Read more about Lin Reiman, Master student in Tourism Destination Management, her thesis writing experiences during the final phase of her studies.

After three incredible months of travelling through Asia and Australia, we all parted ways and returned home. The exciting journey ended but the experience was not over yet namely the third phase awaited us.

It took me personally about a month until I finally settled back in Vienna and started working on my thesis. It was weird having to work on my own without my “team” from the fieldwork phase but I had learned so much from them, the lecturers and the experience itself that I felt confident it would go smoothly.

If I had to give any future TDM student one advice, I would say: Chose your topic wisely (!) since it will be governing your mind for at least the next 3 months. Mine revolved around innovation in tourism; automation technologies to be exact.

The subject is very comprehensible but it still came with many complications. Automation is a rather new term that can easily be misunderstood. When people hear “automated hotels” they think of the motels with self-service check-in counters where you pay for each amenity individually and where you don’t have any human contact whatsoever. That is partly true but mobile technologies, as well as ICTs, have widened the scope of possibilities nowadays. In smart hotels, guests are able to personalize and customize their services as they please. Personalization is not having a butler who caters to your every need. It defines you having the ability to cater to your own needs wherever you are.  Around 10 years ago ICT’s in tourism have allowed individuals to tailor their trips online. Today and in the future, hotel guests can tailor their experiences individually.

The main research question of my thesis was the following: “What impact does technological innovation have on the consumer experience of hotel guests?”

Secondary desk research highlighted the different technologies available such as haptic technology, interactive surfaces and sensor-based room management and their impact on the guests’ experience. Furthermore it underlines how the definition of value has changed. Customers are participating in the creation of value of a product and service. This phenomenon is defined as “co-creation”. Therefore the value chain today is different than in the past.

My quantitative empirical research shows that people would be more satisfied with a personalized service during their hotel stay. They would enjoy having the options of choosing their hotel room environment, receiving a tablet in their room, accessing their entertainment library at home, conducting recreational reservations through their smart devices and even using mobile applications to open/lock their hotel room, settle their bill and even enhance the security standards of their room.

If hotels were to offer these services, guests would have the choice of either mirroring their hotel room to their home environment or experimenting with new environments to their liking. Thus higher satisfaction is guaranteed since different needs and wants are satisfied.

Especially in tourism, where there is such a competitive environment between firms and destinations, it is crucial to understand the importance of innovative endeavours. Implementing mobile accessible automation services in hotels may be a small step in the tourism industry, yet it represents a great change in the future of destinations. Technology enhanced experiences are very important in destinations nowadays and very feasible with the increasing use of mobile technologies. The new destination of the future is not necessarily a physical space but more one-self. “Destination me” is about being able to have what you want and be who you are, wherever you are in this world. Isn’t this exactly what having a smart phone with Internet connection, is all about? We want to have access to our whole life while on the move. Tourism firms including hotels must make that possible for their customers if they want to stay interesting and successful.

I decided to conduct a survey since I was hoping to receive a high number of responses on peoples’ opinions on the subject. During the whole time I kept telling myself KISS “Keep it simple stupid” (a word often used by a highly appreciated TDM lecturer). The second phase also taught me that it is not about the quantity of information I gather yet about the quality. Everything is interesting, yet is it relevant as well? Therefore I started off with a somewhat backward approach by asking myself: what do I need to know? How do I receive proof of that information? What methods must I use to get it? Those three questions were my guides during phase three and as long as anyone keeps them in mind, it is pretty simple.

Lin Reimann