Touristology’s glasses! Do you want to wear them?

I love to see the face of future Touristologists every time that I begin a class, a seminar or an in-company training session, with this Touristologistly sentence … If you want to provide services before, during and after a trip, it’s compulsory to make all departments and members of the chain of value work as a single organization. 

This is not a point of view… it’s the vision of everybody with the right glasses on. What glasses? Touristology’ones.

It’s more or less easy to hire a bunch of people, to make agreements with popular intermediaries, the biggest Search Engine, the biggest Social Networking Site, then with some services suppliers… The only thing that you need is some money and the capacity to say “YES, SIR!” every time that they ask you to mark down the price or pay greater commissions!

On the other hand, if you want to create a team able to execute any kind of servuction connecting departments and chain of value members… you will need experts in servuction design , able to make the deals, able to select (Buy or Make) the right technology, able to make both, the people and the software, work as smoothly as if they were a single entity… able to make both, the business model and the technological scheme, a part of the same structure… able to exemplify how the web 3.0 will be in a near future! Showing that integrated and synchronized servuction inside any department and any member of the chain of value is the way to go… If you really want these… then you will need a Touristologists!!!!

Maybe theses videos from siteminder can help you to visualize the idea:

Do you see? You have a Web Booking Engine (WBE) connected to your Property Management System (PMS) and to your favorite Social Networking Sites (SnS)… breaking silos between departments, unifying chain of value members!

Do you see? You have a channel manager that connect your Web Booking Engine (WBE) and your Property Management System (PMS) to your intermediaries and infomediaries (Data Agregrators, Metasearch engines… you name it!). It would be better if these products work together? Is it possible? 

Now put your Touristology glasses ON! Will it be better if instead of ONLY members of a generic chain of value, it ALSO offer the possibility to do the same with specialized chains of value? I bet my intellectual life on it! I put all my effort into creating this kind of professionals. Will I succeed? The answer my friend is blowing in… Touristology’s environments!!!

Does Touristology reflect the reality of the Tourism sector?

The other day, I was enjoying an in-company training session that I was lucky enough to give. I love in-company training, it’s always fun to mix my ideas with people involved in day-to-day real Tourism!

 I discussed my favorite topics:  Touristology framework, 1,2,3 theory, Servuction… at the end of the session, I proposed the two study cases related to the Da Vinci Code. As you remember, one of them deals with an international community of architects and the other one with and international community of game developers.

Most of the assistants enjoy the session; some of them even become Touristologists. All with only one session… As I always say: The sky is the limit!

BUT it wasn’t all good news… when I was packing, smiling and whistling my favorite song (which you can enjoy at the end of this post) one of the attendees came to me and shouted “Does Touristology reflect the reality of the Tourism sector? I mean, I don’t see the connection with, my day-to-day activity and all this B.S of international communities and chain of value”

I appreciate your honesty - I calmly reply, forcing my mind to forget the B.S classification!!!- It’s supposed that Touristology represents the future of our beloved sector. I believe that in the next years we will see a Cambrian revolution in Tourism drive by web-engineering and real-and-not-only-economical globalization. It wouldn’t be a Cambrian revolution if it was the same as we have today, right?

Do you remember the example that I gave about RFID utilization for a ski resort?

Do you think that their vision of creating a mobile app and a virtual community represents the future of the best sector ever?

Do you believe that their idea of creating an incoming travel agency and to make contacts around almost all the countries of the world, allowing tourists to buy their products in travel agencies with, at least, some degree of specialization in skiing, it is a good example of chain of value and trying to control it using My Own 1,2,3 principles?

If you think that it is not. I’m fine with that!

If you agree, I will be here ready to welcome you in the best international community ever: Touristology one!!!! 

Meanwhile… what better than listen to the eternal music of Puccini!!!!!

I convinced the naysayer? I don’t know! The only thing that I’m sure about, is… 

All'alba Touristology …vincerò!

Enjoy your holydays Touristologists! Learn, improve and love Touristology!

Going deeper in Holistic Hotel Management: Example 2

If you remember, a few posts ago we proposed a kind of study case based on The Da Vinci Code, where we deal with specialized tourism related to architects. Some of you make an effort and send me your solutions. I appreciate your intellectual work Touristologists! Maybe someday we have the opportunity to meet face to face and talk about the future of Touristology! Meanwhile… what about a second example from the best minds working in the best sector ever!
Remember, we are managing a hotel created from an old Abbey. This hotel is situated in an isolated place. 

 So, if we want to bring tourists we have to transform the facility into a magnet. To achieve this, there’s nothing better than specialized tourism.
I like to play video games - said a young Touristologists- but above all else I like to create my own games. As a matter of fact, right now I’m working in a simulator about tourist destination management… We can use this idea and create an international virtual community for people who like to play games, people that want to be a developer and professionals already earning a living with this activity. We can also attract people /organization willing to do marketing research or hiring the members of this community. Sooner or later the members of this community will desire to meet each other. What better place than the facility owned by the creators of the community?!?
What? I don’t want to do all that! -Said a student that was a former Hotel Manager, nowadays loking for new opportunities - I just want to serve my customers at my hotel!
International community? I think it is better to focus on local tourism or, at most, to countries of origin that we already know - said the former expert of our tourism sector!
Well - reply the wise voice of Touristology- I don’t know about you BUT We are Touristologists!!! No excuses, no stagnation, no limitations over our actions for lack of experience, knowledge or contacts… If we don’t know, we learn.  If we don’t have, we will! We are Touristologists, We will do whatever it takes to bring tourists here!.
After a few seconds of silence, the ideas continued flowing…
Sounds like the matrix of segmentation, that we saw here, could be the right tool - Added another Touristologist. 

We also can use segments accountancy- Said another.
Yes - replied another Touristologist - but remember that, in this case, we need to add the cost of a classroom with powerful computers and then compare the margin with the one we assessed the other day, the one dealing with architects, remember?
It sounds like a good idea to me! BUT we have to think twice about the classroom of powerful computers- I replied based on my own experience- 10 years ago , when I wanted to teach my Touristologists how to code /program I had to ask for special permissions and deal with system administrators (always an easy task!!!) but nowadays thanks to:
1) Virtual machines
2) Cloud computing. Have you ever try codenvy.com? or Firefox simulator and Firefox OS…
3) and BYOD trend this is absolutely unnecessary.
So, the idea is to give a dual formation related both with the business model and the technological scheme? Do you really think that people willing to learn how to code want to learn about business model and strategy??? I AM ABSOLUTELY SURE ABOUT THAT!

I, strongly, believe in Consilience. In the same way, that an expert in Business Model must know about coding, the best programmers have to learn about how to apply their skills to a specific sector. What better sector than the best sector ever?!?!?!
Do you agree with this statement? If so,… I will be here waiting for you! Ready for mixing sciences.  Looking to making it possible that the XXI century will be Consilience’s Kingdom!
Meanwhile… can you apply matrix segmentation and segments accountancy to propose a solution to this study case?
By the way, in the solution My Touristologists gave in appears… github. Can you find the meaning of that? Can you integrate it in a chain of value?
Can we count on you? You, definitely, can count on me!!!