During the session “Digital Tourism in the EAEU” held as part of the V Eurasian Economic Forum, participants from Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Armenia and Cuba presented national platforms, Big Data tools and risk management automation mechanisms in the tourism sector.
Representatives of Armenia showcased new approaches to the management, monitoring and development of the industry based on the introduction of administrative registries and digitalisation.
The Belarusian side demonstrated the possibilities of transitioning from traditional statistics to the aggregation of data from mobile operators and banks. It was noted that this makes it possible to move from approximate estimates to evidence-based management.
Participants from Kazakhstan announced plans to create a “single window” — a national tourism portal that will integrate regional websites into a unified digital space featuring mobile services, including online services for tourists, as well as analytics tools.
Representatives of Kyrgyzstan’s tourism industry presented the Tunduk Travel project aimed at introducing modern technologies into tourist flow management and improving the quality of tourism services.
The Russian side shared its experience in developing a unified digital platform for the tourism sector designed to collect and process all information relevant to the tourism industry.
A representative of Cuba noted that the tourism of the future is “the engineering of experiences rather than the sale of beds.”
The session also examined risk management mechanisms, approaches to automating interaction between tour operators, travel agents and tourists, as well as tools for prompt response in crisis situations.
“The participants of the discussion agreed that digital data represents the new ‘gold dust’ of the tourism industry, while the future of the hospitality economy lies in platformisation,” summarised Lusine Bagratuni, Deputy Director of the EEC Department for Entrepreneurial Activity Development.
