The Department of Travel & Tour management of University College of Ratmalana invited me to deliver a lecture on "T****ourism and Digital Transformation" at The Die Reise 2018- Travel & Tourism Workshop & Exhibition organized them. I wanted to share with the students the power of User Generated Content and the peer-2-peer accommodation in tourism which are possible due to the Digital Transformation in Tourism.
I was delighted when I received this invitation as I could talk on the product I love, the Google Maps and power of its User Generated Content for the tourism. When you consider the digital transformation in tourism, the User Generated Content plays a significant role in decision making of the traveler and the reputation of the business. I wanted to highlight these aspects of Google Maps, although the Google Maps is not a direct tourism product targetting travelers.
There were students from five university colleges around the country(5 out of 6 university colleges in Sri Lanka) and their lectures.
At the beginning of the lecture, I asked from the students, have you used Google Maps and for what they used Google Maps. Most of them were using Google Maps and the answer to the second question was to get directions to travel from point A to point B in minimum time. This answer was something similar to what I expected. Most of the Google Maps users do not know they can use the User Generated Content to make decisions in traveling. As a Local Guides, we always come across fellow local guides who know how to use Google Maps for their day to day travel and plan a holiday, but the majority of the people who are using Google Maps do not know the Google Maps can be used to plan their holidays and travels.
During the knowledge sharing session, I demonstrated the power of the User Generated Connect such as photos, 360 photos, videos, reviews in making the decisions by the travelers. I elaborate on the importance of review and how it will affect the reputation of a restaurant or hotel. The power of videos, photos and 360 photos of a point of interest in the decision making of a traveler was demonstrated. The students and the lecturers were happy to learn these aspects of the Google Maps.
Then I talked about the peer-2-peer accommodation and demonstrated the AirBnB website for them.
The final demonstration was on using VR headsets for tourism. Here the demonstration was focused on providing the VR experience at the locations travelers willing to visit and help them to make their own decisions and make their itinerary. I also talked about Google Street View and how it can help a traveler.
Then I talked about the Google Local Guides Program and showed them how they can contribute to the Google Maps user-generated content.
The students at the end of the lecture experienced the VR headset set, and for some, this was the first time they experienced a VR headset. They enjoyed it, and they wanted to organize another workshop to learn more.
Students experiencing the VR Headset…
Some universities colleges wanted me to do knowledge sharing at their colleges, which I would love to do in the future.
If you want to see the photo album of the event, please follow this link.
Thank you for the token of appreciation.
Photo credit goes to the University College Of Ratmalana - Division Of Film & Television Studies, Thank you Dhanusha and Indrachapa for inviting me.
