Innovation was the main protagonist of the first day of TIS – Tourism Innovation Summit 2023. The adoption of artificial intelligence tools, the disruption that blockchain could bring to tourism, and discussions on the creation of shared data spaces dominated the agenda of a day marked by a clear vision of the future, in which technological advances must not leave aside interaction and human contact.

From October 18 to 20, TIS2023 will bring together more than 400 experts and 200 exhibiting companies that are innovating to make the tourism industry much more sustainable, digital, and intelligent.

Industry advances in AI adoption
Artificial intelligence is emerging as one of the technologies with the greatest impact on the traveler’s daily experience. As Mark Habermehl of Google Cloud has made clear: “With generative artificial intelligence, we can bring new value to customers, and this is a great time to explore, test and learn about the scope of these technologies.”

This is especially relevant when we consider recent data from Northstar, which shows that 75% of travelers would trust AI recommendations when deciding where to stay next on vacation.

In this sense, Ignacio de las Cuevas of EURECAT added that while the use of technology is key, “we must remember that there must be a reason, a purpose for using these AI tools. We are in a time where speed makes us lose focus on the impact this technology could have in the future, and this is something we need to work on. Tourism is a very human activity where interaction is key.”

Given the significant challenges associated with the adoption and efficient use of artificial intelligence tools, Chris Carmichael of TUI Musement explained how TIU is taking advantage of the technology: “We use AI as part of our personalization service, we also use it to do semantic analysis of our call center messages or to make logistics planning more efficient and faster in transportation services, for example.”

Data shapes the future of tourism
The secure exchange and use of data is a major challenge for the tourism industry. Europe is moving forward to create a common framework that will give confidence to all stakeholders involved in the process. Dolores Ordoñez, coordinator of DATES (European Tourism Data Spaces), explained the details of the continental project exploring the implementation of a sovereign tourism data space.

“The European Union has seen tourism as an open door to create a framework of trust and data sovereignty. We are seeing more and more initiatives from the sector that involve the exchange of data between different parties, and although we still have a lot of work to do, Spain is already playing a relevant role,” highlighted Ordoñez.

She was accompanied by Francisca Rubio, General Manager of Gaia X Hub Spain, who presented how Gaia X Hub is working to lay the foundations for a data sharing model that brings together e-commerce and smart mobility companies, among others, while addressing the legal and ethical challenges involved in sharing this data.

To elaborate on this scenario, Carlos Romero, president of Segittur, explained that steps are being taken to build a data framework within the Tourism Sector Modernization and Competitiveness Plan of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan promoted by the government. “We are going to develop an intelligent destination platform, with the aim of providing common services to the different Spanish destinations. It will be a repository of data to improve decision-making and promote the digital transformation of businesses, which will help the sector to be more sustainable.”

For his part, the Chief Data Officer of Andalusian Tourism, Daniel Caro, said that Andalusia has more than two decades of experience in data management, stressing that “from the Oficina del Dato of the Andalusian Government, we are generating a virtuous circle and a spiral of growth towards a single activatable data model that will involve both tourism companies and travelers who visit our destinations.”

Tourism also looks at blockchain and NFTs
Blockchain also had its place on the first day of TIS2023. Almudena de la Mata, CEO of Blockchain Intelligence and President of the Blockchain Intelligence Law Institute, provided an update on this disruptive technology and how it can contribute to greater transparency in industry processes.

Together with Monica Molina, Senior Sustainability Consultant at the Global Destination Sustainability Movement, she assured that “in the face of current challenges such as overcrowding in destinations or environmental degradation, blockchain can offer solutions with the verification of tourist identity or the management of supply chains under this technology.”

On the potential of blockchain and NFTs, Luca Busolli, Blockchain Consultant at Klab, has pointed out that “this is the time to experiment, to create new experiences and to involve tourists.” He also highlighted that the use of NFTs would allow the creation of new products and services, such as digital souvenirs or, for example, granting ownership of trips or services to customers.