By Pako Rodríguez, a consultant specialised in tourism. (Original publication in Spanish)

The disruption caused by Covid-19 has transformed countless aspects of our daily lives and has called into question the global tourism development. However, not everything is shadows around us. The current situation also suggests some lights, promising and hopeful, by presenting a new scenario in which we will have at our fingertips the ability to recombine the institutional guarantee, the business initiative and the citizen capabilities to create new critical systems that allow for economic and social development. 

Now more than ever, it is time to plan the destinations we will offer, focusing on the participation of all stakeholders, health safety, sustainability, a deep understanding of the tourist, and technology as the enabler of all the above. To achieve this, we must be able to provoke a productive conversation between those responsible and the public sector to explore the different opportunities. A dialogue that, at a minimum, must address three major questions:

1. How do we want the destinations to be when this is all over?

In the face of such an uncertain future, projecting what is to come is not an easy task. However, there are some elements on which institutions, experts, and businesspeople seem to agree: post-Covid-19 tourism will be a tourism of greater proximity and, above all, health safety will be an essential factor. 

Much is said about the role of domestic tourism at the local level as a savior of the industry. The data coming from China seem to confirm this hypothesis, and Spain validates the trend.

The different territories far from crowds and with tourism potential have a golden opportunity if they decide to step forward and position themselves as a destination in a moment of uncertainty. If done right through planning and communication, the near future will be filled with moments of truth in which to captivate the tourist and retain them so that the relationship does not end when all this is over.

Furthermore, if one thing has made this situation clear, it is that safety comes first. And precisely tourism also relies on safety. Once the uncertainties regarding the control of the epidemic and the tracing of new cases are resolved, we must focus on generating trust in customers. And, in that, we will have duties such as:

• Training sector staff in the use of new technologies and health protocols. 

• Informing the relevant authorities and the sector about demand through the inclusion of intelligent systems such as health passports, temperature control systems, signage, and the use of apps with push notifications to keep customers informed about the situation, regulations, and protocols.

• Transforming the environment through the implementation of new technologies that replace processes where there is greater potential contact (check-in/check-out) and objects (mobile connected to the hotel to manage doors or lights) or the effective reduction of capacities and automated control and management systems (there are already several on the market).

2. What should we leverage to create new tourism products?

Beyond defining what these #destinationsrock will be, we must be able to design product development strategies that are coherent with these destinations.

It is time to plan the different destinations focusing on the participation of all stakeholders, health safety, sustainability, a deep understanding of the tourist, and technology as the enabler of all the above. 

If the de-seasonalisation of tourism was already a challenge, now that the sector needs demand to travel more than ever and avoid crowds, it becomes one of the most important priorities. At the product level, we need to think about how to attract demand in different seasons of the year, especially by making use of natural resources (landscapes, agricultural activities, sports) and other more traditional ones like gastronomy and culture.

3. How can we increase demand?

In parallel to these measures and the implementation of product development dynamics, we must also study and understand our potential demand. In this new context, the “build it and they will come” mentality is no longer valid, if it ever was. Besides product, we need to understand who our demand is now and how we address it. Competition will be intense, and the fight for tourists will force us to be sharper than ever. One of the first questions that different destinations should ask themselves is where does my new tourist reside? The answer will largely come from the various agreements reached between different states for the creation of tourism corridors. 

But, what if part of the solution is closer than we think? In this new scenario, we need to be able to reimagine business models to adapt them to new realities that, far from being the future, have become our present. This response involves deconstructing organisations to assess the available assets and determine how to combine them to create new value. 

Back in 2016, while we all saw 2020 as a horizon of hope, at Ideas for Change we worked with some key players in the tourism sector to create that future that rocks. Using the methodology Pentagrowth for designing disruptive business models, we assisted Accor, one of the most important hotel chains globally, in reinventing its business model using its own assets.

Accor Case

With the goal of creating value for new clients from underutilised assets and services, we created AccorLocal, an initiative aimed at making the hotel and all its services available to local citizens who seek a gym, meeting spaces, a place to manage delivery services, or to take yoga classes and other activities. An example that shows how, by changing perspectives and creatively recombining assets, new opportunities arise, many of them closer than we might imagine.

Among the most interesting conclusions drawn from this experience, two stand out: 

• There is an untapped reserve of value in the assets and relationship systems that hotels already have.

• The implementation of coordinated initiatives allows Accor to significantly accelerate its learning in collaborative formulas and adjacent businesses.

Accor remains true to this premise and, for example, this 2020 it has transformed rooms in some of its hotels into offices for daytime use. In this way, it adds value to currently underused assets by leveraging relationships with its ecosystem, in this case, the residents. This is a group that has normally been excluded from the tourism ethos. Now, more than ever, they will have a relevant role in the sector. 

Disruption can come from traditional incumbents, new players, or from the environment, as is the case with the situation we are living. If you want to know how to apply it in your organisation, let’s reflect on how to create your #futurethatrocks.