How hospitable is Holland?
‘Holland’s hospitality from a foreign visitor’s point of view’
Author: Wielen, Josje van der
Co-authors: Wiegerink, Karoline & Jonker, Evelien Visuals: Hermanns, Mark
Publisher: Hotelschool The Hague Published: First published in 2014
Copyright © 2014, Hotelschool The Hague
Published by Stichting Hotelschool The Hague, Brusselselaan 2, 2587 AH, The Hague, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Hotelschool The Hague.
Introduction
Hospitality is the art of giving somebody the genuine feeling of being welcome. The ‘welcoming’ factor is growing to be a major differentiator in many fields and especially in the hospitality and tourism industry. Creating a memorable hospitality experience is a challenge for suppliers of products and services, but also for a destination.
The Hotelschool The Hague research chair City Hospitality & City Marketing, endowed by the city of The Hague, conducts research into the question what makes a city a welcoming destination. Which elements are the most influential ones and how to manage the hospitable city? The chair aims to create value through city hospitality insights.
The research department of NBTC Holland Marketing, the National Tourism Organization of The Netherlands, supports the marketing of destination Holland with insight studies about experience and image of foreign visitors to Holland.
Both organizations are willing to share knowledge and resources and collaborated for the Holland Image Research 2012 (appendix 1). Resulting in adding specific questions to the questionnaire directed at the hospitality experienced in Holland and focused on answering the following two research questions;
1. To what extent do the different elements of service provision and other characteristics of the Dutch and Holland as a holiday destination add to the hospitality experience of foreign visitors?
2. Is there a difference in this hospitality experience between nationalities and the Mentalities?
This paper starts with a chapter on the Hospitality Experience Model and an answer to the first research question. Followed by an exposition of the possibly different perceptions of the visitors to Holland depending on their nationality and mentality segment. This paper focuses on the WOW factor, as described below, of the experienced hospitality in Holland.
The WOW factor
WOW factors are those factors that lead to unexpected happiness, also
known as delighters. If these WOW
factors lack, visitors will not miss them and it will not lead to dissatisfaction. However, if present,
WOW factors assure exceeded
expectations and induce memorable city hospitality moments (Wiegerink, 2012). The red line in the figure beside displays the surprises, the elements that exceed expectations and in which the wow-factor plays a
part (Kano, 1984). Due to the importance of the WOW factor as an impactful experience, within this research much emphasis has been put on the answer category ‘strongly agree’.
The City Hospitality Experience Model
The core of city hospitality is the way the city, or the country, is experienced as hospitable by its different target groups. It is therefore all about the experience of the hospitality proposition, i.e. when objectives and expectations of residents, businesses and visitors match with the welcoming behavior, hardware and atmosphere of the welcoming city and its hosts.
The nature and intensity of the experience depends on the characteristics of the demand side: the visitors. They are people with different backgrounds (situation, motives) and different relations to the country (as a resident, employee, visitor, student, expat, etc.) and different goals, wants, requirements and expectations concerning the (hospitality of the) country.
And then there is the country as a host: a metaphor for all hosts that create the hospitality experience of the country, consisting of the elements welcoming behavior, hardware and atmosphere (Wiegerink, 2012).
Experience of Dutch Hospitality
The Hospitality Experience Model
In order to make the hospitality experience tangible, Hotelschool The Hague has
developed the 'Hospitality Experience Model'1. This model is the basis for the design of an
analytic framework around the city hospitality experience. It contains a number of elements and shows the relationship between the host and guest. The model clearly illustrates that several elements of the hospitality proposition form the experience: behavior, hardware and atmosphere, which also interrelate and together make up the congruent hospitality concept (Wiegerink, 2012).
1
Cassee e.a., building upon Lewis & Chambers, inspired by the SERVQUAL model of Zeithaml & Parasurman, revised by M. van Prooijen (Van Prooijen, 2012)
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Based upon this model we examine which aspects, on both the demand and supply side, contribute to the overall experience of Holland’s hospitality through the eyes of a foreign visitor. Firstly, the characteristics of the supply side and their influence on the hospitality experience will be discussed. Secondly, the paper studies the intensity of the hospitality experience depending on the different frame of reference of the demand side; different in both nationality and lifestyle.
The hospitality experience in Holland
The Holland Image Research shows that three out of four visitors to our country think that Holland is a hospitable country. Besides, nearly three-quarter thinks that the country’s residents, the Dutch, are hospitable people. A runner-up score, as only the characteristics ‘tolerant’ and ‘friendly’ are agreed upon more than ‘hospitable’. But what determines this experienced hospitality?
The characteristics of Holland as a holiday destination
In the previous explanation of the model, we have mentioned that hardware, welcoming
behavior and atmosphere add to the created value of the hospitality experience in the country. In the questionnaire, visitors were asked to review the accessibility of Holland and whether they perceive the prices as high; two characteristics that could be labeled as
atmosphere.
Less than half of the visitors perceive Holland as an expensive holiday destination. However, it turns out that there is no statistical relationship between the perceived expensiveness and the overall hospitality experience. The accessibility of the country is, as opposed to the prices, a well-valued characteristic: almost a third regards the accessibility as a WOW factor. Accessibility is especially highly evaluated by people from the countries in close proximity of Holland (Belgium, Germany and the UK). Although good accessibility is one of the higher ranked characteristics, there is only a weak relationship with the experienced hospitality of the country.
There is a much stronger relationship between “offering good services” (a welcoming
behavior element) and the perceived hospitality. Holland does let go of an opportunity
here, as only one in five is WOWed by the service. The element welcoming behavior has
more influence on the hospitality experience in comparison to the hardware elements.
The characteristics of the Dutch
There are stronger correlations between the characteristics of the Dutch (welcoming
behavior) and the perceived hospitality than between the characteristics of Holland and the perceived hospitality. Evidently, the strongest correlation shows up between the hospitable behavior of the Dutch and the perceived hospitality of the country. The weakest correlation is with the tolerant behavior of the residents, although this is the characteristic mostly agreed upon by visitors. Friendliness, helpfulness and the resident’s open character influence the hospitality experience quit strongly. This proves again that
the element welcoming behavior of the people has more influence on the feeling of
The perception of the offered services
When asking the recent visitors of Holland about their appreciation of its offered services, there appears to be diversity between different parts of their visit. For example, visitors appreciate the services offered in accommodations, cultural institutions and tourist offices more than those in transport and the nightlife.
To what extent do these different service providers influence the overall hospitality experience of the visitors? For service providers with an important amount of personal contact with the customer, like restaurants, accommodation and shops, the influence on the total hospitality experience is relatively strong. Institutions that depend less on personal contact and more on the hardware they deliver, like museums and transport, seem to have less impact of the hospitality perception of the visitor.
The experience of having dinner or shopping when you are on holidays in Holland is largely determined by the friendliness, openness and helpfulness of the present staff. In museums, cultural institutions and transport this behavior seems to be less important. It could be, as an example, that the museum’s collection or the punctuality of the train is of more importance. Although investing in the relationship with the customer could also be of added value in these institutions.
Thus, we again see that the Dutch hospitality experience is mainly based upon hospitable encounters with the people working in the different tourist organizations.
75% 73% 72% 70% 70% 63% 63% in accommodation (hotels,
holiday house, B&B etc.) in musea and other cultural
institutions in tourist information offices
(VVV)
in shops
in restaurants and on terraces
in nightlife (bars, clubs)
in transport
(% (strongly) agree)
Figure 3: Perception of the offered services
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Hospitality experience in perspective-Nationalities
In the previous chapter, the different elements of the hospitable city/country have been
considered. As the nature and intensity of the experience depend on the characteristics of the demand side, this chapter will reflect on the foreign visitors of Holland, starting
with the variable nationality. What is the origin of the visitors and to what extent do the
opinions differ between nationalities regarding Holland as a hospitable destination?
The characteristics of Holland as a holiday destination
The table below illustrates that the people from the USA are the most WOWed by the hospitality of our country and that the French are significantly less enthusiastic than all
other countries.
However, a closer look reveals that when looking at the (strongly) agree bars, France scores the exact average of 75% and the USA strongly differs from the average. It seems that visitors from the USA are more likely to express their opinion in extremes, whereas the other countries have a tendency towards the middle scores (agree rather than strongly agree). Despite the lack of WOW for France, the lowest score concerning Holland’s hospitality comes from the Scandinavian countries.
2
2Southern Europe: Spain and Italy | Scandinavia: Denmark and Sweden | Intercontinental: Brazil, Japan, Russia and China
47% 46% 60% 60% 67% 42% 47% 44% 48% 33% 18% 16% 8% 33% 25% 22% USA UK Germany Belgium France Intercontinental Southern Europe Scandinavia
95%
79%
78%
76%
75%
75%
72%
66%
2Figure 4: Characteristics of Holland
Holland is hospitable
The characteristics of the Dutch
Not surprisingly, the USA visitors are also the most WOWed by the hospitable behavior of the Dutch, although this time slightly more nuanced and a little closer to the average of 22%. Again France, and this time Belgium too, seem to be less impressed, scoring below average in both categories. Striking is though, that this time the USA displays the lowest overall score. It seems that the USA is easier to WOW, but generally they do not perceive the Dutch as very hospitable. It appears that the positively perceived hospitality of the country of the American visitors is strongly determined by other factors than just the hospitable behavior of the Dutch.
When looking at both graphs, it can be concluded that the UK visitors have the most positive perception of the hospitability of both our country and its people and the Scandinavian countries are the most critical. Our direct neighbors score around the average, although Germany expresses its opinion a bit stronger than Belgium.
The perception of the offered services
What institutions offering service to the visitors with different nationalities manage to WOW the most? The perception of USA visitors of the good services being offered in museums marks the highest; almost half of the American visitors strongly agree. The lowest results are the verdict of Belgium on the services offered in Holland’s clubs and bars and that of France on the good services offered in the country’s shops (both only 6% strongly agrees).
One of the more surprising opinions comes from German visitors. Although the majority of their opinions are around the average, the German visitors are definitely not impressed by the services offered in the shops and in the restaurants of Holland.
55% 55% 46% 61% 59% 45% 42% 30% 26% 24% 30% 12% 10% 23% 25% 35% UK Germany Intercontinental Belgium France Southern Europe Scandinavia USA % agree
WOWed (% strongly agree) Average 73% (strongly) agree
81%
79%
76%
73%
69%
68%
67%
65%
Figure 5: Characteristics of the Dutch
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More than half agrees that good service is being offered, but only 9% respectively 8% is WOWed by the offered services. Could it be that the Germans usually have a higher standard with regards to service or does Holland underperform in this area through the eyes of the German visitors?
Overall, the French and the Belgians seem to be the most critical and the USA expresses its opinion the most positive again. This time joined by the Intercontinental countries, who seem to be WOWed above the average.
Hospitality experience in perspective - Mentalities
After analyzing the different perceptions of the different nationalities on the demand side, the following fragment will elaborate on the mentality of the visitors. Even more than nationality already might, the mentality of a specific visitor influences the specific wants, requirements and expectations a visitor might have concerning the hospitality of Holland as holiday destination.
Together with Motivaction, NBTC Holland Marketing has identified target groups for consumer approach. These are based on the lifestyle segmentation-model ‘Mentality International’. This international segmentation can be used for Western Europe and the USA. In this model, values, motivations and lifestyle of consumers are the starting point and identical in all countries. Personas of each Mentality segment are created in order to make the target group more tangible and concrete.
Within this part each mentality is briefly introduced with its persona. The specific results per persona are elaborated on concerning the perceived hospitality based on the characteristics of the country and the Dutch and the perceived quality of the offered services. A more elaborate explanation of the personas can be found in appendix 2.
The persona of the Mentality segment Traditional is called Mary. Mary is not easy to WOW and she mostly marks below average on all questions. Only nearly one out of six Mary’s is WOWed by the hospitality of Holland and of its residents. But the liberal attitude and the tolerance of the Dutch WOW Mary more. With regards to the perception of offered services, Mary maintains her modest opinion, but she does have a significantly more positive perception of the tourist information offices in Holland. In comparison to other Mentality segments, Mary’s more often use tourist information offices for planning their trip. This might be a reason for the higher perceived hospitality of the tourist information office (more than two out of three agree with the good services).
Alike with the traditional Mary, Peter from the Mainstream segment has a more moderate opinion and is often WOWed a little less than the other personas. A little over one out of six find Holland and its inhabitants very hospitable. Peter mentions the openness of the Dutch people more often than average.
The perceived accessibility of Holland stands out, as over a third is WOWed by it. Over one in seven perceives the services of the accommodation as WOW, though the nightlife, the shops and the restaurants/bars impress Peter less.
At first sight, nothing really attracts attention with regards to the opinion of Paul (Upperclass segment) on the characteristics of the country and the Dutch; all scores are around the average. What does emerge is the fact that nearly 2 out of 5 is WOWed by the hospitality and welcoming behavior of the Dutch. This could mean that the upperclass Paul is easier to WOW, but seeing the other results, it is more likely that the hospitable behavior of the people in the more upper-class institutions that Paul visits is of a higher level and therefore more perceivable as WOW. This same reason could explain
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why Paul is significantly more positive about the good services in restaurants and the nightlife than Mary and Peter. This does not explain that although staying significantly more often in luxury hotels than other personas, Paul agrees the least on the good services offered in hotels compared to the other personas. This could be attributed to Paul’s higher expectations of his accommodation.
When looking at the results of Nora, from the mentality segment Postmoderns, it is obvious that she has a more outspoken opinion than the previous personas. She perceives matters more often as WOW than Paul, Peter and Mary. Once you have read Nora’s profile in appendix 2, it will not be surprising that Nora mentions openness, freedom and culture more often than other personas when being asked about the characteristics of Holland. Nearly a quarter of the Postmoderns is impressed by the hospitality. And although one out of
five is WOWed by the hospitality of the Dutch, Nora puts more emphasis on the open character, tolerance and friendliness of the country’s residents.
Nearly a third strongly agrees that Holland is well accessible, which is more than all the others. Additionally, one in five finds that the services offered in transport in Holland are remarkably good, which is considerably higher than the some of the scores of the other personas. And as culture lovers, almost a third of the Postmoderns strongly agrees with the good services offered in the museums.
Michael, the persona of the Achiever segment, is the most enthusiastic persona with regard to the hospitality of Holland (the highest WOW-score). Almost a third of the Achievers perceives that hospitality as WOW and a quarter is WOWed by the hospitality of the Dutch (which has only been exceeded by the surprisingly high score of Paul). It seems that this thrill seeking group is more inclined to express their opinion in extremes. Not necessarily because their experience is more extreme, but probably because they want to make it sound more great and intense as their environment expects them to do so. More than any other persona, Michael experiences the nightlife of his holiday destination. With this experience, one in every four is truly impressed by the good quality of the services offered in the bars and clubs (this for example compared to only one in ten of the Traditionals).
Conclusion
1. To what extent do the different elements of service provision and other characteristics of the Dutch and Holland as a holiday destination add to the hospitality experience of foreign visitors?
The element welcoming behavior (being-guest oriented, friendliness, speed and attitude
of employees and residents) has more influence on the foreign visitor’s perception of
Holland’s hospitality than the atmosphere. The characteristics of both Holland and its
inhabitants the Dutch that refer to welcoming behavior have a stronger correlation with
the hospitality perception than other characteristics. Overall it can be concluded that welcoming behavior is of great significance for the experienced hospitality of Holland.
2. Is there a difference in this hospitality experience between nationalities and the “Mentalities”?
We have examined strong differences between the nationalities and the divers lifestyle segments. The WOW factor of the offered hospitality in Holland is experienced differently by visitors with diverse nationalities and lifestyles. This different perception depends on the different frame of reference of all the foreign visitors; a frame made up of different expectations and different cultures. This difference in expectations and perception is also part of the Hospitality Experience Model.
The challenge for Holland is to exceed expectations. But how do we exceed expectations of all visitors if the perception of Holland’s hospitality is so strongly influenced by their frame of reference? For managing the hospitality experiences and even creating WOW factors, a deep understanding of these frames of reference is necessary. A single Dutch Hospitality experience does not exist; different visitor target groups experience different ‘Hollands’. Focus is necessary to influence experiences.
The advice is to start with the people that are in direct contact with the foreign visitors. The first impression Holland and its inhabitants make, is of crucial importance. Holland
does need to continue to focus on the hardware. Although the hardware influences the
hospitality experiences less, it is still considered to be a hygiene factor and absence of hygiene factors will lead to dissatisfaction.
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Sources
NBTC Holland Marketing (2012) Holland Image Research 2012, NBTC Holland Marketing,
The Hague, The Netherlands
Kano, N., Seraku, N.,Takahashi, F. and Tsuji, S. (1984) Attractive quality and must-be
quality, Journal of the Japanese Society for Quality Control, Tokyo, Japan
Van Prooijen, M. (2012), The City Hospitality Experience Model – shaping a hospitable
city, EuroCHRIE 2012
Appendix 1: Holland Image Research
The Holland Image Research 2012 (Holland Imago Onderzoek) offers an insight into the image of Holland, the Dutch and Holland as a holiday destination. NBTC conducts this image research every four years in the most important countries of origin of foreign tourists, in total 13 countries. The Holland Image Research 2012 has been executed again in Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark and Sweden. For the first time, Japan and the emerging economies Brazil, China and Russia have been added to the research.
The research has been conducted amongst more than 11,000 foreign tourists that have or have not been to the Holland before (referred to as visitors and non-visitors). All interviewees have at least travelled abroad once in the past 3 years. The Holland Image Research covers topics such as; the overall opinion on Holland as a country and its inhabitants, the Dutch, and Holland as a holiday destination. In this paper we specifically focused on the visitors to Holland and how they experience the hospitality in Holland.
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Appendix 2: The Personas
Traditional ‘Mary’– 22% of the visitors– average age: 54
Mary is family-oriented, holds on to traditional norms & values and values order, orientates locally, avoids risks and likes tradition regularity.
Mary lives in a village and drives a comfortable, safe and economical car. In her free-time she likes walking, cycling, the country-side and nature. Two third of this group is an empty-nester. She regards Holland as a country for cyclists, Amsterdam and cheese and she finds the Dutch are liberal, tolerant and hospitable.
Mainstream ‘Peter’ – 17% of the visitors – average age: 41
Peter balances between traditional norms, values and change. Family oriented and he likes to consume and be amused. He wants status, respect, law and order.
Peter lives outside the city and drives a trendy family car. In his free time he likes to go to the pub and play computer games. He enjoys visiting a fun fair or amusement parks. This group consists of empty nesters and families with their youngest child under 12. Holland as a country for Peter is Amsterdam, a country for cyclists and cheese.
The Dutch are liberal, open and hospitable.
Upperclass ‘Paul’ – 17% of the visitors – average age: 49
Paul holds onto traditional values and values a highbrow culture. He is family oriented and protects his social status. Paul thinks hierarchically and finds etiquette important. He lives outside of the city and drives a sustainable quality car. His hobbies are self-education, playing sports like tennis and golf and going to the spa. In his free time he visits theatres and galleries. Almost a third of this group is empty nester. Paul has enjoyed a higher education and has an above average income.
Paul regards Holland as a country for cyclists, Amsterdam and that it has a beautiful landscape. The Dutch are liberal, tolerant and speak many other languages.
Postmodern ‘Nora’ – 22% of the visitors – average age: 43
Nora is an individualist. She likes a mix of high- and lowbrow culture and she value the immaterial. She is open-minded, tolerant and looks for experiences & self-actualization.
She lives in the city center, in the older neighborhoods and she drives classic cars. Her hobbies are doing nothing, music and cooking. In her free time she visits lectures, (art-) movie houses and public parks in the city. 30% is single, 23% couples. Holland as a country is Amsterdam, a country for cyclists and open. She finds that the Dutch are liberal, tolerant and speak many other languages.
Achiever ‘Michael’ – 22% of the visitors – average age: 39
Michael is status and career oriented. He is an individualist, hedonist and materialist. He prefers a lowbrow culture and looks for thrills. Michael lives outside the city in new housing estate and drives a trendy sport car. His hobbies are playing poker, dancing, movies and sports. In his free time he goes to concerts, the cinema and the sauna. Almost a quarter consists of families with their youngest child under 12, closely followed by couples or singles. Holland as a country is Amsterdam, beautiful landscapes and a country for cyclists. And he finds the Dutch to be liberal, open and hospitable.
