Sand Mandala by Wonderlane (Flickr)
How do Apps & Tourism fit ?
One thing that struck me during my survey interviews with companies active in Tourism was how little they used new media to engage customer. Some have Facebook pages, others Twitter accounts, others were proud to have a nicely designed websites but few had an integrated communication approach.
By making life easier, Apps like SBB Swiss Railways associate brands with real day-to-day value. Improving consumer experience, Apps are one good way to engage customers and build loyalty.
Providing brand content with innovation
As seven of my interviews showed, providing the right content on demand is the key challenge for organizations active in tourism.
Here are two interesting examples of how innovation can help provide content to consumers:
- A Wine Cellar in Switzerland, la Cave Giroud launched recently a service using QR-Code bars on their bottles labels that can be scanned by app-powered smartphones to access specific mobile content related to the wine (history, type of grapes, service recommendations, …).
- Keeping in mind that smartphones are personal devices that know where you are, the forthcoming app developed by the city of Geneva will serve as virtual guide with augmented reality to help discover more of the city, its monuments & history in an interactive way.
New times = New opportunities
In the past the Tourism Sector had few ways of engaging visitors aside from personal contact (information offices, events) and traditional advertising. New Media will change the way tourism organization connect with visitors and guide them. Learn more in my next series of posts on Tourism, Loyalty and New Media.
How do you see the evolution of tourism customer engagement strategies ? I’d be glad to have your feedbacks !
Eugène Schoen 
I’m sure there is a lot to do with Tourism and Geolocalization. GPS guided tours, free coffee vouchers if you check in in certain place. Live localized comments on touristic spots.
What about the city of Basel sending you a little pack of Baslerläckerli for your birthday if you checked in at the Basel Train station in the last year and you are not living in Switzerland? Possibilites are infinite.
Thanks for writing this post.
We’ve been working with leading tour operators to deliver GPS triggered audio tour experiences in multiple languages simultaneously (on buses, boats, trolleys and trains).
We’re breaking down language barriers in the tourism industry so everyone can enjoy the same tour at the same time (in their own language).
The next natural step for us is to move this audio and video content to mobile platforms.
When developing content, visitors are best served when content is created in such a way that it can be seamlessly deployed across multiple distribution channels.
Simply put, regardless of the technology platform – it’s the story that counts.
Hi Jonathan,
I appreciate your feedback.
Yes, the story definitely counts most.
As you might have seen in some of my previous posts (Conversation 2.0 / New Event Management) I am convinced that new media will play soon a key role in future STORYTELLING by bringing content to mobile devices such as smartphones & tablets.
Best regards
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Eugène, Loved the post and the YouTube video. – @punitastrooger
Hi Punit – Thanks so much for your comment! Look forward to sharing & stay tuned for future posts !