Industry Digitalisation & Sustainable Transformation
In a challenging economic climate, we are investigating the best approaches for DMOs to support tourism entrepreneurs and boost skills to enable SMEs to grow.
In a challenging economic climate, we are investigating the best approaches for DMOs to support tourism entrepreneurs and boost skills to enable SMEs to grow.
In the ever-evolving landscape of digital tourism, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This Workstream aims to empower tourism businesses to not only adopt cutting-edge technologies like AI and blockchain but also to optimise their existing digital platforms, enhance website performance, and improve booking funnel conversion rates to drive commercial success.
This section outlines the key challenges the Workstream seeks to understand better and the impactful results it aims to achieve in addressing them.
Moving beyond basic digital adoption to harness cutting-edge technologies that can redefine the visitor experience, streamline operations, and create new revenue streams.
Shifting from reactive to proactive decision-making by leveraging data analytics, predictive modelling and AI-powered insights to anticipate trends and personalise offerings.
Integrating sustainability into the core of digital strategies, leveraging technology to measure and reduce environmental impact, promote responsible practices, and create a more sustainable tourism ecosystem.
Enhancing website performance, user experience, and booking funnel conversion rates to maximise commercial results, in particular how to strengthen the direct to customer relationship and develop strong digital brands which drive year-round demand and revenue uplift.
With many SMEs lacking the expertise to develop digital strategies to incentivise and support experimentation, identifying the right programmes ,such as mentorship, micro-grants for pilots and capacity development are important to driving innovation and business competitiveness.
With SMEs often limited in their ability to invest resources in their digital competitiveness, it is important to identify and address the key barriers to digital adoption for specific segments of the tourism industry and shape targeted solutions from training to accessibility of technology to effective collaboration to narrow the divide between local tourism SMEs and global competitors.
The outputs are defined and later refined by members of the Workstream and serve as the guiding objectives defining the group's scope of work and priorities.
A collaborative guide developed by and for DMOs, outlining step-by-step strategies, best practices, and case studies for empowering tourism SMEs through digitalisation. Alongside key digital transformation resources, specialised strands provide greater depth and knowledge on areas such as:
Regular calls and in-person sessions to share experiences, challenges, and successes in implementing digital transformation initiatives for industry. Each session focus will be determined by members based on needs and questions, whilst fostering a collaborative learning environment where different approaches, models, best practices and learnings can be shared, whilst new opportunities can be sought collaboratively.
Curating a network of digital transformation experts, consultants, and technology providers who can offer specialised advice and support to DMOs in developing and implementing their programs around specific technology developments. Developed in tandem with participating members, this directory will provide invaluable access to cutting-edge insights, industry trends, and practical solutions tailored to the needs of destinations and tourism SMEs as a go-to-reference point on every key technology trend.
Working to help DMOs support better collaboration with startups, tech companies, and academic institutions on an international level, to develop and pilot innovative digital solutions for the tourism sector as well as providing new opportunities for collective skills and knowledge development, with a focus on supporting SME participation.
A structured process for identifying and developing joint proposals for funding opportunities, such as European grants and other relevant programs, collectively reviewing the funding landscape, scoping potential projects and preparing funding proposals collectively.
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