A. Overview of Good Practices

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MODULE 5

V. Good Practices and Case Studies

A. Overview of Good Practices

Introduction

The fifth module of the UpSocial project will present how best practices in digital tourism can be used to improve related entrepreneurship. Utilizing proven and successful best practices in training allow for greater impact generation as well as hands-on practical information and knowledge on conducting tourism business, enabling improved skills acquisition.

The module will provide definitions of best practices and their use in digital tourism entrepreneurship, offer examples depicting success stories, and further analyse them to foster social entrepreneurship, innovation and tourism-oriented mindsets. But what exactly are best practices in the context of tourism? Simply put, best practices are tried-and-tested procedures that have been shown to produce optimal results and established as standards suitable for widespread adoption. In digital tourism, best practices involve leveraging cutting-edge technologies, innovative strategies, and personalized approaches to effectively create and market tourism products and services.

Definitions

What is the definition of a best practice around tourism? According to Merriam-Webster, a best practice is “a procedure that has been shown by research and experience to produce optimal results and that is established or proposed as a standard suitable for widespread adoption”, a best practice in the tourism industry enables one to learn and or build upon something already successfully done. Applying it in the area of digital tourism will enable you to quickly progress to deliver your service and products. Shortly, best practice in tourism refers to a proven procedure, backed by research and experience that consistently produces optimal results and is widely accepted as a standard for adoption.

All the steps involved in creating a business that makes money using digital and technology means via electronic networks are considered to be part of digital entrepreneurship. Any type of enterprise that uses digital technologies for either commercial or social and governmental reasons falls under the purview of the digital entrepreneur. Digital entrepreneurship is frequently distinguished by technological innovation flexibility, which entails the conversion of fresh concepts, discoveries, and commercially viable company methods. It entails developing an excellent idea into an original one that adds value to the digital market (Vartosis, 2022). Digital tourism entrepreneurship can be described as entrepreneurship, that uses digital technologies, such as social media, websites, mobile apps, and other digital platforms to create and manage the business. In today’s digital society, this should involve using innovative digital tools and personalized strategies that identify, create, and market tourism products and services to ensure maximum visibility, appeal, and uptake by foreign and domestic tourists. For example, enhancing the tourist visibility of an archaeological site enhances the attractions of the tourist destination with beneficial effects on the overall visibility of the local tourist services. Using the same example, from the demand side, the customer satisfaction index, due to the tourist’s experiences during their stay at the tourist destination, increases (Deng et al. 2013). If any entrepreneurs can develop an application for this case it could be accepted under digital tourism entrepreneurship. That is a specific example of digital tourism entrepreneurship.

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The digital tourism ecosystem

Collaborating with touristic operators, internet companies and local suppliers have led the creation of the digital tourism ecosystem which integrates digital platforms and IT solutions to reach the final market. The experience for the tourist is greatly enhanced since it allows personalisation and interest-based travelling. The majority of tourism providers are considering moving towards digitised services as the advanced forms of information and communication technologies allow for the rapid digital transformation of the digital tourism industry, also supported in Europe by the European Commission and national schemes available offering funding.

Additionally, the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology enables the recording, storage, analysis, and display of geographic data, providing valuable insights for tourism businesses and travelers alike.

Moreover, the implementation of 3D modelling and virtual reality (VR) allows tourists to virtually explore destinations and attractions before making their travel decisions, offering an immersive preview of their potential experiences.

Furthermore, the use of Augmented Reality (AR) overlays digital information in a real-world environment, enabling tourists to access interactive and engaging content as they explore various locations.

Digital Documentation is another valuable addition, which involves documenting physical locations through digital means, such as photos, videos, or scanned documents, contributing to their digitization and preservation for future generations.

Looking at statistics and expected digitalization of the tourism industry in the next years, the following numbers are available:

Digital tourism is expected to generate up to $305 billion due to increased profitability.
Around $100 billion net-worth will be distributed to new tourism operators and suppliers thus, adding to the competition as well as predicting new job and market opportunities in the sector for new start up entrepreneurs.
Using digital technologies will decrease labour costs, reduce environmental footprints, offer better safety for the traveller at an estimated 700 billion.
Allow for the creation of new generation skilled jobs inside and outside the travel ecosystem displacing the existing ones.

As young people are tech savvy and tourism is a sector of employment interest to them, there are some factors that are more advantageous for them, namely:

They are more technologically efficient and have easy access to new technologies as well as respective understanding,
They can offer touristic experiences that capture travelers interests,
They are motivated to create niche products and work with sustainability,
Social entrepreneurship is important for them, hence, a digital business in this area promotes their strong social and environmental responsibility,
They can use social media channels to promote, market and raise business awareness,
They have best practices to learn from and build their business ideas.

Strategies and models to use best practices in digital tourism entrepreneurship

As per any research conducted, one will locate a plethora of best practices that can be used when contemplating the need to commence a digital tourism business. Furthermore, analysing practices offers an insight on skills and competences needed. Research shows that relying on best practices, experiences, exchange of views and building upon results and products already in distribution, one can ensure a valid and prosperous starting point. When considering possible strategies or models to follow, one must carefully create their own business plan and expand it with services and products within the necessity to reinvent the wheel.

Tourism is becoming digitised and ever-evolving with services and products increasingly being dependable on technologies. As a new business owner, the following strategies in utilising best practices can be used:

Using best practices as a business strategy:

Looking at successful best practices from a high-level point of view will give you the following advantages:

Learn how to build trust and credibility and build a strong brand,
Build a sustainable business model and adopt responsible tourism practices,
Help you stay competitive,
Learn how to manage social media and digital marketing,
Monitor your business performance,
Help you develop strategic partnerships.

Each of the above can be broken down into detailed, analysed information allowing a digital tourism business to learn from past experiences and build on pre-existing knowledge. In more detail:

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Learn how to build trust and credibility

One of the most important reasons to use best practices in the tourism sector is to build trust and credibility with potential customers. In the digital age, your clients will have access to a vast amount of information about travel destinations and tourism operators while at the same time, being more likely to choose companies that have a reputation for providing high-quality services and experiences. By following best practices, such as maintaining high standards of safety and security, providing accurate and transparent information, will help you deliver extraordinary customer service as well as help you create a positive fame resulting in the attraction of more clients.

Similarly, one can learn from the process of building strong brands such as Uber, Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Moptil etc., on large or smaller scales related to digital tourism services and products. Make efforts to review these brands or others and identify what makes them stand out and succeed. In particular, you can review their formation and development processes and analyse their setup. Whether small or big, these companies started with a business idea and a mission statement, where you also need to start. Identifying a gap in services or products is key in the digital tourism industry, and creating value propositions is key to your success. Let us review the business canvas model for Booking.com.

Starting small and expanding your business is key; thus, already in the formation stage, scalability and transferability (to other peripheral services) should be considered.

Build a sustainable business model and adopt responsible tourism practices

Thinking of adhering to the EU Green Deal and sustainable tourism practices. Consider creating a digital tourism business, which is based on sustainability, as well as following a model that will allow you to follow the future green and environmental tendencies where your business can thrive. Having selected related best practices can teach you how to engage with the local community, and promote social issues and responsibility. This will aid you in increasing your potential of long – term success and building a brand, which has a positive impact in society.

One tourism sector branch that you can consider is ecotourism which falls under the category of sustainability. Ecotourism as a business model focuses on providing sustainable and responsible travel experiences while preserving and promoting the natural environment. It emphasises the importance of conservation, community involvement, and education. If you want to work on this, you should create tour packages that offer visitors the opportunity to explore and appreciate natural habitats, wildlife, and local cultures in an environmentally friendly manner. Your profit and revenue would come from these tours and any related accommodation you offer. Of course, you can also opt to reinvest profit in various community development projects.

Help you stay competitive

Digital tourism is constantly evolving and new technologies are trending. As a digital tourism owner, you need to stay on the latest trends, technologies, monitor customer preferences as well as continually making efforts for new products and services or their modifications or upgrades. Innovation is what can differentiate your business from competition and monitoring industry standards, technological innovations and other information, is key. Following best practices and examples is a very important part of this as it will allow you to always learn from others and state of the art activities in your field.

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Learn how to manage social media and digital marketing

One of the most important digital tourism tools are social media because they help you reach a large and wide audience, contribute to building your brand but also increase your sales. Identify best practices in digital tourism entrepreneurship where social media helped in developing a strategy and content campaign allowing the business to be presented in search engines and raise awareness. Moreover, carefully analyse how different brands engage with their customers through the social media channels.

Monitor your business performance

Being able to monitor and evaluate how your digital tourism business is performing is key as quick mitigating actions allow for flexibility and decrease of possible risks that you might face. Being able to rapidly respond to analysed data will help you identify your digital business strengths and weaknesses, track progress and work towards achieving initial objectives and goals by making informed decisions. Best practice identification will aid in your KPI definition, evaluation of performance, analysis of data to be used for long-term strategic steps as well as facilitate your understanding of your digital business.

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Help you develop strategic partnerships

Any business needs to develop a collaborative network and expand it continuously with new services and products, new cooperation partners as well as upgrade of own skills and competences to manage these networks. Business networks help you in increasing your brand visibility but perhaps, also complement you with their services to offer package deals. Locate best practices that include building partnerships (travel agencies, accommodation providers, local and regional authorities, tourism boards etc.) and establish mutual beneficial agreements. Re-visit your agreements regularly to discuss long term goals and short-term benefits.

Using best practices as a business model

Similarly, to the above strategies, you might opt to work with digital tourism models based on best practices to set up, elaborate and manage your digital tourism business. Below are a few proven models applicable to the digital tourism industry.

Subscription based model,
Partnership based model,
Online travel agency model,
Destination marketing model,
Accommodation platform model,
Cultural tourism model,
Technology-oriented model,
Adventure or niche traveling model

Let us examine each one in more detail.

Online travel agency model (OTA)

As a digital tourism business, perhaps you wish to collect and re-sell services and products from suppliers (airlines, hospitality sector, tour operators etc.). Review best practices available and in particular, how they negotiate rates, provide packages and related information, how they support their customers as well as how they can become competitive digital tourism businesses providing a one-stop shop for tourism services. Examples include Expedia, Touriosity, Booking, Agoda, MyTrip, eDreams, Kiwi.com, etc. See link for a complete guide of all the OTAs.

Destination marketing model

If you are interested in promoting a specific touristic destination as part of your digital tourism business, this marketing model might be of interest to you since it provides dedicated information and knowledge about a site’s attractions, activities, hospitality potential etc. Use related best practices which have conducted market research and locate which features are worth focusing upon, how they interact with the local community as well as how their digital marketing is set up. Promoting a win-win situation with local businesses is key.

Accommodation platform model or similar

As Airbnb has proven, creating a digital platform for property owners is a lucrative digital tourism business. Review Airbnb’s quality control system, payment structure and customer service model to extract specific features that would help your own digital tourism business.

Cultural Tourism Model

New digital tourism start-ups find that working with cultural tourism is a good starting point for their business since they can promote their own knowledge, experience and infrastructure of their locality. Find ways for your digital business to preserve and promote cultural heritage and traditions and create cultural tours, events, festivals, gastronomy tours etc. Use existing best practices (see TripAdvisor, Airbnb Experiences, Get Your Guide etc.) and work with the local community to promote services and products.

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Technology oriented model

If technology is a leading feature in your business, investigate leading innovative travel technologies at hand such as VR, AR and AI that will enhance the travel experience for your clients. Furthermore, using APIs and other digital tools might create a niche competitive advantage for your business. Locate best practices which show an understanding of emerging technologies and trends and see if you can collaborate with them. Of course, you will need to undertake market research to set up a successful travel technological and innovative business offering state of the art tech solutions to your customers. Experiment with digital assistants, chat bots, AI engines, wearable technologies and locate what works for you. Have a look at Moveo.ai which allows you to create your own AI chatbot.

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Adventure or niche travelling model

These two models are usually selected by start-up digital tourism entrepreneurs due to the fact that they have experience or wish to cater for specific touristic target audiences. Adventure travel usually involves hiking, trekking, kayaking or similar where you will need to partner up with local suppliers, ensure safety and security protocols are of high quality and standards as well as adopt sustainable and responsible tourism practices. A challenge would be to adapt them to digital technologies or use of technological equipment during the tours to create a competitive advantage. These types of experiences are usually unique and memorable to your clients.

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Niche tourism

Niche tourism refers to targeting specific customer groups who display special interests. These can be gastronomy tourism, marriage tourism, 3rd age-tourism, eco-tourism, wellness tourism, medical tourism etc. Locate best practices that focus on understanding their customers and creating specific and dedicated services to cover specific and niche needs. The key is to provide personalised and authentic experiences, create strong partnerships with local quality and high-end providers and slowly build your brand.

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