Mar 29, 2014

Going deeper into Holistic Hotel Management: Example 1

The other day, I made a summary about how Hotels can make the most of Internet. If you remember, we highlighted some points that Touristology proposes in order to make this possible. In a nutshell:
A) Avoid fighting Economies of scale battle
B) Instead focus on the most profitable segments
C) Find the relevant people/organizations inside each segment/chain of value and…help them to help you!
Let’s illustrate these points with a couple examples, one in this post and the other in the near future. Shall, we?
We can use as a base to build a Touristology’s study case, the story of The Da Vinci Code that we reviewed here. If you remember, in 1946 Noel Corbu purchased the former estate of the Abbey Berenger Sauniere, from the former priest of Rennes-le-Chateau between 1885-1909, and during Easter 1955 he opened a restaurant in the Villa Bethania, later also turned into a Hotel.
The hotel itself faced some difficulties due to its fairly isolated location, until He managed to transform a commodity into a magnet of attraction for customers around the world (passing a simple 2 in a Super2 in Touristology’s terms).
You can learn about how He did that in the same post. You can also see that I asked My Touristologist for more growth strategies. Can we create our own 1,2,3? Can we develop a S3?  As I always said, We are the best minds in the best sector ever… So, the following are some of their brilliant ideas (which make me both happy and proud!).
FIRST EXAMPLE:
As the hotel was previously an Abbey - began to explain one of the most intelligent Touristologists I have ever had the honor to teach - I’m sure that some reforms and improvements were necessary over the physical support, in order to execute a good servuction. If you add the fact that nowadays it is a trend to transform Military and Religious places into lodging facilities, as we can see here and in this video…


…It’s clear that somebody has to plan, design and implement these reforms - Of course- continuous the Touristologists- We will do the design of the servuction and the creation, communication and commercialization throughout the chain of value that we will also build!
BUT… obviously, it’s much better to leave the physical transformation in the capable hands of one architect. A normal one? Much better a specialist in this field!
So, as appear the opportunity to learn, as it’s proving that travelling increases the learning experience, because it provides different perspective from experts and cultures around the world… We, as a Touristologists, have a golden ticket to sharpen our skills! We can organize and sell a tourism product focused on architects around the world!
Automatically, the Touristologist set up a team share/assign Touristology tools to them and in a few days they show me the final result.
Can you do the same? Here are the tools My Touristologists use…
A) Segmentation Matrix: In order to build a community that, as you know, is one of the ways to get a competitive advantage in Tourism

B) Segments accountancy: In order to know the margin and the Break Even Point. Two key elements for anyone willing to create new Tourism products
They also use the concept of Super 3 and send me e-mails with the following information that I wasn’t unable to link with this project ;-) . Can you?
architour    architours    archtours....
I love Touristology’s games! What about you?

Mar 18, 2014

Holistic Hotel Management

I’m in the process of writing a chapter in a book about hotel management. They asked me for a summary of the main ideas that I wish to convey… AND I decided to use this blueprint to make this post, share it with My Touristologists and, if I’m lucky (I always am!!!) get some insights from their experience.
As I always say….
My Touristologists are the best audience in the entire world AND I love to learn from them. I was their mentor; nowadays… well they mentor me back!!!
So, in a nutshell these are my ideas…
1) Tourists have always wanted to get backup/support and manage the trip from the beginning to the end.
2) New internet orientated technology allows these features in a personalized, syndicated and pro-amized way (Does Web 2.0 business model ring a bell for you?)
3) Using these new technologies, some members of the trip’s phases (Touristologists like to call them members of the chain of value!) help the tourist to manage the trip, gaining their trust giving the 3 C’S when and how the tourists need them. Let’s see some examples, shall we?
We can talk about booking or kayak and in the picture below we can see their influence in most of the members of the chain of value and, therefore, in all the servuction inside it.

They appear above most of the hotels in google and they have fancy facebook’s pages with thousands of followers. You go to kayak and see in a single website or mobile app the 3C’s from different members of the chain of value… other Central Reservations Systems, On-Line Travel Agencies, the Property Management System of the hotel… you name it!!!
They can do that using the techniques (Web Services, Web Scraping…) that we talked about here and that you, so much, enjoyed in OUR class!
We also can talk about AirBnB and how using the same techniques, can share content, commerce and community across the chain of value. We saw this in this post where I strongly recommended this article which highlights the necessity of a new job title “Growth hackers”… people with both technological and business model skills. By the way, it sounds like a Touristologist managing the chain of value, to me!!!
We talked about WorldMate here and its features that allow the tourist to get the 3C’s (content, commerce and community) in the way we describe in Web 2.0 business model. One mobile application is all I need! Far from perfect BUT as you know I see things not for what they are today BUT for what they can be! This allows me to see the brilliant future of Touristology when I see My Touristologists… This allows me to see what worldmate or other mobile app (maybe one created for My Touristologists!!!!!) can end up being!
4) Hoteliers don’t make the most of this new technology and the desire of their customers to manage the whole chain of value. They are still focus on providing a good service at home (I mean at the hotel!) leaving the job of bringing customers to infomediaries and intermediaries. Forgetting, that if you don’t control the chain of value others will!
5) Hoteliers! The Internet can be both a blessing and a curse. You experience firsthand the curse (that forces you to mark down the price, to use intermediaries with higher commissions and ever tighter conditions) Are you ready to experience the blessing?
 I think is time to recover the control over our prices and the loyalty and trust of our customers! Embrace long tail theory and remember some Touristology’s rules:
            A) If you want to serve everyone you are competing against the big 500kg gorilla in new economy jungle, using the strategy they are masters of… Economies of scale. It sounds an unequal battle to me!
B) Instead you’d better focus on the most profitable segments of your business (Does Segments Accountancy ring a bell for you?)
C) Find the relevant people inside this segment (Does The Tipping Point ideas ring a bell for you?) and Help them to help you!
D) Then deliver excellent servuction from the beginning to the end of the trip throughout the chain of value!
So, this is my blueprint, Touristologists! What do you think? As you know I, strongly, appreciate your opinion. Do you have any ideas? Can you help me to improve this blueprint? Can the future of the best sector ever, help an old chap?
Is there anybody out there? I know you are! You can use this post or send a direct message to share your ideas!!! I Love Touristology’s games!!!

Mar 11, 2014

Forever young Touristologists! Or adapt or die!

Life and Entrepreneurship 3
In this post I talked about how my Touristologists believe that their generation is so, different from the rest. If you remember I claimed that they are different but still the same. Today, I want to talk about the benefits of having a flexible mind. Apart from learning how to better serve new tourist segments customizing the way you execute servuction, being flexible is also a way to keep your mind young.
When I was young (not so long time ago, Touristologists!!! ) it was easy to identify old people... they talk about reales (an ancient coin in Spain) and wear black berets. Nowadays, My young Touristologists make fun of old Touristologists because they don’t carry and know how to use the last model of SmartPhone. Be aware Touristologists... in 10 years (this is my prediction today!!!) wearable technologies will overcome mobiles and YOU will be seen as the generation always carrying a mobile and flipping your finger over it.
               

In life as in entrepreneurship…adapt or die!
So, remember Touristologists, keep an open mind, talk with everybody, learn from everywhere, then (and only then) make you selection and be focused from the beginning to the end and when necessary… adapt!
Are you ready? So am I!!!

Mar 3, 2014

Sooner or later you will realize… You are Touristologists!!!

The last year I wrote down this post. In it I made a promise to My Touristologists: “You will learn how to create, or at least how to deal with a team which will create, the best mobile application for the tourism sector”.
I keep delivering my promise! This year it will easier to do thanks to cloud computing, virtual machines and the open source movement!
As you know, in mobile ecosystem you have to make up your mind about having a mobile web app or a native app. With native apps you get all the power BUT you have to create an app for each OS ( IOS by Apple, Android by Google…you name it). On the other hand, with mobile web apps you write once, run everywhere BUT some functionalities are missed.
 By the way, “write once, run everywhere!” reminds me of old times, old promises, great expectations… we have to trust that this time it will be true BUT we also have to be cautious….
You also can use phonegap or apache cordova in order to create hybrid solutions that aim to get the best of both worlds. Apps for everyone and access to the software and hardware of your smartphone (or ANY WEREABLE COMPUTER remember I’m biased)
I like the definition apache-cordova provides…
“Apache Cordova is a set of device APIs that allow a mobile app developer to access native device function such as the camera or accelerometer from JavaScript. Combined with a UI framework such as jQuery Mobile or Dojo Mobile or Sencha Touch, this allows a smartphone app to be developed with just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.”
Nowadays, you have another option that is easy to use and install. So, I will use in my classes. I’m talking about Firefox OS that allow through webapis to do things usually only reserved to native applications. Here you have an interesting introduction and next a motivating one!

I also will use other frameworks and tools as I tweeted here
As you know, until now I was undecided about the paradigm mobile web or native application. Right now, I make up my mind… and, even though I’m an entrepreneur, a consultant and a teacher… I only have one mind. So, the same thing that I’m building up for my pirate ship, the same thing that I recommend to my customers… I explain and practice with My Touristologists!
How far will My Touristologists go?  It’s up to them!!!
But Jordi! Some of your students don’t like that you teach them how to program, nor that you force them to read, write, speak…think in English!
Well, they like… BUT they don’t know it yet! They are in the process of becoming Touristologists! Some of them decide to be a Touristologists, the first year of their grade, others the last one… others when they get a High-Paying job or set up a tourism enterprise.. Others when they retire and review their professional life!!!
Sooner or later, they will realize that all my effort, all my passion, all my will, has only a single objective: That they feel that they are the best minds working in the best sector ever!
Will I win this battle? I'll put everything I've got into it! As sure as Touristology is a science!!!