Digi-T: Digital literacy in Styrian tourism

Sonja Radkohl: At the beginning of the project, we chose a definition that we can work with scientifically. This is based on a definition from the European Commission and describes the familiar but critical use of information society technologies in work, leisure and communication. The threefold division was particularly interesting for us. Firstly, work, for which we look at businesses in tourism, then leisure, i.e. the needs of tourists, and then digital communication, on which we place a very strong focus.

Daniel Binder: I have seen that there is a gap between the requirements of guests and what employees and entrepreneurs can do. Digitalization often comes across as a burden - now this and that app is coming, now we have to do this too ... We wanted to look at where these gaps are and whether something can be done with training and further education. To experience digitalization not as a burden, but as an opportunity - so you don't always have to react, but can also act. It's primarily about the topic of stay. How can we use smart technologies to make the experience even more eventful? I believe we still have potential in this phase. Nevertheless, people remain very important in tourism. Our initial research results also show this. It's not about replacing people, but about enhancing the experience in a meaningful way.

Sonja Radkohl: To everyone - it's about the gap between the expectations of guests and the performance of the businesses and how this gap can be closed with training and further education. Of course, this goes to the management level, among others: digitalization is a topic for the future and employees need more training for this. But we also want to show employees in tourism that digital skills are extremely important today, not tomorrow. We want to support this with a skills-oriented learning approach. That is the focus of Karl-Franzens-Universität.

Daniel Binder: We also look at the curricula of universities of applied sciences and tourism schools and try to find out where elements of digitalization are already built in and where something is still needed. Ultimately, education providers can also benefit from the project.

Daniel Binder: At the beginning, we conducted interviews with experts, which we deliberately designed to be broad. Simply to roughly discuss the topic of digitalization and get a feel for where science stands. From this, we developed the research guidelines.

Sonja Radkohl: To research the needs of tourists, we started with a social media analysis. As a first step, we defined our project region - the thermal spa and volcanic region of Styria - and analyzed the topics that tourists actually post about. We found out that sights are particularly prominent and not the region as a whole. We then conducted follow-up interviews with the people to understand the background. As a second step, we are now moving on to user testing. We look over people's shoulders to see how they plan a vacation. Due to coronavirus, we had to conduct these online. We would like to explore the on-site experiences in more detail with diary studies, but we are still waiting to see how the situation develops due to the pandemic.

Daniel Binder: The second area deals with businesses: We go to partner businesses in the Styrian thermal spa and volcano region and carry out process analyses - we look at what processes are in place in the hotel, for example, and where it would be possible and sensible to take steps towards digitalization. These process analyses are accompanied by interviews with employees, department heads and managing directors. We are also conducting a broad quantitative survey of employees in companies in the region. The third area is education, which our colleagues at the Karl-Franzens University in particular are looking at. Here we combed through the curricula of Austrian educational institutions with a focus on tourism. In addition, we conducted qualitative interviews with the directors of these educational institutions in Styria. A quantitative survey was also conducted with students and participants of tourism education and training programs.

Sonja Radkohl: We can see that digitalization is already a topic in training and further education, but it is not yet the main focus. So we naturally ask ourselves: does it have to be something special? Is it enough if it resonates a little everywhere? What we have seen is that the communication skills of employees and managers are extremely important in the digital world. We have noticed that the human element remains very important in the digital world. For tourists, we see a very specific focus on places of interest and specific questions. These are practical things that people would like to solve digitally. This works very well for some user tests and tourists are totally surprised at what they can find out online. For other sights, however, there is sometimes not even an address.

Daniel Binder: During the interviews and with the businesses, we saw that job profiles are changing. Not every hotelier needs to be familiar with big data. But the question is still: Can I break down perceived barriers? How can I use digitalization innovatively and creatively for my business?

Daniel Binder: You can also take something from the care sector - they started experimenting with robots early on. Wherever there is automation, there are naturally fears. Because many things are disappearing and many new things are being created. In tourism, however, nobody needs to be afraid that they will be replaced by a robot. The idea is also that a digital guest card or digital registration, for example, will eliminate a lot of effort and create more opportunities for personal interaction at reception.

Sonja Radkohl: Generally speaking, there is the concern about the cost: who is responsible for digitalization? And the cost of further training. However, we are also in the middle of collecting and evaluating data in this area - there will certainly be more findings at the end of the project.

Daniel Binder: Tourism was familiar with digitalization very early on and was one of the first industries to shift sales to digital media. Tourism has done a lot of pioneering work in this area, for example in terms of ratings and reviews. I think where we still have some catching up to do is when the guest is on site. We are already very good at sales and follow-up, but there is still potential on site. We want to find out what makes sense. Given the many apps and possibilities, guests often don't know themselves.

Sonja Radkohl: We are not a classic practical project. We don't develop apps or ready-made solutions. We work more on a meta-level and can then show the companies: Hey, this is what the guest would like from you. These can also be very simple solutions, such as putting the address in the right place on the website. We can then also point out the possibilities for training and further education so that we can interlink the options here.

Daniel Binder: Of course, the employees themselves are also an issue here. You read everywhere about the shortage of skilled workers in tourism. If we can show that digitalization can be a positive thing, then we can make a contribution to making these jobs more attractive. Of course, this is not the only panacea, but it can make companies more attractive, especially for young people. Nevertheless, we are conducting a basic research project here and are trying to close fundamental research gaps.

Daniel Binder: I think Tyrolean tourism and Austria in general can benefit from the project results. In the project region, Thermen- und Vulkanland Styria, we have, let's say, soft tourism. We therefore want to develop a contribution to smart solutions in soft tourism. If a region can then learn something from us, we are delighted. In my opinion, that is the essence of research projects. Generating knowledge that others can build on. To make a contribution so that topics can be developed further.

Thank you for the interesting interview!

The project "Digi-T - Digital Literacy in Styrian Tourism" is funded by the Styrian Future Fund (Province of Styria). The project involves the Institutes of Health and Tourism Management and Journalism & Public Relations at FH JOANNEUM and the Institute of Education and Educational Science at the University of Graz. Cooperation partners are Thermen- & Vulkanland Steiermark and the 2-Thermenregion Bad Waltersdorf.