Tiago and Sveinn joined us to discuss their views on digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence frameworks, connecting and understanding travellers.
To begin the session, Sveinn elaborated on the vision and intention behind the campaigns at Visit Iceland. They have run campaigns with exemplary success. Their focus has always been on creating content that has a viral effect. Their response to the Metaverse is one example.
To begin the session, Sveinn elaborated on the vision and intention behind the campaigns at Visit Iceland. They have run campaigns with exemplary success. Their focus has always been on creating content that has a viral effect. Their response to the Metaverse is one example.
In this panel, Tiago Relvão, Director of Business Development at BD4.ai, and Sveinn Birkir Björnsson, Director of Marketing Communications at Visit Iceland joined us to discuss their views on digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence frameworks, connecting and understanding travellers.
To begin the session, Sveinn elaborated on the vision and intention behind the campaigns at Visit Iceland. They have run campaigns with exemplary success. Their focus has always been on creating content that has a viral effect. Their response to the Metaverse is one example. Visit Iceland keeps leadership and per se value in mind while running campaigns. Sveinn added that as a DMO, Visit Iceland they don't sell products. Therefore, to see results, they focus on conversion. They focus on creating the brand and considering what is beneficial to their partners in the destination. The key intention is to generate interest in travelling to Iceland. In terms of digitalisation, they evaluate users' journey on the destination website with the vision to plant a seed and encourage travel to Iceland. The intention is not to retain visitors to the website, but to evaluate metrics. He added that as a DMO, they are trying to achieve bigger goals. Data and digitalisation require time and money. They have begun exploring it.
Tiago has extensive experience working with commercial clients, particularly airlines. He explained that creating the right engagement with technology varies between destinations. It also depends on a number of aspects such as spending, stays and landings. At BD4, they work on personalisation and understanding users with technology such as data analysis on the likelihood of transactions on websites. Tiago commented that conversion could be anything from a booking and a purchase to signing up for a newsletter. The important aspect is to understand where the user is in their journey and ensure that users convert. He added that there are key questions to have in mind to better understand the process:
Therefore, the criticality of the process lies in identifying the DNA of trips and pushing relevant suggestions for business and leisure travels.
Tiago explained that the extent to which destinations need to invest in technologies depends on two matters:
In general, technology should support goals and the priorities of the destination and the intentions behind the website.
1. Make content that goes viral! Visit Iceland's response to the Metaverse is a great example of inviting travellers to Iceland in real life and experiencing the destination's potential.
2. From data and AI perspectives, digitalisation should assist DMOs and organisations in getting to know their visitors, their interests and travel plans.
3. Digitalisation processes should include two key questions: what do destinations need to know about their user? And what do destinations want to do with data on users?
Tiago is a media and travel intelligence expert, former Amadeus, with 15+ Years of experience working with leading global brands & destinations in travel.
Sveinn Birkir Björnsson has been orchestrating the Inspired by Iceland campaign for Visit Iceland since 2011. He created the Icelandverse, and revolutionized you inbox by allowing you to Outhorse your email.
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