Before the pandemic, Hawai‘i was experiencing congestion and overcrowding at popular tourism sites. This is a picture of the top of Diamond Head trail in Honolulu, where thousands of visitors go to enjoy the spectacular view.
Unfortunately, with too many visitors, the experience is affected. With tourism numbers low at the moment because of the pandemic, it is a good time to plan for managing these sites before they become crowded again.
Management may involve creating – or increasing – access fees, requiring reservations and restricting access, shutting some sensitive sites down entirely, and educating visitors about how to respectfully visit sensitive cultural sites.
A new concept in tourism management is the idea of “smart tourism” … using technology to manage congestion, inform and educate visitors, and collect fees to help maintain sites.
The concept of “smart tourism” came from the movement toward “smart cities” which similarly use technology as a management tool. Destinations use technology like robotics, data analytics, artificial intelligence, biometrics, augmented reality and other tools to interact with visitors. The visitors receive communications and access through social media and their personal technology devices.
Just as an example, an app on a smartphone can be used to control access, make reservations, and collect payment for a popular attraction. With real time data, the app would know whether space was available … it might even charge a premium price for peak hours … make a reservation … collect payment … and provide a code for access to the site
Tourism will recover … but it will change. I believe the changes can be exciting and I look forward to your questions.
Frank Haas je predsjednik Marketing Managementa, Inc., konsultantske firme specijalizirane za ugostiteljske i turističke projekte za klijente u Sjedinjenim Državama i na međunarodnom nivou. On je bivši nacionalni predsjednik Američkog udruženja za marketing i bio je izvršni direktor u Hawaii Tourism Authority, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising (specijaliziran za ugostiteljske račune) i visokom obrazovanju (Škola za upravljanje putničkom industrijom Univerziteta Hawaii i koledž Kapiolani Community College) .
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World Tourism Network is a global network of tourism experts in 127 countries.
