Chapter Preparing tourism businesses for the digital future Abstract

Facilitating digital innovation in tourism
The uptake of digital technologies at the operational level and the adoption of digital business strategies have been uneven, and the gap between innovative digital companies and traditional tourism SMEs with low levels of digitalisation is growing (WEF, 2017). Large organisations benefit from standardisation and economies of scale when adopting digital technologies and are more likely to have access to finance and resources to invest in digitalisation. This, in turn gives them an early adoption advantage. Tourism SMEs are often heavily dominated by micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses, which often have limited access to skills and knowledge, finance, infrastructure and business support (European Commission, 2017; OECD, 2017b).
Box 2.6. Engaging SMEs through the Explorer’s Road, United Kingdom
The Explorer’s Road is a new 300-mile touring route that stretches the length of England with the intention to highlight parts of the country that rarely get attention from international travellers and produce a new internationally viable tourism product targeting the travel trade and consumers in Germany, the Netherlands, North America, China and Australia. A key distinction of the programme is the extent to which SMEs along the route are supported to take part in this Smart Ecosystem, with a focus on small businesses who want to operate online and have an ambition to reach new international markets. Equipping SMEs with digital tools and training, including, dedicated one-to-one support to develop booking functionality and help businesses take advantage of new distribution channels, the route currently showcases 118 businesses, 19 destinations and 9 counties.
The route has required investment, participation and support, from destination managers and tourism businesses to tour operators, travel agents, media partners and destination management companies. In addition, it has sought to develop relationships with a range of suppliers with expertise in areas including design, print, training, and photography. Social media has also been used to support the partnership between destinations and businesses along the route. Marketing activities have included engaging with bloggers (including three with a combined reach of 634 000) and social media influencers to showcase the route to online audiences. The Explorer’s Road web portal promotes all associated destinations and businesses and provides a means for independent travellers to contact operators directly (www.theexplorersroad.com). Based upon this initial success, the programme designers are planning to apply this approach to the development of new bookable products to other regions or countries.
Research into business ecosystems reveals companies pursue digitalisation along two dimensions: i) to know more about their customers and market more effectively; and ii) to use technology to operate more effectively in the digital ecosystem or along value chains. Four archetypes of the digitally enhanced business model are identified (Figure 2.3):

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