The best sector ever needs the best minds!

Traveling is a basic human need that offers plenty of potential to improve/transform the personal and professional life of Tourists. Like all other basic needs (eating, sleeping, learning…), it needs a Science for its study and proposals to satisfy it in the most effective and efficient way.
I’m a Touristologists builder! I love to build the best minds for the best sector ever! My job is to create frameworks able to encapsulate/concentrate knowledge that, at first, they seem difficult to learn BUT, when you make the effort, when you make these frameworks YOURS frameworks you can improve the profitability and sustainability of any Tourism Destination or Enterprise!
I am feed up of people with neither knowledge of Tourism nor a strategic vision about how to make it more profitable and sustainable critizing it… saying that Tourism is a sector with low add value… saying that the Science of Travel doesn’t need the best minds to properly manage Tourism Destinations and Enterprises.
Nowadays, something similar happens with the Metaverse. Like Tourism, the Metaverse is not something that happens… It is something that we have to build!
If you want to build the Metaverse and use it to improve the profit and sustainability of Tourism Destination and Enterprises, you have to know about Tourism and, the set of technologies mixed in heaven that help to build the Metaverse
I mean, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Augmented /Virtual Reality which respectively provide Trustfulness, Scalability and Ubiquity to OUR operations and processes.

Let’s take for instance, Artificial Intelligence…

In The Metaverse, it will appear scenarios both develop for designers BUT ALSO real scenes based on where the Tourists’ camera is looking at. Creating Real-Time point cloud of the physical environment using SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) captured by photogrammetry/photoscanning (a lot of photos turned into 3D models), LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging)…
AI can increase the performance of this process helping to create these 3D scenarios in Real-Time. You can enjoy this video to visualize the idea…

Do you see? Experts in the Metaverse and Touristologists can visualize, create, and animate these scenarios from real places, also new characters, new skins. Characters develop as mesh and riggings BUT also scanning real Tourists/Inhabitants, members of their specialized community around the world. 

Together, they can trigger events rooted in the Tourists’ space and context. Events based on “Anchors” 3D models that all the members of the community will see in the same position and place. Events that will generate a wave of events (the World Wide Wave!!!) that then can be processed (Stream Processing ) in order to provide solutions and opportunities to improve/transform the personal and professional life of the Tourists, members of his/her community around the world, Inhabitants and local Enterprises!

Let’s consider Blockchain or similar alternatives focused on build a decentralized Internet. 

You can enjoy this video of one of the most fun and enlighten series, “Silicon Valley”

 

 

One interesting proposal is Holochain they define themselves as “An end-to-end open source P2P app framework”.
Do you see? Experts in the Metaverse and Touristologists can visualize and implement the best decentralized technology in order to build the best Metaverse!
Paraphrasing Linus Torvalds who said “Talk is cheap. Show me the code.”,  when people talk about Tourism and Metaverse…
Show me your knowledge in New Technologies that are helping to build it! Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Augmented /Virtual Reality.
Show me your knowledge, management experience in Servuction, Yield Management… about how a trip can improve the personal and professional life of specialized communities of Tourists, while take care of culture and create richness and employment for the tourist destination.
Show me your desire to learn and help to improve profitability and sustainability of the best sector ever! Otherwise, you are just talking!

Escher, as always, helping us to visualize complexity!

I have been enjoying the last 30 years being a Touristologists builder. My motto is to learn about something interesting then, convey this knowledge to someone willing to learn then, see how they improve their lives using this knowledge making me the happiest and proudest man on earth!!
During all these 30 years, there are a few things that appear over and over.
“Tourism is a low value sector”, “Tourism is managed by itself”….
Today, I don’t want to talk about these silly comments by people with low level knowledge about our beloved sector!
Let’s focus our attention on other comments related to the relationships between new technologies and Tourism.
- “Internet will be the end of Travel Agencies” people said in 1996. Something similar happened with Blockchain in 2016, some people will say the same with the Metaverse…
Technology don’t destroy enterprises! Technology update, change or just IGNORE old Business Models!
As we always say in OUR classes making and homage to Escher… in order to provide a good analysis you have to know about BOTH technology and Tourism Business Models, otherwise your analysis will be incomplete!
Touristologists have to understand new technologies, visualize new business models and know how to ask (OR do it themselves) the implementation of these new business models!
Escher represent this idea with this wonderful picture. How is possible that the two hands appear if one hand is drawing the other one? This is only possible if we take a higher vision and visualize Escher drawing everything!
In the same way, Touristologists have to know about New Technologies and the Business Models and Operations and processes of Tourism destinations and Enterprises!

Far from destroying travel agencies, Internet opened the possibility of creation of On-line Travel Agencies (OTA)
- Generic OR Specialized, Jordi?
BOTH!!!
Generic, playing the low-price game:  Expedia, Booking…
Specialized, playing the value game:
Travel agencies seducing books lovers to travel to the places where the story of the books happens.
Travel agencies helping to improve relationships between mothers and daughters.
Travel agencies offering new perspectives and possibilities to architects  OR ... OR ...
Nowadays, people with low level knowledge about Tourism could say…

“Metaverse will end Travel Agencies”! Metaverse open plenty of opportunities for Travel Agencies willing to deal with Hybrid Experiences!!! BOTH Generic and Specialized!!!

Hybrid experiences in the Metaverse?
It is a classic. It is a trip inside a trip.

At the end of the day, the same idea that happens in Hamlet! A son of a killed father making a play inside the play, in order to discover the killer!
The same idea that we can enjoy in this movie of Woody Allen “The Purple Rose of Cairo”. A movie inside a movie Touristologists!!!  

Time to begin creating, communicating and commercializing #HybridExperiences where #Tourists will be in one Tourism Destination and other members of their #SpecializedSegment around the world! Trips inside other trips!
Of course, you can do it for generic Tourism and focus on INDIVIDUAL Tourists…

 

BUT… listen to your inner Touristology’s voice!!! “First Specialized then Generic!"

Focus on Specialized Segments, build communities inside them, create or help them to create GROUPS. Sell to them anything that they need in THIS trip or in ANY trip or anything related to their travel motivation!
The Metaverse can be a Quantum leap for Touristologists and Travel Agencies!!!

 

Time is not linear but cyclical my fellow Touristologists! Knowledge, professional careers, personal relationships…have an evolution that is better described as a circle than a line.  Like in this picture by the genius Maurits Cornelis Escher… we believe that we are going up or down but in reality we stay in the same place. You can see in this picture some people that have stopped walking. Maybe because they believe that is not useful at all.
Don’t be like them Touristologists! Be aware!  Something is missing in this picture!
Time can advance as a circle BUT from time to time you get a quantum leap and you will have a chance to pass from one average circle to a special one.
Be prepare, be ready and wait for the quantum leap that can transport you to another circle… a superior one. Do you know who will have the opportunity to pass to the next level?
That’s right! The ones that choose not to stop, to keep loocking for new opportunities, to try new things, the ones willing to leave their comfort zone!  
Be ready, for the next quantum leap, Touristologists!!!!

Metaverse and Touristology: Breaking the Space/Time prison!!!

The other day, I was walking, running, practicing a little bit of Yoga and Kung Jung Mu Sul with my son.
He said to me….
    -  Dad, the other day I was reading your post about Metaverse.
   - It was you? I replied making another homage to Joan Massanés Vilaplana
   - … Why do you make so much emphasis with Hybrid Experiences? Is not the Metaverse all about visiting other worlds? Why do think that Touristologists are the best candidates to create transformative and customized hybrid experiences in this new world?
My son always provides intelligent questions. He remembers me My Touristologists .
Let’s see, if I can provide a good answer to him and to you…

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!

Of course, we won’t break the SPACE/TIME duality totally, but we can be close to it!

In Touristology, we also have interesting concepts/frameworks dealing with SPACE/TIME duality. For instance, we have Servuction (the great contribution to Touristology of Eglier  and Langeard!)
In Tourism (as in Health and Education) we have a very important difference with other sectors! The customer is an input in the process of Servuction while that input it doesn’t exist in production. So, we need the Tourist here and now! 

Do you see? SPACE/TIME duality again!
On the other hand, trying to seduce Tourists at the right moment at the right time is the origin of Yield Management. We can define Yield Management as a set of Strategies and Tactics aiming to achieve two objectives
1) To seduce Tourists to make a reservation “today” that we have a low occupancy.
2) To seduce Tourists to make a reservation when we have a low “booking pace”.
What do you think Touristologists, Generic or Specialized Segments in the Metaverse?
In these new hybrid worlds, we can apply one of our favorite Touristology’s principles. As we always say, in YOUR METAVERSE… First Specialized, then Generic! So, nothing wrong with MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) BUT… first try to build your SMO (Specialized Multiplayer Online) where the members of the community will be members of a Specialized Segment and it will be easier to create groups and seduce them to appear in a transformative and customized Hybrid Experience, at a specific SPACE/TIME, in our Tourism Destination/Enterprise.

Do you see, Touristologists? If somebody, ask you who is better prepared to deal with the Metaverse… just listen to your inner Touristology’s voice…
Who is better prepared/trained for the Metaverse than experts in the Science of Travel?
Who can better create, communicate, and commercialize, transformative and customized Hybrid Experiences for Tourists travelling in different worlds?
Who can better visualize and implement Strategies and Tactics related to Yield Management?

Touristologists!!!

 
Today, 30 years ago, I gave my first class in Tourism!

 
Now, it is a great moment to be a Touristologists builder!
Let’s build together the Metaverse world. Let’s create, communicate, and commercialize the best Tourism packages.
Let’s improve the professional and personal life of Tourists while improving profits and sustainability for Tourism Destinations and Enterprises.

Can you feel my energy? It’s the most powerful force of the Universe. It’s the force of a dream burning inside… Touristology’s dream!!!


 

Travel to improve your personal and professional life!

To me, the best Psychologist of the world is my wife! Then, you can pay attention to Maslow. He was the first to apply Psychology with the objective that individuals achieve their full potential. In our beloved sector, it was Chip Conley the first that take the ideas of Maslow and apply them to Hotels and Tourism. He loves to build communities between investors, employees, and Tourists. He loves to focus on value. He loves to create strong connections between the Tourism services and the internal motivation of Tourists. He describes this as “Identity Refreshment”. 

If your Tourists feel that your services share the same values, culture that they have, if your Tourists feel that they are a better version of themselves using your services... it will be easier to don’t mark down the price and to get direct reservations.

Chip Conley's ideas are focus on PEOPLE. It is segmentation based on Psychographics NOT demographics. Segmentation where the most important thing is to make the Tourists feel part of a community of similar/complementary people. Segmentation where the employees /collaborators are also members of the Segment/Community that will put all his/her passion in customizing the Servuction process in order that Tourists can cover their recognized needs AND ALSO the unrecognized ones! In a nutshell, Maslow/Chip Conley convey a very powerful idea…Tourists can improve their personal and professional life thanks to the transformation power of a trip!!! 

We use the ideas of Maslow/Chip Conley in OUR seminars, in-company training or star-ups meetings in order to define (or redefine!) their (OUR???) business model. They help us to define Tourism specialization focus on People where is easier to create GROUPS and manage the chain of value from the beginning to the end of the trip. 

Some people find difficulties to, clearly, see the difference between specialization focus on SERVICES and specialization focus on PEOPLE. Fear not! Let’s see if we can highlight, in a crystal clear way, these differences! Ready? Steady? Go!!! Segmentation focus on specialized people is the last tier of the following pyramid:

Where is easier to create GROUPS, where is easier to create activities and seduce the members of the Segment /Community to go there in a specific place, at a specific time, because doing these activities they can achieve, in a better way, using the transformation power of a trip, their desires, their dreams…both personal and professional.

Of course, it is our Touristology’s duty to be sure that the Specialized Segments that we choose are strongly connected with the values, culture, heritage of the Tourism Destination. Strongly connected with the necessities of local Tourism Enterprises AND NOT Tourism Enterprises and inhabitants looking for international opportunities!
Then, we have the second level of the pyramid where the specialization is based on typology of service: Cultural Tourism, Shopping, Religious Tourism...
We are talking about Segmentation focused on specialized SERVICES, where the most important thing is the typology of Tourism, and the Tourists are people that like this activity. BUT…Do we know the internal motivation to enjoy/choose this typology of Tourism? If you want to go deeper, here, we can see some examples about Religious Tourism, first talking about Segmentation focus on the Service and then a few examples of segmentation focused on PEOPLE.
This idea of prioritizing Specialized Segments focused on PEOPLE is strongly connected with the main objectives of YOUR Tourism Destination or Enterprise. It is very similar to one of the basics ideas in OUR science…  “First Specialized then Generic!”
- BUT...Jordi! Why is so important First specialized then generic?
Because in life and in Tourism Management we have two scarce resources... Time and Money and we have to prioritize in which activities we choose to use them!
If, as usual, we first focus on Generic /Mass Tourism (I repeat, NOTHING WRONG with it) we can easily seduce Tourists to appear in our destination or Tourism Enterprise BUT…
as the main driver of Tourist's motivation is the price you get this undesirable consequences:
1) Appears, what some call, "OverTourism”, that we prefer to call #LackOfTouristology. At the end of the day, ALL Tourists at the same place/time... inhabitants not happy with Tourism.
2) Appears and intermediary/Infomediary with economy of scales that only will be profitable if they send plenty of Tourists to YOUR Tourism destination or enterprise. As they provide the most important thing for this kind of Tourists… they control the chain of value and they will ask you to control your cost (Low salaries! Low Profit!). They will get most of the profit and none of the inconvenient of Tourism that we talked about in the previous point.
3) At any time, can appear a powerful competitor, mark down the price … wait until you have to disappear as a competitor and then, mark up the price.
If we focus our time and money in Generic Tourism…Will we have time and money for Specialized Tourism focused on PEOPLE? Will we have the knowledge, the skills, the international contacts…???
On the other hand, if we focus first on Specialized Tourism focused on PEOPLE we can get the following strong points:
A) It is easier to create GROUPS
B) It is easier to seduce them to go to a specific place in a specific time. As you know their internal motivations you can create specific activities focus on improving their personal or professional life that can become a magnet for this segment. As we explain here.
Having an international specialized community one specific day in our Tourism Enterprise / Destination, 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!!!
I love my wife! I love Maslow and Chip Conley ideas!
But…above anything else…I love Touristology and Touristologists!!!

Circular Economy and New Technologies!

As you know, I love mixing together new technologies with our beloved sector. It is part of the consilience’s movement created by Edwards Wilson!
As we saw in this post, Circular Economy in Tourism will be more applicable and profitable if…
1) We manage the trip of OUR Tourists from the beginning to the end. Especially, if we are able to create, communicate and commercialize international routes!
2) We can create GROUPS or seduce our Tourists to create this groups using a little bit of Pro-AM.
You can use other people websites, Social Networking Sites, Mobile Apps… BUT if you want to provide support to YOUR Tourists… If you want to provide solutions to any potential problem… if you want to show to them opportunities to improve their personal and/or professional life in Real-Time in a profitable way…Well, you definitely have to use your own platform!
In which way, new technologies can help us to achieve these objectives in our own Platform (you can learn more about Tourism an Platform Economy here)

If you want to provide customize services to all YOUR Tourists in Real-Time with privacy. You have to use together the scalability that Artificial Intelligence provide and the power of choosing which information, in each transaction, the Tourist wish to share using Blockchain.

If you want to share the ownership of your Tourism Enterprise or Destination in order to share profits with your Tourists when they help your inhabitants or local enterprises, you have to use together, Blockchain to guaranty profit’s sharing and Augmented/Virtual Reality to visualize and experiment in a mobile app, website or game the transformation power of a trip.

 
If you want to allow customize micro-payments based on the desires and rights of the Tourist in Real-Time, you will need to use Artificial Intelligence to know the desires of the Tourists, inhabitants, and members of its community around the world based on their location, the people with them at any specific moment and their mood. You will also need the power of Blockchain to trust the identity and the rights of the members of your platform. 

Few days ago, Facebook (sorry, Meta!) provide good examples about how to apply the Metaverse in Tourism.

Enjoy and visualize the potential of creating hybrid experiences like for example the two friends, one in Japan, the other in USA sharing a concert and a Metaverse party!
OR two friends playing chess, one in New York and the other in Barcelona!

In the same way, a Tourist can create groups and seduce them to visit specific places in specific time OR enjoy a Hybrid Experience mixing Tourists, inhabitants in the Tourism Destination and members of their community around the world.

You can describe this Hybrid Experience, as a member of the Metaverse world or, if you prefer you can use the name of Ubiquitous computing as Mark Weiser said long time ago. 

I love Tourism! I love New Technologies! They allow you to create your own platform using the three technologies mixed in heaven (Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Augmented/Virtual Reality) to provide Trustfulness, Scalability and Ubiquity… Welcome to #CircularTourism!!!

Applying Touristology’s principles to Circular Economy!

Circular Economy is the new, new thing! You can also apply it to Tourism, of course! BUT…In order to be successful in its implementation we have to remember a few Touristology’s principles!
1) We have to manage the whole trip of OUR Tourists, instead of waiting that, other enterprises bring THEIR Tourists.
2) We have to focus on specialized Segments inside of which we (or a member of this segment,  PRO-AM remember?) can create GROUPS.
If you get GROUPS willing to travel together or to share hybrid experiences mixing People in the Tourism Destination (Tourists, Locals) AND People (members of their community, co-workers, relatives…)  in the country of origin or any place around the globe, all of them can enjoy the transformation power of travel in different devices or inside a game.
THEN, you can select the typology of transport, to lead / influence over the management of sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products, the selection of sources of energy…
THEN, you can seduce YOUR Tourists to go to new places making something interesting for this specialized Segment in THIS specific place, seducing International members of its community and delivering specific activities to them. This meeting will be like a magnet for members of the community, providers of services related to their motivation, enterprises willing to hire them or do marketing research… We can create the “Mobile World Congress” of this community. Just change the word “Mobile” for the name of the Segment!
As Brian Chesky CEO of AirBnB say few days ago in an Interview “From sightseeing to people seen!” Highlighting, the importance of Human interactions over beautiful views or wonderful heritage.
This is the power of GROUPS. This is the power of Circular Economy in Tourism!
It could find ways to bring prosperity, jobs, people… life! In places with low economic development.
It could help enterprises NOT related to travel BUT related to the motivation of International Specialized segments to find new streams of revenues, to improve their exportations.

Do you want to learn how to define these specialized Segments?
Do you want to learn how to seduce them to visit the most needed places?
Do you want to learn how to create Hybrid Experiences and seduce them to participate here or in any place of the world?
Do you want to learn how to open new streams of revenues for your Tourism Destination?
I will be here, waiting for you!

Applying Touristology’s principles to the Metaverse’s world!

This summer, I have been reviewing ideas, startups, consultancy projects… related to the Metaverse. At the end of the day, to visit other worlds getting experiences and having opportunities to improve your professional/personal life is strongly connected to Touristology’s principles!
When Eric Peckham talks about Metaverse, He sees the merger between Social Media and Gaming. He also says that Multiverse could be a more appropriate word than Metaverse. Of course, enterprises will claim to be THE Metaverse, but as happens in Tourism Destinations, Hotels, Airlines Companies, Cruises companies… Tourists can have a different opinion and it is our job as Touristologists to try to seduce them!
If we go deeper (you know how much I love going deeper!), we can combine the Multiverse AND the real world so, we have the wonderful opportunity to build Hybrid Experiences where we can mix Tourists, Inhabitants, Local Enterprises with members of their community in any country around the world.

He also talks about how Fortnite in 2017 popularize MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online). In the same way, that in Tourism we have Mass Tourism and Specialized Tourism, in these new hybrid worlds we can apply one of our favorite Touristology’s principles. As we always say, in YOUR METAVERSE… First Specialized, then Generic! So, what about to try to build your SMO (Specialized Multiplayer Online) where the members of the community will be members of a Specialized Segment?
But Jordi… We are Touristologists! Fortnite is a GAME!
Listen to your inner Touristology's voice! Is it possible to mix/to find synergies between Games Sciences and Touristology? Of course! As a matter of fact, Touristology (and all Sciences) should be multidisciplinary. Who better than Edwars O. Wilson to share his vision of Consilience. The unity of knowledge.
The development of the Metaverse need the vision of scientists that know about games development, psychology of gamers... BUT also experts in the benefits of going to a different environment (change of perspectives, building professional/family teams, overcome fears, doubts or disabilities, to learn and practice your professional skills in an international environment…) and experts in the management of Tourism Enterprises/Destinations.
The development of the Metaverse is a great opportunity for building Games focused on collaboration instead of conflict.
Games focused on Tourists helping Local enterprises and earn a living doing it!
Games focused on building international communities improving their personal/professional life through International Routes or different Multiverses!
Games where Tourists will share experiences in Real-Time with members of their Specialized community in different countries around the world.  

We can lead the way to this new kind of games!

Together, experts in Games and Touristologists can visualize, create and animate new scenes. We will need “Scenes” develop for designers BUT ALSO real scenes based on where the Tourists’ camera is looking at. Creating Real-Time point cloud of the physical environment using SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) captured by photogrammetry/photoscanning (a lot of photos turned into 3D models), LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging)…
Experts in Games and Touristologists can visualize, create and animate new characters, new skins. Characters develop as mesh and riggings BUT also scanning real Tourists/Inhabitants, members of their specialized community around the world.
Together, they can trigger events rooted in the Tourists’ space and context. Events based on “Anchors” 3D models that all the members of the community will see in the same position and place. Events that will generate a wave of events (the World Wide Wave!!!) that then can be processed (Stream Processing ) in order to provide solutions and opportunities to improve/transform the personal and professional life of the Tourists, members of his/her community around the world, Inhabitants and local Enterprises!

As Jamie Burke says here “I don’t think the metaverse is necessarily or inherently disruptive. I actually think that if approached in the right way can enhance existing businesses” For instance… #Tourism!!!
So, definitely, in the GDD (Game Design Document) you have to add some Touristologists to the team!!!

The Metaverse! New worlds to explore, to create, to develop!!! Interesting times in Touristology’s field. Interesting times to be a Touristologists AND fascinating times to be a Touristologists builder!!!