Thursday, 26th November 2020, 10.00 – 11.30 GMT
For many countries, including the island of Ireland and Austria, tourism is a key pillar of the economy, and plays an important role in driving regional development and enhancing the vibrancy of local communities.
This event focused on the ever-increasing role of technology in tourism across the island of Ireland and Austria. COVID-19 is an unprecedented challenge for global tourism. In response, we are witnessing an escalation by tourism boards and providers in the adoption of technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to keep not only would-be international visitors but also the domestic market and indeed, local citizens, interested as they prepare for the long road to recovery.
In technological terms, central to the concept of smart tourism is the smart destination – this is not about using technology to continue “doing business as usual” but rather is the planning, execution and management of a high quality tourist experience in a defined geographical place in sustainable way using technological infrastructure. In response to COVID-19, we have seen this concept go a step further and align itself to the wider sustainability agenda and the global UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The topic of the webinar was to consider the possibilities for technological infrastructure in the recovery of the tourism industry, drawing on experiences of tourism bodies, start-up accelerators and cities in Austria and the island of Ireland.
See Brian Harte’s presentation
See Dr.Thomas Bodmer presentation
See Prof. Georg Steiner presentation
Click here to see the video of the webinar
