Publish at October 28 2019 Updated April 23 2026
"A destination is never a place, but a new way of looking at things."
We owe this quote to Henry Miller. [1] He summed up in one sentence the value of travel and the discovery of other cultures. The impact of technology has made it possible to personalize travel and encounters with other cultures - let's see how!
We live in a multicultural world. Each country, region and city is marked by its own characteristics, from language to gastronomy, music, culture, traditions, habits, laws, beliefs, literature, art and fashion.
Knowing about this cultural diversity from an early age helps us to become more open, empathetic, educated and informed adults. Contact with different cultures also contributes to the professional question, as a diversified and extensive address book is highly valued.
Mass tourism has resulted in the development of a standardized tourism offering. Tourists are crammed into gigantic hotels, and everything is done to ensure that they stay and consume: restaurants, leisure activities, parties, etc.
Fortunately, the digitalization of the tourism sector is changing all that.
Several technologies are affecting tourism [2], including
The tourism industry is undergoing a profound upheaval. Tourism professions are changing and adapting to the new environment. Schools specializing in tourism [3] are including courses such as "Changes in the hotel industry" or "Social Media, Influence & E-Reputation" in their curricula, but is this enough to keep up with the digitization?
Indeed, among the many sectors that have benefited from the analysis of large quantities of data is tourism. It is increasingly rare to go to a physical agency to book a trip. Social networks are consulted, travel sites are visited, reviews are read... All this leaves digital traces.
Add to this the data generated by the huge number of devices connected to the Internet. Almost everyone has a cell phone. These mobiles, with all their applications and social networks, are in constant activity. With this data, we provide the tourism industry with an accurate view of what's going on in a destination.
Volume, variety, speed, veracity and value. These are the five V's of Big Data [4]:
The wishes of consumers of tourism products are better defined, and must be taken into account by operators in the sector. Increasingly, tourists want to discover local cultures and live the experiences associated with them.
This is also true for families, who want their children to take advantage of their vacations to learn about the world.
If families are keen to make these discoveries, it's because they understand how important they are to their children's development:
Bringing them into contact with the world's diversity
Knowing that diversity is part of life is the first step in learning to respect different ways of thinking and being.
Developing a sense of empathy
Learn to put yourself in the other person's shoes. There's no better way to do this than to come into contact with different histories and cultures.
The youngest children can be marked by the comparison of their way of life with that of other children. What's more, they don't have the same restraint as adults when it comes to expressing their emotions, which makes encounters even more fertile.
Awakening curiosity
Toddlers are naturally curious and encouraging, and they cooperate in the learning process. One way to encourage curiosity is to introduce them to new cultures and realities.
The first discoveries will make them eager to make more.
Broadening the world view
Knowing that the world is much more than what we see around us is fundamental to our construction as human beings and to our understanding of the society in which we live.
Stimulating creativity
During childhood, creativity is at its peak and stimulates collaboration with the development of young children. Being in contact with children who think differently is an excellent way of encouraging this capacity.
Tourism is evolving and making discovery easier than it was a few decades ago.
Discovering other cultures is an opportunity for young and old alike. This can be done through tourism, but also through immersion language courses, as discussed in another article [5].
Sources
[1] https://citations.ouest-france.fr/citations-henry-miller-585.html
[2] https://www.almatropie.org/digitalisation-tourisme/
[4] https://www.academia.edu/16785048/Big_data_et_DataViz_%C3%A9l%C3%A9ments_de_cadrage_cours_TD_
[5] https://cursus.edu/10906/formule-linguistique
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