In the last years more and more companies are thinking about how to use social networking sites (SnS in short) to improve their operations and processes. To me is difficult to highlight a great application. Most of them use a combination of you are here, you want to be (or you were) there, I suggest these services for you, and these friends can recommend them. So a combination of location base services (LBS) and user generated content (UGC) customizing the 3 C’s (content, commerce and community) BUT… not provoking a travel.
As you know to me there are several reasons to travel:
For starters:
1) Proximity
2) The possibility to make business (sometimes called Marco Polo’s tourism)
3) Something interesting in the destination
4) Something cheap
5) But, by far, the most important one is… a Touristologist doing his job! Locking for a segment, discovering or provoking a necessity, customizing the offer and using or creating a chain of value.
Recently, Germanwings - Click here introduce a new application in Facebook. It’s a little bit different from the rest and I see the beginning of something really interesting.
-“Jordi! Can you stop seeing what can be instead of what it is now?” NO! I can’t! Overall, I’m a teacher and that means that I have to see my students as what they can be (real Touristologist, the future of Touristology!) I don’t see the lack of…. or little signs of bright in… I only see weakness to overcome and strong points to enhance!
I will do the same with this Germawings application! To make a long story short this app basically helps you to find the lowest Germanwings airfares to visit your Facebook friends around Europe. You say I’m here and automatically you get the available flights and the friends that you can see if you choose it.
To begin to play, you can go to Facebook and install the app…
As you know to me there are several reasons to travel:
For starters:
1) Proximity
2) The possibility to make business (sometimes called Marco Polo’s tourism)
3) Something interesting in the destination
4) Something cheap
5) But, by far, the most important one is… a Touristologist doing his job! Locking for a segment, discovering or provoking a necessity, customizing the offer and using or creating a chain of value.
Recently, Germanwings - Click here introduce a new application in Facebook. It’s a little bit different from the rest and I see the beginning of something really interesting.
-“Jordi! Can you stop seeing what can be instead of what it is now?” NO! I can’t! Overall, I’m a teacher and that means that I have to see my students as what they can be (real Touristologist, the future of Touristology!) I don’t see the lack of…. or little signs of bright in… I only see weakness to overcome and strong points to enhance!
I will do the same with this Germawings application! To make a long story short this app basically helps you to find the lowest Germanwings airfares to visit your Facebook friends around Europe. You say I’m here and automatically you get the available flights and the friends that you can see if you choose it.
To begin to play, you can go to Facebook and install the app…
Or… keep reading this post!
When you open the application, a form will ask… Where are you? You say Barcelona/Munich /London…
And they show the available flights to visit your friends!!!
See the picture…
When you open the application, a form will ask… Where are you? You say Barcelona/Munich /London…
And they show the available flights to visit your friends!!!
See the picture…
As you can see you can reorganize the results on the spot (I love AJAX!!!) based upon:
A) Name (alphabetical order of your friends’ names) B) Price of the flight C) Distance to your friends.
Which is the potential I’m talking about?
One step more in the long tail / pro-am approach to create, communicate and commercialize tourism products. I mean, 20 years ago if you have a hobby or special interest you have to follow it in your region and from time to time go to other places. For instance, is you like to practice Kung Jung Mu Sul (an ancient martial art from Korea) you will practice your hobby in a nearby gym and you’ll share your experiences with people near you… Not anymore! Nowadays you have the opportunity to share your interest with the entire world. Doing so it’s just a matter of time that one of the members of the group proposes a meeting.
Tourism companies can use the power of long tail to find specific niches, which in an international market soon won’t be niches anymore. Then using the best pro-am (the most connected, the influencers, the human-bridge between communities, the ones surrounded by people like themselves…) they will have the opportunity to offer their services. Even better, to let this pro-am to create, communicate and commercialize this services by oneself!
Can we combine the ideas described in this post with the idea/app of Germanwings? What do you think?
Let’s consider a SnS focus on people around the world who like to play a game in their Smartphone and they like to share tricks and secrets in order to succeed in it. In this SnS there are also programmers learning which are the most desirable features in this game. We also have Business Angels willing to invest his money if they believe that enough players and good programmers can build something profitable. There are also specialized media which talk about this kind of games. Nothing related to Tourism so far, does it? Not related to Tourism? Let’s review the situation… People from around the world with complementary needs able to create synergies, sharing their passion, their time. It’s just a matter of time, somebody will say “What about if we meet together” Not related to tourism? You must be kidding me!!!
A kind of app similar to the one develop for Germanwings could provide the information for the organization of this meeting, the best place to gather together, the possibility of an international route, the ancillary products related both to the travel and to the motivation for the travel…
For instance, you can combine the Germanwings application with something similar to the app developed for Hotels.com click here that I introduced to you earlier on - click here and I explained in detail later on – click here click here .
Using hotels.com applications (Hotels WithMe) groups can collaboratively choose a hotel without having to sit in front of the same computer together. They are taking the most of the participation of the customers in the servuction process. Not only in the creation of a product but also in its communication and commercialization.
A) Name (alphabetical order of your friends’ names) B) Price of the flight C) Distance to your friends.
Which is the potential I’m talking about?
One step more in the long tail / pro-am approach to create, communicate and commercialize tourism products. I mean, 20 years ago if you have a hobby or special interest you have to follow it in your region and from time to time go to other places. For instance, is you like to practice Kung Jung Mu Sul (an ancient martial art from Korea) you will practice your hobby in a nearby gym and you’ll share your experiences with people near you… Not anymore! Nowadays you have the opportunity to share your interest with the entire world. Doing so it’s just a matter of time that one of the members of the group proposes a meeting.
Tourism companies can use the power of long tail to find specific niches, which in an international market soon won’t be niches anymore. Then using the best pro-am (the most connected, the influencers, the human-bridge between communities, the ones surrounded by people like themselves…) they will have the opportunity to offer their services. Even better, to let this pro-am to create, communicate and commercialize this services by oneself!
Can we combine the ideas described in this post with the idea/app of Germanwings? What do you think?
Let’s consider a SnS focus on people around the world who like to play a game in their Smartphone and they like to share tricks and secrets in order to succeed in it. In this SnS there are also programmers learning which are the most desirable features in this game. We also have Business Angels willing to invest his money if they believe that enough players and good programmers can build something profitable. There are also specialized media which talk about this kind of games. Nothing related to Tourism so far, does it? Not related to Tourism? Let’s review the situation… People from around the world with complementary needs able to create synergies, sharing their passion, their time. It’s just a matter of time, somebody will say “What about if we meet together” Not related to tourism? You must be kidding me!!!
A kind of app similar to the one develop for Germanwings could provide the information for the organization of this meeting, the best place to gather together, the possibility of an international route, the ancillary products related both to the travel and to the motivation for the travel…
For instance, you can combine the Germanwings application with something similar to the app developed for Hotels.com click here that I introduced to you earlier on - click here and I explained in detail later on – click here click here .
Using hotels.com applications (Hotels WithMe) groups can collaboratively choose a hotel without having to sit in front of the same computer together. They are taking the most of the participation of the customers in the servuction process. Not only in the creation of a product but also in its communication and commercialization.
In this way you get an app more suited for the key components of web2.0 I mean…
1) FROM GO ON-LINE TO LIVE ON-LINE
Where do you meet your friends? Where do you buy your books/music/films? Where do you store your pictures? … Do you really feel a barrier between off and on-line?
2) YOU. Your opinion (UGC) is far more important for other users that the bias opinion of a member of a company, party, union…
3) Syndication. You can get and send 3C from and to internet.
We can even forecast a Cambrian explosion in Touristology… From search plus People Like Me (PLM) recommendations TO the full process of creation, communication and commercialization of tourism products.
With the development, improvement and assembling of this kind of applications, customers will be able to create, communicate and commercialize tourism services from their favorite site; using their favorite device (Smartphone, tablet, laptop, interactive television..); getting and sending all the 3C’s from any place in the internet.
Wow! There are a lot of things to do!!!!
Believe me this is only the beginning… Tourism, Touristology and Touristologists are entering in a new era! Are you ready to compete in it?
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.” Napoleon Hill
Can you conceive the Business Model and the Technological Scheme?
Can you believe in your knowledge, your attitude, your contacts?
I BELIEVE!
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