What's next for Tourism?

This year's 10th Annual Tourism Technology Forum was a real signal that current changes in tourism are beginning to shape a significant new future for the industry. Following on the back of a year of funding and political upheaval, the question on everyone's lips was "what next?".

Both keynote speakers opened the day with challenging and eye opening presentations about the new funding landscape and emerging models for delivery. Ken Robinson CBE FTS spoke about the disappearance of old tourism networks as new kinds of commercial partnership are established to respond to the government's trade-led agenda. Richard Spencer, Managing Director of Partnership Glu, followed straight up with a real world case study of a new business model in action where a group of hoteliers have joined forces in the North East to create an innovative business partnership. The North East Hotels Association brings together businesses, Partnership Glu as advisors and NVG as a commercial technology partner to deliver a whole range of tourism services through a non-office based network and commercially viable business model.

The consensus and mood at the forum is that destinations must continue to adapt as new structures and practices begin to evolve out of the political landscape. At NVG we have been actively looking at how we can help destinations ride this wave of change. We talked to partners at the forum about a new range of services and solutions we have on offer that provide the flexibility for destinations to find their own feet as the ground continues to shift.

Something that attracted a great deal of interest was our revenue optimisation programme which enables destinations to change the way technology is funded and work in partnership with NVG to enhance revenue through the system. We also talked about our innovative Managed Services solution where we can take on more traditional services for destinations such as membership solicitation and data stewarding on a commission basis. Both these initiatives provide leg room when resources are being tightened - either financially or in team numbers.

Another agenda item was the inner change we have made at NVG this year. Embracing the spirit of the moment, we have had our own brand facelift and reorganisation to ensure we can focus energies into the new priorities that are emerging.