In the Travel & Tourism industry, as we have highlighted in our previous articles, tourism destinations and hotels will be able to manage the relationship with the customer-tourist in new ways, opening up to new interactions before, during and after the journey, exploring new opportunities for monetisation and value creation.  

To achieve this, a change of paradigm will be necessary. Starting with entrepreneurs, managers or hoteliers, key people in the industry will have to turn into meta-entrepreneurs, a neologism first coined by Twissen in relation to the topic.  

A new generation of business leaders will be able to innovate and, while continuing to develop business in the ‘real’ world, leverage the technologies offered by the metaverse with new revenue and value creation opportunities for their stakeholders.  

Meta-entrepreneurs will have to equip their companies from the outset with a meta-strategy accompanied by a precise business model, dosing their resources well at each stage of receiving this new wave from the market.  

Technology, all of which already exists, will be the defining element. Graphics, fluidity and security, for example, will position the business project in the metaverse. 

Finally, training will be a strategic element since, although there will always be, fortunately, operators who welcome tourists in the real world, and they will need lifelong training, there will be a new class of employees who will operate in the virtual world and who will have to learn, for example, specific hospitality techniques.  

We at Twissen have observed that, although it still takes time for the market to be fully receptive, there are several activities that can be completed in the virtual platform, such as business meetings, training or previews of hotel rooms. It is highly recommended to approach this trend already now in order not to be caught off guard when the market is ready and receptive.  

Twissen

twissen.com

L'articolo The time has come for meta-entrepreneurs, even in tourism proviene da Twissen.

The metaverse for the hotel industry offers many insights and, above all, new opportunities emerge to enhance one’s brand and further monetize its customer-user management.

For hotels, it is not a matter of replacing the real experience with the virtual one, but of offering answers to those users who are increasingly investing resources in their virtual identity.

Services
Technology will help to provide faster, more relevant responses, available at anytime, improving the perception of quality of the guest who will always feel accompanied during their stay.
New hospitality techniques will need to be developed to respond to new customer demands.

Data
The amount of data available to each establishment will be huge and new proximity marketing strategies may emerge.
Extreme case: every movement of a guest within the establishment can be traced, therefore, the issue of privacy becomes relevant and a strategic component of the value proposition.

Staff
Dedicated staff will have to be considered to assist the customer through the metaverse, with different techniques and times, and it will be a strategic differentiator. Therefore, training will assume a central and new role.

The size
The value proposition will determine the size of the company in the metaverse. If it is attractive, we will find many users, if not, fewer. And therefore, there may be historical residences, glamping, or small design B&Bs that, by involving a large community, strengthen their brand and may monetize more than in real business, where, in the extreme case, they may not even exist.

At Twissen, we observe that the concept of hospitality requires an extension into the metaverse, with new techniques that will have to be developed by leveraging the real experience. It is advisable to start developing a meta-strategy to build a sustainable customer experience, coherent with one’s own brand values. The staff will be decisive, but the technology used will determine its positioning.

Francesco Redi

President and founder at Twissen. Manager in Local Development, Tourism Policies,  EU Funds. He cooperates with several European universities, public bodies, development agencies, DMOs and enterprises.

L'articolo Opportunities in the Metaverse for the Hotel Industry (Part 2) proviene da Twissen.

Indeed, a business will be able to improve its customer management throughout the whole customer experience and thus before, during, and after the trip, generating new revenue streams and monetizing its brand.

Replicate your mood
Any establishment can replicate its own ambiance or develop it in line with its own mood also with the help of architects and designers. Let’s imagine the entrance, reception, garden, rooms or meeting rooms.
Before travelling, the target tourist can enter and in an immersive way see the rooms and services, which he can then book directly.
The accessibility of the environments and enjoyment will be unhindered.

Source: ItalyWow

Events
At any time, the user will be able to rent virtual meeting rooms, elegant, probably furnished with the most iconic NFTs to host a meeting with major clients, corporate events, or family celebrations with others who are in other locations and who can attend in the form of avatars or meta-humans.
And so not only corporate events, one can indulge in various formats and with different levels of hybridization: concerts, exhibitions, and events of various kinds. The choice of setting will be part of the offer and bad weather will not be a threat.
The MICE segment may be faced with new challenges: in any metaverse, one can already have meetings and gatherings in creative but still standard environments. The status, organisation, and technology of an offer will determine its economic value and positioning.

Tourism
It is true that the meta-verse will not replace, especially for those who can afford it, the real experience with the virtual one. However, the guest may want to try out some previews or repeat at a distance, where feasible, the experience set in the territory.
The hotel or establishment reinforces its centrality as a hub within the destination.

Shopping
During their stay, guests will be able to interact more conveniently, also buying services and experiences, and ordering products and services that they can consume immediately or have delivered to their homes.
But this can happen at any time during the customer experience and will be an engaging and continuous experience. The purchase (and repurchase) of a wine I am drinking at the table, a piece of furniture, a perfume, or a souvenir. Every object in hotels will become a gateway to new shopping dynamics.

(to be continued)

Cover image: Screenshot Horizon Worlds/Meta

Francesco Redi

President and founder at Twissen. Manager in Local Development, Tourism Policies,  EU Funds. He cooperates with several European universities, public bodies, development agencies, DMOs and enterprises.

L'articolo Opportunities of the Metaverse for the Hotel Industry (Part 1) proviene da Twissen.

What opportunities for the Travel&Tourism industry that is based on real experience? For sure, the virtual experience will never substitute the real one, but there are many aspects that tourist destinations, tour operators, hotels as well as tour and activities providers can consider. We will develop this story around the tourist destinations, however a little effort in creativity will make it possible to adapt this solution to multiple tourist enterprises.

Destinations can buy a land, a portion of the virtual space, and reproduce part of the territory in dimension 3D with the objective of replicating the environment or the mood that is able to attract the tourist-customer. As reported by Euronews, the City of Seoul will implement a 5 years plan and enter in the metaverse by 2023.
A tourist can virtually discover the destination by visiting places, landscapes or museums or by riding a scooter, sailing a boat or through interactive experiences such as fishing, a cooking class or a yoga lesson in the nature or in an historical venue.

It’s a big opportunity to gather, nurture, build loyalty and develop the community and, why not?, to attract new visitors.
Like in the real life, it will be possible to build shops in order to enhance the e-commerce experience, allowing more monetization opportunities.
Some experiences could only be offered in virtual mode and the most attractive ones could be on demand, especially the most relevant for those users who will not be able to reach the destination or who want to re-live a memorable holiday.
Virtual events, with different levels of hybridization, will offer new income streams, especially if relevant and unique.
Finally, the destination can rent or sell part of the land and, like in real life, get revenues also linked to NFT, namely non-fungible token, digital assets linked to the blockchain. 

At Twissen we observed that there are already giant investments in the metaverse and that this technology will be disrupting very soon. Destinations, and other tourist players, will be ready both to build loyalty and to attract new customers, offering experience without limits of time and space to a high number of users. Who comes first, will get the best results.  

Francesco Redi

President and founder at Twissen. Manager in Local Development, Tourism Policies,  EU Funds. He cooperates with several European universities, public bodies, development agencies, DMOs and enterprises.

L'articolo The business opportunities for tourism in the metaverse proviene da Twissen.