BACK TO CONTENTS
WTM TECHNOLOGY ENABLING TRAVEL Gaming and Gamification in Tourism: Opening a new tourism experience
Organised by IFITT, this was a new session for WTM in 2013, and an important one at that... according to last year’s WTM Global Trends Report, gamification will be one of the major trends over the next few years.
Gaming in a non-gaming context (gamification) is moving into the tourism industry, creating ‘fun and engaging experiences’ for customers. According to session moderator, Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, tourism and hospitality companies want to attract visitors to their destination and gaming is one way of doing that. According to WTM, a number of organisations have already signed up including Tourism Ireland, Australia Tourism Board, Lufthansa, Visit Norway and hospitality groups Marriott, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. One type of gaming is mobile ‘augmented reality’ (AR) which is focused on ‘engaging and motivating’ people by immersing them on-site through story-telling, role- play, challenges and interaction with other players. Location-based games allow the tourist to visit and explore their surroundings dynamically; the ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ world is combined in interactive real time, and the gameplay evolves and progresses via a player’s location or trajectory. Stand in Dublin city centre, for example, hold up your phone, look at your location through your phone and
REGISTER YOUR INTEREST FOR WTM 2014
start the game – it could be a murder mystery tour, an historical tour or a fun kids game all with virtual 2D or 3D animations incorporated with the ‘real’ world.
Games are customised to individuals: • Working at the person’s pace, with designs adaptable to unpredictable scenarios.
• It’s a low-cost option… mobile app plus server, offering distinct experiences.
• Distinct targets including children, adventure, thematic, fitness, etc.
• Game analytics – geomarketing.
Games benefit both the customer and company and can also be implemented on tourist websites. For example, Visit Norway has made three marketing games including the Homenkoillen Ski Jump. “In 2006, we wanted to try something different and thought gaming would be fun,” said Hans Petter Aalmo, from Visit Norway. More than 892 million virtual ski jumps have been made – with people posting their jumps on YouTube. One of those clips received 91,000 views, and it’s also now a FaceBook game that has been played about 20 million times. The gaming has allowed the collection of thousands of email address, instant feedback and is used to train staff.
Games and gamification can create an environment
that is more interactive and fun in all areas of the industry, and with the younger generation every- increasingly being driven by their desire to be online, or on the their mobile devices, so this is a good way of getting their ‘dopamine’ flowing (and that’s official!).
Organised by
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67