DATA-DRIVEN TOURISM – A SUSTAINABLE WAY OUT OF THE CRISIS?
The current developments around COVID-19, but also with regard to other influencing factors, e.g. in the area of climate change, have shown how sensitively the tourism ecosystem reacts to disruptive influencing factors. For future development, it is therefore essential to achieve the highest possible degree of resilience through a combination of sustainable concepts as well as digitalisation and the use of technology. With the practical application of these technologies, Austria and its regions have the potential to position themselves as innovative and sustainable destinations on a national and international level. Furthermore, the tourism sector can become more resilient and sustainable through the use of data-driven innovations, as these innovations and the underlying technologies increase flexibility and adaptability. This is exactly where the FFG project „dTS (data-driven tourism for sustainability)“ comes in.
The dTS project proposes a scalable and portable model for resilient and sustainable tourism by investigating two use cases with different levels of technological maturity. The result will be the design of a scalable data exchange and simulation platform that can also serve as a data circuit for visitor flows. Using artificial intelligence and agent-based simulations, the authentic movement and behaviour patterns of the target groups will be learned and understood in order to then incorporate these findings into a sustainable and gentle mobility concept. This will also enable the modelling of „what-if“ scenarios in terms of decision support for the respective administrations. Key elements of this research will be the development of models for fair AI-based predictions and agent-based simulations, as well as the application of a federated data management platform approach.
The session discussed the side of the visitors: inside and guests. According to the perception of the participants, the current challenges are mainly the high density of visitors and the overcrowding of tourist attractions. It was also discussed which indicators could be used to measure this. Another point was the increasing self-planning of trips with the question of what credible sources of information are available for appropriate travel planning, especially with regard to the utilisation of transport infrastructure. The effort required for planning continues to increase and many offers are still geared towards target groups that are now no longer coming. This creates a mismatch between supply and demand, which in turn can lead to dissatisfaction. There is therefore a need for possibilities to aggregate trustworthy sources as well as tailored recommendations, also based on the individual radius of action. This is where the problem of data collection comes into play. While the participants would like to use better and more accurate services, the tenor was clear – no disclosure of personal data. There was discussion about the possibility of creating personas to which people could subscribe in order to receive targeted offers. However, the question remains open as to how the personas should be created if the corresponding, extensive data basis cannot be guaranteed.
You can find additional information on the event, as well as summaries on all other sessions of the barcamp here