Outdooractive at the ITB: Destination Suite – a holistic digital solution
Digitization was the central topic at this year’s ITB, the world’s biggest tourism trade fair. “How do destinations prepare for the digital future and how does professional data management fit into this?” These were two of the most discussed topics at many of the ITB’s presentations and discussions. Outdooractive presented trade visitors with our new Destination Suite – a holistic solution for destination management.
“The Single Source of Truth: Data as a Basis for Successful Destination Management in the Future”
Already during his presentation at the ITB congress at the eTravel Lab, Hartmut Wimmer, CEO and founder of Outdooractive, pointed out the importance of a central data management of destinations: “If you want to be recognized as a strong brand today, you don’t only need to reach all channels, but you need to reach them from one single provider. This way the user has the chance to choose what source he or she wants to use in order to gather information. Otherwise users might lose their orientation in a jungle of unfiltered information.” Outdooractive’s Destination Suite mergers the planning of touristic projects, the development of data solutions and map-based applications, content marketing, all digital tools for data administration as well as addressing guests and reporting. Today, the guest decides which devices and channels he or she wants to use to gather information. The goal is to put the guest in the center of modern and future technologies. This way, the content of partners will be made available where their target groups surf the net. The distribution does not only take place via the Outdooractive platform. Even the big internet companies such as Google and Amazon and the language assistants that go with them, value Outdooractive as a supplier of high-quality content. Meanwhile, destinations can focus on hosting guests as well as their offers and the service quality of their regions.
Outdooractive Press Conference
Further insights and points of views resulted from a conversation in front of media representatives and tourism experts. Sector experts Prof. Armin Byrsch (University of Kempten), Pascal Gebert (Tourismuszukunft) and Yves Loris (Head of Online Marketing Rhineland-Palatine Tourism) exchanged their opinions with Hartmut Wimmer (CEO Outdooractive) regarding “The Single Source of Truth: Daten als Basis für ein erfolgreiches Destinationsmanagement in der Zukunft.”
“The websites of individual destinations will play a minor part in the future”, predicts Wimmer and explains, “That is why a change in the understanding of roles is inevitable.” While content of global players such as Google and Amazon are more and more copied, the major job of destinations is to generate content. A point of view that Yves Loris agrees with: “This is the only way to guarantee that a guest receives relevant information where he/she needs it.” For Hartmut Wimmer the solution is obvious: “Destinations need to define, which information they want to supply.” However, according to the CEO of Outdooractive the distribution of content is the job of data bases. This way, destinations can focus solely on their guests. Prof. Byrsch agrees with the idea to put the guest and his/her needs into focus in order to achieve a successful digitization of tourism and further explains that the future success of destinations not only relies on the software but especially its application.
Thomas Ammer (TOC Agentur für Kommunikation); Prof. Armin Brysch (Hochschule Kempten); Hartmut Wimmer (CEO Outdooractive); Yves Loris (Leiter Online-Marketing Rheinland-Pfalz Tourismus); Pascal Gebert (Tourismuszukunft) (v. l. n. r.)
Prof. Armin Brysch (Hochschule Kempten); Hartmut Wimmer (CEO Outdooractive)
A look into the future
Before attending media representatives and members of the audience had a chance to join the conversation with the experts, those gave an outlook into the future and answered questions such as how people will search for outdoor information in five years. Gebert, Liros and Prof. Byrsch share one clear opinion: People remain the number one inspiration for outdoor trips! According to the experts, in future the impulse of a decision making will be based on recommendations. Furthermore, they attach significant importance of the subsequent information search to user-generated content. “Outdooractive takes the role of the mediator here. We bring the content from those who have it to those who need it”, concludes Hartmut Wimmer.