After my previous article on “sexy congress destinations” I was reminded by readers that the article didn’t actually feature any sex. They were expecting something hot, spicy, Rocco-Siffredian, and I wrote about palm trees and cocktails …
But let’s not be hasty! The topic of this issue of Kongres and Conventa 2012 is the future of tourism, or as I especially like to call it, ‘the aristocracy of tourism’ – the meetings industry, business and incentive trips. Let’s look at the future with trust and confidence and if my colleagues and co-authors compete in who will make the best predictions, I don’t want to fall behind. Rob, Linda, Ray and Christian stripped the meetings industry fully and could make a person a bit jealous with their knowledge, but I dare say they haven’t said it all. They predicted changes in technology, new trends, products and a lot of other things, which seem to be only the tip of the iceberg – the tip, the bit that can be seen above the water line, yet below sea level there is so much more. I will immerse myself under water and try to report on what I saw once I return.
Let’s just start by saying to “urbi et orbi” that I am willing to fight anyone who will swear only on new technologies and, for example, new social media. The basic thesis of my work is that the more technology progresses and changes, the louder is the need for real human contact. Actually for sensuality. Therefore I swear by ‘high-touch’ rather than ‘high-tech’. Isn’t Conventa (including Academy Conventa) made just for that? If Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are such fun, why don’t we just carry out Conventa online, with everyone behind their desks or even on the couch? We will also save on travel and accommodation … Yet, exactly the opposite is the point of everything we do as tourism professionals. The point of tourism, business or congress in particular is in travel, staying somewhere else, meeting friends and new acquaintances, who later become friends – using all of the five senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. Do you want more? Yes, even the sixth sense – the sense which helps us recognise good people from bad, potential business partners from freeloaders, who understand congress only as the opportunity to eat and drink.
Have we reached erotica yet? Almost.
So, we’ve covered technology. We know we can’t do without it, but even the late Steve Jobs once said, ‘only passionate people can change the world’. Technology and the innovative social media will soon become what they really are: just a tool. Try to taste a Cabernet over the internet if you can. Who even thinks of the internet nowadays? Nobody – for a decade internet has been as necessary as water. Senses, sensuality, are becoming more important in strategic communications and marketing in tourism. And, wouldn’t you know it, all the emotions are connected with wishing (in Greek ‘eros’, ἔρως).
Even the guru of modern marketing, Philip Kotler, once said markets change faster than marketing. In (mostly leisure) tourism, a lot of people have still not grasped that the SSS paradigm (sea, sand, sun, snow, and even sex) has long ago changed. Nowadays we market Es. The EEE model includes emotions, education, excitement, entertainment. Well, even erotica, if you must (which is covered under the ‘emotions’ category). Destinations, professional congress organisers or incentive agencies that are aware of this will be able to market their product easily. While models of strategic communications from Aristotle’s Rhetoric (25 centuries ago) over Laswell, Schramm, Berl and McLuhan remain unchanged, marketing has changed completely. It was forced to stop hiding in cabinets of market research and leaning on advertising and other tools. Nowadays, when we are looking towards BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China), we can’t do without cross-cultural communications, mass psychology and sociology. Because life is unpredictable we also have to know a bit about crisis communications. Globalisation is giving way to glocalisation, competition and cooperation.
But there’s more! It’s happening in sync all over the world with the global economic crisis – except to the über-rich, it has clearly demonstrated that our perception of the economy, fellow human beings and the planet needs to change. Those who will give up excess greed, unethical business techniques and harming the environment will be the first to joyfully realise what PPP really stands for (people, planet, profit). The message of ILTM (International Luxury Travel Market – every December in Cannes) is clear: what’s the use of a fancy hotel if the environment around it is destroyed. The riches and prestige of destinations and tourist companies start with the quality of the natural environment, a happy diversity of local cultures and satisfied people. As stated by Guy Bigwood in this very magazine, sustainable development isn’t a fad, but a necessity and the only alternative for the future. This is exactly what the meetings industry clients want. Among them are new decision-makers and opinion leaders who identify with the LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) principles. The ‘Generation Y’ Rob Davidson addressed is erasing the line between business and private. Their intimate knowledge about the ‘good’ surrounding us starts to prevail in the business and communications world. They are becoming more innovative and creative as brilliantly suggested by Linda Pereira.
Still not enough?
We are living in uncertain times. Often talks of a fancy congress or an expensive incentive trip fall apart because of a lack of trust among the partners. We would all benefit from the (nearly Buddhist) abbreviation HHH: honesty, humanity, humility and humour. These four words, spoken and experienced together, can work miracles.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
All sensuality stems from this desire.
Nothing about sex, I will be scolded again.
Rok Klančnik
