Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and virtual and augmented reality were central themes at Tourism Innovation Summit 2023 (TIS2023) in Seville where 198 exhibiting firms connected with 7,384 industry professionals.
The event hosted 43 international delegations from Argentina, Canada, China, Ecuador, England, France Greece,, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Turkey and the United States. Exhibitors included popular names like Accenture, Amadeus, and Telefónica. The theme for the event was “Travel revolution takes off; and it served as a platform for latest technological innovations and disruptive trends in the tourism industry.
Mexico was selected as the partner country at TIS2023, and the city of Monterrey highlighted its successful model of cooperation between the public and private sectors, Monterrey Tourism Cluster and the development of the innovative “Pasaporte Nuevo León,” an aqp, that integrates city marketing, e-commerce, and data analysis and allows tourists to book and purchase products from the region.
A second project, called Dasha, visualises the data generated by the mobile application for tourism intelligence and decision-making. Monterrey showcased what they call the triple helix model, promoting collaboration between government agencies, local cities, the tourism industry, and the academic world.
Exhibitors included FLIGGY, an Alibaba Group platform, which was the first to sell virtual trips, aiming to maintain the connection between China and Europe, and who highlighted the opportunities in long haul travel being created by AI. Sara Yian Zhu of LaLiga Business School said livestreams featuring successful influencers have been well-received by the Chinese audience, who rely heavily on mobile platforms. “Chinese travellers expect high-quality, localised content and usually use online travel agencies (OTAs) to find information, inspiration, and products. To effectively capture the Chinese market, it is important to engage not only Generation Z but also the silver generation (those born between 1946 and 1964), as they are highly digitised and represent a valuable consumer segment.”
The economic impact on Seville of the summit is estimated at €20m.
