Adaptation to the technological disruptions

Tourism has evolved over the years due to different disruptions in technology. Technology has modernized our communication methods and medium which is greatly revolutionizing tourism industries. Tourism industries now face a great challenge and at the same time, it is an opportunity for them. It is a challenge because they need to adapt to the recent disruptions and it is an opportunity because if they can adapt to the recent disruptions and changes, they can create new prospects for the business. In this lesson, I will try to blend in the aspects of modern tourism and how it can be utilized to create more entrepreneurial opportunities.

What is the modern tourism industry on entrepreneurship

I’ll give you an idea about the modern tourism industry on entrepreneurship. We understand that nowadays, the tourism industry is really moving. People are earning a lot of money & everybody is eager to go abroad & visit the various tourism spot to spend with their family in leisure time. That’s why I must say, this the best time to look at the tourism industry. So, before going to this discussion, we need to understand, are we on the right track? Are we following the modern trend? What are we thinking? Because as we understand the technology is moving very fast beside, people’s minds are also changing very fast. That’s why we need to think, what should be the best way. 

Keeping pace with the speed of change

We know the speed of change is 10 times faster now than it was a decade ago. If we see the speed, if we see the technology, if we see the understanding, if we see the searching, everything is 10 times faster now than earlier. 

Users’ sensitivity to technology

In the statistics of January 2018, we can see the population is 7.5 billion that means more than 7 billion. The Internet user is more than 4 billion. Active social media user is also more than 3 billion. Unique mobile use which is very sensitive because, considering the 7.5 billion people, you see the mobile use is more than 5 billion. Active mobile social users are also very close to 3 billion. The amount is increasing day by day. 

Do you know what is happening in the next 24 hours? Let’s think about it. In 24 hours there is more than 5 billion Google search on the internet. More than 1.2 million cars are rented. More than 15 million users are riding in uber. Of course, there are also plenty of rides are available in the whole world. 

If we just consider in Bangladesh, we can find Pathao, Cholo etc various kinds of rides. But uber is the only company which is very popular in the whole worldwide. That’s why the number of users is so huge. 

In 24 hours, more than 22.7 million people are passing through the airport. That means every country is developing its airport system. 

If we look at Singapore, Malaysia & other lots of country, we can see there are lots of terminal, runways & facilities for the passengers. Besides, various kinds of airlines are also available in those countries. 

In Bangladesh, there are also lots of private airlines for the benefit of every class of people. In 24 hours almost 100K, various flights are moving in the whole world. And again, if we consider the Expedia also; there are more than 23 million visitors in 24 hours. They visit this site for travel. 

In 24 hours, more than 73 million people are now going to cruising. This sector is more flexible than before & also affordable. 

At the same time, in 24 hours; more than 2 billion Global Distribution System Transaction is also going on. 

There are 2.52 billion tourists are spending their money on credit card in 24 hours while they are visiting or traveling from one country to another country. More than 1 billion credit card transaction is going on in 24 hours. 

Also, more than 14 million nights are booked on Airbnb. This company is very new & they don’t have any hotel. They don’t have any fixed asset but only a concept that makes them the billion-dollar company in the whole world now. 

What we have understood?

What we have understood after seeing all of those slides? Do we find any business ideas? Do we find business opportunities for travel & tourism industries? We need to think. 

Case Study on Meet Ofo

Now I am going to show you a video which is called Meet Ofo, billion-dollar Chinese bike-sharing start-up. It’s a very easy & simple bike-sharing service. If you go through the video, you will find out the fantastic opportunity, how they are sharing with each other, how they are easily tracking their QR code. So, to find a ride, to get a bike, to invest in the bike is very simple now & considering the Bangladesh scenario it can be the alternative of expensive cars in Dhaka city besides, it can also decrease the traffic jam in our city. Maybe the new entrepreneur, those who are very serious; they can easily invest their money in this sector because this is very easy & cost-effective also. 

Types of tourism

We can also look at the tourism industry in the aspect of United Nation World Tourism Organization. There are three types of tourism. Sometimes tourism means we think about going to Cox Bazar, Sundarbans, Bandarban or Sylhet but it’s wrong. Once upon a time, it was, but now you see there are lots of categories of tourism. The natural-based tourism, Culturally based tourism & Special interest in tourism. Now, I am coming to natural-based tourism. You know, 10 years or 20 years back we never thought about the Eco-Tourism. Now, there are lots of eco-park. Lots of countries are now focusing on Ecotourism, Marine Tourism, Geo-tourism, Agro-tourism. There are lots of opportunities now in those sectors. 

Cultural Tourism

People are now interested in Cultural Tourism. You know, people are also like to see Historical Tourism. History always attracts more tourists. Besides, we know the urbanization is growing very fast now. Some people by born are living in an urban area besides, there are some other people who never go to the rural area. So, there are plenty of opportunities to develop in this rural tourism to attract those city people to the urban culture. If you see the rest of the world, most of the people are hungry to know the culture of the urban place who are disturbed by the systematic life of the city. If you see Malaysia, Singapore then you can find out, how they are developing their urban nature by poultry, dairy, fishing etc.

Special Interest Tourism

There is another category called Special Interest Tourism. On the basis of this tourism, nowadays people are giving more importance to look after their health. 

Health Tourism

You can see, Thailand, Croatia, Malaysia they are very famous for Health Tourism. To make life fit, lots of people go to the sauna, massage, spa, acupuncture & lots of health therapy. 

Meditation Tourism, Ethnic Tourism 

That’s why Meditation Tourism, Ethnic Tourism are becoming so popular among tourists. 

Sports Tourism

If we look at Sports Tourism, we can find out at the time of cricket & football world cup, lots of people from the whole world gather together in one place. That’s why this is a great opportunity to explore, arrange, develop & make huge money from this sector. 

Adventure Tourism

There is also called Adventure Tourism. Lots of people love adventure. They travel country to country to get the taste of adventure & that’s also a common hobby of most of the people all over the world. I mean, who doesn’t love adventure? You won’t find a single one. 

There is also tourism about home, farm stay, long stay. Some people travel remote areas from all kinds of work, tension, depression to make their mind fresh & spend some long fun time with family in the resort area. They basically stay for one month, two-month or extended time to find happiness from nature. 

Incentive travel

Besides, there is some Incentive travel. Incentive travel means, you know in lots of cases there is some lucky draw. If we consider our university, sometimes on foundation day & other programs, we organize some lucky draw of the opportunity to travel to foreign countries like Singapore, Malaysia, or Thailand. Besides, the authority always tries to give some incentive to their staff for special achievement. So, those are a very good chance of Incentive Tourism which is practiced in a corporate company. 

MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference & Exhibition)

There is another tourism that is very popular, called MICE. It means meeting, incentive, conference & exhibition. It’s like some kind of official tour to attend conference, meeting, exhibition in a foreign country which is very much exercised in corporate culture. Finally, there are Mixed Tourism. I am quite sure there are lots of components can be mixed in this sector. 

Bangladesh perspective

Now, I am coming to the Bangladesh scenario in the tourism sector. There are various kinds of major tourist spots in Bangladesh such as Dinajpur, Bogra, Sylhet, Jaflong, Sundarban, Kuakata, Cox-Bazar, Bandarban, Cent Martin island etc & of course if we consider by the number, it’s not less. 

The domestic tourists are about 70 lakh & outbound tourist from Bangladesh is about 4 million-plus. Half of them are interested to go to India & the majority portion love to go to Thailand, Malaysia, some other country like Nepal.

The number of inbound tourism is also not bad. It’s also 7.78 lakh. Bangladeshi tourists spent almost taka 5000 crores & earning from inbound tourists is very close to the 800 crores. There are 500 tour operators in Bangladesh. But, I am quite sure that this number needs to increase more. Tourism-related services also create 25000 jobs. 

We need to see that there are lots of innovation in the hospitality & tourism industry. We are going through lots of statistics, inbound, outbound, local, international, global & technological development. 

Tourist buzzwords

The tourist buzzwords are digitization, disruption, smart city, as I have already mentioned about booking.com. You see, people like to get all of the information by clicking. Once upon a time, people are interested to visit the office to talk with the salesperson for collecting the information. But now-a-days what happened? Now people don’t like to go to any office. They don’t like the physical visit. They are now dependable on digitization & of course, they love to utilize the emerging tools. 

Emerging technologies in tourism

Considering the emerging technologies, there are big data, internet of things, blockchain, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, augmented reality, virtual reality. 

Now, utilizing this source of technological development, we must need to understand how this digital disruption can be incorporated in the tourism industry. As you know, I have already mentioned about Uber, which is the largest taxi company besides, Airbnb company which I have also mentioned. 

There are also Wechat, Skype which are the largest phone company & they don’t have any Telco infrastructure. We all know about Alibaba group which is the world’s most valuable retailer who owns their own inventory. And of course considering Netflix, we all know this is the world’s largest online movie house. 

If we want to search more, we will find Facebook, Society One, Apple, Google etc lots of platforms. So, what’s going on? Most of the largest company didn’t exist 20 years back. At the same time, we don’t know what will happen after one year or two years. So, this is the time to think about how we will utilize our technology. 

Correlation between the hospitality industry and tourism

As I have mentioned the hospitality industry which benefits tourism. You know now-a-days people are very much aware of keeping their health better. They love to visit the good doctor, they love to visit the health-related tourism company. 

So, transportation service like airlines, taxi cab & hospitality services like accommodation including hotel & entertainment venues such as amusement parks, restaurants, casinos, shopping malls, music venues and theaters are available in our country & the revenue comes from this sort of platform can be utilized for the future development. 

Online travel agency

I am sure, we all are aware of the online travel agency. As I have already mentioned, people don’t like to go to the office or any kind of physical visit now. They love to make their all types of transit through online. So, it’s true there are lots of specializes we can offer, the booking & other facilities through the online travel agency. 

There are so many companies that are available now such as booking.com, Agoda, Expedia, priceline.com, Trivago, Kayak, E-dream those are the most popular online travel agency. Considering their experience if you become an expert or working like just a commission agent then without setting any office you can earn lots of money & help lots of people also. Besides, you can make some loyal customers too. 

There are some other companies like, Cheapticket, Travelocity, Ebookers, hotels.com etc which are doing well now. We need to utilize them properly get the benefit from them as there are lots of opportunity, offers & the packages are available in there which we can grab & utilize to get the new customer. 

Some of the top cities of tourism

Discussing the tourism industry we also need to know which is the world’s top cities of tourism. I am giving some statistics, I hope that you can go through. Still, Hong Kong is one of the best tourist cities in the aspect of rules regulation, facility, hotel, costing. And the second one is Bangkok, then London, Singapore, Macao, Paris, Dubai, New York, Kuala Lumpur, Shenzhen, among others. These are the world’s top cities of tourism. The statistics also point how many people are traveling in these cities from all over the world in 2018. 

Let’s explore our opportunities!

What you can? This is the time. Considering all of these statistics, opportunities, online available portal and opportunities, I think you can find out which way you can fit yourself. If you think you can find out the best scope, benefit & opportunity then I am sure you can get a very good market & lots of clients you can organize. Now that you have gone through the lesson, we believe you can identify all the new opportunities from trends and disruption of technologies and utilize those opportunities to develop your business in the tourism industry. All that needs now from your end is perseverance and the will to move on. Because it is in fact from where it all starts. Wishing you all the best.