Technologies That Are Shaping Tourism During the Pandemic

The pandemic has hit hard the tourism sector, which was experiencing fast growth in the past years. This unexpected turnaround has caught tourism companies out off guard, pushing them to find ways to survive in this new reality that we live in now.

Some of them have opted to hibernate, others have given virtual tours a shot, but in general, all had to innovate to be alive.

This ended up accelerating a slow but ongoing tech movement in the industry, especially in the tours, activities, experiences and attractions sector.

To fulfill this growing demand, tech companies have turned to tourism, and innovative solutions started to pop out in the market.

One of them was Questo, which has developed an app for self-guided walking tours. The gamified experience guides the traveler to meet the destination following an itinerary created by a local storyteller. No need to say this was a huge success.

Other companies were already innovating the sector before the pandemic. Redeam for example have worked on contactless payment solutions for tours and attractions for a few years.

According to their CEO, Melanie Meador, the demand for contactless devices has experienced a boom during the pandemic. This is a no turning back movement, once companies and users have experienced its benefits.

Another issue addressed by tech companies was overtourism and crowds. To assure social distancing, many companies have worked on apps to manage the available slots for attractions and others have created solutions to organize the visitors’ flow.

Talking about the near future, Alex Bainbridge, CEO of Autoura, is betting on autonomous trips. His company is developing a technology for autonomous vehicles that will bring tourists to live personalized experiences around the city.

His vision is that human-guided tours will be a luxury product and soon autonomous vehicles will be driving tourists to the main sights around the world.

Orioly is also contributing to innovating the tours and activities market. Our solution gives a seamless experience to the user who is booking a tour through the Tour Operator’s website.

For destinations, we develop smart tourism projects that connect tourists, accommodations and local businesses. Check out our solution for DMOs to know more about how to make your destination smart.