As you know, I like to define myself as a consilient thinker. Two of the sciences that I love to combine are Touristology (the best science ever!!!) and Web-Engineering. Some people believe that Internet, its technologies and business model can be a threat for Tourism and for Touristologists. It can be… BUT only if you are an average Touristologist if this kind of thing exists!!!
I agree with the author of this article when he said “The great tech revolution of the last 30 years is finally beginning to metastasize into every other human domain–in other words, software is eating the world, endangering almost every job there is…. Almost every job, in every field, probably including yours, will increasingly be threatened by obsolescence and/or automation.”
I agree with Thomas Friedman the author of “The world is flat” when in his book “The lexus and the olive tree” he claims “Winners in any field today can really cash in because they can sell into this massive global marketplace, while those who are just a little less talented, or not skilled at all, are limited to selling in just their local market and therefore tend to make a lot, lot less”
These threads, losing your job and cashing in less can happen to us. Unless… We are Touristologists!
If you know your segment, know how to customize tourism services, how to use or build up a chain of value then nobody can fire you. As a matter of fact, firing you is the worst thing that they can do, because it would mean the birth of a strong competitor.
If you work with specialized tourism in an international scope you can be the kind of winner Thomas Friedman was talking about!
Yes, Jordi BUT, what about if the segment disappears, if they change tastes, if they are no longer interested in our services? For average Touristologists this could be a problem. But for you, EXCEPCIONAL Touristologists this situation is your day to day battlefield!
When a door closes, a window opens!!! This is an eternal truth. But you have to be able to see the window and not everyone is able to do that. You need a trained mind, a network of contacts and a good attitude to discover and make the most of any given opportunity. Even if the window doesn’t exist or it resists being opened you have to invent one. You have to find a way!
We are Touristologists. We can go to any place in the world, detect a segment with specific necessities related to travel OR not related to travel BUT able to be satisfied through a trip. Then we can go to any place in the world, customize the offer, and use or build a chain of value to connect the demand and the supply.
We are Touristologists, the world is our office AND we are not expendable!!!!
What about experts in tourism that still believe that local tourism is the way to go? At the end of the day - They proudly explain - local tourism is the one we know the most. So, it will be easy to get their trust, to segment the market and take care of any specific needs!
What about experts in tourism that still believe that marking down the price is the best strategy ever? The other day, I was in a seminar about revenue management, I was explaining to people working in this field that almost all scientific studies show that in hotels (contrary to airlines) if you mark down the price you don’t get enough customers who compensate price reduction and allow you to increase the revenues.
One of the attendees of the seminar began to claim - this is not true! When I mark down the price I get plenty of new customers.
It’s possible -I calmly reply. I’m sure that you also get the same margin. You use something similar to segments accountancy, don’t you?
I’m also sure that the fact that you fill the hotel with low price orientated customers doesn’t have any exclusion effect whatsoever on your regular customers.
Well, I clearly see that marking down the price provides plenty of advantages and no inconveniences!
At the end of the session, another attendee to the meeting came to me and said “ I also believe that marking down the price is a bad solution. All my competitors are doing the same thing but this season I refuse to follow the herd and I get better results.” Why didn’t you share this with the class? Well I prefer to act and get results than to talk and do the same as everybody else.
You’re a Touristologist my friend- I reply! As Mark Twain said “Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid.”
Anyway, software is eating the world and maybe your job. Which do you believe is a job easy to eat, the one dealing with local tourism and based on marking down the price OR the one dealing with specialized tourism with an international scope?
I’m not afraid of software! I tell software what to do! I work in activities where specialization, creativity, intuition and human touch are key. What about you? Still believing in local tourism and marking down the price?
When you decide to focus on international tourism and adding value to specialized tourism… I will be here waiting for you, my fellow Touristologist!!!
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