Personal data handling is probably the greatest current source of wealth and power and also determines the quality of the tourist experience

1. “An imminent struggle for
companies and tourist
destinations: intelligent
management of the new
environment of digital data and
information”
Javier Blanco
“Big-data Analytics: the industrialisation of intelligence”. Course at
Menéndez y Pelayo International University, Santander, 29, 30 and 31
July.

2. In our time:
Irreversible
globalisation

3. Uncertainty
Reduced distances
Movement
Information

4. .. and also determines the quality of
the tourist experience
Personal data handling is
probably the greatest current
source of wealth and power
Photo: Stephen Swinteek

5. Sociedad del
conocimiento
“We've reached a tipping point
in history: today more data is
being manufactured by
machines, servers, and cell
phones than by people” (Michael
E. Driscoll)
“What motivates the continuous
growth of the web is the
voracious extension of the scope
of data gathered around the
world, a procedure which aims
to digitise life itself” (Rovroy,
2005)
Photo: Li Jingwang
Towards the digitisation of social life?

6. “Signature of humanity” (video)
(A journey inside communication networks)
MIT SENSEable City Lab

7. Tourism today

8. Fuente: OMT
2012
 1,035 billion international arrivals
 Global growth 4%
 Europe, the most visited region (+ 50% of
arrivals)
 Significant growth in emerging markets
 4.3% growth in the first four months of 2013

9. Social trends
and implications
affecting the
sector

10.  Sustained world tourism growth
projection (employment/
development)
 Profound demographic changes
 New tourists
 A dynamic and more competitive
global market for destinations
and companies
 Changes arising from ICT
management
 Reducing barriers for travel

11. • Independent
• Motivated by ‘experiences’
• Connected and sharing their experience
throughout their entire trip
• Sensitive to safety, price and reputation of
destination
New tourists
Photo: Christopher Allan

12. Authentic collaborative networks of
organisations and agents connected by the
flow of information.
Smart Tourist Destinations

13. What is Big
Data?

14. • A combination of having large quantities of
available data and the ability to do something
positive with them
• “The Age of Big Data”: a “revolution”, “a world
with a nervous system”, which starts to radically
change lives, business and things.

15. El Turismo hoy
London Data: Transportation, networks, urban infrastructure,
social. “Wearedata” project

16. • Decisions are based on data and analysis, more
than intuition and experience, and “we can start
being a lot more scientific” (Prof. Brynjolfsson)
• The risk lies in the inconsistency, with the
multiplication of approximations and
shortcomings: “the volume of information often
makes up for examining its representativeness
and significance” (Rogers, 2009)
Enthusiasm or concern?

17. “Knowledge is
information accompanied
by experience, wisdom,
intuition and values” (D.
Innerarity, 2012)

18. • European project on data protection regulation ( 2012)
• Reinforce guarantees, limit access and widen the definition of
‘personal data’, binding for non-EU companies operating in the
EU.
• The Global Code of Ethics for Tourism of the UNWTO (2001)
• Right to confidentiality of tourist data, especially when these
are stored electronically (art. 8.3)
Privacy and Big Data

19. Data and
knowledge in
the tourism
sector

20. • In general, tourism suppliers have had a
lot of data at their disposal
• Unequal presence in destinations and
tourist organisations, with customary
absence of standards
Information-intensive yet
knowledge-deficient sector
Foto: Tom Grill

21. Tourism intelligence is
not only use of suitable
technological tools. The
added value lies in the
human capital and their
analytical abilities.

22. Big Data in
tourism
companies

23. • Certain
confusion/scepticism
about its use,
contents and tools
• Gradual interest as
a strategic and
technological
business challenge
offering competitive
advantages
Mixed reactions to an emerging
phenomenon
Photo: Yagi Studio
IBM Study (2012): Transport and Tourism CEOs make
‘customer knowledge’ their main priority

24. Transform the way of providing services
and the best tourism experience to
customers by using more suitable
systems and products (from a coherent
set) to maintain the best customer
relationship at the most opportune
moments.
Opportunities

25. Influential factor in tourists’
decisions

26. Faced with new connected, informed
and interactive tourists, companies
should respond quickly and in real
time, with:
• hyper-personalisation processes
• behaviour analysis
• micro-segment development
• identification of the best
personalised offers
Big Data: tourists under the company
microscope

27. Big Data: a
priority for
tourist
destinations?

28. 1. Is knowledge part of the main strategy of the
destination?
2. Is it reflected in the human resources and budgets
of the company?
3. Are the information priorities analysed?
4. Are the available information and technologies
analysed?
5. Has an appropriate organisational and
technological structure been implemented?
6. What actions have been carried out and with what
results?
7. What kind of evaluation has been carried out?
Questions for destination managers

29. The differential value of the
destinations (and companies)
will be to create systems that
express knowledge
Photo: Luc Beziat

30. In conclusion…

31. Challenges to face on the horizon
1. Assume BD as a support strategy against
change
2. Gain further and better data without
infringing upon rights (‘The end doesn’t
justify the means’)
3. Use in organisational differentiation and to
profile and improve individual customer
relations
4. Incorporate new talent, with multi-
disciplinary teams
5. Ongoing processes which require flexible,
collaborative and global vision.
Challenges to face on the horizon

33. @JavierBlancoH
tourism@javierblanco.org
Advisor to the World Tourism Organisation