Twelve years ago…

Twelve years ago, I began this OUR blog to talk about Touristology OUR Science.
I love to share Touristology’s principles around the world! Remember Touristologists…The world is OUR office!
Touristology’s principles helps us to analyze and visualize new business models and then implement them inside the operations and processes of our beloved sector. 

Of course, using the RIGHT technology (not the fancier one, not the flavour of the month…)
Let’s practice OUR Touristology’s principles, Touristologists!
Remember, if you don’t practice them… they will get rusty (I love Rust, but this is from another post!!!
1) A few days ago, everybody was talking about Starbucks using Blockchain
Here, we have a post of Polygon (a layer 2 solution in top of Ethereum)
“Today, we are thrilled to announce that Starbucks Coffee Company is working with Polygon to provide the blockchain technology to build its recently announced Web3 experience, Starbucks Odyssey.”
Here, an article from Techcrunch
You must be sure of using an expensive technology, like Blockchain, only if you use its innovative/different features!
Blockchain can improve a Loyalty Program and build a better community IF you are dealing with a DYNAMIC (new enterprises, suppliers, intermediaries, infomediaries…) and INTERNATIONAL (from different countries) chain of value. In this scenario, Blockchain provide Trustfulness that allow customers to get points/rewards using three innovative and different features
A) Sharing Identity with privacy: You can add new international members in the chain of value where the customers get a customized #Servuction only sharing the identity information needed in “this” specific transaction and for the time it is needed.
B) Shared Ownership: The possibility of sharing the ownership of an asset/enterprise. It could be a percentage of the revenues of OUR Tourism enterprise! So, every time that the Tourists makes a reservation or seduce somebody (or a GROUP that He/She creates!) to appear in OUR enterprise/chain of value member, automatically gets a percentage of profits in tokens format.
All trustable, all fast, all in real-time!

C) Customized Micro-payments in Real-Time. Using #NFT (nowadays people prefer to call them Dynamic NFT) you/Tourists can create dynamic packages which personalize the #Servuction during ALL the trip(s) in any company of the Chain of Value, depending on the moods of the Tourist and the people next to the customer in each moment, during the trip or at your enterprise OR in the Metaverse.
So, is the world’s largest coffee brand using Blockchain to take their already powerful rewards program to the next level?

Starbucks is using Blockchain to do traceability able to guarantee the quality of their coffees. This is an excellent example of using the important features of Blockchain!
By the way, “these NFTs will be bought using a credit or debit card — a crypto wallet is not required. The company believes this will make it easier for consumers to engage with the web3 experience by lowering the barrier to entry.”

2) In which way your enterprise can use Blockchain and seduce DYNAMIC and INTERNATIONAL members of your chain of value to use it? What do you do to remain competitive in front of the Big Players?
Shh… don’t say it to nobody, the answer is…
A) Using the innovative/different features that Blockchain provides
B) To focus on specialized segments that require a level of implication and relationships that big players are not interested in achieve BUT small and middle enterprises can, thanks to  Pro_Am ideas and Deeper Segmentation!!!

3) Is it possible to use Blockchain to improve the Servuction and Yield Management processes in International Routes?
Starbucks also offer trips as a rewards in the Loyalty Program,  to its Hacienda Alsacia Visitor Center, located on the grounds of its Costa Rican coffee farm.
Interesting possibility to create International Routes focus on specialized segments! But to do that… they, definitely, will need the best minds in the best sector ever! 

Opportunities for MY Touristologists!!!

Twelve years ago, I began this OUR blog in memory of an eternal Touristologists who always defended that Touristology is a Science....OUR Science!
The fight goes on!

Today, yesterday…Tomorrow! Tourism and Internet!

The best years of my professional life have been linked to the best sector ever (Tourism, of course!) and Internet.

30 years ago, I taught my first class in Touristology.

I soon realize that my students in their last year knew more about Tourism than myself. I put all my energy and effort to change that! I learn from my students (I still do!), I learn from other teachers, I become a regular in the library, I talk with any professional related with Tourism… The more I learn the more I wanted to become a Touristologist! I knew that the best way to learn something is to teach it. So, I got voluntary to teach any subject: Financial Maths, Business Administration, Statistics, Technology, Economy, Entrepreneurship… anything BUT with always ending up “TO TOURISM”. After two years I was absolutely in love with Touristology. When I decided to do my PhD. I chose as a topic … Touristology, what else!!! 

At that time, everybody was talking about Internet. So, I tried (I still do!) to see how new technologies could improve our beloved sector. How new technologies open the door to new business models and then, how to implement them improving operations and processes of Tourism enterprises and destination….

Soon, I realized that in order to fully understand the potential of Internet and visualize new business model I had to learn how to code Internet apps, how to store information, how to transform this information into knowledge using Artificial Intelligence.

Today, this vision is the same, I try to highlight this evolution in this animated gif. I hope you like it.

 

As you see, there are similar things…

1) Browser: Build your own Ecosystem!

Java (JVM) Applets...

Rust Wasm

2) Neural Networks need memory, need context…

3) Dynamic Packaging in Tourism

In the 90s, Tourism destinations/enterprises began to create webpages (plenty of them, just uploading its brochure on it!)

Forget about customization of the service (Servuction)!

Forget about offering services from other companies related to the trip or its motivation!

Do I have to highlight again the importance of understanding new technologies in order to visualize new business models and know how to manage its implementation?

Nowadays is the same just different technology (that we have to know when to use it!)

You can call it Databases, Web Services; Web Scraping……

You can call it Blockchain/NFT, Stream Processing…

Biggest Difference between Internet in 1994 and 2022?

Ubiquitous computing / Metaverse breaking Space/Time prison!

Metaverse will open the possibility to Humans to be more similar to a God. We can be a little bit out of SPACE/TIME prison.

In the Metaverse, we can share an experience with our friends, relatives, members of our community even if they are in a different SPACE/TIME. We can be Tourists in one Tourism Destination and the others can be around the world… 

So, we can break SPACE.

What about the TIME? We can share an experience and rewind it at any moment!

If you want to be more specific…

1) Thanks to Artificial Intelligence providing scalability and transforming 2D images in 3D scenes ready to appear in hybrid experiences in the Metaverse!

2) Thanks to Blockchain providing trustfulness about the desires and rights of all the members of the chain of value in real-time.

If somebody, ask you who is better prepared to deal with the #Metaverse… just listen to your inner #Touristology’s voice…

The #Metaverse is OUR place #Touristologists!!!