Digitalization in tourism – FH Westküste University of Applied Sciences cooperates with Wangerland Touristik

The German Institute for Tourism Research at the FH Westküste University of Applied Sciences is testing a tourism dashboard in cooperation with Wangerland. The aim is to support and further develop the tourism offer in the region.

Dashboards are powerful tools. They enable the analysis of tourism data and key figures in real time and can thus, for example, make very immediate statements about visitor flows. The German Institute for Tourism Research and Wangerland Touristik GmbH are now going one step further and developing an innovative dashboard together with NTT DATA. The special feature: in addition to the classic factors, special data types such as transaction data from cash registers in swimming pools or barrier systems in parking lots are to be integrated into the tool in future. Prof. Dr. Eric Horster, who is leading the project on behalf of the FH Westküste University of Applied Sciences, explains:

“With the new dashboard, we are aiming to make significant progress in tourism management by incorporating more and more complex data. For example, it is conceivable to measure the water consumption of public toilets. This will allow us to make statements about the utilization of certain areas, visualize them compactly in the dashboard and thus provide early indications of which strategic measures would be useful on the part of the destination, for example to offer visitors tourist alternatives in the region.”

In addition to collecting suitable data, the project consortium is working on developing an algorithm that analyzes the data and can thus calculate approximate values of visitor numbers in the region for the future. The project thus combines the approach of classic market research with modern sensor technology or the evaluation of telecommunications data. The data is processed and displayed on the “momeNTTum” tourism dashboard developed by NTT DATA, which is already in use throughout Denmark as a tourism data platform. All of this serves to support the strategic development and optimization of the region’s tourism offering. The project manager at NTT DATA and Smart X Lead, Bernd Männel, says:

“We want to take value creation in German tourism to a new level. We achieve this by combining tourism data with our momeNTTum algorithm, which uses artificial intelligence to produce precise forecasts. I am particularly pleased to be ushering in a new era of tourism dashboards with the FH Westküste University of Applied Sciences and Wangerland Touristik GmbH.”

Wangerland Touristik, a subsidiary of the municipality of Wangerland, is centrally involved in the development and promotion of tourism in the region. The close cooperation with various players in tourism aims to continuously optimize the tourist offer and keep Wangerland in the focus of potential guests as an attractive travel destination. These include measures to extend the season, the implementation of which will be strategically supported by the forecasts provided in the dashboard and in cooperation with tourism stakeholders. The German Institute for Tourism Research is providing scientific support for the project. The partnership between DI Tourismusforschung and Wangerland Touristik underlines the common goal of testing innovative approaches.

The project will start at the beginning of 2024 and is initially scheduled to run for one year. At the same time, the progress of the project and the results are evaluated and the aim is to continue the project. The plan is to carry out further pilots at federal state level in order to establish the Destinations Dashboard as a strategic B2B tool for an entire region.

For further information please contact:

Prof. Dr. Eric Horster

DI Tourismusforschung of the FH Westküste University of Applied Sciences

horster@fh-westkueste.de

Tim Schönfeld

Wangerland Touristik GmbH

tim.schoenfeld@wangerland.de

Bernd Männel

NTT DATA Germany SE

bernd.maennel@nttdata.com