When talking about "next generation destinations" and the role they will play in our overwhelmingly urban future buzzwords tend to come to mind like IoT, Sensors, Recognition Technology, and Artificial Intelligence. It almost sounds like the imminent next-gen destination will be a well-oiled machine that automatically hums along improving our cities. Yet, it’s not so simple. To harness smart innovations, destinations can’t just let systems run in the background. EDGventures urban planners agree that certain elements are key to an effective destination, but also that there is no one-size-fits-all blueprint.
Destinations are a major revenue source for many cities, whether they attract visitors because of culture, entertainment, leisure, lifestyle, attractions or experiences. Recently, something else has been drawing visitors to some places: technology.
Next generation destinations are reliant on core technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Sensors, Recognition Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Virtual Reality (VR) among others.
- Internet of Things (IoT) One of the most exciting emerging travel technology trends is the Internet of Things (IoT), which involves internet-based inter-connectivity between everyday devices, allowing them to both send and receive data. Already, we are seeing examples of its role within the leisure and entertainment industry and this is only going to increase.
- Sensors Sensors are at the core of every device in the IoT system. From connected cars to traffic lights and smart homes, almost every device today has sensors that gather and send data to the cloud. This interconnectivity is what makes possible the IoT system.
- Recognition Technology Recognition technology is especially interesting within this list of key tech trends due to its potential for removing friction from purchases and making interactions seamless. The technology itself includes finger print recognition, facial recognition, retina scanning and various other biometric identifiers.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) Apart from the development of robots, Artificial Intelligence is being used in other ways too. Perhaps the most obvious use within the travel and tourism industry is for customer service purposes, with chatbots possessing the ability to deliver rapid response times to problems or queries. It is also able to continuously learn from interactions with customers.
- Virtual Reality (VR) Virtual Reality has exploded in recent years, with increased availability of virtual reality headsets as home entertainment products. While much of the excitement has focused on video games, businesses and marketers have also made use of the technology, especially in terms of interactive 360 degree images and videos.
The future of next generation destinations is undoubtedly not only linked to smart technologies, but to smart decision making as well. Smart technologies offer great new benefits, but the benefits of good decisions by the people for the people are eternal.
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