The internet booking project is a result of a recent strategic review of France Vacances undertaken by its senior managers – the two directors and their direct reports. The SWOT analysis showed that...

The internet booking project is a result of a recent strategic review of France Vacances undertaken by its senior managers – the two directors and their direct reports. The SWOT analysis showed that France Vacances has a good reputation in its marketplace and a lot of ‘brand recognition’ by its target market. However, this target market (reasonably affluent professionals) does make extensive use of the internet and it was felt that being unable to offer this service would increasingly become a weakness. At least one of France Vacances’s competitors already has an internet booking service (albeit not a very good one) and others are sure to follow in the near future. Applying the internet to France Vacances’s position using Porter’s five forces model also produced some interesting results. The internet tends to increase the power of buyers (as they can shop around more easily) and lowers the cost of entry for new competitors. In addition, the suppliers (the owners of the gîtes and chalets) can also set up their own websites, thereby cutting out brokers like France Vacances and increasing their own relative power. The conclusion of the strategy review was, therefore, that not setting up an internet service was not a viable option. Also, since the competitors’ sites were not very good at present, it was felt that creating a very good and userfriendly site would provide a source of competitive advantage (at least in the short to medium term).