The Paradigm Shift

The Paradigm Shift in Travel and Tourism – Win or Die

A Paradigm Shift is taking place in the travel and tourism industry.  Travellers are the main drivers of this paradigm shift.

A paradigm shift refers to a radical shift in belief and thinking. For example, in today’s world, finance is no longer the ‘be all and end all’.  It is no longer the centre of our universe (See Figure 1). The planet increasingly takes pre-eminence.  In the travel and tourism industry, there is a growing shift in thinking about how to achieve best productivity and most profits.  In this regard, mass tourism is no longer “best practice”. 

Figure 1 

Example of a Paradigm Shift

Source: Adbusters.com, 2011

A paradigm shift is taking place in travel and tourism.  There is a shift in thinking away from the notion that mass tourism (standardized and rigidly-packaged forms of tourism), with its eternal path of destruction, will continue to be ‘the only’ or ‘the best’ way of doing business in travel and tourism.   There is a movement towards a more individual, flexile, customised and caring tourism. 

Figure 2

The Paradigm Shift in Travel and Tourism

Source: Tourism Intelligence International, 2013

The paradigm shift creates more opportunities, but considerably more uncertainties. The rules of the game are changing; and they are changing for everyone.  Some players are winning; others are dying.  

In this new travel and tourism paradigm, winning does not just mean surviving: it means leading in a new and profoundly changed industry and understanding the new rules of the game.  There is a resemblance between mass tourism and mass production of cars.  Like Ford, the travel and tourism industry offered limited options to a seemingly identical group of mass travellers. 

 Figure 3

Mass Production of Cars and Tourism Compared

Source: Tourism Intelligence International, 2013

Consumers are Driving the New Paradigm

The same forces that drove mass tourism are sewing the seeds of its demise. 

Continuing to draw the comparison between travel and tourism and the automobile, the role of the key change agents of the paradigm shift are identified in Figure 4.  Customers are the drivers; technology is the engine; the environment is the brakes; suppliers are the wheels; the locals are the passengers; credit cards provide the fuel; and the socio-economic and political climate, the road.  Suppliers and industry players need to fully understand this new paradigm.

Figure 4

Drivers of Paradigm Shift in Travel and Tourism

Source: Tourism Intelligence International, 2013

What does the Future hold?

Despite the many ‘lemons’ being thrown at the industry, travel and tourism continues to be resilient.  The sector will continue to grow and demand for travel and tourism is expected to regain its strength.  In other words, while computers have replaced typewriters and the e-mail has overtaken the post, there are, as yet, no real substitutes for the travel and tourism experience. 

International tourism will continue to grow to 1.6 billion overseas trips by the year 2020, predicts the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).  This growth is projected at 4% compared to a historical growth of over 6% (between 1950 and 2012).  But do not be fooled by the numbers! There are fundamental underlying structural shifts that the sheer numbers do not show.

Consider that:

1. The rate of growth will slow for old markets, products and destinations
2. New growth opportunities abound in new markets and for new concepts and innovative ideas;
3. The distribution of growth will shift; and
4. The direction of growth will change. 

It is also important to understand that the changes that are taking place are systemic and deep-rooted.  The changes brought on by the effects of SARS, the Global Economic Recession and the 9/11 Terror Attacks, for example, were short-lived and did not affect everyone equally.  However, the fundamental paradigm shift that is taking place points to more permanent phenomena that are affecting everyone across the board. 

A paradigm shift represents a radical transformation – a change in thinking. This often means that it is not ‘business as usual’. New strategies are needed to drive competitiveness.  Tourism Intelligence International has developed 26 strategies from A to Z, to help businesses respond creatively to the paradigm shift.  A quick preview of some of these:

·      A - Develop Authentic Experiences

·      B – You’ve Got to be Branded

·      C – Content is Key

·      D – Diagonally Integrate…

·      Y – Do not Ignore the Young and the Restless

·      Z – Zig when they Zag

Want to Order the Full Report – The paradigm Shift in Travel and Tourism – Win or Die?  Click here now. 

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Full Report (Hard Copy) - € 1,999.00

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Complete Executive Brief (Electronic Single User Copy) - €499.00

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In addition, there are many options available for purchasing any of our other reports (for example, How the British will Travel 2015, How the Americans Will Travel 2015, Cities on the Rise – Competitive Strategies for City Tourism, Old but not Out – How to Woo the Over Fifties Market, etc.  For a full listing of our report publications, please see overleaf.  Purchase options include:

Executive Brief (50+ pages) - €499.00

Mini Market Brief (10+ pages) - €199.00

Individual Chapters (20-30 pages each) - €299.00

Full Report (200-300 pages) - (€999.00 - €1,999.00)

Each option is available in both hard and electronic versions.  Electronic multi-user versions are priced at 2.5 times the price of the hard copy.

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