57 tourism SMEs and 15 digital experts have attended the TOURBIT co-creation workshops for the digitalization of companies and the search for solutions to common problems through technology. The co-creation workshops were held by the TOURBIT partners during September and October to bring together tourism SMEs, startups and other key players in the tourism ecosystem.
The union between professionals from different fields helps to improve and develop the tourism sector, modernizing and preparing it for the challenges of the future. Through the exchange of ideas and the exposition of different shared situations, companies and tourism agents learn how to improve their businesses to offer a better product and service through digitalization.
These workshops serve as points of union where knowledge is shared for the benefit of all attendees.
Analysis of the challenges for tourism companies
Through the activities, common situations for many tourism SMEs emerged, among which we can find lack of strategy and knowledge of tools, poor understanding and adoption of technology, problems with human resources or company needs that are not being addressed.
Once the weaknesses are recognized, different ideas and strategies were shared to continue improving and evolving, achieving a more current, modern, and efficient tourism sector.
The opportunities identified for the digitalisation of SMEs
The workshops have made visible ideas and real needs found in tourism, while showing ways to meet them and improve most issues of the SMEs involved. Some of the opportunities identified involve a proper definition of the company’s commercial strategy and other measures such as the use of questionnaires provided by digital consultancy services to facilitate the digitalisation process of SMEs.
Along these lines, the workshops highlighted the opportunity for greater collaboration between tourism companies and technology companies to adapt digital solutions to tourism needs, as well as the creation of a centralised booking platform for physical and digital tourism products. In other words, having a platform that aggregates all local experiences and offers curated and personalised suggestions to customers.
All of these are examples of integrating AI into business and internal processes to improve productivity and increase the online presence of companies. In this scenario, it is crucial to have a digital leader among the team to train and educate others on digital solutions.
The end goal is to deliver a complete and personalised end-to-end digital experience for the end customer, enriching communication on both the demand and supply side.
Co-creation workshops for SMEs around Europe
This co-creation workshops were implemented in 7 regions of Europe by all TOURBIT partners. The chosen areas were Belgium, France (Île de France), Iceland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain (Catalonia) and Finland (Lapland).
These regions are important tourist spots in Europe with the capacity to attract many tourists. Through the improvement and modernization of the SMEs that have attended the workshops, we are trying to establish a model of tourism that is responsible and conscious of the environment that is visited.
If you are a tourism SME and want to take your business further, contact us and register in our online Tourism Business Community Tourbizz to be aware of all our free seminars and content to help the digitalization of your company or business.
In Catalonia by CTB & BCC
In Catalonia by CTB & BCC – working groups
In Brussels by hub.brussels
In Iceland by ITC
in France by Welcome City Lab – Paris&Co
in Lapland by LUAS
Example of Customer Journey
