The future of tourism and hospitality tech

The acceleration of digitalisation is ushering in a new era of tourism and hospitality where technology ripples through every part of the visitor experience.

This is the reality of tourism in 2024 (even before '24 and beyond '24...).

Last week, hundreds of tourism and hospitality businesses explored this collision of technology with tourism and hospitality at Host-tech Queenstown

One big takeaway that the data is showing, is that the operational businesses who are implementing, testing, failing, and learning about new technologies are the ones who are winning.

This cycle repeats itself where those who are now failing with the fancy new stuff (AI, automation etc) are the ones who will continue to win in the long term.

Not only is it better for business but savvy travelers expect tech to remove the friction and enhance their experience.

Yes, integrating tech, dealing with APIs, and building your stack can be a headache.

But it's tougher to play catch up when everyone else has done it (a bit like being slow to start on social media then playing catchup).

It doesn't mean that everything should be run by robots - we should be high tech and high touch.

Use the productivity improvements to increase the face-to-face time and personalisation of experiences.

Queenstown Lakes, with thriving tourism and hospitality sectors, is the perfect place to embrace these challenges.

We can run tech-enabled tourism and hospitality businesses and support the tech companies who are solving our problems as a tourism destination.

Embracing technology, running better businesses, being efficient with our resources, and always, always, always providing world-class experiences.

Therein lies the challenge and the opportunity.

Thank you to everyone who attended, supported, spread the word, and took a chance on this inaugural event.