Tourism 4.0 – Project of GeoCats
The Tourism 4.0 project has strengthened the competitiveness and sustainability of tourism SMEs through professional support for the adoption of digital technologies, including training programs, financing, and assistance for digital transformation, promoting innovation and networking. During the years 2022 and 2023, the international consortium has worked on different operational stages to train companies, implement financing schemes, and evaluate the results. Highlighting the importance of digital technologies to improve business models and services in post-Covid tourism and thus enhancing the commercial opportunities of tourism SMEs. This collaborative effort has been the result of the effort and active participation of the associated companies in each phase of the project, contributing to its success.
The project involves the participation of 10 leading European actors in innovation and tourism, including organizations representing the tourism sector in 6 countries, with an aggregate membership base representing over 20,000 travel and tourism companies in Europe (from small accommodations to 5-star hotels, and travel and tour operators).
Partners
Project of GeoCats
GeoCats revolutionized tourism and events through gamification, offering gaming experiences in cities with its own application. Their goal was to become the “Pokemon GO” of tourism. The application allowed tourists to avoid prior reservations, being more flexible in their itinerary. The gaming experiences with active challenges made people remember places and stories much better than simply hearing them from a guide.
GeoCats planned to expand its experiences throughout Europe, adding new questions and challenges to its gaming platform and launching games in other cities. Their goal was to add 5-7 new cities per year. Although human resources were limited, with financial assistance, they could improve marketing techniques and the user experience.
The planned investment included improving the gaming platform, adding augmented reality challenges, and enhancing communication with customers through transactional emails. With a larger team, GeoCats would complete its goal of engaging people across Europe.
In a disruptive reconversion process, they sought to offer experiences based on Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. They launched activities directly through mobile devices, such as Google Glass, to offer almost personalized responses to demand, without schedules or unforeseen events.
The company organizes all its data in Power BI for better decision-making, after facing automation challenges by implementing software in 2023. Their vision includes a fully integrated environment in Power BI to facilitate data analysis and decision-making in each department.
Currently, the company is immersed in a process of analyzing its resources, recognizing that current means are insufficient to achieve its goals. Digitalization emerges as a crucial aspect for its growth, although they acknowledge the need for trained personnel to effectively manage available resources and to implement new technologies. Additionally, SETIN RURAL SL emphasizes the importance of financial contribution to apply the necessary improvements and translate them into tangible results for the company.
According to its digitization plans, the company seeks to incorporate technology in several phases: first, to use VR to enhance its products, then to implement cloud solutions and strengthen cybersecurity to optimize its procedures, and finally, to improve results through web 3.
