Goran Car: Technology is the foundation for the smart culture that still needs to be built in our cities and tourist destinations

What happens when tourism meets IT was the topic of the online DiscussIT on tourism organized today by the IT company Combis. Trends in tourism and how technology can enhance tourist services, as well as smart tourism in the future, were discussed by Josipa Jutt Ferlan, director of the Hilton Hotels cluster in Zagreb and director of Zagreb City Hotels, Daniela Gračan, professor at the Faculty of Management in Tourism and Hospitality and head of the Institute for Tourism, Marko Čižmek, board member of Valamar Riviera, Damir Mendica, board member of Plava Laguna, and Goran Car, board member and CEO of Combis.

Panel participants agreed that technology and tourist content are closely linked and that the experience, in addition to sun, sea, and authentic offerings, is also shaped by technology. It is true that tourists seek an authentic story, but the path to it today leads through the use of digital tools, and in the future, this will be even more pronounced through smart offerings. Car emphasized that although technology generally enables exponential growth of society, knowledge and human capital are also very important.

-Technology is the foundation for the smart culture that still needs to be built in our cities and tourist destinations, but there is increasing room for it, especially after the pandemic experience during which the use of digital tools has strengthened. The emphasis is on more innovative and efficient communication of a destination or company with tourists using technology, namely an application that creates a high-quality user experience or simple payment for content or additional services proposed by a system based on tourist behavior. The possibilities and opportunities are numerous, there are hundreds of services and solutions – said Car. According to him, as a nation, we will succeed depending on whether we have human capital, knowledge, and competencies.

-Croatia is a beautiful country, capital is more accessible than ever, but what we will succeed or fail at will be human capital and knowledge. That will be what makes the difference for us. Therefore, both the state and the private sector are responsible for building human capital. The key thing is how much we are able to build human resources, the more competitive we will be – said Car.

Jutt Ferlan believes it is time to raise quality and build higher value content that will transform the tourist season into a tourist year. She also pointed out the advantage of digitalizing routine jobs for which there is a shortage of workers, not only in Croatian tourism but throughout Europe.

-Digitalization is a positive trend in tourism, we have reached a stage where a certain degree of digitalization is essential and there is no going back – says Jutt Ferlan. According to Gračan, new values need to be added to the tourist offer to become more competitive in the market.

-The goal of our tourism is a satisfied guest through a diverse, authentic, indigenous, and continuously available offer of content in destinations, tailored to specific target groups of tourists – says Gračan. In her opinion, it is necessary to follow trends and that digitalization is essential, but the authenticity that is the greatest value of Croatian tourism must be preserved. The company Valamar Riviera began the digitalization process before the coronavirus pandemic, which helped in strategic development and a better response to the corona crisis.

– In addition to generating significant revenue through direct digital channels, at a level of 65 percent of total revenue, in recent years we have made significant investments in the field of digitalization and automation of processes in the human resources sector, and we believe that this has also contributed to Valamar holding the title of TOP employer in tourism for many years – said Čižmek. Regarding the importance of technology during the coronavirus pandemic, for example, in the organization of AT Umag, Mendica recalled. He also reflected on the possible extension of the tourist season to the whole year and emphasized that this can be enabled by knowledge and technology.