Good Morning Planet: Be your own travel agent !

In the last few years, travelers turned more and more towards the Internet to plan and book their travels. In fact, search engines are the first tools they use during the travel decisions making process. Consequently, travel companies need to adapt the way they reach customers.        

That led us to the brand new website: Good Morning Planet, launched by the French start up Aktivkonnect in 2016.

Good Morning Planet Website Source: www.goodmorningplanet.com

The concept is simple, created by a team of 5 people, the website is a tool allowing travellers to create their own adventure for free. 

They can choose their destinations, hotels, transport and print out their guide at the end of the process. The website has, for now, only two destinations available: Mexico and India. However, they work on new ones such as: Thailand, Croatia and Morocco. (Trip85.com)         
The search engine specific to Good Morning Planet allows travelers to receive advices depending on their own tastes. It is more than just a website it is a brand new experience for the travelers who can now take part to each step of their travel.

Moreover, another aspect of this website is that it is planned to be used as a participative platform. Indeed, it is possible for any users to leave comments, advices and ideas on each destination for future travellers.
According to the co-founder Michaël Gouin: “ Nous sommes en train de créer des partenariats avec des blogueurs. Ils seront experts d'une destination et mettront à disposition, articles, bons plans, photo, avis et astuces. ”  Meaning that skilled travelers who are used to write about their trips on the Internet through their blogs will be working closely with the company and share their experiences. (tourmag.com)
They also intend to launch their smartphone app in the next few months to complete the experience and be always closer to their consumers.

In their press release they explained that “The Good Morning Planet project, on which this team has been working for 3 years, gained numerous supports: laureate of the CNACETI 2013 (contest for technological innovation, by the Ministry for Research), laureate of a regional grant, two times laureate of the PULPE prize, incubated by Étincel, ICM and ARI.”

In 2016 they have participated, as the French representative, to the Las Vegas Consumer Electronic Show, which was held from the 6^th of January to the 9^th of January. This is the most famous convention to which a start-up need to participate to present its innovations to the world.

We can easily say that this company has a great potential, in the actual situation where people tend to prefer getting organized by themselves and looking for peer reviews for inspiration. Good Morning Planet reunites all these aspects of the new ways of travelling and might very well be the future of travel organization.

Lucile Besson

Léa Maret

Sources:

https://www.goodmorningplanet.com

http://www.trip85.com/2015/11/11/startup-voyage-good-morning-planet-ou-comment-organiser-ses-voyages/

http://www.tikamedia.com/gmp-cesvegas/

http://www.tourmag.com/Planifier-un-voyage-sur-mesure-avec-Good-Morning-Planet_a72260.html#

https://s3.amazonaws.com/activkonnect/ces/en/GoodMorningPlanet_CES_PressRelease.pdf

http://www.activkonnect.com/qui-sommes-nous/#partners

Technology Investment Leads To Brand New Air Travel Experience

Flight delays, lost luggage, gate changing, long queuing for security and check-in. Airports can be stressful to many passengers. But what if technology could make the whole business of air travel more efficient and pleasurable?  

    Technology development is making on the top investment list for airports in the coming years. Not only airports need to deploy the technology to ease congestion for passengers within the airport, but they are also seeking to use them for ‘on the day of travel’ services by combining it with mobile applications.

SITA, a Swiss air transport technology company, indicates passenger check-ins flight on smartphones, tablets and other devices are going to become triple in the next two years. The Geneva-based conglomerate also shows that passenger check-ins at traditional ticket counters will drop by 20%. Passengers typically want a stress-free trip and airlines are deploying more technology-based services to meet that need. Passengers are switching to mobile apps and the web for check-in, which give passengers less stress and more convenience.

Technology investment by airline and airport have made a big difference to the travel experience, but up to now much of that has been based on a one-size-fits-all approach. Personalization opportunities for passengers are still fairly limited, offered by less than 20% of airlines, according to the Airport IT Trends report from SITA. However, there are indications that many airlines are starting to address personalization by offering passengers a growing list of technology-based options to tailor their travel both at the airport and during the flight. In fact, 82% of airlines will be investing some resources to improve personalization over the next three years.

According to the Airport IT Trends report from SITA, 30% are planning major investment in sensor technology to help ease bottlenecks while 51% are evaluating the technology. And the reality is, only a small number, 6% of them are using the technology at check-in, and 55% say they plan to within three years. Airport IT spent in general is increasing, accounting for 4.41% of revenue in 2013 and rising to 5.82% in 2014. Last year airport IT investment rose to $7.4 billion. An increase of 37% from 2013.

Technology will continue to shape the airline industry, which creating more innovative services for passengers. The trends of self-service, mobile ticketing and payments, in-flight tech and security related tech are expected to rise in the following years, which are also expected to completely change and revolutionize passengers’ boarding and in-flight experiences.

Reference:

[1] SITA INSIGHT. (2015). THE AIRLINE IT TRENDS SURVEY 2015. Retrieved from:

https://www.sita.aero/globalassets/microsites/atis-2015/thoughtware/airline-it-trends-survey-2015.pdf

[2] TNOOZ. (2015, October). Beacons lighting the way for airport investment. Retrieved from:

http://www.tnooz.com/article/sita-airport-it-investment-beacons/

Disney: When technology is behind the magical experience

 

In the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas in January, several major trends stood out. This trade show has the purpose of exhibiting state-of-the-art technology and influences the way electronic devices will be used in the future. Some of the trends to be followed by professionals are: The Internet of things, Virtual Reality, Wearable technology, Artificial Intelligence, and robotics. Nowadays, these trends are not only followed by major innovative technology firms, they are also being applied in other sectors.

This is the case with Disney. With the rise of consumer-used technology in the early 2000s, its theme parks were slowly becoming out of date in the eyes of an evolving generation. The fact that park goers are so connected nowadays has lead Disney to innovate in technology in order to remain competitive and provide customers with practical services.

One of the major breakthroughs Disney has achieved was the introduction of its $1 Billion bet: The MagicBand, a digital wristband that can be used as a ticket, hotel key, credit card, and tracker all in one. This intelligent bracelet will completely transform the guest’s experience. 

The "MagicBand" introduced by Walt Disney Company in its themed parks.
Photograph by Matt Stroshane/ Disney

 Let’s imagine ordering food in advance via the Disney World app, arriving to the restaurant called Be Our Guest, being greeting by your name and invited to sit wherever you please, only to have your food “magically” find you within minutes. 

 Imagine not having to worry about any paperwork, getting a direct check-in at the hotel, knowing your luggage is already taken care of, no need to carry a wallet either.

Furthermore, imagine it is your child’s birthday, and that his favourite character directly finds him in the park to greet him.
This is made possible by the rubberized bracelets, which contains radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, allowing access to visitor information regarding admission tickets, hotel keys, credit card, and so on that can be detected for more than 40 feet in every direction, allowing Disney to pinpoint location. This device was created to upgrade and personalize visitor’s experience. Moreover, this bracelet is an incredible time saver; People are spending less time in line, they are doing more activities, spending more and remembering more. The experience is truly unique. 
According to Tom Stagg, chief operating officer of the Walt Disney Company: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic… That’s how we think of it. If we can get out of the way, our guests can create more memories." The challenge for Disney is to keep innovating while keeping this nostalgia essence that will keep parents coming back with their children. 

A student at Skema Business School that visited Disney World in Florida in 2015 answered some of our questions regarding these wristbands and declared that they proved to be very convenient as they possessed many features all-in-one: tickets, hotel key, reservations, credit card. It made things more practical and helped save time, which is an important factor to optimize overall experience.

Including technology represents a considerable advantage for the company. With the apps and website created by Disney, the visitors plan their visit months before their arrival; They make reservation, plan their activities and order their fast-passes for attractions. It helps the theme parks to forecast the frequentation and allows theme to adopt the appropriate strategies.

An interesting issue to raise is the question of when the technological innovation becomes too invasive. How comfortable are people with these powerful devices? In Disney’s case, having sensors keeping track of our every move seems to be more convenient than concerning. Could this be applied in the real world?

Agnès Trucco and Emilie Mika

Sources :

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/01/07/disney-details-how-vr-ais-robotics-will-shape-its-stories-future

http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-07-17/how-whole-new-world-technology-reinvented-disney

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sethporges/2015/05/11/how-disney-parks-are-using-familiar-technology-to-shape-the-future/#2715e4857a0b50b1f5397ed8

http://fortune.com/2015/08/13/disney-imagineering-vr/

http://www.wired.com/2015/03/disney-magicband/

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/my-disney-experience/frequency-technology/

http://disneysynclink.com

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-03-07/disney-bets-1-billion-on-technology-to-track-theme-park-visitors

Apple watches: a new IT revolution on the tourism market or just one more gadget?

The new Apple watch just went out on 25^th april and it seems that tourism actors rely on this new product. Even if it is not an innovation as the same kind of product already exists on the market since more than 2 years, the brand fame can bring a positive change for the development of smart watches. Thomas Husson, vice-president of the Forrester Institute, estimates that about 10 million Apple watches will be sold in 2015.

An article of the French online newspaper “L’echo touristique” by Souen Léger, shows that the different sectors of the tourism industry want to benefit from this product in different ways and some big players already launched their application compatible with the Apple watch. 

You can now use the Apple Watch with different transport applications: voyage-sncf, airline companies such as American Airline or Air France but also Uber and Taxis G7. Hotel chains are also innovating. As an example Starwood makes it possible for the guest to open his door with the Apple watch. Accor also bets on the Apple watch to improve services and make all the information easily accessible to the customers. Even GDS are now on the trend as Sabre made its application Tripcase compatible with it. Finally users of the Apple Watch will be able to use geolocation in cities to orientate themselves, take transports but also use something as useful as Tripadvisor.

What if smart watches were the next revolution in the IT world? Until now it was nothing but a revolution. However Apple has shown its brand power through the years and its new product follows the same path than the previous launches in terms of design and elegance. As an Apple watch cannot be used without an iphone, some experts already question its real utility. However the target is the same than people having an iphone, in other terms people that can afford having an iphone could afford having an Apple watch. Having an Apple watch can become a fashion trend. If it gets the same success than the iphone, it will be sold in mass and tourism actors will be more and more willing to adapt their offer to this small feature. The possibilities brought by the product will increase and it will become more and more convenient to have one. We are not yet at this point and smart watches have to prove themselves.

Do big companies of the tourism industries really choose to invest on this new product only because its functionalities enable to improve the customer comfort? It is quite questionable. I-watches are the perfect device to get even closer to the customer in a time when the big challenge for companies is DATA. If we take for example a guest hotel, smart watches could enable hotel chains to know their customers habits and behaviours much better. These data would enable to market better the offer to the customer and personalize it to finally make higher sales and increase the profit. What about privacy? Technologies evolve; our world change and we are getting more and more manipulated without knowing it. It would be useful to think critically before buying this kind of device. Will it be useful? Will it really make the difference? 

Laetitia BURET

Alexis BLOTTIERE

Sources:

http://www.tourmag.com/Le-tourisme-se-met-a-l-heure-de-l-Apple-Watch_a73632.html

http://www.etourisme-feng-shui.com/2014/09/15/iwatch-quels-grands-enjeux-pour-le-monde-du-voyage/

http://www.tourmag.com/Apple-Watch-opportunite-en-or-ou-en-toc-pour-le-tourisme_a72724.html

http://www.lechotouristique.com/article/tripadvisor-succombe-a-l-apple-watch,73970

http://www.lechotouristique.com/article/ces-entreprises-du-voyage-qui-parient-sur-l-apple-watch,74159

http://www.journaldunet.com/ebusiness/internet-mobile/accor-apple-watch.shtml

Near Field Communication (NFC): All for Event Success

The development of mobile technology bring lots of convenience and surprises to people’s life; meanwhile, some special mobile techniques, like NFC, injecting new vitality to events. Inadvertently, NFC has come around our life. In recent years, plenty of the Android and iPhone use this technology on their phone. People have to admit that with the popularity of hardware, NFC become the first choice of file sharing, data exchange and device connection, etc. which also bring great convenience to event attendees and event planners.

NFC (Near Field Communication), also known as the short-range wireless communications, is a short-range high-frequency wireless communication technology, allowing for non-contact-point data transmission between electronic devices (within ten centimeters) to exchange data. The technology consists of a contact-free radio frequency identification (RFID) evolved, backward compatible with RFID, first developed by Sony and Philips, mainly used in mobile phones and other handheld devices to provide M2M (Machine to Machine) communication.

In event, NFC technology helps event planners to coordinate all aspects of planning matters, such as the collection and integration of more effective information without communicate with attendees, omitted a lot of manual processes, speed up and improve the efficiency. Also, the NFC technology Offer gamification features such as scavenger hunts, so that more participants enjoy the feeling of participating in event. It can also be smart send useful message to attendee roles directly, making the whole event process more simplify. For event attendees, NFC can facilitate automatic social media posting, if attendees participate in fun events like photo booths, they also could get more information about this event during the presentations through their smartphones. When they want to have meals and drinks, they can use smartphone to pay for the meals, it is more free style, giving the attendees more choices.

In Conclusion, NFC technology allows event attendees to have more channels to get information about their events, they can understand more and enjoy their event participate process. Meeting organizers can easily access the more effective information about the attendees to perfect their customer database, and more understand their participants’ mindset and needs, better serve them.

Resources:

http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/near-field-communication