Abstract
Digital technologies have brought significant transformation to the tourism
industry, revolutionising tourism enterprises, products and experiences,
business ecosystems, and destinations. Digitalisation has also transformed
the traditional roles of tourism producers and consumers, with new roles,
relationships, business models, and competencies emerging. The rise of
digital platforms has increased the variety and volume of tourism products,
services and experiences, with on-demand functionality accelerating the
speed of economic transactions, market awareness and feedback. These
shifts have created new opportunities, as well as challenges, for tourism SMEs
as they strive to meet consumer demands, and reach new markets.
Coordinated efforts to foster an innovative digital culture in tourism SMEs can
ensure European destinations are globally competitive. The diversity and
complexity of tourism’s sub-sectors, the different challenges in urban, rural,
and island destinations, and the different challenges that manifest in different
institutional systems across Europe, present capacity-building and regulatory
challenges for the digital tourism ecosystem.
The objective of this report was to analyse the challenges and opportunities of
digitalisation in tourism, how these challenges and opportunities affect
different stakeholder groups, and to discuss how they might be addressed.
The authors drew from a quantitative survey of 2.897 SMEs, 73 public
administrations, and 85 professional associations conducted in 2016 by thirdparty consultants. This current analysis was conducted under a separate
tender procedure and draws from additional secondary data sources,
qualitative interviews, and scholarly research.
industry, revolutionising tourism enterprises, products and experiences,
business ecosystems, and destinations. Digitalisation has also transformed
the traditional roles of tourism producers and consumers, with new roles,
relationships, business models, and competencies emerging. The rise of
digital platforms has increased the variety and volume of tourism products,
services and experiences, with on-demand functionality accelerating the
speed of economic transactions, market awareness and feedback. These
shifts have created new opportunities, as well as challenges, for tourism SMEs
as they strive to meet consumer demands, and reach new markets.
Coordinated efforts to foster an innovative digital culture in tourism SMEs can
ensure European destinations are globally competitive. The diversity and
complexity of tourism’s sub-sectors, the different challenges in urban, rural,
and island destinations, and the different challenges that manifest in different
institutional systems across Europe, present capacity-building and regulatory
challenges for the digital tourism ecosystem.
The objective of this report was to analyse the challenges and opportunities of
digitalisation in tourism, how these challenges and opportunities affect
different stakeholder groups, and to discuss how they might be addressed.
The authors drew from a quantitative survey of 2.897 SMEs, 73 public
administrations, and 85 professional associations conducted in 2016 by thirdparty consultants. This current analysis was conducted under a separate
tender procedure and draws from additional secondary data sources,
qualitative interviews, and scholarly research.
| Original language | English |
|---|
| Publisher | Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME), European Commission |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 37 |
| Commissioning body | European Commission, Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME), Virtual Tourism Observatory |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Keywords
- digitalisation
- SMEs
- tourism
- europe