Technological innovation to recover the economic activities associated with tourism

Many technological applications have come into our lives to make activities involving economic growth easier.

An example of some technological applications is like a mobile phone that warns us if we get too close to another person or conversely it also helps us to verify identity at airports without the need for passports or flight attendants that can deny access to the plane.

As you can analyze the previous example, the use and implementation of some mobile phone applications can save time in flight operations, not only in airports but also in other companies that decide to implement such applications, which is true that if we save time we would be saving money, and that economically translates into profits for many businesses and companies that have turned their sights increasingly on technology applications.

One of the economic sectors worldwide most affected by the restriction of travel between countries as a result of the Covid-19 is undoubtedly the tourism sector.

The implementation of technological applications seems to be a hope for economic recovery for this sector once this pandemic passes and the restricted living system that everyone is having as a result of this pandemic is stabilized a little.

But before we go into detail about how the new applications will help tourism after the pandemic is over, let's continue with some more examples of how technological applications help us in our daily lives.

There are other technological applications in which if you cannot or do not want to travel, such applications allow us to see even the smallest detail of monuments such as the Coliseum, the Roman Forum or the Eiffel Tower, for example, through virtual reality glasses. Can you imagine being able to see these places without having to travel?

Well, if my friends virtual reality is other technological applications that provides us with the opportunity to feel in tourist places, which today would be impossible to visit because of the covid-19.

Has the tourism sector lost millions from the Covid-19 pandemic to have to rely on technological applications?

When the new crown virus pandemic was migrating to other countries, and when today there are few countries that do not have inhabitants infected by covid-19, many borders had to be closed, many international flights cancelled, so the impact on the tourism sector has not been negligible.

Let's cite the example of the economic losses only in the month of April this year where it was the toughest period of confinement, so it is estimated that for the rest of 2020 the tourism sector will lose between 843,000 million and 1.1 billion euros, data estimated by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

We all know that the recovery of the covid-19 will be gradual, the most likely is that tourism will recover first in the countries that show the best statistical figures of recovered. For these countries the hopes of recovering the tourism sector can be encouraging, since for example the World Tourism Organization supports the idea of implementing the use of applications that make the movement of people safer and thus contribute to boosting the recovery of tourism and halting the advance of covid-19 disease.

What capacity does the tourism sector have to adapt to technological applications?

Undoubtedly for the World Tourist Organization, this sector has shown to know how to recover from this economic crisis, which is why it is believed that it will have a good sense of adaptation to the use and implementation of technological applications.

What are the technological applications that could be favoring the tourism sector and in what way would it do so?

[1] The Internet of Things: the Internet of things would be the networking of objects, so it is intended to go a little further than a computer or a smart phone.

[2] Facial recognition technology: this technology gives the tourism sector the advantage of having a control of access of people to facilities without the need to have a previous contact with people, making this reduce the possibility of contagion of covid-19.

[3] Combination of virtual reality and augmented reality: for the tourism sector is essential to have the combination of these two tools, because while it is true that the first tool of virtual reality places us in a different reality in which we live, augmented reality can provide us with information such as places, times, among other related aspects.

Conclusion

In general, the idea in the use and implementation of technological applications is that governments and multilateral organizations can strengthen the conditions for investment and regulatory measures in the tourism sector and with this achieve that private companies develop technologies that can make the tourism industry worldwide can take a break and economic recovery, and not only that, but also that the citizens of the world can count on tourism as that tool for distraction and socialisation that is so important for humanity, but this whole proposal would only be valid if world public health is not compromised, and for that to happen, technological development will have to be superimposed on multiple applications, and above all the adaptation that it manages to have in all of us who will have to use it if we want to be tourist users today and post-covid-19.

I believe that technology and various technological applications will be a crucial point for various sectors of the world economy to continue to operate as long as the risks of contagion can be minimised, hopefully as events unfold as a result of new technological advances and new applications.

Reference consulted and recommended