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The year 2022 closed with an aura of hope and optimism for the new year to come. Without forgetting the uncertainty that has prevailed in the tourism and hospitality industry in recent years, it seems that we have seen enough reports, publications, and predictions to believe that the year 2023 will be a promising one.

In fact, the inner fragility of the wider travel industry witnessed over the past few years is calling for the definition of a clear set of building blocks to foster the system resilience and adaptation in case of future sanitary, financial, climate, and other ‘earthquakes’; therefore, the whole industry is looking forward to adopting solutions to transform, strengthen the field towards a prosperous future.

Here is where the concept of datafication kicks in. Travel operators have seen during the past years of the pandemic the rise of the application of digital technologies to their business: one example can be the extensive use of the QR code made by almost all the players in the field for different purposes: from the restaurant and bar menus to the link to the website and/or videos (often sanitary-related – by the way: this is very peculiar of the travel industry: we need a pandemic to make use of a technology invented in the mid-nineties!).

In any case, QR codes are just an example: technology became closer to the travel operators and hotels, and destination managers realized that travelers' engagement with technology is producing data which can be used by their business.

In fact, data allows to understand our customers better and enhance agile decision-making. Data gets rid of speculations. Data provides facts, real-time value, and precise knowledge. It is the basis of every PMS system, OTAs, user-generated content and reviews, staff management, new technologies, and every piece of one’s business operations. By collecting, analyzing, and interpreting the relevant data, the broad tourism and hospitality industry, including small businesses, can upgrade their services and thus, their customer experiences. In other words, making sense of data brings meaningful value to the overall system, and it is high time for the wider travel sector to start trusting and investing in the power of data.

However, as we know, eighty percent of the industry is represented by small business enterprises with often few resources available and limited freedom of action, and all these ambitions seem somehow unrealistic. Most small businesses do not have the resources to even consider the possibility of changing their way of operating ‘business as usual’. And, while data is generated by every action taken by travelers and travel operators, the reality is that there is still an enormous gap between what is available and what is actually accessible.

Therefore, based on the importance of resilience, datafication and digital transformation for the industry, some nationwide and transnational initiatives have been developed to respond to these challenges and build data-driven resilient tourism systems. Examples of projects funded by recognized public institutions include:

  • DATES, the creation of a European Tourism Data Space: an EU-funded project that aims to explore approaches and options for the deployment of a secure and trusted tourism data space, ensuring transparent control of data access, use and re-use. DATES counts 13 European partners and is coordinated by Any Solutions.
  • Data Space for Tourism (DSFT): a market place that shall enable all sector stakeholder groups […] to share and access the data […]. led by a consortium composed of Modul University, City Destinations Alliance, European Travel Commission, and Forward Keys.
  • Flagship Resilient Tourism project: a consortium of 6 Swiss academic partners and 30+ industry partners working together to support the datafication of the travel sector in Switzerland. Specifically, the Resilient Tourism project aims at creating a National Data Infrastructure for Tourism to connect data users and data providers in order to develop data-driven resilient systems, business processes and services, while encouraging innovation through knowledge sharing and cross-fertilization.
  • DIGITOUR, coordinated by the Venetian Heritage Cluster: DIGITOUR PROJECT brings together SMEs from the tourism sector with providers of innovative, digital, and smart solutions and new technologies. Through open calls and facilitation services, DIGITOUR PROJECT boosts the tourism sector in Europe through digital tools and innovation.

Further examples of publicly funded and national initiatives demonstrate the relevance of the topic across Europe: the Open Data Germany project, the French platform DATAtourisme, as well as several other EU-funded transnational projects. These are good news for the wider tourism industry. Many countries are already investing and believe in the importance of datafication. However, all of the above-mentioned projects first require significant efforts from thought leaders and industry stakeholders to ensure appropriate data-sharing infrastructure and accessibility. The overarching objectives of all these initiatives are to foster collaboration, enhance innovation and sustainability, and increase productivity through better business processes. Ideally, these projects will provide spaces for everyone to interact seamlessly around mines of data, including for small and medium enterprises, thus building bottom-up value both for the industry and for the travelers.

Ultimately, data is not the end, but it is the means to reach the end goal of generating a better understanding of the customers and the industry. Data is not the ‘gold’ per se - gold is what is discovered within and actioned from data. What is this 2023 bringing to us is a deeper understanding of the importance of data by medium and small operators along with their awareness that together they can share their data to generate an even more powerful picture of their travel ecosystem, create innovative business models and prepare for uncertainty in the near future.

2023 will be the “bounce back year” for the wider travel industry. By leveraging data efficiently, hoteliers and tourism industry leaders will be able to provide high-quality and digitally-enhanced experiences for customers, improve operations and gain significant competitive advantage. However, we shall never forget the hospitality and thus the human essence of the tourism sector - technology should not and will not transform radically the industry; it is simply a lever to enhance and empower human interaction.

The EHL Hospitality Business School team coordinates the Resilient Tourism Flagship project, a Swiss initiative funded by Innosuisse and led with five other academic institutions and more than 30 industry partners to shape the digital future of the industry, as well as to foster cross-fertilization of communities of practice. In particular, the project will leverage the experience of national, regional and local destinations, hotels and other partners from the private sector towards the creation of an open-source data infrastructure to inform value creation in small & medium size enterprises operating in the industry.

EHL Hospitality Business School
Communications Department
+41 21 785 1354
EHL