Samenvatting

Amsterdam Velo is a bicycle tour company which is active in and around Amsterdam. It was founded in 2011 by the owner Paul Spits. The business has been prospering quite rapidly ever since. However, the tourism industry is dynamic and changing fast, in order to anticipate to the changes it has to compile a new strategy. The company is endeavoring to be innovative and trend spotting in order to meet the ever-changing environment.
The amount of incoming tourists to the Netherlands in 2011 was 11.3 million and it is expected that this amount will grow with 1% in the upcoming two years. The amount of French speaking tourists from France, Belgium and Switzerland, which is the main target market of Amsterdam Velo will grow even faster.
The target market needs Amsterdam Velo because it offers tours which are guided by professional, experienced and native French speaking guides. Moreover, it offers a 'French touch' by being very well aware of the socio cultural demands of the French speaking tourists.
The company is not fully taking advantage of these strong features. It is struggling to penetrate more deeply in the niche market, and to increase its market share due to underdeveloped online (social media) marketing. As a consequence it is prerequisite to alter the strategy to attract more potential customers.
The internet penetration in Europe is expanding rapidly. The trend is that the majority of the travelers are tailoring and booking their entire trip online by making use of search engine websites, intermediate websites and social media sites. The customer wants to interact with the vendor, it wants to make its desires clear in a manner which is not time consuming and complex. Communication is essential here, listening and providing the right services online is the new strategy in order to reach potential customers.
Thus, it is recommended that Amsterdam Velo launches a dynamic 2.0 website which can be integrated with the social media sites Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. In addition, it should apply content strategy by putting up a blog, this will generate website visits, leads and eventually sales. Mutually, it should make use of search engine marketing, which will boost the traffic to the website. These online marketing activities will serve the potential customer by meeting its needs for interaction and simplicity. Meeting these needs will increase exposure, improve the visibility and personality, and raise the market share.