FITUR 2020: WAM Global Talks 360° Customer Experience & Innovation

FITUR 2020 has already come and gone. This year’s edition saw the union of Marketing and Technology formed by WAM and LeadClic playing a significant role at FITURTechY, a specialized conference that takes place in the FITUR site at IFEMA. On the first day, January 22nd, LeacClic Co-CEO Manuel García gave a talk called “360° Customer: Technology for Customer Intelligence.” Later that day, WAM Global CEO Giorgio Ascolese led a roundtable discussion with industry experts that included Manuel García, along with Iberia Innovation Manager Alberto Terol, Iberostar Director of Sales & Marketing Sarah Despradel, and tourism destination expert Joantxo Llantada. 

FITUR, an International Tourism Fair in Madrid, Spain (known as the Feria Internacional de Turismo) is a leading trade event for the tourism industry that does not stop growing annually. It happens to be one of the world’s largest tourism fairs. This year, in its 40th installment, it projected to have more than 253,000 visitors that included 142,000 tourism trade professionals from 165 different markets. 

Thanks to our industry experience and the publication of our tourism trends report, we had the opportunity to take part in FITURTechY held within the FITUR 2020. This meeting point saw experts analyze tech’s potential and the progress of the Digital Transformation within the sector. 

A 360° customer experience based on a CDP, trust, and immediacy

Just over a week ago, on January 22nd, the opening day of FITURTECHY 2020, Manuel García had the chance to take the stage. He highlighted the need for maintaining a 360° view of the customer. He explained that this means that all “existing data sources can be used together.” The challenge lies in integrating all these sources since they multiply over time. A study found that we’ll work with an average of 45 different data sources in 25, while today, we currently work with an average of 19.  

How do we solve this important problem? We can use a Customer Data Platform (CDP), a system that centralizes customer data from all sources and displays them on other platforms to craft Marketing campaigns, customer service initiatives, and everything else relating to the customer experience. This tool, Manuel stated, will allow us “to build truly connected experiences.” 

It’s also imperative because 84% of customers say that the experience a brand offers is as relevant as the product or price, and 79% of them are willing to give personal information if they feel it will bring value to the experience. 

In this context, we should view marketing as the glue that ties together all the experiences a customer has with a brand. García explained that “it’s about designing a model that lets marketing have control over the whole experience and the relationship the brand has with a consumer.” 

Manuel wrapped up his talk with a clear message: “AI is increasingly impacting the customer experience, and we have to take advantage of it because your brand is the sum of the experiences you can create.” 

Innovation, sustainability, and organizational cultural: key factors in tourism marketing at Fitur 2020 

Giorgio Ascolese then took the stage to moderate a roundtable talking about successful transformation models in transportation, hospitality, and destinations. The other roundtable participants were LeadClic Co-CEO Manuel García, Iberia Innovation Manager Alberto Terol, Iberostar Director of Sales & Marketing Sarah Despradel, and tourism destination expert Joantxo Llantada.

Giorgio Ascolese then took the stage to moderate a roundtable talking about successful transformation models in transportation, hospitality, and destinations. The other roundtable participants were LeadClic Co-CEO Manuel García, Iberia Innovation Manager Alberto Terol, Iberostar Director of Sales & Marketing Sarah Despradel, and tourism destination expert Joantxo Llantada.

One of the star topics was innovation as a key to business success today. We can (and should) exemplify it in a variety of formats: through changes to organizational culture, collaboration with startups, or opening new communication channels with customers. Despite this, Manuel García pointed out that “there are no management teams that have fully interiorized this need to innovate.”  

For Sarah Despradel, Director of Marketing and Ventas ON at IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts, the key lies in communications through targeting particular audiences and in sustainability by creating experiences that take care of and protect the environment. She noted that “the new generation champions not only technology but also empathy and preservation. This is one of the brand’s fundamental principles.” 

Alberto Terol shared what actions Iberia is carrying out to make innovation part of their DNA. They are: 

1. Connect employees to new digital work cultures. 

2. Create a startup accelerator, Open Innovation, to bring talent into the company. 

3. Digitize the relationship with passengers through instant messaging apps or voice assistants. 

If this process is a complex one for large corporations, it’s even more so for small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the tourism industry. Technology and innovation are often out of reach. That’s why Joantxo Llantada pointed to the role of administrators as an “accelerator of structural changes in society.” 

The conclusion that all the experts agreed upon is that innovation, technology, and tourism all go hand-in-hand. The industry’s future lies in finding a balance between those factors and knowing how to take advantage of the tools we have in our grasp. But for that, we have to be ready.