Digital Tourism: How We Travel in the Digital Age

Traveling is one of the items people include in their bucket list and today, it is easier to find out about destinations through digital tourism sites. Some people, however, still want to visit travel agencies and gather glossy travel brochures with amazing pictures of destinations and other information. With the digital age, many more are browsing travel and tours websites where they can find all the information they need, including viewing destination choices, which can be available in 360-degree and panoramic views without leaving their homes.

What is digital tourism?

Digital tourism takes travelers to a different kind of tourist experience. It is a digital support provided to travelers before, during and after the travel activity. Digital tourism services vary. It could provide recommendations to find the appropriate accommodation to help the traveler plan the itinerary. It could also be an app they can install on their cellphones to serve as a mobile tour guide. It could also be the capability to explore all the holiday photos the traveler took once he or she reaches home.

Digital tourism is not a new concept and has already entered the online activities of many people. They also look through recommendations and reviews on sites such as TripAdvisor, Orbitz and Expedia. Some are travel management sites such as TripIt and Kayak. Other sites allow travelers to compare prices and book flights and hotels like Google Flights, Priceline.com, Booking.com and Hotels.com.

People who love to travel are already quite adept at using Picasa, iPhoto, Flicker and Facebook for their photo management.

Digital tourism provides a tech-driven way to research and plan as well as experience their holiday travels. Tourism-related business owners should invest in digital presence. It is no longer viable not to be seen online, although your digital presence should be thought out clearly. It should be creative, clever, compelling and persuasive.

Because tourists are busy and rely more on digital information, it is easier for them to do research and travel bookings online. The availability and variety of travel information help people decide their destinations, activities and other things, which is one reason why digital tourism is vital to the industry as well as to travelers.

From travel websites, tourists are able to explore different destinations and experience new tastes and sounds through videos. It is easier to plan weekend trips, day tours and holiday travel with the help of online sources.

What is travel technology?

Hospitality automation and tourism technology are the other names for travel technology. Travel technology means the application of information and communications technology (ICT) or information technology (IT) to provide information and support for the hospitality, tourism and travel industry. One such application is flight tracking. Advanced tour operator software is becoming essential for businesses to stay competitive in this rapidly evolving field.

Originally, travel technology was associated with the airline industry’s computer reservations system or CRS. Today, travel technology has added virtual tourism (technologies for virtual tours).

Travel technology is also synonymous with e-travel or e-tourism. This service provides the analysis, design and the implementation and application of e-commerce and information technology solutions in the industry. It also includes the analysis of different customer relationship management, market structures and economic processes.

It is a collection of different systems to manage and monitor travel, such as flight tracking and travel tracking systems. In a different context, travel technology is the technology to be used by travelers, such as satellite Internet connections and the creation of laptops that are lightweight and the development of universal power supplies.

How will tourism evolve in the future?

Digital tourism is expected to develop into something bigger in the near future because tourism has always been a big business in various countries. Tourism contributes to a country’s economy and provides jobs to hundreds or thousands of people. Some destinations depend on tourism to boost or uphold their economy.

In the United States, some of the states that benefit largely on tourism include California, Florida, New York, Nevada, Texas, New Jersey, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The most recent results of  Statista.com’s research on the global tourism industry has highlighted the following:

• From 2006 to 2017, the travel and tourism industry has contributed US$8.27 trillion to the global economy.
• From 2000 to 2017, the global international tourism revenue reached US$1.34 trillion.
• International tourism expenditure – U.S. reached US$135 billion
• International tourist arrivals worldwide – 1.323 million
• Online travel bookings revenues worldwide – US$513 billion
• Americans booking hotels online – 88%
• Americans booking vacation transportation online – 83%

The UK expects tourism in the country to double by the year 2025, with domestic and inbound tourism to be the key players in the digital tourism business success.

Different digital and physical wearable tech are currently being merged. Near Field Communication (NFC), a novel wireless technology is already in trial. The app allows the tourist to travel without carrying tickets or written itineraries. It works with a mobile device, which becomes the proof of travel. The application has various features, including booking a hotel and entry to tourist attractions.

In the near future, a smartphone will be used to purchase items from duty-free stores by pointing the phone either at the product’s QR code or the product itself. These QR codes come in handy and can be effortlessly created using any of these best QR code generators.

Other apps are being developed for fresh augmented reality applications, such as a city break that allows you to access destination histories and plans for their future simultaneously. More apps are being developed, including new developments of Google Glass.

How will the travel industry adapt in the future?

Adapting to the future involves lots of preparation today. One of the things you need to do is create an innovative website. While planning for your travel website, it is essential to prepare to have it localized as well. Travel industry translations or better yet, localization will make your travel website ready for digital tourism. From the demographics of your client base, you can identify the cultural backgrounds and the languages spoken by the majority of your clients. Making your website available in different languages will improve consumer interaction and their online experience.

Some of the things and changes you have to do include the following:

3. Make your website evocative. Going on a holiday usually involves travelers’ emotions. One of the main reasons is to have some time alone or spend some quality time with people they love. With a website that provides awe and anticipation, through images, texts and videos, in languages your clients understand, you’ll be able to turn web visitors into real-time customers.
4. Fantastic UX. It is essential to understand the needs of travelers. Your digital tourism site should provide most (if not all) of the things that tourists require. It should contain all the necessary information, from accommodation to pricing, popular and unusual destinations, attractions for individuals and families, places to eat and places to shop, including suggestions on good things to buy for the tourist as well as gifts, including regulations and customs duties. The site should be well planned and intuitive so the users will have the best experience. It is better to provide the right kind of information but refrain from lengthy descriptions. Aside from these, ensure that your website is optimized for mobile devices, particularly smartphones, which many people use for searching online.
5. Collaboration. It is not possible to have all the destinations crammed into your website. Digital tourism allows you to collaborate with other tourism-related business ensuring that everyone will benefit from the effort.
6. Ensure efficient e-commerce system. Digital marketing is an investment and you need to ensure that you get your investment back. Part of the UX experience is to have a one-stop shop where travelers can book travel services, from airfare to accommodation to entry passes to popular destinations and other services. Once a site visitor becomes a client, he or she should be able to reserve or pay for your services through your e-commerce system that should be able to accept payments from popular payment systems.
7. Understand your customer. Digital travelers come in a wide range of ages. You have the baby boomers who are already in their early to mid-60s. You have the Gen X travelers in their mid-30s and late 40s and the millennials and post-millennials who are between 18 and 34. Each age group use digital technology differently, but in some cases, the difference in usage is slight as other groups are more responsive to technology.

So, you have to understand their differing needs. Older travelers usually want to relax or experience another culture. Younger travelers value active vacations that will provide them with new experiences and different kinds of adventure, including an active nightlife. The older group often wants to travel to safer destinations while the younger generation wants to go to places that are different from what they are accustomed to seeing every day.

This means categorizing your travel offerings or providing clients with options to create their own adventure. If tours are part of the travel itinerary you offer, make it a more positive experience by organizing participatory experiences, such as attending workshops and other activities instead of just viewing exhibits.

Likewise, it is still vital for travel and tourism service providers to use social networking sites, which are frequented by baby boomers, millennials and post-millennials. As digital travelers are very adept at using digital tools and searching for information, travel and tourism providers should consider being seen and mentioned in Apple and Google Maps, TripAdvisor and Wikipedia.

The need for website translation and localization

Find the right kind of help to boost your online presence and target travelers from around the world by translating and localizing your website. Use data analytics to define your customer base so you can provide information to travelers in their own language. Work with a professional translation company to provide you with the most appropriate and accurate travel tourism translations for your entire website, including other information you make available to your clients.

Expect the best translations from the experts

You need to be enticing, appealing, exciting and precise when it comes to travel industry translations. The words should be compelling so travelers will be enticed to use your travel agency. And you can have all that by working with translation and subject matter experts from Day Translations, Inc. We have years of experience serving the travel industry and have gained a wealth of knowledge on the subject. You can rely on our translators to give you high quality and accurate translations. Do you need to localize your travel website? Look no further. We are a professional translation company that offers a full suite of language services. We are a one-stop shop that you can reach 24/7, every day of the year. Contact us through email at Contact us or call us at 1-800-969-6853 if it’s more convenient.