Planning a Startup in Tourism? Who is most important Developers or Touristologists?

As I always say to My Touristologists, all good answers begin with three words… It depends ON…then you have to explain the “ons”!!!!
How is it possible that most of the new startups dealing with tourism and relying on technology are low value orientated?
Low value orientated, Jordi? What do you mean with that? I mean that…
1) They are focused on providing a solution to mass tourism. So, basically, something that allow tourists to find cheaper prices and (apart from, sometimes, offering discounts for customers aggregation) not appear any possibility of groups creation!
2) They provide a partial solution. So, they don’t offer support for the tourists from the beginning to the end of the trip.
Is there anybody providing those kind of solutions? YES! Do you remember Worldmate that we talked about here.

So, why this low value orientated addiction?
One of the reasons is because they are products designed for developers NOT Touristologists.
Software is eating the world and the only ones able to create disruptive new, new enterprises are the ones able to code (or able to convince someone else to code for them…. BUT remember you need him/her and not the other way around).
So, Touristologists you need to learn to code! Developers thinking about Tourism… you need to learn Touristology!
Otherwise, your supposed new, new things are…
1) Not new but part of the forgotten set.
2) Are just temporarily new… Because sooner or later they will be eaten or surpassed or destroy by economy of scales suppliers!
As happened with wehotels (Studentuniverse) . As happened with Gydsy (getyourguide). As happened with blink (Groupon)…  Did they earn money in the process?  YES! But you will remember them in the future as you remember Apple (Steve Jobs) Joe de vivre (Chip Conley)… I doubt it!
Can you use your Touristology skills to analyze this new startup? Its name is Experitus and here you have a video 

and here an interview with its founder…
Can you improve it? Do you see the possibility of groups creation? Do you see possible buyers? Can you list its competitors? Can you analyze their mobile app and web sites? Do you think that they are very similar?
But Jordi, in specialized tourism other companies also can buy or destroy us. YES! But you would have learnt to define segments, to build a community, to create chains of value, to define operations and processes inside this chain of value, to create (or buy) the right software and to use the right devices… So, you will become… A TOURISTOLOGISTS!!! … nobody can take those skills away from you!  Once you create one enterprise you can create thousands. You will become master and commander of the Touristology framework!!!
The answer to the question in the title? I try to reply with another question!
Developers? Touristologists? Which is the difference? In 1500 who was more important people able to read and write or any member of any science?
So, this is my message for Christmas…   
Touristologists of earth… Learn to code!
Developers of earth… Learn Touristology!!!
Everybody needs two minds!!!

Copy me? Are you sure that you have what it takes?

The other day, some of my fellow Touristologists told me… Jordi, we will have an entrepreneurial session this weekend. We will explain a good idea for a tourism product in front of potential investors, mentors, future employees and the members of the jury that will select the best idea.
This is great, Touristologists! Good luck – I said to them from the bottom of my heart.
But, Jordi we are a little bit worried… What about if somebody copy our idea?
Ideas are easy to copy. – I, calmly replied feeling Touristology’s voice talking through me! BUT…
1) The definition of the segment’s needs. Necessities that will be better satisfied during a trip (international contacts/experiences, a boost of creativity, bonding experiences for professional or family groups…).
2) The aggregation and customization of services in order to fulfill them.

AND
3) The definition, creation and orchestration of an international chain of value able to work as a single ecosystem...
This is very difficult to copy! For you, it is a natural thing  to do, because this is your profession! You are Touristologists! The best minds working in the best sector ever!
So, Somebody, wants to copy you… do you really think that they have what it takes?
Go to this session with your heads held high! This tourism product only can be successful if you run it! As sure as Touristology is a science!!!

Opportunities in The Sharing Economy? Can you give an example?

As you know, I love to talk about Touristology and any potential disruptor of our beloved sector. Nowadays, the flavor of the month is ….The sharing economy. You can read my previous posts OR to watch this documentary about this topic...

Shhh! don’t tell anyone but I appear at minute 6:36 
In this post, I was (again!) arguing for keeping control of the chain of value, both from the point of view of the home owners “Doesn’t it make more sense to create a cooperative? We are talking about sharing economy, right? Let’s use the right sort of enterprise! ” and from the point of view of the tourist destination “Help this cooperative to create communicate and commercialize their products. Help them to make partnerships with your tourism enterprises (hotels, incoming travel agencies…) begin to think about how YOU can bring tourists here! We are leaders in Tourism… Time to prove it!!!” 
Later on, I wrote another post. This time focused on introducing Revenue Management to compete in the sharing economy. I made this recommendation “You have to discover new segments, even create new ones conveying to people the necessities that they have and that thanks to Tourism will be fulfilled. Then customize and aggregate a supply. Then build a chain of value…. This is a holistic/complete solution!!!”. I ended this post with the following sentence… “I repeat… Do you want to be and remain competitive? Follow the complete/holistic approach! Enjoy the benefits that modern Revenue Management can bring you…Become a Touristologists!!!”

Let’s see if now we can find some interesting segments to create communicate and commercialize successful tourism products!
In the title of this post I write down the usual question that sooner or later appear in my classes, seminars, in-company training or start-up meetings in order to define (or redefine!) their (OUR???) business model: Opportunities in The Sharing Economy? Can you give an example? This is always my answer.. Just one, Touristologists? I can give thousands! But the real questions are…
1) Are you able to understand them?

2) Do you have what it takes in order to develop them? 

3) Wouldn’t you be a copyologists, dreaming about an easy grade without proficiency in languages OR full understanding of technological schemes and internet oriented business models?

First example, imagine a couple dreaming about having kids. Do you think that going on a holyday and expending some time with a real family can help them to assess this decision. To be more prepared for this fundamental shift in their lives? Do you think that the cooperative of home owners with the help of travel agencies and the public sector can create, communicate and commercialize this kind of product? Do you think that is possible to create our own global social networking site (a kind of grandparents.com BUT focus on we-want-to-become-parents). Do you think that we can create a global specialized on-line travel agency? Do you think that we can aggregate and customize different suppliers (Psychologists, Universities courses, Dentist, Languages…) for this segment?

Can a single-parent or a couple of gays or lesbians become another segment?

What about a self-employed person willing to get international contacts? 

What about people wanting to improve their language or culinary skills?

Do you want to know the best example? For me, the most motivating one? What about my Touristologists going to a Tourism Destination, change/improve their tourism model and then professionals and students from around the world go there to see and learn…

I repeat, one example? Touristology can provide thousands! Do you have what it takes in order to develop them?

Leaders in Tourism?

Are we Tourism leaders because we get more tourists than anyone? What kind of crazy, boring, not sustainable, not as profitable as-it-can-be business are we playing at!?!??! 
Not sustainable? Number of tourists is increasing every year, right? Carrying capacity is the same, right?
Boring? Sure, If we are only able to mark down the price and copy what others are doing!
Crazy? Not as profitable as it can be? When we talk about minerals, species, commodities… who get most of the profit? The owners of the raw material OR the extractors, which transform the raw material and then communicate and commercialize it? Why do you think is different in Tourism?
In tourism the raw material are the tourism resources. The ones who transform them into tourism products, and then communicate and commercialize them are the winners.
The only difference in Tourism is that we don’t send the products abroad, we seduce tourists to come here!
I could go on for a month but I think I have made my point! 

but... what about if...?
We are Tourisms leaders because we have the best Touristologists, the best companies, the best startups dealing with Tourism…This is the name of the game!
We are Tourisms leaders because we always play at an international level… the world is definitely our office. This is the name of the game!
We are Tourism leaders because we are changing the way the world enjoys, manages and defines Tourism… This is the name of the game!

I LOVE TOURISTOLOGY'S GAMES!!!

Smartcities? Smartspaces? Smartareas?...SMARTChainofValue!

This summer I was playing around two potential-to-be-disruptive-topics. The first one was about BLE technology.The second was about graph databases.

It wasn’t until the middle of august that I realized that they were strongly connected!

Destiny, luck, serendipity, Touristology’s voice talking to me???

Ibeacons appeared on my radar not so long ago. I shared with you a video in twitter

With this message “iBeacon with privacy and Versions of Me… Success!!! Without them…. a nightmare!!!! Geo-location at its best!!!”

Then, google make its own movement with Eddystone

I find very interesting the vision that they share in this website.

“The number of smart devices is going to explode, and the assumption that each new device will require its own application just isn't realistic. We need a system that lets anyone interact with any device at any time. ”….” Once any smart device can have a web address, the overhead of a dedicated app is no longer required for simple interactions. The Physical Web approach unlocks use cases that would never be practical if a dedicated app were required:

A cat collar can let you call to find the owner

A bus can tell you its next stop

A parking meters can pay in the cloud

Any store, no matter how small, can offer an online experience when you walk in

A shared car service can broadcast a signup page, allowing you to immediately drive away Industrial equipment can offer diagnostics”

What about using a Graph Data Base?

Can beacons be aggregated because they have been connected with THIS Tourist / On this trip?

Can beacons be aggregated because they have been connected with THIS Version of Me?

Can People /Organizations be aggregated because they have been connected with THIS  Tourist / on this trip?

Ibeacons /eddystone in your hotel? In your Tourism destination? Of course! But, you know me… As with almost anything… use/put them through all your chain of value!

As Touristologistly, we always say “We have to achieve that all departments work as a single organization and our chains of value working as a single enterprise”

We saw and interesting evolution in the Property Management System’s field and its slow transformation from a PMS to a CVMS here

So, to summarize….

Smartcities? Smartspaces? Smartareas?... SMARTChainofValue!

I love Touristology’s games!!!

SPECIALIZED TOURISM. Why is it so difficult to understand?

When Touristologists talk about specialized tourism, we are talking about the highest level of specialization… the best one! 

In the first tier, you have generic/mass tourism. No segmentation whatsoever and with price as the main demand driver!

In the second tier, you have specialized offer: Adventures Tourism, Sports Tourism, Family tourism, Sky Tourism, Cultural Tourism… Leisure Tourism, Business Tourism… No clear identification of the segment is provided. Their users/evangelists still believe we live in FORD Model T times!!!! "You can have any color as long as it's black.“ 1909

Finally, in the last tier, you have specialized Tourism focuses ON PEOPLE!!! ON TOURISTS NOT tourism typologies! We are TOURISTOLOGISTS! We focus on seducing tourists conveying the benefits that travelling brings to human beings!!!  We find segments around the world. Segments with necessities that will be better satisfied during a trip (international contacts/experiences, a boost of creativity, bonding experiences for professional or family groups…). SEGMENTS! NOT Dr. Frankensteins experiments!!!!

1) Going to this tourism destination, Hotel... is like an ego shower (Chip Conley called it Identity refreshment) 

“We are not boutique hoteliers; we are in the business of identity refreshment.” This is why people fall in love with our hotels – it refreshes their identity. In that space, they are the best version of themselves.

2) Community power/Easy group creation: Plenty of things to talk about with people like me or complementary to me OR the ones that can help me…

Nothing wrong with tourism destination or services focused on price. Nothing wrong with tourism destination or services focused on tourism typologies BUT, if you really want to specialize… choose the top tier!

Revenue Management helping you to deal with the sharing economy.

As you know, I like to define Revenue Management as a way to manage hotels focusing on PROFITS and coordinating all the departments of the hotel and all the members of the chain of value. I, strongly, believe that the last part of the definition “ALL members of the chain of value” is very important and sometimes misunderstood.

If you want to transform a threat into an opportunity you have to analyze it with a holistic vision/approach. In Tourism this means finding ways to gain the trust of the tourists and add value to him/her from the beginning to the end of the trip. Otherwise, others will do this for you and you will become a commodity. Let’s apply this approach in the sharing economy, shall we?

There are apartments near to my hotel that have become competitors. Ok, I agree you have more suppliers! In 1,2,3 theory this is number 2.

There are some tourists that prefer going to apartments because it’s cheaper. Others because they like the possibility to live together with a resident of the city and in this way have a different tourism experience. Others because they want to enjoy the freedom of not having schedules or selecting and creating their own food (for instance, think about families with small children or vegans…). Others, because they prefer to have a bigger sharing space. Do you think a group of friends, a big family or a start-up developing a new product could be good examples? Others, because... Ok, I agree you have different segments with different necessities to satisfy! In 1, 2, 3 theory this is number 1.

Plenty of new intermediaries have appeared offering this kind of offer: airbnb, homeaway, niumba, windu, housetrip….. even booking, tripadvisor and Expedia are running this race! As usual, data aggregators or metasearch engines have appeared: tripping, hometogo, hundredrooms… Ok, I agree this is part of number 3!

If you analyze tourism market structure (suppliers, demand, intermediaries…) as independent parts, you usually will propose/create partial solutions. For instance, the chain of hotels Hyatt offers complementary services to onefinestay’customer as you can read here.

That initiative is OK, BUT… You run a hotel! You are an expert in Tourism! You manage an enterprise and have the contacts of an enterprise (Contacts to offer complementary services, to do marketing campaigns, to get finance, to get human resources…) Are you unable to compete with the unprofessional owner of a flat?

If this happens, it is because you compete basically on price, offering a place to stay and food and beverage. You have to compete in the high value league! It is NOT about offering more and then looking for customers. Take the Canary Islands, for instance, they are thinking on ““encouraging tourists on all-inclusive package trips to 'leave the hotel' and spend money”. This idea makes me tweet “this is a good example of Oxymoron”. It is NOT about offering more for less. Those are partial solution focusing on the supply (number 2). You have to discover new segments, even create new ones conveying to people the necessities that they have and that thanks to Tourism will be fulfilled. Then customize and aggregate a supply. Then build a chain of value…. This is a holistic/complete solution!!!

So, you can provide a partial solution OR you can create a complete/holistic solution. Do you want to be and remain competitive? Follow the complete/holistic approach! Become a Touristologists!!!

BeMate the community/central reservation created by the chain of hotels RoomMate is a case in point: 

They define a segment (tourists desiring the freedom of an apartment but also the services of a hotel), then they define the offer (go to theses apartment near to my hotel and you will have what you are looking for) then they create a meeting place and a central reservation system. A good example of 1,2,3 theory!

Can you go further on? Of course, you can! You can follow the example of the hoteliers (Vail Resorts) who targeting international customers, create a chain of value: An incoming travel agency (snow.com) and a specialized social networking site (epicmix.com) as we saw here.

Or you can go deeper in the segmentation process (forgetting about Dr. Frankensteins) and looking for international communities desiring to travel for any of the benefits that Tourism can provide: International contacts/experience, a boost of creativity, bonding experiences for professional or family groups… 

Ummmm, this seems a kind of study case to me! If you are a Touristologists you can’t help it… your mind is already finding solutions! Do you want to share it with your brothers in arms?

- But Jordi, I just want to sell my rooms, my food and beverage, my meeting space….

Well, It is your choice… but from my point of view… Your business is NOT selling rooms or F&B… Your business is to satisfy your customers, providing what they need, when they need it, in the way they need it!  Anything able to provide the highest value for the customer and the highest margin to your business!

- But Jordi, I don’t want to create on-line travel agencies or social networking sites!

Why not? Are the owners of RoomMate out of their mind? Is ACCOR also crazy for opening their central reservation system to other hotels? It was also crazy  Wyndham when they created womenontheirway.com as we explained here.

I repeat… Do you want to be and remain competitive? Follow the complete/holistic approach! Enjoy the benefits that modern Revenue Management can bring you…Become a Touristologists!!!