What do digital services in tourism look like and, how can they be implemented? Dr Alexander Hörbst, Head of the Department of Medical & Health Technologies at MCI, talks about the future development opportunities of digital products in tourism and sports and provides insights into how these might look. The most important points of the interview are summarized below.
The time is long gone when e-sports only appealed to a small target group. In the meantime, the trend around e-sports has established itself and nowadays inspires a large and financially willing audience. However, the resulting potential has not been nearly exploited. Tourism, in particular, could achieve immense growth and generate new target groups by focusing on these sectors. As an example of such a development, the use of e-sports in tourism as an alternative vacation option for guests during bad weather in the off-season can be mentioned.
The "Digital Health, Sports and Tourism" working group within the Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) was set up to identify and exploit precisely this kind of development potential for digital services. The group works on active networking between tourism, business and research. In the meetings, there is an exchange between SMEs and research institutions. Experts from the University of Innsbruck, UMIT and MCI, discuss future development and application possibilities of digital services together with hoteliers and representatives from tourism. In particular, the use of "smart rooms", "wearables", "artificial intelligence" and "augmented" or "virtual reality" are discussed. These technologies can be used, for example, in virtual hikes or the display of performance parameters during skiing. Within the research area Health Tech, MCI is also concerned with these technology-supported systems in sports, health and tourism. After all, health today includes more than core medical treatment and is increasingly viewed as an integrative and holistic approach. The resulting market potential for tourism should be exploited. Dr Hörbst therefore advises regional cooperation between hoteliers and tourism professionals in order to work on a common goal rather than an individual one. This cooperation could then lead to the development and expansion of a holistic health region for the respective tourism location.
You can find the whole interview for the magazine "Standort" of the Standortagentur Tirol here.
For further information, please get in touch with:
Alexander HörbstHead of Department & StudiesMedical & Health Technologies+43 512 2070 - 4400alexander.hoerbst@mci.edu
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