WeMap, Where life happens!

 

A long time has gone since we used real map to find our way. It is so easy today with the technology that we have to find the best road in few minutes. Google Map or even Apple Map offer us updated map of the entire world. The creators of WeMap – a team of 10 people who are all passionate about digital experiences; chose to offer something more than just a map to their users.  They developed a new cartographic social media through an application that they launched on the Apple Store in March 2014.  

 

What does it do? The application offer a digital map where « Pinpoints » appear to announce where events are hold around us. You can also have access to itineraries to reach these « Pinpoints ». With WeMap you can follow and share geolocalised information. It offers you the possibility to pin a concert video, pictures or even just a message on an interactive & personal map. You can create your own guide and share your experiences with your friends. WeMap helps you to remember, discover and learn what you have around you.

 

               Source: http://www.maddyness.com/startup/2015/07/02/wemap/

 

Individuals can download and use this application for free and a paid version, called WeMap Pro is also available for companies. The clients of WeMap Pro need to pay a subscription fee but after they can add advertisements to their own maps. It can be a great tool for professionals to boost their visibility.  The French startup has already several clients such as The Routard or Budweiser, the famous bier brand which use it to inform their clients about their promotional events.  

Between January 2015 and Mai 2015 the number of users and maps published have considerably increase: from 10,000 maps in January to 100,000 maps in May. The success seems to be on its way. The dream of Emmanuel Mourren, which is one of the co-founder of WeMap would be that “one day everybody will have its own map”. (widoobiz.com/actu-business, 2015)

 

This relatively new app represents a good mix between the fast increasing use of social media and tourism. It allows people to be aware of what is around them and when travelling it can be a really useful tool. Indeed, when we do not know a city, it is often hard to know where the interesting events are happening and we can easily miss interesting adventures. It is both useful for individuals and companies, creating a very practical source of information everyone can carry in their pockets and an effective marketing tool.

 

Lucile Besson & Léa Maret

 

 

Sources:

http://1001startups.fr/startup-tourisme/

http://www.maddyness.com/startup/2015/07/02/wemap/

http://www.digitalbusinessnews.com/wemap-le-google-maps-personnalise-et-interactif/

https://getwemap.com/about

http://www.widoobiz.com/actu-business/wemap-la-startup-francaise-qui-voulait-concurrencer-google-maps/59977

The “Digital Detox”- The rise of tech-free holidays

Technologies combined with travel, are a great match. Technologies have enhanced the tourism industry. They have, for instance, improved channels of communication but also enabled new channels of distribution to reach more customers. Hotels have also increasingly integrated technologies in their facilities, to satisfy their guest.

However, does the hotel guest really want to be surrounded by all this technology?

In the past, the boundary between the time at the office and the time at home was clear. It is not the case anymore because of the huge progress in technologies, transforming, for instance, big devices to smaller ones, and more convenient to carry. The progress in technology has also made it relatively inexpensive to stay connected 24/7, either at home, at work or even while traveling. To follow this trend, most of the hotels allows their guests to reach the hotel free Wifi. However, it cannot be denied that another increasing part of travelers are feeling overwhelmed when they turn their device during leisure holidays, feeling stress and anxiety that prevent them to fully enjoy the present moment. These go against all the principles of a successful holiday experience.

The hospitality industry has started to respond to this new need of guest to “unplug” during holidays by redesign their hotel experience value proposition. Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo challenges guests to leave their smartphone at the front desk and in exchange of it, they receive a list of 24 tech-free things to do at the destination. As reward to have accepted to leave their devices, they can retrieve their smartphone 24h later with a new custom cover of one of the resort’s scenic view (Levine, 2015).  

This is not the only example of resorts encouraging to unplug and unwind from technologies: JW Marriott Cancun Resort and Spa has created a “tech-free zone” near the pool where the guest can enjoy a good book or conversation without being annoyed by phone calls. Even some resorts such as Nayara Springs in Costa Rica or some islands from St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) ban technologies, upon request, from bedrooms.

SVG even created a video to promote the digital detox in their islands and the main benefits:

source: YouTube: Digital Detox in SVG

Even more than hotelier complex, some destinations advocate the digital detox concept. To illustrate this idea, we can take the striking example of Scotland and its very bad mobile receptions in vast areas. Indeed, the Scotland Tourism Board (VisitScotland) is actually turning this inconvenience in a virtue: it starts marketing itself as a “digital detox” destination in an effort to appeal tourists tired of being always switched on to the virtual world (Brown, 2014). This lack of connectivity could be a powerful marketing tool for off-grid locations and some providers have identified a niche market for those who want to escape digital life, according to Visit Scotland.

The increase of “wellness” holidays that also feature a digital detox extends beyond Scotland. Indeed, the trend was identified in 2012 by the travel writer Pico Iyer in a New York Times article entitled “The Joy of Quiet”, which identified a growing backlash against the information age (Brown, 2014).

However, the prospect of promoting destinations or hotelier complex as an area of digital detox is also criticized. Marc Crothall, head of Scottish Tourism, said: “For 25 per cent of the country not to have proper mobile phone access is just not good enough for the modern day”. He also insists on the fact that they really “need to have full coverage across the whole country as soon as possible” (Brown, 2014).

Nevertheless, VisitScotland’s most recent survey showed that just 66 per cent of visitors were happy with mobile phone access during their trip. And the availability of Wi-fi and broadband scored even lower, with only 54 per cent of visitors expressing satisfaction with the level of access. Besides, health and wellbeing tourism has excelled in recent years (Ferguson, 2014).

We can here suppose that the Digital Detox will be successful in the next few years. However, in our ultra-connected world, we may wonder if this new concept of digital detox is only a marketing principle or a real motivation from hotel to make their guests happier in their life, and maybe a real travellers’ need to become less connected (and stressed) during their holidays?

Louise and Clothilde


Sources:

Brown, J. (2014) 'Digital detox' destinations: Scottish tourist board makes virtue of the country’s lack of Wi-Fi connectivity. The independent. Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/digital-detox-destinations-scottish-tourist-board-makes-virtue-of-the-countrys-lack-of-wifi-connectivity-9208892.html

Ferguson, B. (2014) Digital detox Scot tourism plan criticised. The Scotsman. Retrieved from: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/travel/digital-detox-scots-tourism-plan-criticised-1-3341988

Levin, I. S. (2015) Digital Detox: 8 places to unplug and undwind. Nextavenue. Retrieved from: http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2015-04/digital-detox-8-places-unplug-and-unwind

Will Virtual Reality Offer Future Tourism Marketing Potential?

25th February 2015

What do you think of when you hear the words virtual reality (VR)? As for me (do not laugh too muchJ), before reading this article it was some kind of a clunky helmet attached to a computer with a thick cable. Moreover I did imagine Neo and Morpheus traipsing about the Matrix!)) Yes, yes, a bit silly, but fortunately I have found out that it is a simulated, three-dimensional world which we can manipulate and explore using computer technology while feeling as if he were in that world. Surprisingly but it was first demonstrated in a practical sense in the 1960s. And since that time it has been predicted that we would experience VR operating in everyday life on a regular basis. Let’s have look at nowadays reality.

Today Facebook, Sony, Microsoft are conducting billion dollars acquisition of virtual reality projects and we are expected to see the fruits of these efforts sometime in the next year or so.

There are some already successfully launched technologies of “another world”. For instance, the Google Street View software - travel application with additional reality technology Google Glass which can be used in order to showcase travel-related destinations such as hotels.

Another example of virtual reality has recently presented by the DMO of British Columbia in order to promote the destination through a campaign called “The Wild within”. At the time being, the system Oculus Rift (an upcoming virtual reality head-mounted display) is only accessible and used by trade professionals and travel Media. Yet, one can imagine that it will be available for travellers.

To benefit from an incredible 360-degree experience, British Columbia proposes to users to wear the Oculus Rift with headphones. The “Wild within experience” offers two virtual realities:

-                                  = A boat ride

-                                  =  A mountain hike.

Microsoft would also like to launch VR project during 2015. We don’t know yet if the device will be available publicly or just used as a prototype.

HoloLens device developed by Microsoft would allow traveller to visit place they’ve never been before and enjoy popular tourists’ attractions at home.

Australia’s Qantas, an Australian airline, in cooperation with Samsung, will propose a virtual reality technology in Sydney and Melbourne lounges as well as inflight for its first class passengers. Customers will have access to a 3D and 360 degree viewing experience.

Image source: http://skift.com/2015/01/30/qantas-just-made-virtual-reality-in-flight-entertainment-a-reality/#1

These travel related companies shows that VR can be largely used to promote and market a destination.  

However, today there is no guarantee that it will reach public in the foreseeable future. Even famous Google Glass has completely failed to reach a mainstream audience at this point in time. Let’s wait and see if virtual reality devices will integrate in our daily life and change our world. In any case it remains a niche which is able to deliver absorbing content through simulated, three-dimensional world.

More information you can find here http://thinkdigital.travel/opinion/virtual-reality-offers-future-tourism-marketing-potential

And of course you can always contact us: 

Fanny fanny.picarle@skema.edu &

Anastassiya anastassiya.shikhovtseva@skema.edu

And remember: 

"Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality.

If you can drem it, you can make it". 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Technology Trend in Events - Drone

                                                                                   Image source

Imagine a little mobile photographer flying over events, taking pictures and making videos, even live-streaming events. As technology advanced, we have a new choice in choosing photographers in events - Drone.

Drone, as a battery-operated and GPS-equipped “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” (UAVs), is getting more and more popular nowadays. They are aerial vehicles which come in wide varieties of sizes, shapes and functions, which are controlled either by remote or control systems from the ground and able to fly stably as high as 3000m above sea level within a wide range of temperature.

                                                                                               Image source

There are plenty of great UAV applications areas for drones:

Videography/Photography

Real Estate (Commercial and Residential)

Marketing

Disaster Response

City/Government

Education

Environment & Climate

Insurance

Aviation

Meteorology

Tourism

Engineering

Inspections

Utilities

Mining/Oil&Gas

Mapping

Construction/Pre-construction

Maritime

Miscellaneous

                                                                                                           Video source

As the video above shows, the applications in videography/photography and marketing are of significant importance for the event industry. For outdoor event as sports, they're using drones to give a stunning aerial footage at a much lower price than it would normally cost by using a helicopter. For indoor events, drones can give a unique perspective to the viewers. Event planners can use drones to get a bird’s-eye view. Event venues and planners can also use drones to make high-quality photos and videos for attracting their target clients. Besides, drones provide the possibility to live-stream events with panorama and without blind spots. Furthermore, surprisingly, drones can also be the waiters/waitress for events. The OppiKoppi music festival in South Africa offered the guests to order cold beers via a smartphone app, and the drones would identify guests’ GPS coordinates and make the delivery by dropping off a parachute with the orders.  

The trend of using hi-tech devices in events is inevitable. But in U.S, there are safety concerns about using drone. More and more often, large commercial airliners are using drones flying through the sky, sometimes undetected by the human eye, and often invisible from the cockpit of a large airplane. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working to educate people about the dangers of flying drones that high, since enforcement of the small unmanned aerial vehicles can be difficult. In 2012, the FAA set a September 2015 deadline to lay out a concrete list of rules and regulations for flying commercial drones.

Qinghua LU & Mei-Chen CHEN

Sources:

http://www.service-drone.com/en/production/tourism/

http://air-vid.com/wp/20-great-uav-applications-areas-drones/

http://nypost.com/2014/08/19/5-surprising-uses-for-your-high-flying-drone/

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-11-18/drone-flights-over-sports-events-subject-to-faa-rules-ntsb-says

http://www.service-drone.com/en/production/tourism/