Play, Win and Visit - Video game and Tourism industry

Play, Win and Visit - Video Game and Tourism industry

In the 1970s, video games began to emerge on the market through arcade machines and game consoles. Since that day, video games have become a real industry in the world and this growing industry managed to merge with other booming industries and vice versa: like the Tourism industry. Indeed, today it is possible to:

• Travel through video games: Ubisoft first mover

Traveling virtually is not brand new, Ubisoft ten years ago with his first episode of Assassin’s creed initiated it through travels in the past. They reconstituted cities at the time of the third crusades where the hero had different missions to achieve. Two years ago, they get a step further by refocusing on the universe of the game without constructing a complete story, the player was more independent. In order to create the best experience possible, designers really wanted to have an accurate reconstitution of cities, to be as precise as possible so that the gamer can navigate as if he was visiting the city. Traveling in the game became a real purpose for the player beyond the missions he should do.

Quotation of a gamer: “Walking through Assassin’s Creed II was one of the most profound experiences I’ve ever had with a video game. They absolutely nailed Venice and actually managed to capture some of that awe it inspires”.

• Travel to discover reconstructed video game universe

                  As we have just seen, we can travel in our living room by playing. It is also possible to choose to travel thanks to video game. Indeed, tourist site had been created to reconstruct scenery of some video games. One of spectacular example is “Witcher School” in Poland. This school was inspired by the saga video game “The Witcher” where we become the hero of it. All the conditions of the game are transcribed in life size. This new trend is called “live action role-playing game” (LARP).

• Travel and play with serious game

                  “Serious game” is a new tool and it will more and more used in the tourism industry. This new trend is a way to learn by playing, which is usually used thanks to a mobile application. For the tourism industry, principally in museum, it is a way to interest young people during the visit of the site, like the Castle of Fontainebleau which have created riddles and games of tracks throughout the visit. There are also many other examples, such as Ingress (created by google thanks to geolocation), Interiago (visit of a city scripted), Urbangaming (professional entertainment), which are adapted today to all age groups.

                  As we can see, the tourism industry is taking advantage of the growing video game industry in different ways and it will become more and more important thanks to the digitalization of our society.

These trends can be a real opportunity for the destinations: they could communicate about it on social medias taking advantage of the popularity of this video games where they appear.

Sarah ALTMAYER and Lena BENOIST 

Sources 

Audureau, W. (2016) Ubisoft, agence de voyages en jeu vidéo. Available at: http://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2016/09/29/ubisoft-agence-de-voyages-en-jeu-video_5005466_4408996.html

Gerardi, M. (2016) Readers explain the pleasures of video game tourism. Available at: http://www.avclub.com/article/readers-explain-pleasures-video-game-tourism-239619

Charleselie (2016) The Witcher school: Le culturel / vidéo-ludique au service du tourisme. Available at: https://jvtourisme.wordpress.com/2016/02/24/the-witcher-school-le-culturel-video-ludique-au-service-du-tourisme/

Charleselie (2014) L’évolution et le futur des serious games dans le tourisme. Available at: https://jvtourisme.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/evolution-futur-serious-game-tourisme/

Timelooper : a new way of travelling

From the tower of London you will be able
to see the medieval time of London

Who never dreamt about reliving the great Roman Empire and seeing how the impressive gladiators were fighting into the huge Colosseum of the eternal city? It is now possible with the new application "Timelooper" that allows visitors to appreciate historical tourism in another interesting way.  Indeed, this 360-degree virtual reality launched first in London make you relive key moments of the history. Timelooper was created in 2015 by Yigit YIGITER who wanted to create a new tourism experience, and we can say that he succeeds. You can immerse yourself in the medieval times from the Tower of London or you can tremble when seeing the great fire of London from the St. Paul's Cathedral! This is a young project that has so many possibilities, imagine going anywhere in the world and being able to admire History as it really was!  Tourism is already more and more about new technologies and especially virtual reality. This is why Timelooper is exactly meeting today’s expectations with its concept of virtual reality by making people feeling experiences that feel real. Timelooper is a great opportunity for people who love knowing about the history of the places they visit to live how it felt at a certain time.This application is not only targeting the history lovers but also the ones that are not that much interesting in the past. Indeed, it is a perfect way to make people appreciate History, and now children that were always bored by visits will beg their parents to visit some historic places! Now go ahead and download the app! No matter if you’re a History lover or if you are just curious, you may fall in love with this app which will revolutionise your next holidays!

The building of the famous Empire State in 1931 :
visitors just have to go at the top of the building and enjoy the History 

References :

http://phys.org/news/2016-03-virtual-reality-app-timelooper-history.html

New vertual reality app Timelooper takes you back in History (March 14, 2016 by James Brooks) : http://www.timelooper.com

Marie Briatta
Claire Chervin

Jonathan SARPAUX

Marjorie GARCON

Tourism and events industry is moving very fast. It’s a challenge for their actors to find always innovative tools, new ideas etc. to develop the sector. Our first article is about the Artificial Intelligence (A.I) which is nowadays no more a stammering technology, but something which is going to be more and more generalized. In fact its integration in different online mechanics and online tools will certainly change the customer experience.

We know that a lot of tourism apps can now perform what travel agents usually provide, such as booking rooms or planning trips. But some tourists which encounter difficulties during or before their holidays still want to rely on social interactions. Chatbots is a great way to fill this need.

Based on complex and sophisticated human reactions, these artificial little helpers can answer questions more accurately than traditional Q&A sections, and also improve the business potential by proposing relative bookings and relevant suggestions, direct people to websites or mobile apps.

Several companies already implemented this system such as Expedia.com or Kayak or Hyatt Hotels on Facebook Messenger: The potential customer just has to search for a destination, a date or a budget to receive a customized answer within seconds. A recent study proves that questions are drastically increasing and a general positive impression is resulting from it.

The expansion of bots could finally reach other chains of the tourist experience (flight companies, local activities,…) and new functionalities (in-flight services, welcoming guests, room information)

This technology is a serious improvement in digital tool for the tourism sector :

•     It is a reliable service available 24/7 accessible in various language, with the possibility to keep track of the different needs and collect data’s in order to use more efficient customer’s paths.
•         Higher booking rates can result from it.
•           Several devices supported (mobile, desktop, tablets).
•           Repetitive queries for physical agents are lessened, without losing the social and direct experience. It is a gain of        money for the companies.
•         It is a self-service which enhances the feeling of being free and pro-active in the reservation process for customers.

The customer service is one of the first domain to benefit from the travel bot technology. This is a necessary change which requires attention from the stakeholders since the tailored service is a pretty serious trend. In the next 2-3 years the professional sector could have observed if the application of this technological progress is relevant and sustainable.

Inspired from:

[1]E-tourism solutions. “New Mind | tellUs”. www.newmind.co.uk/

[2]Siya Carla. “Top 10 Benefits of Using Chat Bots in the Hospitality and Tourism Sector”. LinkedIn. May, 27th 2016.

[3] Lex. “How Chatbots can impact the travel industry”. Chatbotnewdaily.com. Oct 14, 2016.