A bright clear day in late January 2024. Through the window of his office, displayed the Bay of Palma. The president of the technology center of Europe's most important tourist, notes with interest the special issue of Hosteltur 30 Aniversario, where they have reverted to printing on paper for this edition of collectors.
When you look back, I was overcome by a feeling of vertigo and satisfaction for all the events that had played live in the tourist sector its 42 years ... and the last 15 had been particularly intense.
carelessly passed the magazine pages, and feel of paper between his fingers felt a certain nostalgia. For more than 10 years that the paper editions had given way to digital printing to eBooks, mobile phones and computers. The growing environmental awareness, costs of production and distribution had been limited role, leaving the special editions.
could remember clearly the three clearly defined periods for which he had passed the tourism sector over the past 15 years: The Great Depression, from 2009 to 2012, the Renaissance, from 2013 to 2020, and the New Tourism, from 2021 to 2024, he seemed to have run long enough for Spain as a destination and as a power tourism sector was the engine of Europe in the world.
The Great Depression was a period of great confusion, in which many of the assumptions that were valid in the sector for years, seemed to become obsolete before their eyes. To begin until well into 2009 not completed to see clearly the true extent of the economic depression which had been entered since 2008. It was her first
years of life, and lived with passionate interest in the sequence: erosion of trust, economic crisis, social demoralization and crisis of values.
also helped him see the positive side of globalization. Never in history had so many initiatives and public-private coordination in the international arena. And even the most irreconcilable enemies agreed on the need to recover a set of core values \u200b\u200bthat will mark an international agenda to help the world out of this situation. Energy, Environment, Solidarity and technological innovation were the most important global agenda.
Continuous injections of public capital in the economy and pressure on financial institutions to stimulate entrepreneurship and innovation in Spain, contributed to the emergence of a generation of entrepreneurs and industry leaders, comparable to the first generation the Escarrer, Riu, Barceló or flux. These were also the digital natives, and their knowledge of new technologies and their ability to interpret and create business models laid the groundwork for the next period, known as the Renaissance in the sector, characterized by an extraordinary use of the new paradigm for tourism.
anti-crisis measures also brought the long awaited Ministry of Tourism, an upgrade of Horizon 2020 Plan, proceeded without delay to action in a comprehensive tourism training, commitment to innovation and knowledge centers and establishing a development strategy global tourism, with a promotion for products and segments rather than territories, led by a large joint-stock company nationwide. Think
evolution of technology throughout this process will generate a certain vertigo. In the participatory Web, known as 2.0, followed by two areas of development that changed the Internet, and subsequently caused a flurry of changes in management, tourism marketing and distribution. The refinement of search patterns, with the introduction of semantic elements and the evolution of interfaces - multi touch screens, voice recognition, simultaneous translators, the Web in three dimensions, etc. - took on a complete and definitive Internet confinement in the PCs and now his presence and was multiple and continuous access. And this meant that the opportunities for user interaction and customization had multiplied exponentially.
After the period of the crisis, thanks to measures had been taken across the sector during those difficult years, with a clear commitment to tourism as an absolute strategic priority for the competitive future of Spain, began a period of Renaissance. The innovation of new technologies led to a European leadership position and global knowledge-based, and the ability to innovate on a constant reinterpretation of business models, mainly related to the management of housing, management of destinations, marketing distribution and tourism.
Globally, the phases of the Renaissance and the New Order, generate a series of radical transformations in the tourist map. The line between marketing, promotion and distribution is becoming increasingly blurred. Major suppliers - hotel chains and major airlines - are increasingly moving in its direct distribution strategies, and seek specific support in the great centers of "access" online, which weigh about 4 or 5 major global centers of passengers or communities from which users access to information, virtual experiences, comparative, planners or advisors and finally to the reservation or purchase.
travel agent and call center become two sides of the same money, perfectly integrated into the processes of online access to information - by the customer, and the professional.
repositories of information for travelers and travel agents with Wikis structure become centers of content rich, dynamic, in which thousands of reviews, opinions, recommendations, updates, accompanied by all sorts of photos, videos and podcasts allow the traveler to a relationship with the destination, with its experts, with their preferences are shaping their buying decision until the reserve. And throughout this process, travel agents or advisors interact with the user in a constant but subtle, with a high level of customization, and where their role is evolving to become agents of promotion, conversion, yield and loyalty.
All this had led us to a number of consolidation processes in order to generate efficiencies in marketing and technology investments and maintain a sufficient brand relevance, such as products and destinations. Hotel chains, business networks in destination marketing and marketing groups had become the face of the sector, and fragmentation had virtually disappeared.
travel companies kept multiple associative relationships in order to maintain areas of identity. Thus one could belong to a hotel brand hosted or restore operation, have one or more trademarks for different markets or segments, or even a strictly no hotel, but related to an activity or destination.
smiled with his eyes lost in the Mediterranean. The achievements of recent years had been spectacular: Hence the name of the New Order Resort. The most important centers of innovation and technology tourism in Europe were in Spain. Despite the decline in the number of tourists compared to the record year of 2007, revenue had nearly doubled, thanks to the export of tourism knowledge and English hotel companies, airlines, destination management, technology and marketing and distribution, our presence was intense, appreciated and respected in all destinations worldwide. Moreover, our post-graduate training centers in different areas, competed today with Cornell, Lausanne or Surrey, and served as a special magnet for international talent.
opportunities arising from the crisis had materialized in a clear leadership through a reinterpretation and reinvention of tourism management models, based on the values \u200b\u200bof the new order, Sustainability, solidarity, responsibility and Talent.
approached his table and picked up the phone. I wanted to call Hosteltur to thank them personally for their contributions not only as mere chroniclers, but as facilitators in this process over the past 30 years.
Our protagonist, a woman, the daughter of immigrant, digital native, is currently finishing her graduate studies in some tourism, and participates in several online communities, both professional and personal, which is a very active member. Is a fictional character, but with the imprint of reality that permeates the brighter future of our industry.
