Welcome to the blog on tourism technology by a tourism techie. I will be traveling and describing both the big and small uses of technology in the industry that I come across, and other related topics. My hope is that the different examples and stories might enable you to look at the technology you are using or encountering from a different angle.
Big buildings and small paintings
Last year, I had some business in Ecuador. Specifically, my travels brought me to Quito and Cuenca. Remember, Ecuador has many ecosystems. I was in the mountainous regions. Like many major Latin American cities, Quito missed much of the previous “wired” versions of technology, and moved right to mobile, resulting in less clutter to block those great views.
Quito was big-tech in the form of new construction outside the old city. Upon arrival, I walked through the new airport and wondered when the United States would start taking its infrastructure and tourism technology more seriously. While I still encountered old legacy systems for air travel (as we still have in the USA by the way) it was refreshing to see an up to date airport. This arrival point and new road to town were designed with tourism in mind. So far so good, as far as marketing Quito was concerned.
Cuenca, the cultural capital of the country, also had its own infrastructure happenings, in the form of a controversial tram going right through the old part of city. While the government went big and long on building technology, the younger social media consumers were using technology in a different way; they were sharing photos of traditional media art created by their friend's hands. No photoshop here. They started with brushes and pencils. Original paintings and graffiti art were widespread in both the on and offline realms.
Big Government projects and hand-made shared content would be my elevator speech for these fantastic regions. More to come...