Mentoring is a two-way path!

I love to reunite with former students, currently, brother in arms in Touristology’s battles. I was a mentor to them, nowadays... well they mentor me back! They’re my eyes and ears in the vast possibilities to develop a career in the tourism sector. Of course, I try to keep up to date with books, article, blogs, doing consultancy, or setting up a new start-up BUT nothing can beat the customized information that my Touristologists desire to share with me.

I cannot be everywhere at the same time... Unless, I’m not alone! My Touristologists and I make a successful team!

A case in point, a few days ago after finishing my class I met with a professional in the tough life of urban hotel management. We talked about the role of a Yield /Reveneu Management in hotels. I was telling him/her that Revenue Managers have to be at the top of the hierarchy. At least, this is my experience working with big international chains and small and medium size hotels where the manager has studies related to Tourism. This is also the idea that I get reading articles that I shared in Twitter 

 

To me Revenue Manager has to think about new segments, customize the service (servuction remember) build chains of value (1,2,3 theory rings a bell?). They must excel in analysis tools related to big data and financial issues. They have to know about web-engineering in order to now when it is better to buy a solution or make a new one from scratch. They have to know how to integrate these solutions making departments working together and chains of value acting as a unique entity!

All this is only possible if you have access to all the information. Only, if you can see and improve the inter-departmental connections. Only if you can build relationships with all the members of the chain of value!

Yes Jordi, I agree, BUT this is not the case in my chain of hotels. Where I work - patiently explained to me the Touristologist- Reveneu managers study historical data, predict occupancy, fix prices and then put these prices in different channels of distribution. Segmentation, servuction process and channels of distribution (usually the most important OTA and CRS) are previously defined.

Touristologists, remember this! I know that you are eager to begin working. You also want to earn money, but in order to become a Master in your profession you have to first pass the apprentice phase (this Christmas I really enjoyed reading “Mastery”by Robert Greene...).

In the apprentice phase you have to focus on finding the right mentor and enterprise, where you can learn the basics to become a master.

Don’t focus on salary now (if you can!) focus on creating powerful roots, the reward will come later with prosperous career and respect from your colleagues. Then you could become a mentor yourself and let Touristology run its eternal cycle!!

The same day when I got home I talked through the internet with some of my Touristologists. They are international warriors working in a flat world.

Portuguese in Dominican Republic...

Catalans in Swansea

Italians is USA... We have different backgrounds and culture, but one thing in common... The world is our Office and we love Tourism sector!

They help me to advise future Touristologists how to become international warriors! Of course, all universities have an internship department and they are good at their task BUT nothing can beat My Touristologists desiring to share their experience to the next batch/crop of Touristologists!

I mentor them... then they mentor me back! I love Touristology!

 

The making of a Touristologist builder.

Previously in this blog, I Touristologistly declare to be a Touristologist builder. I have been a lecturer in tourism for 21 years. I neither teach the same course 21 times nor use the same methodology. Both the concepts and the methodology improve/ evolve after each class, seminar, in-company training or conference.

A long time ago, I understood that it is not about lecturer’s knowledge (of course, it is important that you master your topic, but this is a prerequisite) the real thing is that at the end of your job your seed the desire to learn AND a framework to get new information, process it and make the right decisions.

As some of my Touristologists from Portugal say…

At the beginning of my path to become a Touristologist builder I had the opportunity to travel to Peru and improve my skills as a speaker and consultant.  It was a great experience! The only inconvenience was that the trip was in the middle of a course… when I returned I thought that in 5 days I could do the same as in 10 and I did it. I finished the syllabus BUT a little voice was telling me all the time “You explain everything BUT are you sure that they understand, that they get the framework, customize it and create their own one?”.

That year I learned that the good part in the educational process is when I stop talking and begin listening.

When my Touristologists take control of the class, prepare a presentation and become leaders of the class is when I can see the strong points, their weaknesses, their misconceptions…  I begin to sculpt the Touristologist inside each one of my students. Sometimes we end up with a regular Touristologist (always my fault!) sometimes with a masterpiece (always thanks to good raw material!!)

I do that in my classes but also when I do in-company training and try to transform isolated departments focused on their task to a perfectly greased machine coordinated with the whole enterprise OR Isolated enterprises into a fully integrated chain of value: A nimble, agile system able to get the trust and add value to the customer.

As I always say “We have to achieve that all departments work  as a single organization and our chains of value working as a single enterprise” This is not easy, but it is what XXI’s century tourism is demanding in order to create communicate and commercialize, fast and customized tourism services.

So, what is the beginning of the process, the bedrock of these kinds of entities?

Without any doubt… PEOPLE! Beginning with tourists. It is not enough to create customer orientated organizations. We have to transform our clients into our collaborators. At the end of the day, it is not MY enterprise or MY tourism destination anymore. It has to be OUR company or tourism destination.

Are you worried about your on-line reputation? Do you want to give positive comments about your enterprise? Do you think about giving negative comments about your competitors? I strongly recommend not doing it! First because I ‘m sure you have better things to do (look for new segments, build and manage chain of value….). Second, because I believe that these kinds of actions create a bad energy around you ( you are in the service business, you have to smile and be  good with people and convey good feelings). Third, because it is possible that the web discovers your actions and it usually doesn’t forgive this kind of behavior.

Is it not much better to convince, to engage your customers to make positive comments related to your business?

Is it not much better to convince, to engage your customer to gently reply bad comments and try to convince others to change their minds related to your business?

Do you want to know what kinds of services are valued the most by your customers? What kind of activities they desire? Let them make proposals of products! Let them communicate and commercialize these products (Here we have an example related to KLM, that I commented about in another post)

In order to do that, you have to transform your customer into a kind of Touristologist. You have to do the same with your collaborators and your employees. So, do you want a better company? Educate, train, your customers, collaborators and employees. As I always said “Help them to help you”

You can achieve this goal through a teaching specialty named in-company training or seminar. A seminar or an in-company training is far different from a regular course. In the second one I know from the beginning what I have /need to teach. In an in-company training, on the other hand, I put all the knowledge (related to the topic, of course) in front of the assistants and then WE pick up the best tools and mental schemes, taking into consideration their lack of experience or interest. As I said right at the beginning “This is not MY class, this is OUR class” It could not be any other way. Am I not repeating over and over that we have to convince our customer that it is not MY enterprise but OURS? Why would the education process be different?

The other day my five year old son was crying. He was afraid of dying. I’m telling you what I told him (of course after big hugs and tender kisses!!!)…

Don’t be afraid of dying… Be afraid of dying without finding yourself first, without learning your role in this crazy world and accomplish it! Then you will die in peace with a smile in your face…

I’m a Touristologist builder. I have been helping to create hundreds of Touristologists. They’re spreading like a plague into the tourism sector around the world, changing the way we enjoy, manage and define Tourism. They are Touristologists, Touristology is OUR science and this is OUR blog!

Web 3.0: A Touristologist’s vision

The other day I shared this post with my fellow Touristologists:

Today, I would like to provide a little bit more of information about this post… First, I believe that foodspotting has created a very good app. A good example of LBS (Location Based Services) and social sharing application following the winning philosophy of… “Develop and Design for mobile first”

But, as happens with most of the applications in the tourism field, this app shows a lack of integration of all the members of the chain of value and I strongly believe that the future of mobile apps pass through providing support to the tourist, before, during and after the trip. To me this is the real RE-EVOLUTION in the web. The real Web 3.0!

For starters, almost everyone agrees that Web 1.0 was all about INFORMATION one direction only. Whoever organizes the information the best, wins (GOOGLE).

To me, web 2.0 and therefore its business model  is also UBIQUITIOUS computing (not only mobile) and syndication which brings the possibility to get and send 3 C’S over internet. You also can complement syndication with web scraping.

When we try to define Web 3.0 there are as many definitions as experts you ask.

For some, it is all about MOBILE. Mobile is indeed very important in the future of internet but I think that is far away from a change of paradigm. To me, mobile computing is sharpening up web 2.0, making compulsory to add the features provided by ubiquitous computing and syndication.

Whoever makes the best mobile app wins???? I doubt it! For instance, Wehostels, recently won a prize in the PhocusWright conference as the most innovative startup company.  Surely, it will allow their owners to earn a lot of money AND it will be a beacon about how to create a native app useful and easy to use!

I don’t say that this app is not important BUT My prediction is that in less than two years this app will be sold to another member of the chain of value. It can be a new chain of hostels or one of the OTA that appears in the video…

Unless they choose to focus on chain of value’s leadership using the web 3.0 features we will discuss later on… Unless, they choose to first specialized then generic...

It has happened before. Do you remember worldmate? The native app we saw here, recently they were bought by Carlson Wagonlit Travel. The same happened with Traveldoo bought by Expedia… making me say…

So, to me AND from Touristology’s point of view…Mobile is an improvement but not a RE-EVOLUTION!

For others, web 3.0 is all about the semantic web (Big Data, NLP : Natural language processing, NoSQL…) and YES Machine Learning that we talked about the other day. I’m sure that semantic web will be very important BUT, because, it will make it even easier to develop/grow the key features of web 3.0 for the Tourism sector: 

So, what will be web 3.0’s most important characteristics? INTEGRATION and SYNCHRONIZATION.

An example about synchronization can be the service provided by netflix; no matter which device you use they know what the last frame you saw is. Paraphrasing…No matter which member of the chain of value the tourist talks with before, all the members of the chain of value will know about that conversation and deals (of course, in a customized way and  with total privacy for the customer), making easier service customization, service recovery, happier customers and prosperous business!!!

Integration allowing you to break departmental silos. As we pointed out here in one example for Revenue Management. Integration, also in the chain of value giving support to the tourist from the beginning to the end of the trip!

Integration and synchronization means the possibility to provide a good servuction inside this metadepartments and metaenterprises, which usually Touristologists call chain of value inside 1,2,3 theory!!!

There is plenty of room in the fields of Touristology and Web-Engineering and we, as  Touristologists, will have plenty of opportunities to build successful careers!!!

Are you able to build up a chain of value for specific segments?

Are you able to apply integration and synchronization in your chain of value?

If the answer is YES!... Welcome to Web 3.0 for Tourism, Touristologists!!!