SAVE THE DATE
Resilient Tourism Flagship Annual Conference 2024
We are excited to announce the 2nd Resilient Tourism Flagship Annual Conference 2024, this time organized by HSLU. During the conference we will show and discuss progress made in our subprojects. We have also planned two interesting keynote presentations delivered by our international guests.
Register now and join us!
Note that the event is open to everyone this time.
Flagship partners get free access.
For more information, visit the website.
Newsletter #3 - February 2024
SP1
National Data Infrastructure for Tourism
When creating a national tourism data infrastructure, use cases sometimes dictate prioritization. Accordingly, our project partners have prioritized one of the four proposed use cases: “Visitor behavior analysis”. The data for the visitor behavior analysis comes primarily from Swisscom Mobility Insights, Mastercard and Intervista's Footprint Research Panel. Ticino is intended as a pilot application destination. HSLU covers the role of data trustee. The data will be brought together in the spring 2024 in a cloud solution with respect to rights and data protection and then analyzed.
To create a decentralized NaDIT, the IT system landscapes of the Swiss tourism regions were systematically recorded. A “Röschtigraben” appears. The landscape is very heterogenous and shows that various platforms, applications and systems providers are in use. Only a very few tourism-specific systems are used throughout Switzerland. More information about tourism system and providers can be found on our blog.
The IT systems that contain web content cannot be centralized at the national level. They must communicate with each other, for example so that offers across regional borders can be easily promoted, as tourists do not care about these regional borders. Standardizing the data according to e.g. schema.org for web content contributes to simpler data exchange. Over the next few months, work will be carried out on categorization and standardization in close co-operation with the project partners.
At the same time, the list of data of interest to Swiss tourism continues to grow. The current status can be found at: https://www.tourismdata.ch/ Besides, on the website you can read several blog posts about data in tourism, data categorization and other topics relevant for our project. Check out our blog, it is available in English and in German.
SP2
Service Design, Business Processes and Business Models
We are working on various fronts of our sub-project with its four work packages. Specifically, we have made progress regarding the topics of productivity, visitor tracking, and business model design.
We have conducted a thorough analysis of productivity in service industries, considering feedback from our partners in the field. Against the backdrop of a digital system map in tourism and hospitality, key performance indicators (KPIs) are currently being developed and will be integrated into a management cockpit. We are discussing productivity concerns with the industry and devising implementation strategies regarding the optimization of specific business processes.
Together with HSLU, Intervista, and Switzerland Tourism, we are in the final stages of preparing a comprehensive study to determine the conditions under which visitors would be willing to be geo-tracked. We will begin fieldwork in the second quarter and expect to have the first results by the third quarter. Our goal is to establish a foundation for tracking visitors over time to better understand their behavior and derive specific offers and service designs from this information.
We are confident in our ability to design integrated business models for tourism and hospitality. However, our pilot study on the combination of mobility and overnight stays has come to a halt. Despite encountering setbacks in our initial approaches, we are currently revisiting the books and developing further models. Equitably allocating risks and rewards is a fundamental challenge in all corporate networks or business ecosystems, making projects like this exceedingly complex.
This can also be observed in another study, in which we are trying to develop business models for energy generation and distribution together with Seilbahnen Schweiz and selected cable car companies. Our initial analysis has shown that the distribution of risks, costs, and revenues is crucial for the success of such ideas. Finally, and in line with insights from our study on visitor tracking (with HSLU), we are currently taking the first steps towards developing a business model for a corresponding digital tourist app.
SP3
Modelling the Resilience of Tourism Systems
An online survey conducted as a supporting activity
While our team continues to develop and refine the simulation model and its user interface, we have conducted an online survey to evaluate the digital practices and strategies employed by Swiss tourism offices. This survey, which complements other SPs of the Flagship, garnered responses from 94 tourism organizations, providing valuable insights into the challenges confronting the Swiss travel sector.
The survey delved into the evolution of digital marketing trends, particularly focusing on the increasing adoption of social media, strategic data management, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). Key findings from the study include:
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Data Strategy: 22% of respondents reported having a data strategy in place, while 31% intend to develop one. The primary goals of these strategies are to personalize the customer experience (89%) and leverage data for knowledge and monitoring purposes (83% and 78% respectively).
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Social Media: Tourism offices exhibit a preference for platforms offering visual content and targeting opportunities. While the main objective remains reputation enhancement and customer engagement, there is also a growing interest in product marketing.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI): A significant finding reveals that 56% of tourism offices have initiated AI implementation, predominantly in translation tools and text content generation. However, the utilization of AI for functions such as human resources planning, virtual reality (VR) applications, and revenue management remains less common among respondents.
SP4
Coordination, Orchestration and Communication
Digital Transformation in the canton of Vaud: We are pleased to announce the completion of our first round of coaching sessions with Vaud Promotion and SPEI (cantonal economic office), in close collaboration with five local companies: Heima, Simoïs, Mayko, Nyon Région Tourisme/Blent and Lavaux Patrimoine Mondial. These companies were selected from a pool of applicants and received a CHF 5,000 grant to develop a specific project. For 6 months, we followed the development of their projects, all related to digital transformation and/or data. Following the coaching programme, they have all applied for additional funding opportunities, with some having already received positive responses to take their initiatives forward.
As we move into the second round, we are honoured to work with new tourism stakeholders: Château de Vullierens (Portes des Iris), Aquatis Aquarium SA, Montreux Vevey Tourisme, Nexswiss SA, Association de l'Arboretum du Vallon de l'Aubonne and Avenches Tourisme. Each of these organisations - representing a diverse group of tourism stakeholders and sectors - share a common goal: to use data to improve customer insights, enhance the visitor experience and optimise internal operations. Read more in the article below. If you are interested in collaborating on a specific project, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Resilient Tourism Podcast Series: As Season 2 of our podcast draws to a close, don't miss out on our latest episode featuring renowned international hospitality expert, Michael Levie. Dive into insightful conversations across 12 episodes, exploring the critical importance and challenges of digital transformation and data. Our guest lineup includes industry leaders from the Vienna Tourist Board, the European Travel Commission, Booking.com, Accor Tech, the European Tourism Data Spaces (DATES) as well as renowned academics and tech companies. Tune in and enrich your understanding of the evolving landscape of tourism and its digital transformation.
Travel Digital Transformation Hub: we have recently contacted some of our partners to participate in the creation and design of the Hub, an open space platform dedicated to supporting the creation, orchestration and development of technology driven innovation projects in tourism. The overall goal of this hub is to streamline development of Swiss tourism through coordinated efforts and impactful projects that benefit the wider travel industry. If you would like to be part of our development, or just to learn more about it, feel free to contact us at resilienttourism@ehl.ch. The Flagship welcomes collaborations and additional engagement, and we would be keen on engaging with you on this workpackage.