Page 4 9318A028 The second option was to target the growing tourist segment in Tanzania. International tourists travelling to Tanzania would have disposable income and would value the safe and relaxed environment the Gold Crest provided. With Mwanza's proximity to the Serengeti and other national parks, the Gold Crest was in an ideal location to accommodate incoming tourists. Multiple safari companies had approached Paliath about offering safari packages to customers. For instance, upon landing in Mwanza, customers could stay for one or more nights at the Gold Crest and then leave from there for their safari.11 Paliath considered the effectiveness of online advertising campaigns to attract tourists overseas. He wondered if shifting his target customer segment would hurt the hotel's brand perception as Mwanza's premier business hotel and if there would be enough tourist trafc to increase occupancy during the low season. His nal consideration was whether to renovate the hotel's ninth oor, which had been left unnished due to budget constraints. In order to cater to his chosen consumer segment, Paliath could either add 10 guest rooms (ve lake view rooms and ve deluxe rooms) or add three additional conference rooms. To add the new conference rooms, the necessary investment would be $60,600, while the 10 additional guest rooms would cost $110,500. With conference rooms making up the majority of the hotel's current income, Paliath thought additional conference spaces would further strengthen the hotel's current competitive advantage and allow for additional clients in the high season. Paliath wondered how much monthly prot the hotel would generate by adding three conference rooms with a capacity of 80 people each.12 Assuming 70 per cent occupancy for the 10 additional guest rooms, Paliath forecasted additional room prots of $15,068 per montha gure he believed to be optimistic. He wondered how long it would take to pay back his initial investment for both options, especially if actual demand was lower than his forecast. He also worried about how he could convince corporate executives to invest a large sum in renovations, given the hotel was only in its fourth year of operations. CONCLUSION Paliath knew he needed to combat the slow season by choosing a segment to actively target in order to increase hotel occupancy. Depending on which consumer segment he chose, he also wondered how the hotel could make use of the vacant ninth oor to combat seasonality. With much to consider, Paliath gathered his thoughts to make a decision. How would the corporate executives react to additional renovations, especially as a young company? Whichever options he chose, he knew he would have to present a compelling marketing plan and strategy to the executive team at the upcoming meeting. 1' There were over 256 tour operators from both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar; \"About Us," Tanzania Association of Tour Operators, accessed May 12, 2015, www.tatotz.org. '2 This amount assumed four weekends in a month