Technology types - Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented Reality (AR) is a system that can be used on many smart phones and PDA's that allows a person to view the world around them with added information or graphics in a virtual manner. Augmented Reality allows the user to participate and see more about the world around them. Augmented Reality can add information, graphics and sound to the world around us. There are many Augmented Reality applications available on many different platforms and there are very few boundaries as to what sort of graphics, sounds and information can be added by these applications. Augmented Reality is already being trialled in the mass media market as well being used as a tour guide, in mapping technology and for gaming.

The area that I can see AR becoming the most useful is for adding information. The technology could with the correct software and possibly connected with the correct website add information about what is in front of you; Whether this be through mapping and directions or instant pop-up reviews of a restaurant in front of you I can certainly see a lot of possibilities for this piece of technology especially within the hospitality and tourism sector.

The Consumer Need - Something a Little Different

As a consumer of an ever growing and ever changing Hospitality and Tourism industry the needs of the consumer are ever growing and ever changing.  The ease and accessibility of information is now greater than ever and is largely due to advances in technology.

With so much to see and so much to do within a very small area and with visits often being so fleeting people may often feel under a lot of pressure to see and do much in a very short space of time.  There is a lot of technology and resource websites that exists to help tourists see around a city but perhaps not so much that takes the tourists that are more towards the ‘explorer’ (Cohen 1972) end of the tourist spectrum off of the beaten track and to experience something truly different.

In the same way there are not many accessible means for someone to use technology to find somewhere new and exciting to go in their own city except perhaps through word of mouth which may often be limited and unreliable.

It is now necessary to explore different platforms and technologies that can support this idea and help create an environment for it to exist.

Technology and the Consumer

The power of technology is now not just in the hands of the industry. It has been brought to the consumer and is our direct link to the hospitality and tourism industries.  For example in tourism, technology now plays a part at every level of distribution channels whether it be pre-travel, post travel or during the consumer’s trip. It can be the map used to navigate the tourist around a destination, the travel agency used to book the trip and even the social media website for the consumer to write about their trip and share their experiences with other users.

Technology is now quite literally at the fingertips of the consumer. The birth of the mobile phone was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of accessibility of technology.  Nearly a quarter of adults and almost one half of adults now own a smart phone in the UK and in the UK alone £280 million was spent on smart phone applications. The possibilities within this market are seemingly pretty much limitless and applications can be used for pretty much anything, whether it be business related, for leisure or for accessibility. These applications can harness the power of so many different technologies and information sources that the possibilities are pretty limitless.

Technology and the Hospitality and Tourism Industries

Technology has helped to revolutionise the hospitality and tourism industries. In earlier times technology completely changed how the ‘back of office’ tasks where undertaken. Computers are now crucial to how the industry is run and as technology evolves so too does the industry. It is now recognised within the hospitality and tourism industries that investment in newer and more sophisticated technologies will produce greater yield for the companies in the sector. 

Hospitality - An industry

Hospitality and tourism is a vast field encompassing many different areas and industries within the two terms themselves. The processes involved within these industries are complex and have, if anything, become more complex with the developments made in information technology. In the last sixty years tourism has shown an average growth of 6.2% per year, growing from 25 million to 940 tourists. http://unwto.org/en/content/why-tourism

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2002/september_11_one_year_on/2204980.stm