace Villa makes no bones about the fact that mostly the more affluent classes in the countries enjoy the dwellings and crafts it represents. However, it does argue that these dwellings and crafts are traditional to these cultures and are quickly being replaced by housing and objects that have no relevance to their identity as a people or as their future as artisans or keepers of tradition. Many fair trade groups focus on the production of handicrafts that can be mass-produced and sold at a low price instead of creating markets that provide the artisan with challenging work. Instead of carving 50 giraffes a week, an artisan in Kenya is more likely to take pride in and enjoy making a carved chair that will last a lifetime.
Other competitors are nation-wide resorts or hospitality businesses that offer a “green” agenda. Green hotels have organized into a web-presence (http://www.greenhotels.com) and offer travelers a wide selection in prices, environments and services. The Peace Villa fits nicely into this group and stands out as one of the few available in the South East. Again, offering child and pet friendly policies increases the Peace Villa’s competitive edge even within this group.
Strategic opportunities The Peace Villa has the opportunity to enter the Arkansas market while property prices are still affordable. Reports by real estate agents and web sites warn that the area has been “discovered” and with it, properties are becoming increasingly inflated in price. Larger tracts of land are also quickly disappearing. Even as a land investment only, the Peace Villa is entering at the right place at the right time.
Economic Cycles As stated previously, the Peace Villa is subject to the same economic factors affecting the travel industry nationally and internationally. We are a global economy that profits or loses when one piece is affected. Nationally, the Peace Villa offers an international experience without having to travel overseas. This attracts travelers who may not have the time, money, or courage to face the current threats of being an American abroad. It also offers travelers coming in from overseas a place where they are likely to feel comfortable in the United States.
Seasonality The Arkansas tourist season seems to run consistently between March and November. Having the gallery and a wholesale sub-business offers the Peace Villa opportunities for generating income during this period of hibernation. The Café and spa services also enjoy potential year-round patronizing by local residents. The seasonal nature of this business is actually seen as a benefit by the Peace Villa directors as all have many other artistic and creative interests they enjoy. This downtime is actually a recharging time. A recurring complaint among retailers and hospitality workers is the inability to have time off. The Peace Villa offers a model where its residents and owners can invest themselves completely for nine months of the year and recover for three months.
Challenges The main challenge faced by the Peace Villa’s residents is also its greatest asset. Arkansas promises to be the right place at the right time, but if the country continues to suffer economically; the state will suffer dire consequences. Tourism depends on a healthy travel population. Jobs in Arkansas are limited although Walmart and Tyson Foods are big employers in the NorthWest. The solution to this is to build slowly, ensuring each program success as it becomes self-supporting. The directors also need flexibility in redirecting energy into areas able to show sustainability. For example, if the café and spa services show profitability over imported craft sales, then they need greater attention in marketing and funding. Having several businesses under the umbrella of the Peace Villa helps ensure that one of them, or more, will succeed.
The Marketing Plan Target Clients The Peace Villa attracts others who are engaged in and in love with the world. Two types of clients will find the Peace Villa appropriate, those seeking solitude in a creative and diverse environment (poets, musicians, writers, academics, professionals, etc) and those who thrive on culturally rich environments. The Villa is child and pet friendly, so many of the clients are families looking for interesting vacations for themselves and their children. Urbanites exhausted from busy lives find rejuvenation here. Groups and organizations hold celebrations and retreats here. Lovers of ethnic art and interesting architectural design visit the Villa. A great majority of the guests are above 30 years of age, have disposable income, enjoy traveling, and are classified as professional liberals. Half come to the Villa as their main destination while the other half discover it when visiting the area.
Several larger Southern metropolitan areas (Memphis and Little Rock) are easily accessed by Arkansas tourism efforts. Other large metropolitan areas are within a ten hour drive from the areas we are looking at, making it accessible for a vacation outing by car. These metropolitan areas serve as natural targets for the Peace Villa in attracting visitors. As the economy improves, the Peace Villa expects to draw from national and international travel venues.
Reaching the Market Product The Peace Villa offers a niche in a market saturated with country and Victorian themes Price at competitive prices affordable to all incomes of visitors Place in a location, Arkansas, famed for its beauty, healing properties and artistic residents Promotion through its website, magazines, the local news media, and peer businesses. Local marketing: Extensive networking with the local chamber of commerce, tourism centers and media through advertisements in papers and on other websites and regular press releases. National marketing: The Peace Villa has a wonderful website and uses it to link itself to other resorts and camping networks. It advertises in national travel, yoga, eco-tourism publications, seeks listings in travel books, and pursues relationships with organizations supporting its mission and operations.
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