Turnberry… the all-year-round resort

The 130-bedroom Westin Turnberry in Ayrshire, Scotland, has had the unenviable task of repositioning itself during the past few years. Trying to market itself to new target audiences in the aftermath of 11 September, foot-and-mouth disease, an economic downturn and uncertainty over the war in Iraq has been less than easy.

In the heady days of 1999, when owner Starwood announced a three-year investment programme for the hotel costing US$21m (£12.6m), general manager Stewart Selbie knew exactly where he wanted Turnberry to go. "It was a seasonal summer golf hotel. It was almost a case of, ‘Will the last person to leave turn the lights out for the winter?'," he jokes.

And there was a negative effect on the local economy, with 400 summer staff dropping to fewer than 200 in the winter.

Today, though, Selbie says, Turnberry is a year-round full resort property, with 300 full-time staff and 100 part-time staff hired in for the summer season.

The "full resort" description comes as a result of the work done in the past four years. The main 130-bedroom hotel has added 90 bedrooms in lodges and self-catering cottages, added five treatment rooms to its spa, and built an outdoor pursuits centre offering activities such as falconry, riding and shooting. The golf side of things has not been ignored, and a new golf academy and practice links and the new Kintyre golf course have all been built.

The hotel's reliance on the leisure activities is clear when Selbie says that rooms account for just one-third of the hotel's revenue. Golf accounts for one-third on its own, with the final third coming from F&B, outdoor activities and the spa.

There was also a desire to increase the hotel's capacity as a conference hotel. With 90 additional rooms at Turnberry's lodges and a conference room capable of seating 300, theatre-style, the hotel can "eat, meet and sleep" 220 delegates.

Today, Selbie believes that 60% of his guests are transient and 40% in a group, although he estimates that at least half of those groups will include a leisure element in their stay.

With the US market dropping away after 11 September, Turnberry has been aggressive in its targeting of the UK domestic and short-break market. But it has not been easy. "We have done it with some difficulty," Selbie admits. "I thought it would take a year, but it has taken three to change people's perceptions of Turnberry, even with increased advertising and a larger sales team."

Sales and marketing director Stephen Walker heads a team of four account directors and 10 events and reservations staff. He estimates that the hotel's sales and marketing spend is between £1.2m and £1.3m, compared with £750,000 in 1999.

Targeting the UK domestic market with leisure packages is where some of that marketing spend is going. In 2003, to September, those packages had generated £1m in revenue for the resort, so Walker is seeing a return on the spend.

Family market

Some of that marketing is aimed at the family market, another tactic to move away from the golfing hotel image. "We have moved on from golf, whisky and cigars," Selbie says. "Of course, we still want the golfers to come, but we're widening that appeal to include their spouses and children."

Turnberry's guest profile has changed. Selbie estimates that US guests once accounted for 60% of business; that has now dropped to 40%. However, Selbie points out that this is 40% of a hotel that has doubled in size in the same time period.

The hotel is using to best advantage its legendary ocean views out to the Isle of Arran and the rock of Ailsa Craig. Ocean view rooms are fully occupied 94% of the time, and the hotel has capitalised on this, adding £30 to the price in tariff increases over three years. Rack rates range from £250 to £450 for such rooms, while those that once faced the railway station and the front of the hotel now sell for £200-£400.

Selbie is reluctant to quote average achieved rates, citing US anti-trust laws as preventing him from revealing competitive information. He is more forthcoming about the hotel's revenue, which he says will be £15m this year. Candidly, he admits it could and should be higher. "I feel we've been held back by world events," he says, "and in the next two years I'd like to see that figure reach £20m."

There are bright spots on the horizon, with marketing opportunities and a chance to raise the hotel's profile even further, one being the Open - one of the world's four major golf tournaments. "The Open is at [nearby] Troon in July 2004, and in some ways it is more profitable than our having the Open here," Walker says. "We get pre-Open business, during the tournament, and then afterwards as well."

In 2006, Turnberry will celebrate its centenary, another event for Selbie, Walker and the sales and marketing department to promote and to use to garner media coverage, especially in the UK market.

Selbie is cautiously optimistic about the future, believing the investment in the product and the marketing will pay off. "We have repositioned the product and consolidated, and have had the time to get our act together when we weren't so busy," he says. "We are now poised to do extremely well."

Turnberry timeline

• 1906: Turnberry opens as a British Transport Hotel, with its front facing the railway station

• December 1997: US hotels group Westin buys Turnberry

• 1998: Starwood Hotels buys Westin group

• End 1999-2003: Starwood embarks on $21m investment programme

• 2006: Turnberry to celebrate its centenary

When the Westin Turnberry wanted to add rooms, it could not add to its existing structure, as it is a protected historic building. Instead, it built 12 lodges, each with six to eight bedrooms, at the foot of the hill where the main hotel sits. Although they started as merely an extra 90 bedrooms on the rooms inventory, they have become a useful tool for the marketing department.

"These appeal to small golfing groups, extended families, conferences, and companies wanting to run either motivational courses with teams, or for boardroom think-tanks," observes sales and marketing director Stephen Walker.

Each lodge also contains a living room area, allowing groups to congregate comfortably in private. These are not self-catering lodges, which Turnberry also offers, but full-service rooms, and when they are not being used by a group they are sold like any other hotel room.

Although not intended as a group product, the lodges sell for prices ranging from £895 in low season for an eight-bedroom lodge to £1,250 in the peak summer season. They also enable Walker and his sales and marketing team to target niche markets, such as upmarket hen weekends. "We're finding they're popular with the slightly older bride, who wants to come away with her friends, have some spa treatments and then sit around in the living room with a glass of wine and food brought in from the kitchen," he says.

The lodges were opened in 2001, and it has been a tough couple of trading years, with occupancy at about 45% during the summer and 30% in the winter. The hotel itself has occupancy of 75% in the summer and 53% in the winter.

Factfile

• Westin Turnberry Hotel Ayrshire, Scotland

• Turnover, 2003: £15m

• Investment: US$21m (£12.6m)

• Rooms: 130 bedrooms in main hotel and spa wing; 90 bedrooms in lodges and self-catering cottages

• Facilities: two 18-hole golf courses; golf academy with nine-hole practice course

• Restaurants: main dining room, 220 seats; brasserie at spa, 80 seats; golf club bar and restaurant, 120 seats

• General manager: Stewart Selbie

• Sales and marketing director: Stephen Walker

• Revenue split: one-third rooms; one-third golf; one-third spa, F&B and outdoor activities