Industry overview
What is shaping hospitality
Hotels, restaurants and travel brands are judged on every stay, meal and review. Guest experience, consistency and online reputation drive bookings.
- Online reviews strongly influence bookings
- Consistency across properties builds trust
- Guests expect personalised service
Client background
A destination marketing organisation, working in Visitors from the UK, Germany, the USA, Japan & Australia. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A destination marketing organisation
- Sector
- Hospitality
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Consumer panel, Quantitative research, Research consultancy
Client challenge
The destination marketed itself with the same message in every country, focusing on beaches. Visitor numbers had plateaued, and the organisation wanted to know which travellers from which countries offered the most growth and what would attract them.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: segmenting international visitors for a tourism destination.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of international travellers.
- Produce results that can be compared across groups and locations.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 9 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 4,000 international travellers.
- international travellers4,000
Audiences we typically reach in hospitality
Guests and dinersCorporate travel buyersFront-line staffTravel agentsOnline reviewers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Visitors from the UK, Germany, the USA, Japan & Australia. Markets: United Kingdom, Germany, United States, Japan and Australia.
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- United States
- Japan
- Australia
Research methodology
A structured quantitative design, so results could be compared across groups, locations and time.
- 1Brief
- 2Online survey of travellers
- 3Segmentation
- 4Insight
We surveyed travellers in the UK, Germany, the USA, Japan and Australia who had taken an international holiday recently, covering motivations, travel styles, spending and perceptions of the destination. Responses were segmented by holiday needs, and each segment was profiled by country. Questionnaires were offered in English, German and Japanese.
Consumer panelQuantitative researchResearch consultancy
Sampling strategy
- international travellers
- 4,000
- Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
Data collection
- The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
Data quality & validation
- Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
- Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
- Review of open-ended answers
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Segmentation into groups the client can act on
Key findings
- Culture-seekers and wellness travellers were the most valuable segments, with different country profiles.
Segmenting travellers revealed growth that a single message had missed.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: segmenting travellers revealed growth that a single message had missed.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: culture-seekers and wellness travellers were the most valuable segments, with different country profiles.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- Campaigns were tailored by market and segment, emphasising culture in Japan and Germany and wellness in the UK and Australia.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: what do reviews tell us?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.