No Groups? No safety! No profitability!

To guaranty safety and profitability you need to create GROUPS. You have to seduce these GROUPS with anything related to any trip AND their motivations to travel. Can you create and manage GROUPS in other people’s Platforms?
I know... I know... summertime... hot weather... BUT
We are living complicated times! It is NOT time to just complain, to look for excuses, to look for shortcuts!
We have to make things happens!
1) We know how to define and seduce specialized segments.
2) We know how to help them to better achieve their goals through a trip.
3) We know how to define and build chains of value providing support from the beginning to the end of the trip.
4) We know how to provide services (Servuction) inside these chains of value.
Tourism is NOT something that just happens. It is something you build and manage!
It’s time for action. It is time to focus on results. To change the way we enjoy, define and manage our beloved sector!

 

Agile Project Management: Touristology’s point of view!

I love to be a Teacher! I have been a Touristologists builder for the last 30 years! I love to learn new Business Models, new Technologies, new Methodologies. the new, new thing!

Then, I get practical experience doing consultancy or creating a new enterprise and I convey this Knowledge to My Touristologists!

Watching them improving his/her professional career, starting a new disruptive start-up, helping to change the way we define, enjoy and manage Tourism, makes me the happiest Touristologists builder in the world!

To me, real Teachers bring real experience to the class! For that reason, I love to combine my vocation as a Teacher with being a consultant and an entrepreneur. Doing these two activities I have learnt a lot about Product Management.

First, as a Product Manager for an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) for the Apple Ecosystem.

Then (and today!), collaborating with the public and private sector designing business model and operations and processes for new start-ups in our beloved sector! Then, as a Product Manager in Deloitte. Memories and friends forever!

Then, building a PMS (Property Management System) for the lodging industry in the cloud. Defining the Segments (Do you remember this Study Case Touristologists?) Defining the Chain of Values. Defining and finding the people inside the organization. Defining the operations and processes and developing and integrating the Technology to implement the Business Model for this luxury apartments working as an Apart-Hotel. I remember the goal “When the last bricklayer leaves the building, we have to see the first Tourist going inside!” I still keep the first on-line reservation!!!

I also enjoy mentoring People, Start-ups and Enterprises! Visualizing new Business Models, new Segments, new Opportunities!!!

The previous weeks, I have been talking with experts in “Agile”, I also reviewed some books about this methodology (or as they/I prefer to call it... MINDSET). I realize that my experience in the jungle of real business make my absolutely agree with the four principles of Agile:

1) Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.

Do you want to use Java, Kotlin or Flutter? Objective-C or Swift? Python or.... I don’t care, give me a good team willing to share his/her knowledge and build new one and the project will have a better estimation of success!!!

2) Working software over comprehensive documentation.

Show the code working in a good interface and the documentation will be written in the brain of the users!

3) Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.

Specially, when you want to build the new, new thing! When, through iterations, you will learn more and more!

4) Responding to change over following a plan.

Changes in the mind of your users, in their perception of OUR Business Model, in the amount of time they spend using OUR software, in the business opportunities that appear during the processes!!! Changes in the mind of your collaborators, trying to control the chain of value... Changes in the strategies of your competitors OR when a new one appears offering something similar and cheaper! Changes in the mind of your suppliers... Changes in the mind of your investors... Time to adapt... Time to Survive!!!

Of course, in Touristology and in OUR classes we apply these principles... adding some of our beloved FRAMEWORKS! Do you remember them? I’m sure you do!

Furthermore, remember Agile methodology is all about improving communication between all the stakeholders of the project. You have to know what is possible to ask! You have to know what the pros and cons of new technologies are (Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain....)! You have to know how to ask for any feature!

You have to prove that you are the best mind in the best sector ever! Enjoy summer! Enjoy practicing, living, making TOURISTOLOGY great!

Generating Waves using AI

As you know, we define ourselves as wave managers. In Yield Management, some people adapt themselves and their strategies and tactics to a generic Booking Pace.

Touristologists know how to create NEW waves in order to compensate the generic one.
This weekend, I really enjoyed reading these articles of The Economist about one of my favorite topics... AI!
Artificial Intelligence is far away of getting common sense, but it is able to performance specific tasks better and faster than human beings and in a tireless way!
As we always said... It is not to choose between AI and Human Beings is all about how to combine them, in order to improve operations and processes of Tourism Destinations and Enterprises!
Let’s put an example using Artificial Intelligence mixed with Humans Beings!
First and more important, so far, AI is unable to explore the unknown… make sure you put one Touristologists in charge of this task. They are explorers, seekers of new scenarios, new business models! For instance, the application of Butterfly Strategy that we summarized in this post with this graphical representation. 

 

Where we have OUR specialized community loving to create groups, loving the way YOU customized the Servuction process. Believe me, the creation and seduction of this specialized community is a powerful profit generator! 

Second, let your Touristologists define the operations and processes to implement the Business Model.
We have a restaurant, a theater, a congress, an event, a flight, a hotel.... anything with low occupancy. You see something to sell, Touristologists see a community to seduce!
We are able to detect members of our community that live near to this place OR that they are NOW walking near to this place.
We are able to detect that “this” activity in my place, or near to my place, that already exist or that we can create in a customized way, could be interesting to them... Tourists and Locals can create a Group... the services providers can customize the activity... we get happy customers and a profit... a win2win2win situation!!!

Third, use a mix of Human Beings and Artificial Intelligence to improve performance and scalability to your processes. AI is a perfect tool that will empower your team to standardize innovation!
How to create groups? Allow your Tourists to create their own Groups in order to achieve whatever is important to them (a new service, a customized one...). Help them to help YOU!

In which way can you customize the service in Real-Time? An interesting possibility it is based on the Tourists’s mood. Another one, it is based on with whom the Tourists is travelling, walking, sitting... NOW!
How can you detect their mood? How can you detect with whom they are travelling with at this moment?  You can use the power of Deep Learning to do a little bit of Sentiment Analysis based on the sentences/emoticons they use in the chatbot of your community. Or a facial recognition (always with privacy guaranteed!!!)
You can also use the power of Augmented and Virtual Reality to share this customized service with friends, relatives, colleagues willing to share the experience at home!
You can also use the power of Blockchain to add TRUST to all the operations and processes, to guaranty privacy, digital identity, secure payments...
Shhh! don't tell anyone but I love Neural Networks, I love Python, I love PyTorch and TensorFlow and I believe that Fuzzy logic can improve Deep Learning performance delaying  the time to take down the entropy... BUT, above all else.. I love Touristologists able to visualize new business models, implement them in operations and processes using the best of Human Beings and AI and getting, as a consequence, more profitable and sustainable Tourism Destination and Enterprises!!! 

New Segments! New Opportunities!

People talking about Interior Tourism... Nothing wrong with it! BUT... we are Touristologists! The world is AND always will be OUR office!
I have been reading some articles these days and new interesting segments appear in my Touristology mind! Let me introduce them to you...
1) Digital Nomads!
We talk about this segment in previous posts. Here, you have a kind of definition and how to do a strategical analysis using our beloved tools. Here, you have an example about how airlines companies could seduce this Segment.
I, strongly, believe that this Specialized Segment is an opportunity for Tourism Enterprises and Destinations!
You can read this article where appear some examples of enterprises (finally!) seriously open to the possibility of remote working
“Twitter...if they wish to work from home permanently, they can.”
“Twilio...expects more than 20% of its office-based employees will transition to working remotely”
2) Global Nomads! 
Well Nomads can be DIGITAL, or not, the important thing is that they can work at any place...
"there will be a lifestyle change as mobile work will be accepted as normal predicting a boom in global nomads with steady paychecks. Extended-stay hotels.. residential qualities -more space, including kitchens- shine, especially as urban options" Do you want to read more?
3) Campers travelling the world with their own vehicle.             Isolation? Social distance? Your car is your home!
Here you can read this interesting article.
Be sure, that you enjoy the video in the article!!!
“Social distancing is a lot easier when you can bring along your own kitchen, bathroom and bedroom”
In this article they explain the vision of an “old” couple
“We’re calling it the Covid Camper,” said Pam Sandberg, who with her husband, Jeff, spent $70,000 on a used, 35-foot motor home at Hilltop Camper in St. Paul. Both aged 69, the couple said the coronavirus makes airports or cruise ships less than desirable. They haven’t camped in 30 years, but said they’re confident this will be the best way to travel for the forseeable future.”
Maybe his/her vision is common to plenty of Tourists from around the world! Maybe your camping sites can seduce them!!! OR maybe you can create an On-line Travel Agency OR Platform focused on them! 
At the end of the day, it is a very good example of Segmentation focused on PEOPLE! Can you seduce these segments from around the world and help them to travel around the world? Can you provide to them opportunities to improve their lives... to connect with his/her loving ones in the country of origin OR in any place in the world? Can you find solutions to them from the beginning to the end of the trip? 

There is an old saying “If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain” that you can translate to... if the grandchildren cannot visit the grandparents.... with YOUR help, the grandparents can visit their grandchildren around the world!
They can use Ferris like the one on this video in order to travel abroad! 

Of course, travel corridors or travel bubbles can be also very interesting in order to avoid red tape. As you can read here.
“The notion is simple: Two or more countries that have successfully curtailed COVID-19 agree to create a bubble. People who live inside the bubble could then travel freely and avoid a mandatory self-quarantine requirement. Such a move would cut red tape so people can cross borders with minimum hassle. ”
- But Jordi! If they stay more than one year, if they travel an earn money... they are NOT Tourists!
- Maybe... BUT We are NOT definition providers. We are Touristologists! We are opportunity finders! We are problem solvers!
Do you need advice for learning how to seduce Digital Nomads, Global Nomads, Campers using a car as a home.... from around the world to your Tourism Destination/enterprise? Don’t ask me! You can always find any of My Touristologists willing to share with you OUR Touristology’s vision!

Meanwhile... Maybe you want to practice these Touristology’s mantras...

“Let’s clarify this once and for all… Your business is NOT selling rooms or F&B or seats or… Your business is to satisfy your customer, providing what they need, when they need it, in the way they need it!”
What do you have in YOUR enterprise (Rooms? Seats? Food and Beverage? Meeting places? Similar or complementary People: Locals other Tourists...) interesting for YOUR Tourist..., able to improve the Tourists life?
What do you have NEAR your enterprise? What is going on NEAR your enterprise? What can you CREATE NEAR your enterprise? interesting for YOUR Tourist..., able to improve the Tourists life?
To what problem can you provide a solution for YOUR Tourists BEFORE, DURING or AFTER the TRIP?
Can you find an opportunity to improve Tourists life... BEFORE, DURING or AFTER the TRIP?
Forget about only manage Tourists when they are already here! Forget about the old idea that Tourists are only interesting for my Tourists destination/enterprise when they stay here! Forget about the “things” you want to sell! Focus on Tourists’s needs, focus on the transformation power of travel...
Focus on become... A TOURISTOLOGIST!!!

Yesterday, Today... ALWAYS!!!

You can always apply Touristology’s principles. They are always good under any circumstance. Otherwise, we wouldn’t call it a Science!

Touristology knows how motivate Tourists to travel. It is always looking for providing improvements in Tourists’ quality of life: International contacts, broader perspectives, overcoming illnesses, improving work or family relationships... thanks to the transformation power that travel brings to human beings.

It is always looking for to take care of culture and create richness and employment for the tourist destination.

These objectives force to study, analyze, manage Tourism enterprises and Destinations taking into consideration the following ideas...

1) Tourists’ segmentation must be carried out taking as the main variable the transformation power and improvement of the Tourist through a trip. Forget about country of origin! Build your own community of International Specialized Tourists!

2) Tourism enterprises and destinations must visualize, manage the ENTIRE value chain as a way to increase its competitivity. Not only your company (Hotel, Travel Agency, Airline ....) You must coordinate and manage with different competitive Business Models, all the companies / organizations that the Tourist must use from the beginning to the end of the trip . This is what AirBnB calls the “End to End Travel Platform”

Booking and Expedia “The Connected Trip”

and in OUR seminars, in-company training or start-up meetings... Chain of Value Management!!!

So, we must provide support to the Tourists from the beginning to the end of the trip. Recommending and helping the Tourists to do activities in the Tourism Destination that will help her/his transformation. We can also provide notifications about what is going on in the country of origin of the Tourist. 

Maybe, you are willing to enjoy a few examples... 

I know that the Tourist is HERE I know that He/She is looking for a gift for his/her son... WE send a notification providing this information. We know the Tourist’s location, with his/her permission, of course! Just remember...Customization without privacy is a nightmare! We can use GPS or better a beacon OR even better an Augmented Reality App with not only provide the location of the Tourist ALSO what He/She is looking at, with who is travelling now and what is his/her mood at this moment... Knowing Tourist’s context is the big driver of processes improvement!!! 
  

Are you ready for more examples? 

I know that the Tourist is HERE I know that He/She is looking for a temporary job (a few hours of consultancy) WE send a notification saying that a near enterprise has this vacancy. OR I know that the Tourists is HERE I know that He/She needs an advice from a mobile developer. We send a notification from a local expert. 

Do you see? Thanks to a trip you can improve your life. You can even earn money! Specially, important in moments of economic problems! Some people say... “No money no Travel!” What about to Travel and Earn money? What about we create networking activities where we put together locals and Tourists to do commercial exchanges. 

Do you want to sell wine? I have some contacts in my country of origin! 

Do you want to set up a restaurant in your country of origin? We can introduce you some experts, some service providers, some... 

Do you want to know how to build a Hotel from Architects point of view? We can prepare some meetings (Physical and/or virtual)... 

Do you want to learn how to manage a Hotel.. A travel Agency...a transport company... We can set up meetings with managers, we can provide blended education with several Universities... 

Tourists of the World! Travel earn money and be ready for the future!!! 

Touristologists of the World! Help them to help YOU!!!  

Forget about INDIVIDUAL Tourist! Forget about Hyper-Segmentation. You define a Segment of similar people with similar interest from any place in the world, right? Help them to create groups! Help them to create, communicate and commercialize their own packages in YOUR own platform! This is the power of Deeper Segmentation! This is the power of using your OWN platform!!! 

In Touristology thanks to Servuction (Thanks Mr. Eigler!) we know that we need the Tourist in order to create the service... ONLY if we have a Tourist here, we can create physical experiences BUT we can also create digital ones mixing people here (Tourists), Locals AND people related with the Tourist that want to share the experience. This kind of activities thanks to the power of virtual Reality and Augmented Reality can provide a solution to "many Tourists at the same time /place" AND also can provide another layer of profits for Tourism destination. YES! But only if the Tourist, the Locals and the people in the country of origin are using OUR OWN PLATFORM! Do you remember the ideas of Platform economy, right? 

  

So, yesterday, today… ALWAYS!!! Don’t try to seduce EVERYBODY. Create your Tourism enterprises and YOUR OWN Platforms to seduce specialized Tourists. To them create International routes! Is it important that they visit your Tourism destination? Of course! But is far more important that you manage the trip of YOUR Tourists! In this way, you will reduce the dark side of the Tourism (all Tourists at the same time in the same place...) and you will increase the blessings of Tourism: More profit for your Tourism Enterprises! Higher salaries for YOUR Touristologists! Higher revenues for local public services! 

I love Tourism! I love Touristology! I love Touristologists!!!

WWW? World Wide Wave!!!

Are Serverless functions interesting? Of course! BUT... is it a big change... the new, new, thing a disruptive technology? 

To me, the big change is to be able to trigger these functions when a Real-Time event is going on! Right Here / Right Now! 

Let’s put a couple of examples in our beloved sector, shall we? 

YOUR Tourist is travelling... 

1) He/She wants a solution to any problem DURING the trip, both IN the Trip or AT home (where are colleagues, relatives and friends), Right Here / Right Now! 

2) He/She wants to know any opportunity to make the most of the transformative power of a trip, to meet someone special, to do a customized activity. Not enough Tourists to do this activity? Let’s help them to create a group inside OUR community! BUT... Jordi, meet someone? How do you know if it’s safe? 

We will need to know, in real-time, if we can talk or meet with someone. We need to have access to a virtual meeting if it is necessary (thanks to VR and AR). We need to know if we can trust on this information and (very important), we have to guaranty the privacy of this data. 

Trustful information with privacy? It seems that we are talking about Blockchain! 

In a near future, some people will be able to travel as usual (the ones that will developed an immunodeficiency to the most relevant illness) but others maybe they have to be at home... is it possible to organize mix meetings using the power of VR and AR? Enjoy the video to visualize some ideas!  

We have to be able to get this wave of events from different sources, enrich, combine, transform, filter, validate...them and use this knowledge in order to manage the waves of Tourists we will seduce to visit our Tourism Destination or Enterprise! 

In this post, We describe ourselves as Waves Managers. We talked about wave management. We compared Yield/Revenue Managers with surfers. 

The difference? Surfers adapt to waves. We can also manage AND create them! We can follow the waves In a Macro-level: How many Tourists making a reservation NOW for this specific day? AND In a Micro-level seducing customers to go to a specific attraction /Activity at the best moment to THEM and to US. 

We also can create new waves for different segments The old Yield/Revenue Management idea of a single demand curve is over. We have to generate demand/s with new segments. We have to compensate current demand with the new ones. We have to increase profits. 

We have to reinvent Yield/Revenue Management! 

We have to focus on CURRENT demand BUT ALSO on generating new demand from NEW segments. Segments with different patterns that you can seduce in different ways in order that they appear in your Hotel/Tourism enterprise when is more convenient to you. 

Furthermore, you can compensate high demand of one of the segments with low demand of the others AND THE OTHER WAY AROUND. So, compensate low demand of one of the segments with high demand of the others. 

We are wave managers! It seems obvious, in order to provide these services Right Here / Right Now in a customized and syndicated way we need to use the most suitable technology together with the right business model. 

We need to embrace the World Wide Wave of real time data and events. We need to embrace Streams processing! Interesting time for mixing new Technologies and Tourism! Interesting times for Touristologists!!!

Stop thinking about your Enterprise/Destination... Start thinking about your Specialized Communities!

This February, I have been in my natural environment, talking with several Entrepreneurs looking for advice from an old chap always learning new tricks, sharing some Touristology’s knowledges with People / big Enterprises wishing to find a new disruptor idea,  listening to the future of our beloved sector talking about a new project for the Tourism sector....

- We have a small hotel... so; we have to take this into consideration when we propose new business model...

Are you sure? – Touristology’s voice began to say – If you have a Specialized segment loving the way you customized the Servuction process, loving to share, comment, create groups inside your community... you can send them to any hotel, apartment... willing to customize its Servuction process. That is the power of focusing on the Tourist!

When you have a Specialized segment, defined by Psychographics and NOT Demographics as we explained here you will have a profits generator based on providing value to your community. Value related with satisfying its needs in a better way through a trip. This will show that Touristology is the Science dealing with transforming and improving Tourists life: International contacts, broader perspectives, improving relationships with families and professional teams, overcoming illness or personal problems... and ALSO taking care of culture and richness creation for the Tourism destination.

I will try to summarize the drivers of profit generation from defining and visualizing a Specialized Segment in the following slide:

1) Build your own platforms

I remember, 12 years ago trying to seduce Tourism Enterprises and Destinations to use social networking sites. It was a very good idea BUT nowadays we also have to see the benefits of creating our own platforms focused on Specialized communities satisfying their necessities in a better way through a trip. At the end of the day... Platform Economy? Time to build our own Platforms!

Basically, for two reasons:

1-A) Platforms, usually, are Generic. So, by definition, they are not useful in order to seduce specialized Tourism. Nothing wrong with Generic Tourism BUT... the price is the most important thing... It is necessary to sell plenty of services... plenty of Tourists in the same place at the same time... Can you finish the sentence?

1-B) Who control the platform get the profit and decide in which way you will use, see, manage... THEIR customers!

2) Transform your place into a magnet for anyone interested in “this” Specialized Community

Furthermore, in the specific case of Tourism appears another driver of profit generation!

What is the biggest different between Production and Servuction (thanks Eigler and Langeard!)

We need the Tourist in order to create the service. No Tourist, no service! For that reason, we have to use Yield Management in order to seduce the Tourist to appear (or to stay longer) in our enterprise this specific day. This can also be very interesting, if we have a specialized community one specific day in our Tourism Enterprise / Destination we transform our place into a magnet for members of this community, member of the chain of value, competitors (that will become collaborators!), people/enterprises willing to sell, to hire, to do marketing research... to OUR community. We will become the “This Community” world congress!!!

Time to focus more about OUR Tourists and less in your Enterprise/Destination!

If you have any doubt… don’t ask me! Ask any of my Touristologists, they are the best minds working in the best sector ever!!!