What Businesses can learn from Tourism (and vice versa)
In preparation for work with a couple of clients in the past fortnight I’ve had to throw myself into substantially more ‘tourist’ style activities than I have for quite some time in an attempt to answer the following question: ‘How do we get more people to come here?’ Yes there’s a lot of fun to be had allowing yourself to experience the delights of the snow, or a concert or a day trip or even a restaurant (with some more work coming up in the next week) – things not normally on my list of actions given the usual workstyle of research and facilitation. And there’s some general clues that I’m happy to share with everyone
Businesses will benefit from seeing their business as a tourist destination that people will want to come back and visit, rather than as an organisation that just ‘flogs product’ or provides services.
Tourism operators will benefit from working on the lasting memories post visit, and less on the ‘sugar hits’ that many push to the marketplace now.
And both businesses and tourist operators need to appreciate the shifting nature of consumer intentions – there has been a VERY significant change in the way in which potential customers are making their decisions and it has almost NOTHING to do with finances! The emergence of connection to an event and to a business has shifted away from the brand approach (although it is still a valid model for many customers) and toward a self shaped experience. Simply put, more customers want to work with the business to determine the end product offering.
My views might change once I’ve completed the reseach in the middle of the next week, and I’d be surprised if, based on what I’ve seen so far, that happens!
The Australian Government has announced a ‘Repeal Day’, intended to be used to axe the existence of hundreds of outdated laws. The concept is a good one, though for me, doesn’t quite get the Australian Parliament into a forward looking setting in how it could develop FUTURE legislation. So what could be done instead and…
Read More >Continuing his run of suggesting an annual theme and idea of world focus for the year ahead, Futurist Marcus Barber has declared 2014 to be the International Year of Food Security. ‘The year ahead is going to bring into sharp focus, what has often been seen as an ‘other-world’ problem’ Barber says. ‘For a number…
Read More >Yes I know, committing to an early morning chat on ABC Radio on New Year’s Day may to some seem tinged with the ‘what were you thinking?’ bug, but hey, what better time is there than chatting about the future, than at prime New Year’s Resolution time? You’ll be able to listen to the stream…
Read More >The Australian Strategic Planning Institute website has a new article on why Visions, rather than being useful shining lights, end up being ‘ruts’ for organisations. Counter instinictivley and yet simply put, the never ending nature of some Visions leads to an inaction toward that Vision. Companies and individuals spin their wheels in a quagmire…
Read More >One of the great things about technology (especially of the instantaneous ‘social’ kind) is the ability to attend a conference without leaving your office. Which is a salient point because yesterday I followed a number of the presentations looking at the idea of tele-working or remote workers, and did so by following the tweets of…
Read More >About once a week I get a call from a client or a media group asking if I can tell them what the future will be like. The conversation usually goes something like this – Me: can I ask what you’re trying to discover? Journalist: Oh you know, something really catchy, about how the world…
Read More >Now before any of you rush out and stick your hard earned on anything I say here, please note that a) I’m answering this because I get asked every year and b) My track record is appalling. Still I’ve put a bit of thought into a near term prediction to see who you might like…
Read More >Tonight I have the privilege of being the MC for Blackwood 8’s Celebration of Hope Gala Ball at the Manningham Function Centre in Doncaster. Blackwood 8 raise funds to find a cure of Brain Cancer and are strong supporters of Dr. Charlie Teoh’s Cure for Life foundation. With a crowd of around 300 it’s going…
Read More >‘ve just spent a delightful day learning about digital issues at the v21 Digital Conference at the State Library and my presentation at that conference is now available at the link below. My all too brief summary of presentations is also provided Sessions have covered Branding, Blogging, case studies, education & health; future of…
Read More >When it comes to ‘anti-technology’ thinking, a term often thrown disparagingly at people is ‘Luddite’. Luddites were indeed anti-tech BUT contrary to modern day thinking, they had a particular dislike for technology that would put people out of work. If technology helped keep people employed or created more jobs they were all for it. Which…
Read More >