Deep Diving on Digitalisation in Tourism

Let's Talk Digitalisation & Recovery

August is a quiet month, right? Well, it turns out that the pandemic changed everything, especially when it comes to work.

It goes without saying that we worked incredibly hard throughout 2020 to support the industry and our members to work through their recovery needs by producing lots of new material, design templates and trend boards, reflecting how the market is reacting and shifting. As digitalisation has always been part of our DNA, the seismic shift towards digital throughout the pandemic is perhaps something we didn't quite anticipate to result in an equally huge shift towards digitalisation support, going right back to visiting the very fundamentals of digital and addressing digitalisation needs at their core. But it is what we do, so we were ready.

Fast forward to January 2021 and something changed in a big way. Whilst most of the world was very much still in lockdown, it seems a new year prompted a change in gear from DMOs, Enterprise Agencies and International Development Organisations, who make up the lion's share of our client base. So with our January inboxes stacking up with 'Digitalisation in Tourism' requests, the team quickly got on the job and responded. So what has this led to?

Digitalisation, Enterprise Support & Co-Design in Canada

We started the year with a really exciting project working for the Canadian Government's 'Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency' which looks after the enterprise and industry needs for governments, municipalities and businesses on Canada's Atlantic coast.

Bringing a unique and original approach to the table, the team put together a really rich and immersive Mural board looking in-depth at how to support digitalisation in tourism, from the basic needs to address, right through to how digitalisation can be embedded if we look at the goal of becoming a 'smart destination'. Exploring this over two remote and interactive workshops, we went deep on a wide range of perspectives and case studies around digitalisation from all over the world, whilst setting out a development model which could be applied to support businesses and the industry trying to tackle digitalisation in Canada.

Our DMO members might be surprised to learn that Enterprise Agencies are a key client area of ours, often supporting tourism alongside DMOs, creating the right framework for business support, funding and mentorship programmes. Naturally, it was with this perspective that we asked ourselves, "how can co-design support the many local enterprise teams throughout Canada to address digitalisation locally?"

'Shooting for the Moon': Digitalisation 10 Years Forward in Sweden

Also at the start of 2021, we worked on a very comprehensive digitalisation programme in Sweden, with Sm?lands Turism, which involved the participation of local industry and views from our expert team to provide a diverse range of perspectives to help furnish a deeper understanding around the opportunities of digitalisation on the horizon - far ahead, like far ahead.

Here, we combined a little of everything we love into a dynamic and rich programme which included co-design remote workshops and extensive research. This included a 'looking back' report exploring the impact of digital over the past decade and a 'looking forward' report, anticipating the future impact of digital and crucially, the opportunity to be competitive.

This is one of those projects with an 'ah ha' moment right at the end, for us and also for the team at Sm?lands Turism. Why? Well, we worked extensively on how disruption happens, looking at everything from the role of digital in the rise and eventual disruption caused by low-cost airlines, right through to businesses today and that 'mindset' issue, which never seems to dissipate.

The penny dropped after extensively mapping out, in a strategy, report and even a project management plan ready to go, that supporting the industry with their development needs in itself requires significant resources and doesn't always lead to a transformation. Another perspective is to "shoot for the moon", think big and become a beacon for what digital excellence might really look like, serving to inspire and provide a catalytic effect for those inspired to join that journey.

Technology in the Global Tourism Value Chain

Another exciting and certainly challenging project has been with the World Bank, looking at technology in the tourism value chain. It goes without saying that tourism is an important industry upon which many jobs and entire economies depend upon, but do we truly understand the complexity and barriers to digitalisation that technology can throw up? Well, that has been the objective of this extensive piece of research, where I've personally taken it upon myself to map out, in-depth, the entire tourism value chain concerning the role of technology.

It's certainly fair to say that the ask from World Bank turned out to be more complex and threw up a few more complications than first imagined. Without going into detail, the complexity of this challenge asks more questions than anything else. As you look into the detail, you quickly understand that knowledge and capacity issues are only the surfaces, as an industry, we have a duty to tackle head-on more pressing issues around competition, investment, and the 'level playing field' aspect digital.

I'll be synthesising my research with expert interviews, but you'll have to hold on a little longer for the in-depth findings. Nevertheless, for the many wonderful things digital brings our industry, and I am a steadfast advocate for most of them, there are as many, if not more challenges, which go beyond simple transformation opportunities. They touch right at the core of competition. So when we talk about digitalisation and competitiveness, we perhaps should be asking this; is digital fuelling competitiveness for the industry in a sustainable way, or is it in effect removing the bottom line from the very industry which depends on it?

Designing a DMO for East Jerusalem with Technology as a Foundation

One that perhaps stands apart from the typical projects we work on day-to-day is a piece of work being conducted for GIZ, the German International Development Organisation. This work is focused on building a brand new DMO for East Jerusalem from the bottom up, starting with a technical framework to support the digitalisation of the sector by addressing issues around access to technology, bookability and global distribution first and foremost, as a foundation for establishing a new model for the DMO.

With this piece of work, I am personally involved in advising the team in East Jerusalem on the ideal technical framework to provide a foundation for the industry, as they focus on a more aligned way of moving forward, establishing the right tools and platforms to house, aggregate and distribute data according to open data standards and ensuring the accessibility of data for any imaginable future application. My work involves guiding the development of the technical architecture behind an eventual brand and product offering, which it is hoped will serve as a catalyst for wider sectoral development.

Work is very much underway but this is certainly a lesson in how to reverse engineer the design of a DMO, where digital is the foundation, not the last brick. It requires us to, on the one hand, be ambitious with our eventual aims, but on the other, it's a project which always brings us back to the fundamentals. When talking about digitalisation and tourism, this can easily be sidestepped. How do you create a strong brand, identity and product offering which will ultimately establish a competitive image for the destination? What is the right approach to addressing gaps in digital amongst the industry; should we subsidise technology or lead businesses to it? These will be the questions to work through as we move this to the next stage.

Staying Ahead with the Pivot: Trends from Singapore to the Garden of England

Lastly, let's talk about 'the pivot'. Well, this is no longer a new term for anyone but do we really understand what the pivot means when we think about the practical ways in which we should respond to changes in the market? Together with Laura Morello, our Knowledge Lead, we spend a lot of time researching, understanding and exploring how the industry needs to adapt to trends. This was always important before the pandemic, but post-pandemic it's both a question of short to mid-term survival, but also making sure we adapt to the semi-permanent or long-term shifts.

Whilst the world may look like it has?more or less returned to normal, we all know that in reality, we are very far from 'normal'. With so many questions still in the air, around the future of business travel for example, or the return of the weekend city break, there are a few certainties we can already identify. For the rest, well, a futurist would perhaps predict what's coming, but we reserve the discretion to simply anticipating it together with you and your industry.

I'd love to close this piece by sharing a little on work we've done this year in two different parts of the world. Singapore Tourism, because they are consistently investing in their industry, whether knowledge sharing, competitiveness through digital investments or awareness through impactful storytelling. I had the great privilege of running a lighting-speed remote keynote, deep-diving into every trend impacting our industry right now and focused this on the attractions sector as one in clear need of support to re-think the offer as the market changed so dramatically. This has been just a piece in the puzzle in helping the industry frame how to move forward, what has changed forever and what has changed for the moment, and of course, how to remain competitive in digital.

Here at home right on our doorstep,?Laura?has been building the first parts of a 20 part series of Product & Experience development workshops, together with Visit Kent. This touches right at the heart of tourism, to help businesses locally develop incredible new products and experiences which respond to the changing needs of the market. With Kent 'The Garden of England' being such an incredible destination right on our doorstep, this project isn't only interesting but also has a lot of heart.