The document discusses communication in tourism. It addresses how communication is listening for B2C and offering training opportunities like eLearning for B2B. Sustainable tourism is a complex topic that can be approached from economic, socio-cultural, and ecological perspectives. ICT can be used in five main areas to widen access, enrich visitor experiences, increase ownership and encounters, dis-intermediate relationships, and upgrade skills in small and medium tourism businesses. Examples of listening to visitors through social media and online reviews are provided.

1. Communication in Tourism
prof. Lorenzo Cantoni
Università della Svizzera italiana (USI Lugano, Switzerland)
UNESCO chair in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites
IFITT – International Federation for Information Technologies and Travel & Tourism
lorenzo.cantoni@usi.ch ¦ @lorenzocantoni

2. Sustainable Tourism & eTourism
B2C: communication is – first of all – listening
B2B: offer training opportunities (eLearning)
AGENDA

3. A complex construct
Several approaches
Economic ¦ socio-cultural ¦ ecological
SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

4. Everybody Locals
FIVE MAIN AREAS OF
INTERVENTION FOR ICT
Tourists Tourism
players
Widen access
Enrich visit experience
Increase ownership and promote
interpersonal encounters
Dis-intermediate (some) relationships
Upgrade knowledge / skills in MSMTE

5. Chinese social network Weibo
Posts about Switzerland
One full year (07.2011-06.2012): 732 posts + 468 images
LISTEN TO YOUR VISITORS_#1

6. 11
26
65
131
129
128
116
Products & Services…
Governance (17.90%)
Travel phenomena &…
Willing to go (17.49%)
Performance (15.85%)
Share Information…
Environment (3.55%)
LISTEN TO YOUR VISITORS_#1cont.
267
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Society (1.50%)
Overall expressed
sentiment is
positive, with an
average 4.62.
(N=536)

7. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
LISTEN TO YOUR VISITORS_#1cont.
114
43
41
26
16
15
5
4
3
Site attractions (42.70%)
Food & Beverage (16.10%)
Transportation (15.36%)
Other (9.73%)
Outdoor activities (5.99%)
Accommondation (5.62%)
Events (1.87%)
Infrastructure (1.50%)
Entertainments (1.12%)

8. 5.22%
3.97%
3.76%
2.09%
0.63%
10.65%
8.77%
8.35%
8.35%
7.72%
18.16%
Official communication (107)
Mountain (87)
Lake (51)
Transportation (42)
People (40)
City (40)
Food (37)
Shopping & gadgets (25)
Sport & event (19)
Animal (18)
Monument (10)
LISTEN TO YOUR VISITORS_#1cont.
22.34%
Plant (3)
0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00%

9. www.agriturismo.it
1,710 OTR by tourists on agritourism businesses in 94 Italian provinces
Written in Italian (598) ¦ English (573) ¦ German (539)
LISTEN TO YOUR VISITORS_#2

10. Topics IT EN DE
Service / staff 96.5 76 79.4
Quality of food 60.1 58.1 61.6
Description of the guests 56.4 19.4 11.5
Length of stay 42.9 34.0 35.6
Return planning 36.3 33.0 34.9
Relax 33.2 15.7 17.6
Description of the agritourism 26.7 27.1 31.0
Quality of the room 26.6 43.5 46.8
Panorama 10.6 41.7 35.8
Proximity to city 6.3 33.7 25.4
View from the room 7.6 28.4 21.5
LISTEN TO YOUR VISITORS_#2cont.

11. International travelers:
… stress food-cultural related aspects: discovery of Italian food culture
… the host is the mediator towards food quality and cultural issues
LISTEN TO YOUR VISITORS_#2cont.

12. Saint Paul Outside the Walls (Rome, Italy)
LISTEN TO YOUR VISITORS_#3

13. eLearning ¦ Open Educational Resources (OER) ¦ MOOCs…
E.g.: www.futour.net
E.g.: elearning.ticino.ch ¦ www.elearning4tourism.com
B2B: OFFER TRAINING
OPPORTUNITIES

14. 5 modules ¦ 1h30’ needed ¦ final test & certificate
668 users ¦ 282 certified users
B2B: OFFER TRAINING
OPPORTUNITIES_cont.

15. www.unescochair.usi.ch
webatelier.net
prof. Lorenzo Cantoni
Università della Svizzera italiana (USI Lugano, Switzerland)
UNESCO chair in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites
IFITT – International Federation for Information Technologies and Travel & Tourism
lorenzo.cantoni@usi.ch ¦ @lorenzocantoni