Tourism

Digitalisation

Resilient Tourism

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated the digital transformation of tourism in Switzerland and globally. But how can we ensure that these digital systems are resilient enough to support the tourism industry through future crises? Additionally, how can we speed up the datafication of the Swiss travel sector and enhance its level of digitalisation across the country?

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Start & End Date

01/06/2022 - 01/10/2026

Main Applicant

Inversini, A., EHL Hospitality Business School

Co-applicant(s):

• Chen M.-M., EHL Hospitality Business School
• Crettol, O., Institut de recherche Icare
• Laesser, C., University of St. Gallen
• Mosedale, J., FH Graubünden
• Stuber-Berries, N., Hochschule Luzern
• Schegg, R., HES-SO Valais

External Funding

InnoSuisse Flagship

Project Description

Tourism is a global phenomenon: in Switzerland it accounts for almost 3% of GDP and 4.4% of total employment (OECD, 2018). The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge effect on the sector, with one notable consequence being the acceleration of digital transformation in tourism. With that comes a desire to ensure that those digital systems are resilient enough to withstand and adapt to future challenges.

This four-year project aims to empower the Swiss tourism industry to create resilient, digitally-supported services, business processes and business models. To do so, this flagship project seeks to draw on the experience of public and private sector partners to support datafication, which will inform tourism industry innovation and the creation of resilient digital tourism services.

The project has four sub-projects:

  1. The creation of a National Data Infrastructure for Tourism (NaDIT) to generate advanced knowledge and facilitate the design and development of innovative services.
  2. Developing business models and associated processes to increase business productivity across the Swiss tourism ecosystem.
  3. Designing resilient tourism system models, in line with the UN’s SDG objectives, for the simulation and stress testing of tourism network systems.
  4. Coordination, orchestration and communication: creating one yearly conference and at least three communities of practices for digital transformation in tourism. This supports the organization and coordination within the project, as well as the communication towards other actors interested in tourism industry innovation (learn more in EHL's Flagship dedicated  website).
• Amt für Wirtschaft und Tourismus Graubünden (AWT)
• Anniviers Tourisme
• APG|SGA, Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft AG
• Com.cierge GmbH
• Basel Tourism (BST)
• Crans-Montana Tourisme & Congrès (CMT)
• Discover.swiss AG (DISCOVER)
• Federal Office of Transport (FOT)
• Federal Statistical Office (FSO)
• Fondation TheArk
• Fördergeselschaft IMP-HSG
• Gastrosuisse (GS)
• Graubünden Ferien (GRF)
• Guidle AG (GUIDLE)
• Hotelleriesuisse (HS)
• International Federation of IT in Travel and Tourism, Swiss Chapter (IFITT)
• Intervista AG (INTERVISTA)
• Jungfrau Region Tourismus AG (JRT)
• Lucerne Tourism AG (LTAG)
• Nendaz Tourisme
• Service de la promotion de l'économie et de l'innovation (SPEI)
• Sierre-Anniviers Marketing
• Sisag AG
• State Secretariat for the Economy (SECO)
• Swiss Cablecar Association
• Swiss Federal Railways AG (SBB)
• Swiss Federal Railways AG (SBB)
• Swisscom (SWISSCOM)
• Switzerland Tourism (ST)
• Thomann Holpitality Management (THM)
• Ticino Turismo (ATT)
• Valais/Wallis Promotion
• Vaud Promotion
• Zurich Tourism (ZHT)

For further information, please visit our websites

EHL Blogs

AI in Hospitality: Transforming Service Experience and Efficiency

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been significantly reshaping the hospitality industry over the past decade. From luxury hotels to fast food joints, AI tools are affecting how services are delivered and how operations are run, ultimately having an enormous impact on the customer experience overall. But what does this digital transformation really look like?

ai-hospitality-services

Driving resilience in Swiss tourism: Data smart innovation for SMEs

Dr. Meng-Mei Maggie Chen (Assistant Professor of Marketing) and Amélie Keller (Flagship Resilient Tourism Coordinator), offer insights into their collaborative work with Nyon Région Tourisme and Blent Hospitality Business Intelligence.

resilient-tourism-blog

Swiss Tourism outlook 2023: Datafication for Resilient Tourism

With 2023 almost upon us, perhaps the tourism industry can finally expect to rebound in the coming months to its happy and healthy state. But the word "perhaps" cannot be overlooked, as nobody can predict the future and we will certainly live future crises. The travel sector cannot experience another collapse and should not rest on the status quo when recovering from downfalls. Therefore, rethinking tourism and building resilience in the coming years is exactly what is needed to prepare and minimize future challenges. In a joint effort to stay ahead with trends, the Swiss tourism and travel sector has chosen to bet on data and technology to undertake its national resilience journey, thanks to a national Innosuisse-funded project: The Flagship Resilient Tourism Project.

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Dr. Inversini on human-centered digital transformation

Welcome to a new Q&A feature where we shine the spotlight on our EHL research faculty and their current work. With a view to going behind the scenes to better understand the fascinating, impactful world of research, the EHL Institutional Visibility team will be regularly catching up with an EHL researcher whose work is making a difference in both classroom and industry.

QA_Inversini_Digitalization-(2)

Our Team

Dr. Alessandro Inversini

Full Professor

Dr. Alessandro Inversini is Full Professor at the EHL – Hospitality Business School. He is expert digital communication and his research focuses on the role of digital transformation in society. Dr. Inversini has an extensive international academic experience: before joining EHL, Dr Inversini has been working at Università della Svizzera italiana, Bournemouth University, and Henley Business School (University of Reading).

Allesandro Inversini

Dr. Meng-Mei Maggie Chen

Associate Professor

Dr. Meng-Mei Maggie Chen is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at EHL teaching hotel distribution strategy, online consumer behavior, marketing strategy and digital marketing courses. Before entering higher education, Maggie held positions in various tourism sectors, ranging from hotels to casinos, travel agencies, and consulting.

meng_mei_chen_EHL

Amélie Keller

Flagship Project Coordinator

Amélie Keller is the Project Coordinator of the Flagship Resilient Tourism initiative. She works closely with the Professors on the overall management and communication strategy of the Flagship. She also manages a regional coaching program and advises local tourism stakeholders in their digital transformation. Amélie Keller holds a Master's degree in International Tourism from the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) with a minor in Sustainable Development, and a Bachelor's degree in Multilingual Communication from the University of Geneva.

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