Do any of you know a small business owner?
If you do, you probably know how incredibly difficult it is to run a small business.
Now, let’s imagine opening and running a small business in Lebanon where we are hit by both economic and political instability.

Let us introduce you to Ghassan Beyrouthy. A proud owner of a small Hotel Bel Azur, it is a family run business in Jounieh.

Bel Azur is facing several issues and challenges. These issues are common within the Hotel industry; however, the repercussions of these challenges are heightened due to Lebanon current economic crisis and its political instability.

Bel Azur Beach Club thrives during the summer, attracting citizens, expats and foreigners who flock to Jounieh to enjoy the beautiful Lebanese summers and shores.

However, operating as a Beach Club poses great challenges with revenues during the winter season. The demand season of beach clubs, the current Lebanese economic and political climate make operations for Bel Azur unsustainable.

The challenges of low revenue are also attributed to the winter’s high number of cancellations of premium rooms. The premium rooms are a major revenue stream of hotels allowing Bel Azure to make nice profit margins.
While in the summer, Bel Azur is able to book premium rooms with a low cancellation risk rate. During the winter season, demand severely drops and cancellations rise widening the revenue gap. Each cancellation represents the opportunity cost of an empty room. Furthermore, it causes an increased operational cost, wasted resources and a disruption in staff schedules.

Over the years, hotels in the industry have been investing more technologically. In the industry, the dominant way to secure reservations is online through a strong digital presence.
Unlike many of its competitors in Jounieh, Bel Azur, has struggled to manage and push its digital presence. The lack of a strong digital presence puts Bel Azur at a significant disadvantage.
Competitor’s in Jounieh have strong connections with online booking platforms, a strong social media team and push targeted marketing strategies. Thus, competitors are able to capture a larger share of reservations during the low demand in the winter season.
For Bel Azur, its low online presence impacts its revenue particularly in the winter months when every booking counts.

By concentrating on drawing in business travelers, Bel Azur can greatly increase its revenue and occupancy rates. The corporate segment exhibits the lowest cancellation rates.
Bel Azur can establish itself as the perfect location for business gatherings and events by making investments in conference spaces and business facilities. In addition to drawing a consistent flow of business travelers, this calculated action will lessen the effects of seasonal variations, especially in the off-peak months.

We leveraged our close personal relationship with the owners of the event planning company to connect them with Bel Azur Hotel. We were aware of their struggle to expand beyond their existing customer base, which was primarily located in the Matn area. They were exclusively hosting events in that region and were looking for ways to grow. Recognizing the opportunity, we introduced them to Bel Azur’s owner and proposed a strategic partnership: making Bel Azur their go-to venue for events. This would not only give the event planning company a strong presence in Jounieh but also allow them to extend their reach into the Keserwan area. As part of the deal, they would receive exclusive access to the venue, ensuring no competition, as well as marketing support through the hotel’s channels to boost their visibility. The event planning company would also benefit from discounted rates for their clients, along with priority access to the venue during peak seasons. Both parties saw the mutual benefits, and the deal was agreed upon, setting the stage for a promising collaboration that would help both businesses thrive.

Meet the Event Planning Team

Small businesses face great challenges especially currently in Lebanon plagued by economic crisis and political instability making it a challenging environment for entrepreneurs to navigate. Through simple data exploration, we identified a struggling family business, Bel Azur Hotel.
By connecting Bel Azur with an event planning company, we created a partnership that tackled the seasonal revenue dips and cancellations. Furthermore, the partnership allowed the event planning company to expand its reach to new markets. Hence, the partnership we assisted in creating is mutually beneficial for two small business in Lebanon.
The impact we created as four university students with limited work experience proves that simple, organized and concise efforts can lead to big positive changes.
If we could help not one but two small business in this extremely tough environment, imagine the difference you could do in your own community!
The question is not if you can do it, it’s will do you it?