Everything about him screams Zoover. Former student International Tourism Management Martin Dieleman has been with the company from its early years and he is part of the organisation’s inner circle. Zoover has been growing rapidly since its inception in 2005 and Martin grew along with it: from account manager to project manager and eventually to manager leisure relations.
After completing his general secondary education, Martin moved from Zeeland to Den Bosch (former Tio location) for Tio. He completed an internship at a Holland International travel agency – fun, but not forever – and discovered his own marketing talent during a work placement at VCK Travel. After graduating from Tio, he travelled across Australia for a year (together with his girlfriend, another Tio alumnus). Martin: “Once I got back to the Netherlands, a former classmate put me in touch with Eurorelais. I started at the sales department and later became a product manager. I purchased private properties in Spain and Portugal and regularly talked to homeowners. Almost always via telephone, though. Just when I was getting tired of that, the vacancy at Zoover caught my eye.”
International player
At Zoover, Martin was hired as an account manager. His job was to sell advertising space on the company’s website to tour operators. At the time, he was the organisation’s seventh employee. Zoover had yet to gain traction on the Dutch market. These days, Zoover has grown into an international player with 100 employees, an 85% brand recognition rate and activities in 25 countries. Martin: “Zoover continues to develop. At the moment, for example, we are working on a way to involve travel agencies with Zoover.”
From account manager to project manager
A company that depends on its online environment naturally requires extensive IT support. Martin therefore left his position as account manager and became project manager of the IT department, which was located in Romania at the time. He structured the department, improved its communication and hired new employees. “At some point, this all became too technical for me, so we decided to hire a dedicated IT manager.”
Manager Leisure Relations
Up to that point, Zoover had mainly directed its marketing efforts at consumers. The owners of accommodations, such as hotels and campsites, were still mostly being overlooked. To change that, Martin established the new Leisure Relations department. “The main goal of this department is to get owners of holiday accommodations to realise the added value that Zoover offers and to give them a platform. We actively approach these people and offer them online and offline tools to motivate guests to leave a review on Zoover. Owners get free promotion via Zoover. They can also upload pictures and videos and react to their guests’ reviews.”
New developments
The fact that Zoover is a great company to work for is clear right away. Martin: “Zoover is a young, international business with a lot happening. For example, we are currently developing two new apps. It is fantastic to be involved with all these new developments.”
Follow Martin on Linkedin.