1. International marketing strategy
A marketing plan for QL Hotels
Project group 12
Diego Carrillo
Annika Hagman
Dannique Nijboer
Tim Visser
IBS2B
Teacher: Roel Geerts

2. 2
International online marketing strategy
Diego Carrillo S1072689
Annika Hagman S1075982
Dannique Nijboer S1063995
Tim Visser S1038442
Project group 12
IBS2B
The name of the project:
International online marketing strategy
Name of the field of study:
Minor International Business Studies
Name of the School:
Business School
Name of institute:
Christelijke Hogeschool Windesheim
Teacher:
Mr. Geerts
Date and place:
14/03/2014, Zwolle

3. 3
Preface
This report is meant for QL Hotels. It is a research report for the ultimate marketing plan. It is made
by four students of the Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Zwolle. We are Diego Carillo,
Annika Hagman, Dannique Nijboer and Tim Visser. Currently, we are students of a minor called
‘International Business Studies’. We researched several aspects of the English market.
We would like to thank Mr. Geerts for his assistance and support during the design of our research
report.
Zwolle, 14-03-2014
Diego Carrillo
Annika Hagman
Dannique Nijboer
Tim Visser

4. 4
Management summary
Within this international business strategy plan the base for giving the answer to the general
question is outlined. The research part had a range of different counterparts. On micro, macro and
meso level there is found a wide range of chances, opportunities, strengths and weaknesses that all
have important input to give an answer in this matter. The general question for this plan is; How to
(online) market the QL Hotel brand in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage for small
scale luxury hotels in England within one year. A few key questions to give answer to the general
question that is stated.
- What are the current corporate reputation and sustainable policies of the company
- What is the external online communication of the company
- What should the company do to maintain or improve its reputation in the future
These questions are the basis of the whole research and strategy plan. The key questions are all
outline in sub questions that give answers from different angles.
QL hotel is a brand with a wide range of hotels all across the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and
parts of Germany. But if you would ask a group of people if they are known with this brand the
biggest part wouldn’t be able to answer this question positively. QL hotels have all resources to reach
potential customers and have a hand in every potential online tool. You would say that a luxury
brand is well known if it’s active on a wide range of online marketing/communication tools. The
surprising and intriguing part of this is that with deeper research and a look from outside the
company there can be given a answer and recommendation about this case.
This research focuses on England and all the potential within the potential customers from this
district. For knowing what the England customers like and how they approach hotels abroad this
research stated a strategy for underlining the questions . During the research a couple of interesting
findings came forward that are interesting for further research. One of the conclusions is that QL
should target potential customers in sectors and mainly upper class families from England. Also is
stated that QL Hotels is a strong brand with a lot of potential to reach more customers. The luxury
and service that is offered is of a high standard and together with the Michelin kitchens the
combination of kitchen, service and atmosphere the QL Hotel brand has a strong formula. The
English customers mainly book their travels in packages this conclusion gives QL Hotel the
opportunity to offer full packages with travel, hotel and activity arrangements. The content that QL
Hotel offers is not unique in the eyes of potential customers. The name says it all QL means quality.
But the competitors that also offer quality is very wide. The competitors who are well known have a
certain theme ore are very well known for something special. And for QL Hotels it’s difficult to
compete with brands that have hotels all over the world.
Concluded is that QL Hotels have an amazing basis to reach a wide range of potential customers. The
only problem is that it’s difficult to state a outstanding USP and the problem that QL Hotel is not well
known amongst British people.

5. 5
Table of contents
MANAGEMENT SUMMARY ..............................................................................................................................4
1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................6
2. BASIC INFORMATION ...................................................................................................................................7
§2.1 MARKET DEFINITION ......................................................................................................................................... 7
§2.2 UNIQUE SELLING POINTS .................................................................................................................................... 8
3. MACRO.........................................................................................................................................................9
§3.1 COUNTRY OF ORIGIN ......................................................................................................................................... 9
§3.2 DESTEP-ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................... 10
§3.3 CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NETHERLANDS AND ENGLAND ...................................................................... 16
§3.4 ATTITUDE TOWARDS ONLINE BOOKINGS IN ENGLAND............................................................................................. 18
4. MESO ......................................................................................................................................................... 20
§4.1 CONSUMER MARKET SEGMENTS ........................................................................................................................ 20
§4.2 COMPETITORS ............................................................................................................................................... 22
§4.3 HOW IS QL HOTELS PERCEIVED IN ENGLAND?...................................................................................................... 24
§4.4 CONSUMER ATTITUDES TOWARDS HOTELS IN ENGLAND.......................................................................................... 27
§4.5 RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS ................................................................................................................................. 28
§4.6 RELEVANT MEDIA ........................................................................................................................................... 30
5. POTENTIAL GUESTS .................................................................................................................................... 32
§5.1 CURRENT ONLINE PRESENCE OF QL HOTELS......................................................................................................... 32
§5.2 CUSTOMER JOURNEY....................................................................................................................................... 34
§5.3 EXPECTED ADDED VALUE.................................................................................................................................. 36
§5.4 PERSONA ...................................................................................................................................................... 37
CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................................................ 38
SOURCES ........................................................................................................................................................ 39
APPENDICES................................................................................................................................................... 41
A: PROJECT PLAN ................................................................................................................................................... 41

6. 6
1. Introduction
In this report you can find information about the marketing research for QL Hotels. The focus is on
England. It is the first part of two documents. In the second document, the marketing strategy will be
discussed. In this first document you can read about the research.
The report includes three parts:
 Macro-economic factors
 Meso-economic factors
 Information about the potential guests
The goal of this report is to analyze different kinds of information regarding the Dutch company QL
Hotels.

7. 7
2. Basic information
§2.1 Market definition
A market consists of all the consumers who purchase a particular type of good or service. The market
may be sub-divided into separate segments each of which can be considered to be a separate market
in its own right. It is very important for a business to be able to define its market:
1. So that it can estimate the size of the market
2. So that it can forecast the growth of the market
3. To identify the competitors in the market
4.To break the market down into relevant segments
5.To create an appropriate marketing mix to appeal to customers in the market.
There are different types of markets, for example:
 Business-to-Business (B2B) markets in which a business customers are other businesses.
 Business to Consumer (B2C) markets in which businesses sell to other customers.
Some markets take place in a physical location e.g. a street market, whereas others may be virtual
markets e.g. when people buy and sell through the medium of the Internet.
The size of the market can be calculated in terms of the number of customers that make up the
market, or the value of sales in the market. A business can then calculate its market share in terms of
the number of customers its sells to, or the total value of its sales.
Markets are typically structured into segments. Primary segmentation is between customers buying
entirely different products. For example, an oil company manufactures a wide range of fuels and
lubricants for road, rail, water and air transport and for industry, all of them for different groups of
customers.
Further segmentation can be based on demographic and psychographic factors. Demographics
segment people by clearly ascertainable facts their sex, their age, size of family, etc.
Psychographics segment people by something less clearly ascertainable and often disputable: their
'life-style'. A person's lifestyle is built up from his or her attitudes, beliefs, interests and habits.

8. 8
§2.2 Unique selling points
Advertising and marketing professionals call a “unique selling point” to key an effective selling. USP is
a factor which distinguishes your product or service from your competitors. These factors could be
for example the highest quality, the lowest cost or the fastest customer service. The main idea is
“what you have that competitors don’t”.
Professionals say that a company has many ways how to uncover its USPs.
1. First tip is to put you in customer’s shoes. Often companies forget the customer’s needs and
remember their own. Companies have to figure out what their customers really want. What
will get customers come back again and ignore other competitors? The answer might be
better quality, convenience, reliability, friendliness or customer service.
2. Next tip is to get know what motivates customers’ behavior and buying decisions. Company
need to know what drives and motivates customers. Company should go beyond the
traditional customer demographics, for example age, gender and geographic location.
3. Third thing is uncover the real reasons why customers buy product instead from a
competitor’s. It is important ask to customer why they like to use company’s services and
how company could serve their better.1
QL Hotels
QL Hotel’s first USP is that they have small distances from England to France, Belgium, Luxembourg
and Netherlands. All the hotels are in a maximum of 3 hours drive from the Dutch-German border.
Because almost every QL Hotels located quite far from airports, it’s possible that visitors from
England come by a car using by Eurotunnel.
Second USP is the high quality and the unique atmosphere of the QL Hotels. People from England are
ready to use more money on their holiday and want more luxury their vacations. Reason is a fact that
they working hard and they don’t have so much vacation per year.
A third USP is the fact that every QL Hotel has an excellent restaurant or has an excellent restaurant
nearby the hotel. Often, a professional cook is working in the hotels.
Last but not least unique selling point of this luxury brand is their extremely customer-orientation.
Everything is about the hotel guests and everything will be done to ensure that they have a pleasant
stay in the QL hotel.
1
http://www.entrepreneur.com/

9. 9
3. Macro
§3.1 Country of origin
According to statistics from the Dutch agency of statistics the Dutch are moving from camping sites
to hotels in the big cities of Holland. During the last 10 years less people are staying at a campsite in
the weekends during the holidays.2
This movement is exciting because Dutch are known for being cheap, so a campsite would be the
first thing that would come into mind but this isn’t the case. The Dutch are adjust to the luxury that is
guaranteed in hotels across the whole country. For holidays abroad the Dutch do a lot of research to
find the perfect all-in package for the whole family. The standard list of needs is endless. In 2008 the
crisis also struck the Dutch economy. For years the hotels saw a growth in costumers but it went
down in 2008. From 34000 overnights in 2007 to 32000 stays in 2008. But during the last couple of
years the market has grown till 35000 stays in 2012. This growth is the only growth in this sector.
Campsites, group accommodations and bungalows have seen a down crease for the last ten years en
this will keep on continuing. Hotels who offer luxury with a range of rooms from standard to
executive are growing the strongest. These hotels are affordable for a lot of people. The standard
rooms are mostly affordable for almost everyone. But if you want to enjoy extra luxury these hotels
also offer executive rooms with all kinds of upgrades.
During the economic crisis high luxury hotel haven’t seen a big decrease but still saw less people visit
these kind of hotels. The growing demand on affordable luxury hotels have spread the internet.
Dutch people love to chase the cheapest price for the most luxurious rooms. The most popular tool
to achieve this are internet auctions. A popular site is www.vakantieveilingen.nl (translated:
holidayauctions.nl). During a range of minutes people have the opportunity to get the cheapest price
for a sorts of holidays such as: holidays abroad, city trips, luxury hotels exc. The Dutch mostly choose
a hotel that suit their needs, but aren’t loyal to a certain kind of hotel. In America big hotel chains
have special loyalty programs with member cards and a wide range of special deals for people who
are loyal to them. This phenomenon isn’t really known in Holland because it’s a small country. If the
Dutch visit a city they can choose to drive back home, in America this is impossible because the
country is huge and drive back home can take days.
To sum up the Dutch love luxury hotels who offer great quality but they want to get the best deal. So
the price quality ratio is very important for the Dutch. This is a part of the Dutch culture and this
mindset is not only known in the holiday/city trip sector but in almost every sector. Curious about
this is that the Dutch aren’t fond of bargaining, the best way to get the cheapest price.
2
CBS Statline, 2013

10. 10
§3.2 Destep-analysis
In this chapter the QL Hotels macro-economic factors and results by the DESTEP-analysis are
outlined. Due to the DESTEP-analysis the target group can more clearly be defined and it will help
making a marketing communication plan later. The DESTEP-analysis consists of 6 factors:
3
 Demographic factors
In this paragraph important demographic factors will be discussed. England is a part of United
Kingdom, which has surface of 130,395 sq. km and 53.5 million inhabitants. Capital is London, which
is also capital of United Kingdom.4
Age structure
In 2011 the median age of the population in England and
Wales was 39. For men, the median age was 38 and for
women it was 40.5
Next paragraph shows age distribution in England and
Wales in 2010. In England the biggest age category are 40-
44 and 45-49 years.6
3
http://www.toolshero.com/
4
http://www.wikipedia.org/
5
http://www.ons.gov.uk/
6
http://www.significancemagazine.org/

11. 11
Conclusion
The biggest age group are the 40-49 year old male and female. For QL Hotels it is good to know the
population. Mostly grown-ups will visit the hotels, because the hotels provide silence and comfort,
something older people look for. Middle-aged visitors who don’t have small kids anymore are
probably ready to invest more money to on their holiday and then QL Hotel luxury hotels are a good
alternative.
 Economic factors
The United Kingdom is the world’s seventh largest economy and second largest economy in Europe
after Germany. Services are the biggest sector on economy and account more than 75 percent of
total GDP. The key segment within Services are Government, Health and Education (20 percent of
total GDP); Transport, Hotels and Restaurants and Distribution (18 percent); Professional and
Support (11 percent); Financial and Insurance (9 percent) and Real Estate (9 percent). 7
The Economy of England is the biggest economy of the four countries of the United Kingdom.
England is a highly industrialized country but most of country’s income comes from the City of
London. City is one of the biggest business and financial centre in the world. In 2012 United Kingdom
GDP per capita was 37849.57 GBP and unemployment rate end of December was 7, 1 %.8
Tourism accounts for £96 billion of GDP which was 8.6% of the economy as of 2009. It employs over
2 million people – around 4% of the working population. The largest center for tourism is London,
with millions of tourists every year.9
United Kingdom has survived quite well of the global crisis. UK has low number of unemployed
people in the European Union and there has no collapse of the housing industry.
Facts
GDP (purchasing power parity): $2,313 trillion (2012)
Country comparison to the world: 9
GDP (PPP) per capita: $36,600 (2012)
Country comparison to the world: 35
GDP real growth rate: 0, 2% (2012)
Country comparison to the world: 174
Unemployment rate: 8 %
Country comparison to the world: 93
Note: data are in US dollars10
7
www.tradingeconomics.com
8
http://en.wikipedia.org
9
http://en.wikipedia.org
10
www.cia.gov

12. 12
Conclusion
United Kingdom has been surviving a global crisis well. Tourism is a big sector in the UK. UK’s
economy doing well and most of people has a job, which means that most of people have afford to
get a vacation and travel abroad. This means that they can afford a visit to QL Hotels. Most people in
UK like to travel abroad on their holiday and they prefer countries which located close. Many QL
Hotels situated in Belgium, Netherlands or Luxembourg and these countries located close by United
Kingdom.
 Social and cultural factors
In the United Kingdom education is of a very high standard. There is the majority (74 % of adults aged
25-64) achieved the equivalent of a high-school diploma. Generally, undergraduate degrees are seen
as a basic entry qualification to a career and many business professionals seem to put greater
emphasis on the status acquired through experience rather than academic achievements.
In UK it is essential to use the correct terminology when referring to the national identity. It is a wise
call people coming from Ireland “Irish” or Scotland “Scottish” (It Is not wise to say Scotch, which used
only when referring to whisky). 11
On next chapter has summed a few UK business culture tips:
1. People in the UK do not like to be embarrassed. Often they fear that they may say something
wrong or the other party in misunderstanding that. That is reason why they avoid this
uncertainty and do not start a conversation at all. Best tip to foreigners to find conversations
in UK, is start to be shorter and some general topics for example weather.
2. People in UK value their privacy highly. They may appear to be very open in public but usually
they hope that foreigner do not interfere their personal space. Good example about that is
also visible in everyday life, when people will avoid sitting next to someone else on a bus or
apologise if they touch someone accidentally.
3. UK business partners do not normally criticise or openly complain in public: they don’t give
negative feedback even if you asked their honest opinion. That’s why is important to read
between the lines and seek out the honest opinions of relevant parties. At the same time
foreign business partners need to be ensuring that they are sending a clear message, so that
there are hidden meanings that could be misinterpreted.
4. The official working week is limited to 48 hours. The UK has opted out of the European
Working Time Directive, which means that some employees work more hours. The dynamic
nature of the economy and fast-paced business environment means that many employees
work quite long hours. It is not uncommon that managers will take their work home almost
every day. Usually family life may give to way to the career of one or even both parents.
Only a small percentage of employers have family-friendly policies or personal support
services to helping to employee share time on work and personal life.
5. Typical office hours are from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Many employees’ works
longer hours and most office workers are on their desk by 8:30 am. Most of the big financial
institutions in the City of London trade 24 hours a day to service the Asian Pacific and
11
http://www.everyculture.com/

13. 13
American markets. These employers have a shift system in operation, for example 3 shifts of
employees working 8 hours each to provide this cover.
6. The UK has relatively few public holidays compared to other European countries, these called
usually “Bank Holidays”. The original meaning comes from that earlier these were days when
banks are officially been closed.12
Conclusion
English people appreciate a proper terminology when referring to their nationality. That is something
to keep in mind for QL Hotels. People in UK working hard, they have long work days, business culture
is demanding and they have short vacations. For these reasons people in England appreciate high
quality on their holiday and QL Hotel small luxury hotels might have good alternative their vacation.
People in UK also appreciate polite behavior and as we can see chapter four, QL Hotel has get best
customer reviews for their staff. Almost every feedback customers from United Kingdom mentioned
staff and was they happy or unhappy to customer service.
 Technological factors
Infrastructure
Channel Tunnel which also called Eurotunnel is rail tunnel between England and France. Tunnel runs
beneath the English Channel and is 50 km long. Trains can travel through the tunnel at speed as high
as 160 km per hour and the trip takes about 35 minutes. Channel Tunnel is one of the fastest ways to
visitors from England to come France, Belgium and other European countries to spend holiday.13
Communication
There are 51.444 million internet users; this means that nearly 85 % people are being connected to
internet. In general, British SMEs are quite familiar to the use of social media. People in UK use a
wide range of social media networks for business purposes and acknowledge the way of how
different networks could be used for specific purposes.
In UK was the Passport to Trade 2.0 project survey, where students answer which are the most
popular social networks. The answers were Facebook and YouTube, following by Twitter, LinkedIn
and Google+. There are many variations in preference of social media between different age groups.
For example Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn are used much more people aged over 35. Most of
YouTube users were aged between 18 and 35.
The most popular social networks in the UK are:
 Facebook
 Twitter
 LinkedIn
 Pinterest
 Myspace
 Google+
12
http://businessculture.org/
13
http://www.britannica.com/

14. 14
Facebook is often blocked in many companies. LinkedIn seems to be particularly useful for
companies who are experienced in working with foreign partners and highlights the capacity for
international collaborations using social media.
There are a number of SMEs that do not currently use social media, most of them are industry
dependent, either because social media is not important to their business, because they don’t know
how to use it, or because of a lack of resources.14
Conclusion
High social media activity may be a good way for effective marketing. QL Hotel has a great
opportunity to reach millions of UK people, if they use different social media channels, for example
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. It is important that most of social media channel is
translated in English.
United Kingdom and England of course, infrastructure and location are very well. This is an advantage
for QL Hotel who has a mission that their guests must travel maximum three hours to get the resort.
The Euro Tunnel might have the fastest way to come from England via France to Belgium,
Netherlands and Luxembourg. QL Hotels in The Dutch Antilles are good flying connections from
England.
Big part of people in UK uses social media and speaks only English. That’s why QL Hotel should invest
different social media channels and translate information in English Facebook and Twitter.
 Ecological factors
United Kingdom is a country where it is said that it is always raining. In London the average maximum
air temperature in January is 8.1 Celsius and days of rainfall is on average 11.4 days. On August
maximum temperature is 23.1 Celsius and 8.1 rainfall days.15
In London air is full of air pollution,
which is one reason why people want to travel out for town for their holiday.
Conclusion
Unstable weather is a one big reason why people from UK travel abroad on their holidays. Weather
in Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg is also quite unstable (especially on winter) but days of
rainfall are less and average air temperature is higher than in United Kingdom. Most of QL Hotel
located outside big towns, in middle of countryside which might have appetizing reason when people
make decisions of their holiday destination.
14
http://businessculture.com/
15
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/

15. 15
 Political juridical factors
European Union
United Kingdom is a part of European Union, which means a free movement of persons and goods all
over the European Union area. It means that every EU citizen has right to travel, work and live in any
EU country without special formalities16
Conclusion
The advantage for QL Hotel that England is a part of the European Union. This makes people
movement between different countries fast and easy. All visitors from United Kingdom can travel
easily all countries where QL Hotel resorts situated.
16
http://europa.eu

16. 16
§3.3 Cultural differences between The Netherlands and England
In this chapter, you can read about the cultural differences between The Netherlands and England.
This, because you have to consider all the cultural differences, because they can influence the way a
company should be marketing its product in a specific country. Not every strategy works in every
country. That is why, by means of the Hofstede dimensions, the cultural differences will be discussed.
Definition of the dimensions
There are four Hofstede dimensions that are taken into account. These are power distance,
uncertainty avoidance, individualism and masculinity. The four dimensions will be explained briefly.
 Power distance low 0 – 100 high
People in societies with a large degree of power distance accept a hierarchical order in which
everybody has a clear place and which needs no further justification. In societies with low
power distance, people strive to be equal as their superiors and demand justification for
inequalities of power.
 Uncertainty avoidance low 0 – 100 high
If a country expresses a low uncertainty avoidance, this means that they have a low need for
structure and that emotions are not shown, it is pretty relaxed. A society with a high
uncertainty avoidance have a need for structure and rules. Emotions are shown and it is a
stressful way of life.
 Individualism group 0 – 100 individual
This scores show you if a society is focussed on the ‘group’ of on the ‘self’. In a collectivistic
society (low score) team work is very well possible and they are relationship-oriented. In a
individualistic society, people focus on their selves and team work is often difficult. They are
more task-oriented.
 Masculinity feminine 0 – 100 masculine
The last dimension expresses the degree of which a society stands for “do your best”
(feminine) or “be the best” (masculine). In a feminine country there is ssympathy for the
underdog. As in the masculine society, there is admiration for the achievers, the workers.
Compare the scores17
The Netherlands England The difference
Power Distance 29 26 3
Uncertainty Avoidance 43 26 17
Individualism 87 98 11
Masculinity 10 68 58
“Without comparison, a country score is meaningless” – Geert Hofstede
17
http://geert-hofstede.com/netherlands.html and http://geert-hofstede.com/united-kingdom.html

17. 17
A deviation of more than 25 is considered to be ‘different’. If the scores for example differ just 10-20
points (higher or lower) from the other country, it is considered to be not a major difference.
As shown in the table above, there is just one major difference between the two countries. There is
a deviation of 58 points in the dimension of masculinity. Let’s take a closer look at this outcome.
The differences
England scores 68 on masculinity, the Netherlands scores 10. This means that the Dutch are more
focussed on doing your best, not to be the super successful person, because that gives you way too
much attention, trying to be better than others is neither socially nor materially rewarded. In
comparison, the English people are in a higher level. They are more about being the best, creating
status, look for competition and there are rewards in the form of wealth or status the achievers.
How does this influence the way QL Hotels should market in England?
QL Hotels should take into account this cultural difference is very relevant for the way to best
promote their brand. While making a marketing campaign, it would be smart to adjust or create a
more masculine feeling. A sweet, small, innocent campaign wouldn’t work, because the English
people prefer a more competitive feeling in their way of living.

18. 18
§3.4 Attitude towards online bookings in England
At first if the use of internet in Europe is
compared. It is stated that the United
Kingdom is in the second position in the
ranking after The Netherlands the
population is compared.
In United Kingdom it’s common to book
travels and hotels by the Internet, in the
next graph, the market share of Internet
visitors is outlined, and 3 of each 100 are
planning a travel. This is a good percentage.
United Kingdom is one of the
countries that use more
internet for shopping and
booking travels.
In 2011, 25% of booking hotels
by phones in Europe was in
United Kingdom, due to they
are the country that use more
internet in the phones.

19. 19
The following graph shows a survey conducted in 2013 UK people that consume luxury hotels like QL
Hotels.
The key findings from the customer surveys:
 Excellent overall satisfaction drives repeat guests & WOM/recommendation
 Previous (30%*) & WOM/recommendation (25%*) key business drivers
 Selected hotels securing up to 28% via search, or up to 8% via TripAdvisor
 Called direct (47%) & website (17%) key reservation preferences by guests
 Selected hotels securing up to 26% via other websites (e.g. booking.com)
Of this the most compelling for reservations hotels is ¨called directed¨, also booking online is really
important too.

20. 20
4. Meso
§4.1 Consumer market segments
If we want to conduct effective marketing, it involves
three activities. STP: Segmentation, Targeting and
Positioning. In this chapter, the focus is on
segmentation. Segmentation is to identify and profile
distinct groups of buyers who differ in their needs and
preferences.18
How to find market segments?
The consumer market segments can be found with the help of four criteria. Demographic,
geographical, psychographic and behavioral criteria. In the figure below you can see a table with
these segmentation criteria for the consumer market.19
We decided to make 4 segments for quality
hotel bookings, one per criteria.
Consumer market segments for quality hotel bookings
For the demographic section, the income is of course the most important criteria on which many
companies base their market segments. Especially in this case of quality hotel bookings, it is to be
expected that only people who can afford a luxury hotel stay will book at QL Hotels. According to
OECD statistics after tax, the average British family in 2009 was left with an average of $26,904 in
disposable income.20
That is why the first market segment will be: English people that have an
above average income (>$30,000). However, demographic criteria are not as powerful as other
segmentation criteria, because the other can tap into factors that matter more.
18
Book: Marketing Management, Kottler. 2009
19
Book: Marketing Management, Kottler. 2009
20
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_in_the_United_Kingdom

21. 21
For the geographical criteria it is important to take city size into account. The quality hotel bookings
for QL Hotels are focused on a relaxing trip to a place where you can rest and where it is quiet. That
is why the second market segment is: English people from big noisy cities who want to relax.
Looking at the psychographic criteria, the past travel experiences of a person influences the
possibility of booking a quality hotel. People that often go to quality hotels and for a long stay are
more likely to book another quality hotel, than people that prefer camping vacations. So the third
market segment is: English people that very often travel to quality hotels.
The last criteria to look at is the behavioral category. In this section it is smart to take brand loyalty
into account. That is why the last market segment is: English people that prefer QL Hotels as their
quality hotel.
Demographic:
English people
that have an
above average
income
(>$30,000)
Behavioral:
English people
that prefer QL
Hotels as their
quality hotel
Geographical:
English people
from big noisy
cities who
want to relax
Psychographic:
English people
that very often
travel to
quality hotels

22. 22
§4.2 Competitors
QL hotels is a brand that is mainly based on experience and high standards. Including those high
standards are comfort and convenience. The brand is not highly known yet amongst Europeans but
has the spirit to possess a bigger fracture in today’s hotel market.
The image of QL is well known and has a wide range of similar types of hotels such as:
 Relais Chateau
 Small luxury hotels
 Design hotels
 Romantik hotels
 Relais de silence
 Britain’s finest
These brands are all similar to QL hotels and are also found in a wide range of European countries.
They all have the same base of luxury and make the same promises as QL hotels. The structure of the
sites and the way of marketing on the internet is also very similar. The types of brands do have their
own USP what is outlined the most in the ways of communication towards the customers.
The 6 different types of brands all use the same sources online to get people known with their hotels.
The first most likely way to get found is using booking sites. And because these hotels are big chains
they mainly use the most used booking sites such as:
 Tripadvisor
 Booking.com
 Expedia
 Groupon
 Google
On each booking site all of the named brands can be found in a wide range of European selected
countries. The price is also often very similar so by making a choice people are depending on
experience and opinions. Besides structure and USP the different brands do have a range of
differences amongst themselves. In some ways compared to QL they have a positive and negative
side to it. In the SWOT analysis beneath of QL Hotels the differences towards QL is stated.

23. 23
Strengths
 Michelin star chefs
 Located all over Holland
 Easy to be found online (references)
 Clear website
 QL applications for mobile and tablets
Weaknesses
 Unknown lack of visit experiences online
 QL brand is not easily to be found in hotels
 Online bases in the Benelux and parts of
Germany.
 QL doesn’t has a certain theme on the
website.
Opportunities
 Getting recognized on sites of the hotels
within the QL concern
 Online tour for first time visitors, people
attend to not believe pictures anymore
 Get into a certain theme that is similar to
the values of QL based on luxury and fine
taste
Threats
 Worldwide hotel concerns taking over the
market because of further globalization
 Holland (except Amsterdam) not being
attractive anymore to foreign visitors
 QL hotels are based at cities that aren’t
attractive to foreigners do to further
urbanization to mayor cities
SWOT

24. 24
§4.3 How is QL Hotels perceived in England?
We tried to find some experiences or opinions about QL Hotels. At the moment, most of the guests
come from the Benelux and Germany. Also most of the customer feedback is only in Dutch or
German. The biggest problem is that QL Hotel is one of the many small hotel chains in Europe.
We did searches google.co.uk and google.com and tried to find some feedback from QL Hotel chain.
In addition, on QL Hotel’s own website, reviews about a QL Accommodation which is located in
Australia were found. We searched TripAdvisor, Booking.com and Expedia.co.uk -websites which are
the most popular travelling sites in United Kingdom. We didn’t find any experiences straight from QL
Hotel, only for hotels which is a part of QL Hotel chain.
Of some of the hotels there are reviews in TripAdvisor and most of the hotels have a customer
feedback in Booking.com. Customers can choose how he/she travels: with couples, solo travelers,
families or group with friends. Most of QL Hotel customer reviews in Booking.com were from
couples.
Mainly the customer reviews were positive and the average of the reviews was over eight.
Customers appreciate the great location, the friendly staff , the atmosphere and the hotel services
(restaurant and activities) the most. We checked one QL hotel of every country: Belgium,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Germany and Dutch Antilles.
Hotel Les Nuits in Belgium is situated in Antwerp and the review score is 7.6. A total of 148 reviewers,
from which 107 were couples. Customer appreciate the hotel location they think it is excellent (9.2),
staff is friendly (7.7) and hotel is comfortable (7.7).
Hotel Manoir Kasselslay in Luxembourg is situated in Roder in the Luxembourg Ardennes. Hotel
review score is excellent 9.4. In this hotel there weren’t any reviews in English or anything from
United Kingdom. All reviews were totally 14, where 12 were guests who travelled as a couple.
Highest review score goes to staff (10), comfortably (9.7) and location (9.1).
Augusta Hotel in Netherlands is situated in IJmuiden. Hotel review score is 8.4 and based on 162
reviews. 110 reviews are from couples. The hotel seems to be popular for people from the United
Kingdom because most of couple and solo traveler-reviews were made by people from the UK.
Highest review score goes to staff (9.2), comfortably (8.4) and value for money (8.4).
Hotel in Dutch Antilles is Baoase Luxury Resort. Review score is 9.1, based on 21 reviews. Most of
reviews were from couples, totally 13 units. Customer has appreciated: comfortably (9.7), staff (9.4)
and facilities (9.3).
Hotel in Germany, called Burghotel auf Schönburg. Review score is 9.4, based on 96 reviews. Most
reviews of this hotel are also from couples, totally 69 units. Customers have appreciated staff (9.7),
comfortably (9.6) and facilities (9.6).
This occasional part means that average review score is 8.8. These can make a conclusion that QL
Hotel image is true, their hotels are small luxury hotels and customers are satisfied whole
experience.

25. 25
Indirect way
Because of the fact that QL Hotels is not active in England at the moment, there are no current
reviews to be found. It means that it is not possible to know how the English customer perceives QL
Hotels. That is why a similar hotel chain will be chosen and a description of how they perceive this
chain will be given. This outcome can be related to QL Hotels, because they are both small quality
hotels.
The similar hotel chain is Britain’s Finest. They have hotels in the UK. A description of this hotel chain:
“Britain’s Finest Hotels features over 400 luxury hotels each sharing very high standards of food,
service, accommodation and ambience. These 4 star, 5 star and luxury hotels, which have all been
inspected, include boutique hotels, country house hotels, country hotels, castle hotels, golf hotels and
spa hotels.”21
As you can read, this hotel chain also values quality and high standard of food, that is why the
reviews of these hotels can be related to QL Hotels.
Here you can see a part of a print screen of their web site.
Now, it is important to see how Britain’s Finest is perceived in England. Six hotels of Britain’s Finest
are checked on TripAdvisor.com
To show the findings, the following table with review scores has been made:22
21
http://www.britainsfinest.co.uk/
22
http://www.tripadvisor.com/

26. 26
Out of 6 hotels, 5 of them scored most points in the category ‘Excellent’, something that very few
hotels can accomplish. The ratings are very positive and these hotels are
6
400
∗ 100% = 1,5% of the
total amount of hotels they own. These 6 hotels are picked randomly. If 1,5%, randomly picked, get
such good scores, it is to be expected that all Britain’s Finest hotels are perceived very well in
England.
This concludes that QL Hotels can expect a hearty greeting when entering the English market.

27. 27
§4.4 Consumer attitudes towards hotels in England
The English attitudes towards hotels are very high about the standard of quality, after Russia
England is the second country that consume the most luxury hotels.
British consumers prefer small and sophisticated hotels to large chains.
British tourists mostly enjoy smaller hotels compared the big chains and prefer more sophisticated
hotels, small and independent hotels, according to a study recently presented by Mintel. The
research that covered a interview about a thousand British consumers found that 39% of British
adults prefer independent brands and individuality when it comes to accommodation for leisure and
business. By contrast 24% said big chains prefer an established brand to consider "quality assurance
and service without last minute surprises." This research concludes that the English customers are
divided in different group but the similar needs are still luxury, comfort and excellent service.
QL Hotel has a lot of competition in the region where it is placed. Mainly in Germany there are a lot
of high valued chains who are commonly known in the surrounding European countries. The well
known chains are known for their luxury and service reputation. These qualities are very important
for English customers.
The English customers that is mentioned before in this research plan are the upper class families.
This target group is spread all over England and had the ability to spend a good amount of money for
leisure activities the last couple of years.
England is commonly known for the excellent service, everybody knows the stereotype butler from
England called James. James knows exactly how to service his “master”. This standard is commonly
known to foreign people who visit England. In reality this type of service only exist in hotel chains
where you’ll have to pay thousands of pounds for a single night. The British hotel service has been
very various. The difference between a thousand dollar night hotel in England and a 50 pound night
in a common hotel in England is a whole new world according to research. In the biggest cities of
England you’ll be lucky if the service and luxury is centigrade.
The well known picture of England’s service degree is not suitable for today’s experience. The
England customer is longing for luxury and a wide range of activities to spend their time during a
small holiday.

28. 28
§4.5 Relevant publications
As we shall see in the next section is about the different ways to book a hotel, we are going to focus
on that now would be the best way to reach more guests. The online travel market is increasing their
sales every year. So it would be important to have a good online position.23
23
http://www.trefis.com

29. 29
About own page QL Hotels would be important to have a section for direct sales through it, because
a large number of sales are through there.24
Nowadays the British youth prefer traditional agencies to book their holidays. A recent report has
just published the ABTA interview holiday survey carried out by Ipsos. This interview ensures that the
segment involving young population in the United Kingdom from 16 to 24 years old keep on booking
their vacancies through conventional professional travel agencies. Out of them, 50% tend to book by
means of hiring a professional travel agent (by phone, internet) and the 50% remaining prefer to do
it by scheduling a meeting with the professional agent.
However, those that remain in the range 25-44 tend to book their holidays by booking it online,
through the internet. Especially, 68% of them ensure that they always do it online. Some others say
that despite of using the internet as the main way of booking, they also use the mobile phone quite
often in order to find some relevant information about the trips they have in mind.25
24
http://bookassist.org/
25
http://www.escapadaseuropa.com

30. 30
§4.6 Relevant media
Travel sites
World’s largest travel site is TripAdvisor. It enables travelers to plan their vacation and have the
perfect trip. Monthly TripAdvisor has more than 260 million visitors. The site includes more than 125
million reviews and opinions which cover more than 3.7 million accommodations, restaurants and
attractions. TripAdvisor operates in 34 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com.
TripAdvisor includes also Jetsetter.com to book luxury hotels, SmarterTravel to read travel guides,
Family Vacation Critic to find a family vacation and more.26
On this research we visited in Jetsetter.com and search luxury hotels in Netherlands and Belgium.
Both countries have presented many luxury hotels but not anything from QL Hotel. Most hotels in
Netherlands are situated in Amsterdam and Belgium most hotels are in Brugge or Brussels.27
Some of QL Hotel accommodations are ranked in TripAdvisor. Because of the fact that TripAdvisor
attracts 260 million visitors per month, this is a great opportunity to get more guests to QL Hotels.
This is one part that we have to think how to get present visitors write down their experiences for QL
Hotels in TripAdvisor. One very interesting issue is that there is no information at all that these hotels
are part of the QL Hotels chain.
Online travel agency
People in UK like to use online travel agencies. There are a many different sites which offer flight-,
hotel- and car rental-services on the one site. Next we will introduce a couple of them.
Expedia is biggest online travel agency in United Kingdom. It is established in 1998 and it serves
millions of travelers every year. Expedia has a millions of published and discounted fares on over 450
airlines, a directory of more than 80.000 accommodation properties, car hires, “build your own-
holiday” packaging technology and a choice of pre-package holidays. Expedia also provide in depth
destination guides and maps, holiday insurance and a free online newsletter.28
Another popular online travel agent is On the Beach, which don’t sell package holidays but they let
customer build their own trip by giving access to a range of cheap flights, hotels and transfer
suppliers. On the Beach founded in 2004 and it carries over 750,000 passengers every year. On The
Beach offers over 50 million available flight seats and more than 30,000 hotels and insurance and in-
resort transfer partners.
On the Beach is one of the online travel agents in the UK who has a complete financial protection.
That means, if one of the suppliers or On the Beach self experiences financial failure, the customer’s
money is safe. 29
Internet has also so many different online booking sites for example Booking.com, Hotels.com,
Venere, Trivago and Momondo. Part of them offer only hotel bookings and at some of them
26
http://www.tripadvisor.com/
27
http://www.jetsetter.com/
28
http://www.expedia.co.uk/
29
https://www.onthebeach.co.uk/

31. 31
customers can make at the same time reservations on flights, hotel and car rental. Some people
don’t like use hotels on their holidays and they make a reservation to holiday apartment. Popular
reservation sites for these are ownsdirect.com and airbnb.com.
Almost every QL Hotel accommodation can make a reservation from Booking.com or Expedia.com.
Many visitors gave their review. In Booking.com most of visitors who gave their review are couples:
younger or little bit older. Only few reviews were from people who travel with children or with
friends. This issue shows that QL Hotel attract more couples than families or big groups.
Newspapers
Almost every newspaper in UK has its own traveling sites. The traveling sites are very popular and
many people pick up tips for these when they are planning a vacation. One of the most popular
newspapers is The Sunday Times and The Guardian. On the next project we should think how we can
utilize these medias in the QL Hotel marketing plan.
Travel and Tourism trade shows
In 2014 there are at least 39 different trade shows in the UK. Some of them are only for
professionals but some of them are planned of travelers as well.
Some of these trade shows are The Tourism and Leisure show which will be on February 21 at the
Crowne Plaza Resort Colchester Five Lakes. The show continues to be a driving force in the group
travel industry to providing visitors with inspiration for great days out and short breaks in the East
and South of England, London and beyond. Exhibitors are from all over the East and South of
England, London and beyond, including castles, museums, tour operators, theme parks and much
more.
Another trade show is The Holiday and Leisure show in Dover. This trade show is on 6 April 2014 and
there are many branded companies who offer their services: hotel and spa companies, cruises,
transport museum, holiday homes, railway services and lot of more. Every year almost 20.000 visitors
take part of this trade show and there are a lot of different things to offer them well like cruises,
luxury travel, exotic holidays, short breaks and more.30
QL Hotel would have a great opportunity to be reaching several potential customers to be one of the
exhibitors.
30
http://10times.com/

32. 32
5. Potential guests
§5.1 Current online presence of QL Hotels
Website
The QL Hotels website is really good, well planned and very beautiful. Website is easy to use,
navigation is clear and user can choose a language between Dutch, English, German and French. The
user can easily find information about hotels services, locations, prices and make reservations.
Website is definitely the best part of QL Hotels online presence.
On the QL Hotel sites, many partners are listed. For example Miele, Samsung and Porsche. It would
be nice to know how these companies utilize QL Hotel on their marketing or website. We checked
Samsung and Miele –website but there wasn’t any mention about QL Hotel.
QL Application
QL Hotel has a QL application to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch in App Store.
Application description:
The exclusive collection of QL hotels comprises the finest small-scale
and authentic luxury hotels in the Netherlands, Belgium and (former)
Dutch Antilles. Fine dining and luxurious accommodation will ensure
a memorable stay. The chefs guarantee the highest quality of food
and service every time. They use fresh, locally sourced produce,
which changes with the seasons. The hotels, many of which are
architecturally significant, are either in town or in the countryside,
near water, pastureland or woodlands. Most of the luxury hotels
have many extras, such as an interesting art collection, cookery school, tasting room, wellness
facilities, tennis court, swimming pool, board room or even a golf course. Download our app to find
out what QL has to offer you.
Features
Find QL hotels in the Netherlands, Belgium and (former) Dutch Antilles
Find the QL hotel that is the nearest by
Read more about the hotel, rooms, restaurant, its facilities and prices
We wish you lots of enjoyment exploring QL’s many exclusive offers.
This application is a really good idea and it is a good that the language is English. We didn’t get
information how much users this application have but it seems to be thing what QL Hotels should be
advanced. QL Hotel should develop an application in Android phones.

33. 33
Social media, Facebook and Twitter
QL Hotels is on Facebook and has a Twitter account. Nowadays both channels are very important,
but the biggest problem for QL Hotels is that the Facebook site is only in Dutch and Germany and
that the Twitter account is only in Dutch. Most of the English people do not speak German or Dutch.
That’s why is very important that sites are in English. Is good to remember that many other
Europeans don’t speak German or Dutch either, so Facebook site in English could reach many people
for example from Scandinavia too.
The Dutch Facebook site has 762 followers and the German site has 205 followers. Other groups are
working how they going to get more followers on both sites. In our group, the target is creating
Facebook sites in English and after that advanced how to get more followers on this English Facebook
site.
QL Hotels Twitter-account is only in Dutch and there is a same problem what in Facebook-sites: most
of people from UK don’t understand Dutch.

34. 34
§5.2 Customer journey
One of the promising potential consumer target groups for quality hotels are the upper class families.
Young families who have enough money to spend to go on holidays abroad for an extended
weekend. In the underlining road map the customer journey of a family has been outlined from the
research trough out the whole experience. The basic journey maps forget the schedules that people
make during their stay abroad. This includes meals and events and traveling towards the hotels. This
map concludes expectations for online travel agencies and visitors of the hotels. The futuristic
consumer wants a total package. In this report is also stated that the British consumer wants a total
package. A total packages doesn’t only include a travel, location and diner. The consumer wants a
whole experience plan with a tight schedule where all risks are covered.
Travel agencies have to opportunity to change their journey plan to perfection. During the emotional
stages of the consumer they should cover any gap that the current journey has.
Customer journey map of the hotel experience.
For current hotels this journey map offers a range of potential opportunities for improvement.
 Offer sample itineraries for family vacations
 Offer content about vacation scheduling that includes restaurants and excursions
 Offer reviews of previous families on vacation in the Quality Hotels
 Stimulate rebooking based of family traveler profile

35. 35
Customer perception of online travel agency experience
Good experiences
 Book cheapest flight that meets the needs from consumers
 Experience opportunities in the nearby area
Bad experiences
 Rebooking arrangements
 Comparing prices of different travel destinations and packages
 Notify when flights, trains are late
 Meeting needs for cheapest bookings
For booking hotels abroad the emotional experience is the most important of all. British people
complain the most about bad accommodations and lazy, bad staff. Travel agencies and hotels need
to target goals for the perfection of consumer experience. The best hotels and restaurants are
besides the accommodation and food strongly known for their professionalism and excellent
behavior towards visitors.

36. 36
§5.3 Expected added value
What added value do the hotel guest expect of a small scale quality hotel ?
After realising a comparison between some similar hotels to QL Hotels about the preferences of
English people we can see that the higher value is the staff, cleanliness and furniture.
In the study realised we could see that the cleanliness is important for this people, if the hotel has a
problem, they always will tell the bad experiences. If the hotel solve the problem for example giving
to them a free suite. For example this experience of Lydia from Nedwick (United Kingdom): “We
were upgraded for free into a luxurious spa suite. It was fantastic. The bed was so comfy and the
bathroom was awesome!”
”The bath was dirty when we got there- there was black hair all in it (me and my boyfriend both have
blonde hair). The tap was wobbly and the water splashed everywhere when the tap was turned on.”
For them is also important the furniture, the
design of the room and if is comfortable.
They do not like mediocrity and bad service and of
course the tardiness.31
The breakfast it is also important for United
Kingdom people, being the bacon the product
more demanded. Predominantly they prefer
English breakfast.32
31
http://www.booking.com/
32
http://www.eumed.net/

37. 37
§5.4 Persona
In this paragraph, a typical hotel guest will be described. In marketing terms this is called a (buyer)
persona. It describes a fictive person that could very well be a potential hotel guest. You can read
about their education, family life, work situation and their age for example. It is a very useful tool,
because the better you know your customers, the better and the more effective you can
communicate with them.
For creating a persona, a typical person from one market segment will be described. It will be about
one woman that fits in the segment “English people that have an above average income (>$30,000)”.
This is Isabelle Sanders. She is 29 years old and lives in London.
She is a successful business woman and earns approximately
$38,000 per year. She attended pre-university education and
after that, she went to the London School of Economics and
got her certificate. Currently, her life consists of working days
from 9 am till 6 pm. Always busy. She has a relationship with
Brad, who she met during a business conference. They are now
together for 6 years and experienced a lot together. From
starting in the hard business world of till they were both
successful entrepreneurs.
They do not have children yet, but are planning to be parents within 5 years. Currently they are living
together in an apartment in London. Sometimes they both desire a weekend off, in a luxury hotel
which they can easily afford and just enjoy each other’s company and be relaxed for a few days.
Her interests are tennis, cooking and fashion. On an average day she works from 7-18 o’clock. Then
cooks dinner and enjoys it with her boyfriend. There are a few days per month where they can’t eat
together. They sometimes go to the cinema after dinner. Sometimes there is time for relaxing on the
couch, but most of the time she will go play tennis or will read fashion blogs. Those blogs influence
her style of buying. She buys on an impulse.
What is important to her is her boyfriend, her work and the time they can spend together without
thinking about work, which is too less. That is why a stay at a quality hotel would very much attract
her.

38. 38
Conclusions
This report is about a marketing plan for QL Hotels and it covers the following aspects:
 Macro analysis
 Microanalysis
 Potential guests
Going through the first part of the project we can conclude that the UK market is attractive for QL
Hotels. Not only for the similarity of the guests with the Dutch ones when it comes to analyze the
main characteristics of the customers but also for the indexes shown in the individualism and power
distance when dealing with the Hofstede analysis. This aspect would make easier the communication
between QL and its special guests that are going to choose these range of luxury services.
However, there is a wide range of competition that could make QL lose market share and that has to
be taken into account from the beginning.
Having chosen one market segment for the development of the third part of the project, we could
advise QL to focus on fulfilling those characteristics presented all along the document (for further
information check part C). In this case we have selected the upper class families in order to show
what this kind of guests are looking for. However, it would be advisable for QL to consider the main
perusing that concern the rest of segments once they can control the market properly in order to
reach more customers and success in a better way.
USP’s :
1. Small distances from England to France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands. All the
hotels are in a maximum of 3 hours drive from the Dutch-German border.
2. High quality and the unique atmosphere of the QL Hotels.
3. Every QL Hotel has an excellent restaurant or has an excellent restaurant nearby the hotel.
Often, a professional cook is working in the hotels.
4. Extreme customer-orientation. Everything is about the hotel guests and everything will be
done to ensure that they have a pleasant stay in the QL hotel.

39. 39
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http://corp.marketmetrix.com/how-guests-select-hotels-around-the-world-global-results/
http://www.escapadaseuropa.com/2008/10/16/los-jovenes-britanicos-prefieren-agencias-tradicionales-para-
reservar-sus-vacaciones/
http://bookassist.org/blog/en/
http://www.trefis.com/stock/tzoo/articles/217510/why-travelzoo-should-consider-buying-back-its-asia-pacific-
arm/2013-12-04

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Appendices
A: Project plan
Research design
- Central question
How to (online) market the QL Hotel brand in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage
for small scale luxury hotels in England within one year?
- Sub questions
A.1 What are the relevant macro-economic factors relevant to consumer quality hotel bookings in this country?
A.2 What is the attitude towards (online) hotel bookings in general in England?
A.3 What cultural differences could be relevant for the way to best promote Hotel marketing services?
A.4 What is the emotional image of The Netherlands with respect to quality hotels with the target groups?
B.1 What are the consumer market segments for quality hotel bookings?
B.2 Who are the competitors?
B.3 How is QL Hotels perceived in England?
B.4 What are the consumer attitudes towards (small scale, quality) hotels in England?
B.5 What are the main publications relevant to the consumer market segments?
B.6 Are there any relevant media, networks, partnerships, trade fairs etcetera?
C.1 Analyse the current online presence of QL Hotels
C.2 Describe a customer journey
C.3 What added value do the hotel guest expect of a small scale quality hotel ?
C.4 Develop a persona of a typical consumer
- Which models are we going to use?
Macro-economic factors/external analysis: DESTEP
Meso-economic factors: Porter & Hofstede model
- Type of research
Descriptive

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Time and activity planning
In this chapter our time and activity planning will be showed. We use three main parts: macro, meso
and potential guests. Eventually this will result in a market research report.
Part Week Sub parts Who will do it?
Starting up
the project
2 Make project plan Annika,
Dannique
2 Make project contract Tim, Diego
3 Market definition. Define the scope of your market Tim, Diego
3 Determine the USP´s of this concept (as perceived by
the target market in England)
Annika,
Dannique
A: Macro 3 What are the relevant macro economical factors
relevant to consumer quality hotel bookings in this
country. DESTEP-analysis
Annika
3 What is the attitude towards (online) hotel bookings in
general in England?
Diego
3 What cultural differences could be relevant for the way
to best promote Hotel marketing services. Use the
Hofstede model
Dannique
3 What is the emotional image of The Netherlands with
respect to quality hotels with the target groups?
(country of origin image)
Tim
B: Meso 4 What are the consumer market segments for quality
hotel bookings?
Dannique
4 Who are competitors (marketing organisations for hotel
booking)? And make a SWOT
Tim
4 How is QL Hotels perceived in England? (awareness,
attitude image)
Annika,
Dannique
4 Consumer attitudes towards (small scale, quality) hotels
in England
Tim, Diego
4 What are the main publications relevant to the
consumer market segments?
Diego
4 Are there any relevant media, networks, partnerships,
trade fairs etcetera?
Annika
C: Potential
guests
5 Analyse the current online presence of QL Hotels
(website, social media)
Annika

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5 Choose one promising potential consumer target group
for quality hotel, describe customer journey and
motivations for searching, selecting and booking.
Tim
5 What added value do the hotel guest expect of a small
scale quality hotel ?
Diego
5 Develop a persona of a typical consumer (hotel guest)
based on research
Dannique
Finishing
project
6 Make management summary Together
6 Conclusions Together
6 Recommendations Together

44. 44
Project contract
- Background
This project contains a research for QL Hotels in England. The main aim of this project is to analyse
the reputation of QL Hotels on the basis of reputation model and assess their online communication
channels, therefore deliver a strategic advice and operational plan for QL Hotels at the end of the
project.
- Project objectives
Problem identification
The project analyses the way the company builds and controls their reputation. The key research
questions of this project include:
- What are the current corporate reputation and sustainable policies of the company?
- What is the external online communication of the company?
- What should the company do to maintain or improve its reputation in the future?
Project goals and answers provided
The project team will deliver an advisory report in which a strategic and operational plan on how to
maintain/improve the reputation of the company is presented.
- Project commission
The project group is going to deliver a group presentation and an advisory report
- An advisory report contains detailed description of the company’s current corporate
reputation and external online communication with strategic advice. The report will provide
answers to the research questions stated in the paragraph 2 Project objectives.
- PowerPoint presentation within 20 minutes to provide a brief information to all other
students and coaching teacher with details of the progress of the project, the result of the
project and answer questions.

45. 45
- Project Planning and Organization
Team members
Tim Visser
E-mail: timvisser1990@gmail.com
Tel: +31610638168
Dannique Nijboer
E-mail: dannique_nijboer@hotmail.com
Tel: +31611848188
Diego Carrillo
E-mail: diegodcc@hotmail.com
Tel: +34620300353
Annika Hagman
E-mail: annika.hagman@windesheim.nl
Tel: +358407542976
- Project Cost
Task Time allocation/team member/week (hr)
Project kickoff 3
Project Plan 3
Starting up 4
Part A 10
Part B 10
Part C 10
Finishing 3
Final report 2
Group meeting 10
Lectures/ Feedback 10
Total 65

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- Quality and Risk analysis
Quality
The project quality standards is based on team members’ feedback. We agree that every document is
read by everyone in the team. The feedback is given immediately so we can avoid grammar mistakes
or to improve the content of the document.
Risk analysis
Communication problems: We exchange contact numbers, email and Facebook account to keep in
touch with all members in the team.
Running out of time: Every team member will follow the project plan and project contract strictly to
make sure that we will finish the project on time.
Loss of information due to computer crashes: All the documents are saved into group’s Dropbox and
Facebook group to prevent loss of information.
- Code of conduct
• The essence of the meeting is to complete the project in the scheduled time.
• The meetings are informal and structured.
• Everyone is allowed to talk.
• Everyone takes the decisions.
• The decisions are made by consensus.
• The teacher role in the project is to provide help when needed.