Flying on the IT wave

Since several years, new technologies are invading our daily lives: you can do almost everything thanks to the Internet. This trend has no limit and you can now enjoy the best technologies during your trips. Indeed, airlines are working on implementing their planes and all services they provide to their clients. More precisely, these companies are focus on the customer experience which is today at the heart of the matter. According to Eugénie Audebert, business experience manager at Air France, the French Airline places “clients’ expectations at the heart of [its] measures” (Bain Thouverez, 2014). Consequently, new technologies are airlines’ best allies.

            Airbus, a leading European aircraft manufacturer; is working on the planes of the future and it uses new technologies and IT to solve chronic dysfunctions highlighted by passengers. One of the most important problems to manage are technical ones because they often lead to delays. However, technological tools will allow to predict breakdowns and consequently to take measures ahead to prevent difficulties for passengers or planes immobilization (Morich, 2016).

            New technologies will also help to improve the clients’ experience on board and so to win their loyalty. Air France is renewing and improving the business class: passengers will enjoy a larger screen, “more than 200 movies and 150 TV guides” and more entertainment (Bain Thouverez, 2014).

Since the beginning of 2017, XL Airways, a French airline, has worked with French start-ups to increase the range of services on board in order to attract more clients. For a price of €9.95, passengers can have access to the XL Cloud, “an entertainment system” (Simon, 2017), with their smartphones, tablets or laptops. Nevertheless, the company does not stop its improvement there! Indeed, passengers can also rent an iPad on board for €15 allowing an access to the XL Cloud Premium. Like the icing on the cake, travellers can finally rent the Skylights for the same price than an iPad: “immersive cinema glasses specially conceived for in-flight use” (Simon, 2017).

            The airline industry has quickly understood the importance of IT to make their passengers loyal and has undertaken service improvements before, during and after the flight. Forgotten the times when there was only one screen for thirty travellers in the planes, you can now surf on the Internet during the flight, chose a movie and watch it through virtual reality glasses. This investment is important for the companies but passengers must also put some money up to have access to these services. All in all, competitivity is harder so airlines have to place client experience at the heart of their strategies to succeed.

http://www.tourmag.com/Air-France-investit-dans-la-technologie-pour-renouveler-la-gamme-de-ses-sieges-d-avions_a67004.html

http://future.arte.tv/fr/aviation/quoi-ressemblera-lavion-du-futur

http://www.mediaphore.com/2017/02/nouvelles-technologies-embarquent-vols-xl-airways/

Tourism, Virtual Reality and Other Realities

   

                                                                                                                                                     © Samsung [6]

                                                                                                                      

    With the advent of the Oculus Rift’s first prototype in 2013, virtual reality technology (VR) was quickly welcomed into the international market. Three years later, VR now is reality as many companies now provide their own version of VR headgear in order to compete in this new market. Thus, consequently, building and improving the technology and its many applications. With VR’s immersive 360-degree experience it can be adapted for the all facets of the tourism industry. VR gives the tourism industry an unique opportunity for a new marketing tool and as a way to enhance the customer experience.

    Destination BC was one of the first North American DMOs to invest in VR technology, in order to take advantage as this new marketing channel to market the province. In 2014, they spent $500,000 Canadian to create a VR immersive video of a BC boat tour, giving viewers a chance to get up close and personal with sea lions. Their next project, according to Destination BC CEO Marsha Walden, is to create a virtual experience of skiing in Whistler. Walden comments that Destination BC will only spend $100,000 Canadian on this project as the cost of the equipment has significantly dropped from two years ago. The current video is shown to consumer at trade shows, though it is also available on YouTube, as YouTube supports 360-degree VR video. All the viewer does is put their mobile device in the VR headgear and they are taken away to British Columbia [Business Vancouver; 1]

    The DMO for Vancouver, Tourism Vancouver, has also seen the value of investing in VR technology for marketing. They have sent VR headsets to British and Germany travel agencies in order to show potential customers British Columbia and Vancouver. [Business Vancouver; 1]

    At Facebook’s annual developers’ conference a few weeks ago, chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer, gave his insights to the future of tourism and VR. Wearing an Oculus VR headset, he and another Oculus wearer were able to immerse themselves in London. They both had a chance to explore a 360-degree view London, even taking a selfie with a selfie-stick. The video demo was showed “the potential for a local tour guides to give virtual reality tours to users all over the world, without having to leave their homes”. [Globalnews; 2]

    Augmented reality (AR) technology has provided another outlet for customer experience and marketing in the tourism industry. AR does not give you a 360-degree experience, it adds layers onto what the viewer is seeing. In our opinion AR is more useful for the tourism industry at this point in time, at least from the point of the tourist. AR apps are already more abundant than VR and AR does not require expensive equipment, only one’s mobile device and a corresponding app. Something as simple as an AR city guide that gives directions and detailed information about sites, which one can access on their mobile device, is very efficient for the tourist on the go. An example of this is the Google translate app, which uses AR to scan sentences in 90 languages and translate them in real time, on your mobile device [Tom’s Guide; 3]. Where VR is about immersive promotion/marketing, AR is greatly affective for aiding/informing the customer, both enhance the customer experience in different ways.

    The newest reality idea, which was fully launched a few days ago, is the mixed reality (MR). Magic Leap, owned by Google, announced its new gear – sort of like a Google glass – earlier this week. Where VR blocks out the world to immerse you in a new one, the MR keeps the world as it is and brings the virtual reality into the real one [Business Design+Construction; 4]. The wearer will see the MR through the Magic Leap glass where the visuals become an almost real time hologram. [DailyMail; 5] Though still a young technology, MR brings a new opportunity for the tourism industry in the future, by further immersing people into the product. Potential future application for MR could be used to show customers hotel rooms or rearrange them to their liking before booking, or allowing clients to experience being surrounded by tropical fish before experiencing the real thing and deciding if they should in fact do that snorkel tour.

                                                                                                    - Contributed by Alexa Bailey and Sakshi Bheda

Sources

[1] https://www.biv.com/article/2016/4/virtual-reality-poised-transform-tourism-marketing/

[2] http://globalnews.ca/news/2638463/from-messenger-chatbots-to-virtual-reality-tourism-everything-facebook-announced-at-f8/

[3] http://www.tomsguide.com/us/pictures-story/657-best-augmented-reality-apps.html

[4] http://www.bdcnetwork.com/mixed-reality-more-exciting-prospect-virtual-reality-movie-director-peter-jackson-thinks-so

[5] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3548343/Watch-Magic-Leap-s-mysterious-mixed-reality-action-Google-backed-firm-s-latest-demo-gives-new-clues-secretive-technology.html

[6] http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/mobile-devices/wearables/gear/SM-R322NZWABTU

Virtual reality: a threat or an opportunity for Destinations?

If virtual reality as long been considered as a fantasy, it is now a true phenomenon used in multiple areas. It is available to the general public for example through the Google Cardboard Virtual Reality Glasses, which are cardboard virtual reality glasses that customers can easily build and combine with a smartphone. They are provided by companies who want to show their products to their clients. It is a major trend in the tourism field and even if it represents interesting opportunities it could also be a threat for the sector. Let us show you why.

Google Cardboard Glasses

The advantages of virtual reality in Tourism and especially for Destinations are numerous and they were exposed a few time on this blog by our colleagues. We personally had the chance to test the Google Cardboard Glasses at the ITB, the world’s leading Tourism Trade Show taking place in Berlin in March. We visited Mexico’s stand when we were offered Google Cardboard and asked to load the Mexico Cardboard app on our smartphone. Suddenly we weren’t in Berlin anymore but snorkeling in a beautiful lagoon, or admiring an Aztec pyramid in Mexico. This experience gave us a taste of Mexico much more effectively than any brochure or ad would be able to. A lot of other Destinations use Google Cardboard to promote themselves, like Australia, Belfast, Tokyo… 

Obviously Virtual Reality is a powerful tool for Destination Marketing Organization. If they use it the right way with attractive films showing what the destination has to offer, it could be the best way to attract visitors to their destinations. People want to be sure that the destination they choose will fit their expectations and this is made possible by these glasses that allow them to have not only an insight (with photos) of what they really will discover, but a true experience to move and see with their eyes the destination…at home. It is also a good solution to compare destinations. Following the same idea, Virtual Reality can be useful for suppliers like Hotels, Activities, and Restaurants… The goal of vacation is to live an experience and with Virtual Realty, the experience can even begin before the trip.

But it could potentially become a threat for the same actors benefiting from it. People have restricted resources: time and money. But traveling can be very expensive, from transport to accommodation and activities. That is why some are afraid that people could use Virtual Reality to “travel in their mind” and not move from home anymore, which could decrease tourism flews. But travel is a full experience, not only restricted to what people see: it is also a matter of feelings, sounds, sell, meeting, souvenirs… People still need to leave their daily lives, thus we don’t believe in the end of tourism.

We think that risks are elsewhere. Virtual Reality shows an idealistic view of the product and reality may differ. Tourists could become more demanding and hard to please because they want the reality to be exactly the same as the one they saw with Virtual Reality. They could reject crowded places or alteration of the hotels they choose. We already know the Paris syndrome: people live a delusion after their visit to a city because they had very high expectations of it, because of what they heard and saw in Films. The same issue could happen and even give a bad reputation to the supplier, who didn’t manage to offer a product of the same quality than in Virtual Reality (which is difficult, as Virtual Reality presents an idealistic situation).

Another situation that may happen concerns very expensive or distant Destinations. In this case, Virtual Reality could be a risk: if people get the chance to see though Glasses what they dream to see in real life, and that they know that this travel requires lot of money or preparation, they could more easily let go the idea of going there in favor to a more easy or less distant place. Some destinations better bet on their Mysterious image to attract people.

But Virtual Reality is still an efficient tool for more classical Destination who may want to show that they renew themselves; for untraditional destination who need to show people that they have beautiful things to see; and for suppliers who are sure of the quality of their products. We think that this trend will revolutionize the promotion of Destination, especially thanks to Google Cardboard Glasses, which are affordable and easy to send to the customer and since Google provides help to build the app. 

Agnès Trucco & Emilie Mika

Sources :

http://www.australia.com/en-in/things-to-do/aquatic/cardboard-app.html

http://www.wired.com/insights/2015/02/will-oculus-rift-help-or-hinder-tourism/