How gaming can be applied in the tourism context?

“How gaming can be applied in the tourism context?” and “What is the concept of gaming and its impact on the tourism experience?” are just some of the questions that you may want to hear their answers. 

The answers of those and many more subjects related with technology, gaming, and tourism will be discussed at ‘WTM Technology Enabling Travel’ event which will be hosted by the International Federation for Information Technology and Travel and Tourism (IFITT) at the World Travel Market 2013.

On November 4, 2013, the workshop themed ‘Gaming and Gamification in tourism: opening a new experience’ will address both issues, phenomenons gamification and location-based games and will introduce best practices in the tourism industry.

The motivation for this topic evolved from the WTM Global Trends Report 2012 where gamification was described as one of the major trends in tourism. The report also highlighted the finding that many travel companies and destinations (Tourism Ireland, Australia Tourism Board, Lufthansa) as well as hospitality organisations (Marriott, Starwood Hotels & Resorts) have already applied the concept of gaming in their business to create new experiences, which are fun and engaging for customers and employees likewise. The workshop is aimed at people who want to understand the concept of gaming and its impact on the tourism experience, learn how gaming can be applied in the tourism context and find out from leading experts in the field about current best practices and future opportunities of gaming for the tourism industry. 

The event will be moderated by IFITT President and Chair in Tourism at Bournemouth University Professor Dimitrios Buhalis. Together with Jessika Weber from the eTourism Lab at Bournemouth University, he will open up the workshop topic with a presentation about ‘Augmented Reality Gaming: A new Paradigm for Tourist Experience’. After that the event will continue with a number of interesting presentation by speakers from famous universities and tourism companies, such as Antonio Coelho from Porto University who will talk about ‘Location-based games for tourism’ or Benjamin Kolb and Julia Bachwinkel from Tripventure who will give insights into ‘Augmented Reality Games for Tourism Urban Destinations’. 

The event is completely for free but people intending to attend the workshop have to register in the following way: First, they need to register for the WTM opening day, even if they have already signed up for a standard WTM admission. Registration for the opening is absolutely necessary, as otherwise access to the WTM on November 4, 2013 will be denied. Secondly, they need to register for the event at http://ifitt.eventbrite.co.uk/.