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47
Vol. 6, No. 5, 2020 -
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30525/2256-0742/2020-6-5-33-41
MAIN TRENDS OF MARKETING INNOVATIONS DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL TOUR OPERATING
Marta Barna1, Bohdan Semak2
Abstract. The article examines the role of the tourism industry in the world economy, reveals the specifics of the innovation process in tourism. The classification of innovations in tourism according to the object of their application is given. The main directions of using innovative marketing technologies in the field of tourism services are considered: release of new types of tourism product, change in the organization of production and consumption, identification and use of new markets, as well as the use of new equipment and technology. Factors that accelerate the introduction of marketing innovations are studied. Based on the analysis of world experience, several models of regulation of innovative tour operating activities in the EU have been identified. The first direction of formation of the model of the innovations development in tourism is the activity of stimulating innovations in the public and private sectors of tourism with the aim of their transition to a qualitatively new model of touring (similar model is used in Greece, Italy and Portugal). The second direction is defined as the internationalization and opening of new markets (a similar model of stimulating innovative development is typical of Spain, Romania and partly Norway). The third one includes support for entrepreneurship in the field of tourism, stimulation of entrepreneurial initiatives, opening a new tourism business (A similar model of stimulating innovation in tourism is typical of many countries in Europe, Australia, New Zealand). The fourth direction is the promotion of the country, its tourism product, including educational and cultural ones (A similar model is typical of Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain, Turkey, Thailand). The role of introduction and active development of e-business and marketing technologies is defined, especially in modern conditions. The necessity of development of the newest directions of the Internet marketing in the field of tourism, including mobile, Internet branding and geomarketing, is proved. The role of innovative marketing technologies as one of the central elements of modern development of activity of tourist firms, the necessity of application of computer technologies and non-standard ways of giving of the information during carrying out modern technical maintenance, are justified. The first group of such technological solutions consists of management technologies, including property management system (PMS), aimed at optimization of basic technological operations. The modern hotels and chains are trying to present themselves not only in global distribution system (GDS), which has become a powerful advertising tool, but also in alternative distribution system (ADS), which is primarily needed by hotels focused on the business segment. Global distribution system (GDS) is also closely integrated into well-known booking systems such as Booking.com, HRS, Agoda, Travelocity, Expedia etc. The next group is for food and beverages inventory management technology (F&B). The group of marketing technologies includes search engine optimization measures (SEO and PPC), which allow to raise the hotel site in search engine rankings, E-mail Marketing as a means of maintaining constant communication with the client, marketing activities in social media (Social Media Optimization), creation of virtual hotels or illusions of visiting a hotel (Second Life and Virtual Hotels Conclusion), branding, etc. The last group of technologies are service ones, i.e. technologies for improving hotel products and services. Innovative technologies are developing in the direction of ensuring sustainable development (greening of hotel services and activities), inclusion in traditional technological operations of innovative components: electronic concierge terminals, access to hotel services via mobile devices, maximizing Internet access, etc. Based on the analysis of the activities of large tour operators, regional differences have been identified in Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Spain, Austria, Norway and France.
Corresponding author:
1 Lviv University of Trade and Economics, Ukraine. E-mail: martabarna@ukr.net
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5248-9774 ResearcherID: G-9493-2019
2 Lviv University of Trade and Economics, Ukraine. E-mail: bbsemak@ukr.net
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2198-3790 ResearcherID: E-7511-2019
Baltic Journal of Economic Studies „ -J--Vol. 6, No. 5, 2020
It is proved that marketing innovations in tourism have a qualitative novelty, which affects the promising areas of tourism development, improvement of existing tourism products, improving the image and competitiveness of the tourism industry. Based on the study, it is generalized that the role of marketing innovations in international tourism has been growing every year, and it has become especially relevant in the conditions of the COVID-19 crisis. For travel companies, the effect of marketing innovation can be expressed in the qualitatively new changes in the tourism industry, improving the efficiency of tourism infrastructure, management of sustainable operation and development of tourism in the country and the formation, positioning and consumption of tourism services, improving the image and competitiveness of travel companies.
Key words: international tourism, innovations in tourism, model of tourism development, IT-tour operating, е-tourism, tour operating in the EU countries.
JEL Classification: L83, O31, G14
1. Introduction
At the present stage of development of economic relations, globalization processes have covered all spheres of the world economy, including the tourism industry. Today, tourism has become a "phenomenon of the 21st century" because it is one of the most dynamic and profitable sectors ofthe world economy (Davydova, 2015).
The global nature of tourism and the priority in the world economy are evidenced by significant revenues from tourism, which account for 8% of world exports and 30% of international trade in services, the annual growth of world tourist flows is by 4-5% (Davydova, 2015).
Certainly, 2020 should not be taken into account as a year of a special crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which suspended the activities of the tourism industry for almost 4 months through quarantine measures.
By their experience, the most successful tourism innovators prove that the application of innovations in tourism is necessary in the competition, and in conditions of instability, it should be perceived as a condition for survival. Taking into account the world experience of application of innovative technologies in tourism, it would be expedient to use them for development of the Ukrainian tourism industry to revive development of branch that will lead to increase of quality of rendering of tourism services.
Modern marketing tools are an integral part of the set of tools for managing the development of tourism enterprises, which is one of the priority industries today and is developing dynamically in most countries. The transition of society from information technology to digital, and, at the same time, the use of artificial intelligence, has opened up new opportunities in solving many management problems in this area, which require sufficient, reliable and relevant information to make informed decisions. First of all, it concerns development of tourism services assortment, for which it is extremely important to assess the state of the market correctly, to clarify the structure of consumer needs and anticipate the possibility of
their existing and potential changes in the strategic perspective (Halyuk, Stadnyk, 2018).
Ukraine has unique historical monuments and natural resources that are interesting for the development of tourism. That is why it is so important to search for effective mechanisms for the development of the tourism industry constantly, using modern marketing technologies for this purpose, which are an integral part of information support of management decisions. The rapid development of digital technologies destroys traditional marketing methods of influencing consumer behavior, making them more personalized and effective. Business entities have the opportunity to receive the necessary information faster and more accurately, as well as to distribute the created tourism product through websites, social media, e-mail, contextual advertising for the Internet audience. The use of mobile applications to create virtual reality and form a route via QR-codes, provided their proper use, increase interest in the developed tourism products, saturate them with content that meets the needs of target audiences. All these points have a positive effect on the formation of the tourist potential of Ukraine, the promotion of the tourism products from its various regions on the world tourism market (Halyuk, Stadnyk, 2018).
2. Methodology of research
Modern tourism as a field that meets the needs of people who travel, has become an industry, which is a component of the world economy, a powerful economic complex of national economies, which operates in close contact with the environment, economic system, society as a whole.
The tourism industry produces, sells and consumes services related to the organization of trips for people who are temporarily away from their place of permanent residence and do not carry out paid activities in the place of stay.
The growth of the competitiveness of enterprises involved in tourism largely depends on their innovative activity. To ensure the proper functioning, travel
companies must constantly use innovations both to combat crises and to develop for surviving in a market of free competition. Innovative processes taking place in tourism affect not only travel companies directly, but also a large number of infrastructure organizations (Oklander, 2017).
Among the scientists who study innovation in tourism, we can identify (Hjalager, 2010) who has defined five types of innovation: product, process, marketing, managerial, institutional. S. Carlisle et al. divide innovations into: products, production methods, sources of supply, new markets and new means of business organization (Carlisle S., et al., 2013).
According to the classification proposed by I. Booyens, C.M. Rogerson, there are seven types of innovation in tourism: product, marketing, environmental, organizational, process, structural, social (Booyens, Rogerson, 2016).
Some researchers (Booyens, Rogerson, 2016), Jacob M., Tintore J., Aguilo E. et al. (2003) in their research adhere to the definition of innovations in tourism and their classification according to the unified international standard for innovation statistics - Oslo Manual: Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Innovation Data (UNWTO) (2012), which was developed to study the innovative development of a united Europe by experts from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) together with Eurostat. This methodological document contains recommendations for the collection and analysis of data on innovation, a single system of concepts, as well as it identifies different types of innovation and related processes, the methodology for measuring them to ensure compliance with indicators (Zhukovych, 2017).
The development of measures to increase the innovative activity of enterprises in the tourism industry involves identifying the characteristics of innovations and assessing the impact of their implementation. Based on the analysis of the views of scientists, the authors have identified the following features of innovations in the tourism industry (Zhukovych, 2017):
1. Innovations in tourism are characterized by a service nature, they are aimed at improving interaction with the consumer and the maximum satisfaction of customer requests and preferences, which is one of the most important motivating factors for implementing innovation.
2. There is a direct connection between producers and consumers of tourism services, so the quality of service staff becomes an important factor in the implementation of successful innovative activity.
3. In the tourism industry, consumers are involved in the process of providing services, and as a result, the process of production and consumption of services occurs simultaneously.
4. Most of the innovations used in the tourism industry are borrowed from other activities and adapted to the field of tourism (for example, computer and Internet technologies, medical and health improvement equipment, passenger transportation, etc.).
5. Insecurity of innovations by patents and licenses, taking into account their interactivity, makes it possible to copy them from competitors.
6. Innovations in tourism have an intangible component aimed at improving the interaction between producer and consumer.
7. Innovations in the field of tourism relate not only to tourism companies directly, but also to a wide range of infrastructure organizations.
8. The sign of novelty on a global scale, the so-called radical novelty, is not key in defining innovation in tourism. Novelty is determined within the specific company that uses it.
Various factors have a stimulating effect on marketing innovations in tourism (Table 1).
The use of innovative marketing technologies in the field of tourism services, as it is noted in the work of Miles J., is developing in several areas. The first area is the release of new types of tourism product. The second area is a change in the organization of production and consumption (application of advanced methods of marketing and management). The third area is the identification and use of new markets, as well as the use of new equipment and technology. It is the latter area that deserves special
Table 1
Factors accelerating the introduction of marketing innovations in tourism
Group of factors Directions for accelerating innovation impact
Economic - development of competition in the tourism market; - high level of integration of tourism into the world economic system; - the emergence of new consumer requirements for the quality of the tourism product; - the desire of companies to strengthen their market positioning.
Technological - development of information technologies, their accelerated use in tourism and related industries; - expansion of horizontal information flows.
Legal - support for tourism development by the authorities; - promotion of the state concept of tourism development; - state laws, legal acts that determine the economic and political principles of operation of tourism enterprises.
Source: compiled on the basis of (Bodnaruk, 2019)
attention, because the use of ICT has a significant effect on the activities of tourism enterprises (Miles, 2011).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Formation of models for regulating the
innovative activities of tour operating in the EU
It is expedient to assess the world experience in the application of innovative technologies by the levels of tourism management - national, regional, the level of specific tourist destinations and enterprises or their associations, as well as by different sectors of the tourism market.
One of the countries for the most effective regulation of technological initiatives in the field of tourism is Norway, where in the early 2000s national documents have been developed, including the Action Plan for the tourism industry, which emphasizes the need for government initiatives related to this field of economics, including innovation; government participation in the innovative development of tourism at the local level, especially in rural communities; the need to introduce innovative products and processes to achieve the goals of sustainable development and strengthen the competitiveness of local destinations.
The implementation of measures within these documents provided for the achievement of three main tasks: the creation of innovative tourism infrastructure, stimulating innovation in small and medium enterprises, financing and support. The main innovation expectations were placed on private business, while the state took on the function of initiator and founder of cooperation between representatives of private business and local authorities.
Such a model of stimulating innovation in tourism is typical of many countries in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
One of the most successful European projects of state intervention in the processes of innovative development of tourism can be considered the establishment of the State-Owned Company for the Management of Innovation and Tourism Technologies (Segittur) in Spain in February 2012 (UNWTO (2012).
The first area of formation of models of regulation of tour operating development can be formed as follows: innovation (R + D + I), which means activity on stimulation of innovations in public and private sectors of tourism for the purpose of their transition to qualitatively new model of tourism (Innovation in tourism: a monograph, 2016).
Currently, several projects are being implemented in this area, including:
1. Project to create and support regional tourism clusters in Andalusia, Galicia, Castile, Extremadura, Basque Country, rural Spain, Balearic and Canary Islands, Madrid, Granada, Ibiza and - thematic - equestrian, sea, golf, rural, ecological, wine, urban, culinary,
educational, emotional tourism. In addition, the project forms clusters to support tourists with disabilities, hotel clusters, associations of enterprises engaged in tourism research (The Community Innovation Survey, 2014).
2. The project "Tourism_IT", which has been scheduled to start in early 2019, within this project creates the European information portal for business and tourism, in the development of which holdings Planetmedia, GDTur and EASPD participate (Innovation in tourism: a monograph, 2016).
The portal will contain all information on the development of tourism in the EU member states, including the peculiarities of the introduction of tourism business, development of business plans, modern resource management technologies. Innovative tools will also be developed to support the evolvement of the tourism companies' strategies; interactive management with business structures in Europe. The project has released a catalog of useful tools and sites.
The main goal of the project is to increase the competitiveness and efficiency of the European tourism companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, by facilitating access to information through the use of new technologies and optimizing interaction.
3. Thinktur project is a technological platform for users to share knowledge and practical experience of using innovative technologies to solve applied problems. It is designed not only for the EU users, but also for those from the countries across Europe (UNWTO, 2012).
4. The projects Social Tourism European Exchanges Platform and Europe Senior Tourism are aimed at overcoming the seasonality factor in tourism through technologies to attract certain target segments in the off-season: third-age tourists, youth, people with disabilities and large families (The Community Innovation Survey, 2014).
The second area of formation of models of tourism business support and development is defined as internationalization, which is opening of new markets for a tourist product, increasing of its quality and competitiveness through establishment of representations in the countries-suppliers of tourists, rendering of consulting services for foreign businessmen, sale of own technologies and search for the new ones abroad.
The third area, in which it is possible to form models for the development of the tourism business in general and tour operating, is the support of entrepreneurship in the field of tourism, stimulation of entrepreneurial initiatives, opening a new tourism business.
Examples of two projects can be provided in this area. One of them - for young entrepreneurs - includes a set of measures to stimulate the use of innovative business models to increase the profitability and competitiveness of the tourism sector, to support the implementation of innovative projects developed by young people, and provides loans at 5.05%, two-year tax holidays, 5 years of depreciation.
The second project - EMPRENDETUR - aims to help tourism companies in the acquisition of innovative developments or results of intellectual work and provides low lending rates for loans related to the development of innovative technologies in tourism. Also, within the framework of this project, entrepreneurs can purchase the results of marketing research related to technological innovations (Innovation in tourism: a monograph, 2016).
The fourth area of forming a model of tourism business development, with the help of the state support, is the promotion of the country, its tourism product, including educational and cultural ones. As a further example, the following existing projects can be cited (Innovation in tourism: a monograph, 2016):
1. Spain's advertising campaign (jointly with the Spanish Institute of Tourism) aims to promote Spain in the international market through television, in the press and online, including in 24 languages in 32 countries.
2. The travel portal www.spain.info, Turespana, makes the most of the advantages of new information technologies for the development of tourism and marketing of the country. The portal is characterized by practical navigation (simple and intuitive), it offers more than 400,000 different pages of content with more than 18,000 photos, based on specific motivation of tourists; the site contains various interactive tools, it is functional, allowing users to share consulting content in communities and social media like Twitter or Facebook. Using the website, visitors can plan all aspects of the trip, have access to detailed and up-to-date information about accommodation (hotels, boarding houses, campsites, cottages, etc.), links to interesting sites (museums, attractions, resorts, golf courses, ski resorts) or services (transport, streets, tourist offices, embassies). The portal www.spain.info also offers information on flight statuses and the possibility to rent a vehicle.
3. Interactive digital brochures for modern tablet equipment, which are increasingly used by tourists (education in the country, the culture of the country).
3.2. Formation of a regional tourism system through the innovative development of destinations and e-destinations
The next level of application ofinnovative technologies in tourism is the level of destination. Since 2005, the European scientists have been studying the issue of forming a certain level of development of innovative industry systems within the geographical boundaries of a tourism destination. Without underestimating the importance of national or regional innovation systems in tourism, the researchers noted that within a certain territorial contour private enterprises, in order to strengthen their market positions, seek to constantly update their product, which leads to closer interactions in the industry system, the formation of a single economic mechanism from the enterprises located
nearby. This allowed the Norwegian researcher A. Flagestad to suggest that the destination with its borders should be classified as a category of "local innovation system" (United Nations Conference, 2019).
In 2010, a group of the European scientists analyzed ten northern European destinations (ski resort Beitostolen, Norwat; Santa Claus Village, Finland; the locality Are, Sweden; tourism clusters The Opplev Oppdal Company, Norway; The Icehotel corporation, Sweden; The Siida Nature Initiative, Finland (United Nations Conference, 2019); The Roskilde Festival and The Sea Trout Funen, Denmark; Whale Watching and White Water Rafting; Island) and proved that each of the destinations can function on its own as an innovation system, within which a set of regional business initiatives were mobilized (Ilyina, 2014). World Tourism Organization ((WTO).
This innovation cluster has the following features (United Nations Conference, 2019):
- a large number of participants-entrepreneurs of different sizes and financial capacity, government agencies and non-governmental organizations;
- significant diversification and density of relations between the participants of the innovation process within one destination, including technological, informational, financial relations, joint social and environmental initiatives. The very latest forms of communication make participants feel responsible, support long-term cooperation;
- the presence of innovative enterprises with powerful financial and intellectual resources that develop or adapt innovations to tourism or to the internal conditions of the destination;
- the presence of mobilizing players, which contribute to the growth of the system and its stabilization. In different destinations, mobilizing players can be either strong stakeholders (hotels or hotel chains, large tour operators or even companies that are not producers of basic goods and services), or non-governmental organizations as coordinators of the local innovation process;
- open access to technology, willingness of successful players to share resources and knowledge during specifically organized seminars and workshops. In successful innovation systems, new entrants are invited not only to be involved in the process, but also to fill gaps in the value chain;
- the presence of fierce competition for the use of resources and for customers while cooperating on marketing, promotion, other common tasks; maximum assistance of the public sector in the implementation of innovation initiatives. At the same time, researchers stressed the lack of formal public policy, weak links with the education sector, research and development institutions;
- entering the global innovation process, which is manifested not only in the inclusion of international reservation systems, sales, etc., but also the establishment of various links with other communities;
- strengthening intersectoral cooperation within the destination.
Recently, there have also been studies that analyze the so-called e-destinations, i.e. the presentation of real destinations on the World Wide Web, which can also be considered an innovative technology in tourism. According to the rating compiled on the basis of empirical research by D. Bukhalis and R. Wagner, who studied Internet projections of 30 destinations of different levels (countries and settlements) and their impact on tourists at different stages of decision-making and consumption of tourism products, Thailand has the highest level and efficiency of application of relevant technologies, followed by Las Vegas, Montreal, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Australia, Norway, Great Britain, Melbourne (The Community Innovation Survey, 2014).
Similar studies were conducted by the Eurobank in Greece, the experts ofwhich analyzed the relationships between the representation of the coastal destinations of Southern Europe and Turkey on the Internet and the distribution of tourist flow between these destinations. According to the results of the research, it was determined that the probability of choosing a destination correlated with the number of its pages on the World Wide Web and other forms of presentation or mentioning on the Internet. Accordingly, it was determined that the probability of choosing Greece was 5.1%, Italy - 12.7%, Spain - 10.5%, Turkey - 6.4%, Portugal 5.3%, Bulgaria - 4.6%, Romania - 4.5%. Thus, the greater popularity of Italy compared to Spain is due to the fact that the number of tourist web pages of Italian destinations is three times higher than the number of the Spanish ones (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2020).
Competition also determines new forms of destination representation. In addition to individual web pages, communication with special Internet intermediaries is also important.
They appear in the space of the World Wide Web every year and challenge traditional distributors, such as Expedia and Lastminute.com. Nowadays, those who choose a certain destination for their vacation can turn to the auction sites Kelkoo and Kayak.com, where the prices of other intermediaries are accumulated; forecast sites such as farecast.com; advisory sites Tripadvisor. com, IGOUGO.com, Wayn.com (European Travel Commission)
All this requires from destinations flexible and intelligent solutions that will allow customers to plan their trips with minimal wishes, choosing from a wide variety of options.
At the level of destinations and individual tourism enterprises, there is also a great need for metadata screening. Thus, in search of a hotel in any European capital, potential tourists are offered a large number of options.
To facilitate this search, special intermediaries such as Expedia.com, Booking.com are used, they reduce the
number of pages viewed. Now, "semantic technology" and the Semantic Web are being replaced by the next wave of the Internet technologies, which will optimize the search (World Tourism Organization (WTO); Chernenko, 2016).
The research by D. Bukhalis and R. Wagner also proves that the most promising technologies for the development of destinations are a combination of social networking, location technologies and mobile communications, the so-called SoLoMo, and integrated technology of social media and booking systems, as well as all possible options of search optimization (SoLoMo, 2020).
If we consider innovative technologies at the level of specific enterprises in the tourism sector, it becomes clear that they can be divided by their behavioral features, the use of such technologies causes changes in attitudes towards tourists / guests, intermediaries / partners, nature, etc. and forms behavioral standards of employees and certain ideology of the enterprise, technical implementation of which involves updating software, hardware and systems. Both types of innovations are interconnected, and their application requires a wide range of knowledge and skills, rapid adaptation to changes in the technological environment.
3.3. Development of the information marketing innovations of e-tourism
The creation of new tourism products, focused on the European standards of service, also requires the use of modern means of consumer interest in their purchase. Modern technologies of marketing activity solve these problems successfully, allowing to be in touch with the consumers, to track their priorities, to form the most interesting proposals. It is important to use the capabilities of these technologies professionally, which means not only to encourage potential consumers to purchase a tour, but also to provide appropriate information support for the implementation of this tour. This will form a positive image of the company, customer loyalty, and, consequently, profit growth.
According to most modern researchers, the most powerful providers of innovative technologies in the field of tourism are hotels and hotel groups, so let us consider their technological solutions in detail.
The first group of technological e-tourism solutions consists of management technologies, including property management system (PMS), aimed at streamlining basic technological operations that use service-oriented architecture and can be adapted to the specialization of the institution.
All the systems are extremely customer-oriented, well integrated with other software solutions, they automate all aspects of the hotels operational work from secure payment processing to business planning, control of goods flow, services and online booking
processes, remote registration, etc. Opera Fidelio and Epitome PMS are the most common systems in the world today, but market experts believe that the process of expansion and modernization will lead to the diversification of such systems, mainly due to the so-called SAAS-technologies based on subscription. These technological platforms are closely integrated with marketing, especially with distribution technologies in electronic booking systems, which allow online management of the booking process in various sales channels. So, the modern hotels and chains are trying to present themselves not only in global distribution system (GDS), which has become a powerful advertising tool, but also in alternative distribution system (ADS), which is primarily needed by hotels focused on the business segment. Global distribution system (GDS) is also closely integrated into well-known booking systems such as Booking.com, HRS, Agoda, Travelocity, Expedia, etc. No other advertising channel compares in terms of cost/effectiveness (Savitska, 2017).
The second group of e-tourism information technologies includes customer relationship management (CRM) and consumer experience (SEO), which focus all hotel systems on the fullest satisfaction of consumers and effective communication with them.
The third group of innovative marketing technologies consists of human resource management technologies, including through certain software, such as REX Room Expeditor to manage hotel staff using Apple iPhone/iPod mobile devices and the development and implementation of behavioral standards for staff.
The fourth group of information technologies that actively influence the development of e-tourism is the food and beverage inventory management technologies (F&B). Thus, in 2013, Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg began to use the iRiS F&B application from SMARTEQ and support other similar applications, which allowed customers to use mobile devices instead of the traditional menu.
The group of marketing technologies includes search engine optimization measures (SEO and PPC), which allow to raise the hotel site in search engine rankings, e-mail marketing as a means of maintaining constant communication with the client, marketing activities in social media (Social Media Optimization), creation of virtual hotels or illusions of visiting a hotel (Second Life and Virtual Hotel Conclusion), branding (Krykhovetsky, 2011).
The fifth group of technologies that we have singled out is information service technologies, i.e. technologies for improving hotel products and services. The innovations are developed in the direction of sustainable development (greening of hotel services and activities), inclusion in traditional technological operations of innovative components: displacement of traditional concierges by electronic terminals, access to hotel services via mobile devices, maximizing Internet access etc.
3.4. Innovative tour operating technologies
One of the main directions of international tourism business development is the development of innovative tour operating. It is represented by powerful enterprises, which, due to the wholesale purchase of certain services of manufacturers from different destinations and transport companies, assume the "packaging" of a complete standardized tourist product and the financial risks for its implementation. The current state of the tourism market imposes certain requirements on tour operators, including the mandatory presence of a brand that is easily recognizable, the opportunity for tourists to buy a travel package in "one step", easy access to specially built agency networks. Today, despite the trend towards individualization of demand, a third of traveling Europeans and 80% of Ukrainians buy package tours from tour operators.
However, there are also regional differences: in Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Spain, the vast majority oftours sold are packages of tour operators, in Austria, Norway, France these are only up to 30% (Bodnaruk, 2019).
The largest tour operators in Europe are TUI, Thomas Cook, Kuoni, but there are still many companies nationwide. European Commission research shows that tour operators now use innovative technologies mainly to maintain electronic communication with travel agencies, reduce their information processing costs, increase the speed of information transfer, create their own booking systems and integrate with existing ones, manage revenues and implement dynamic pricing, quickly form tours, track booking status and productivity of travel agents and other sales channels. As for the Internet technologies, tour operators use them to adapt elements of the marketing complex to market conditions, attract niche markets, develop a differentiated tourism product, reduce costs for other types of advertising, better understanding with customers (Snyder, Witell, Gustafsson et. al., 2016).
Let us consider the main trends in the application of innovative technologies in the tour operating sector of Europe. The vertical integration and consolidation of the market, which began among tour operators in the 1960s in the UK and now continues in Germany, the Nordic countries and the Benelux countries, France, Italy and Spain, has gradually led to the accumulation of funds needed for innovation.
Tourism market operators are constantly updating their own brands, using various organizational management solutions for integration. In the early 2000s, integration took place through the interpenetration of capital, the acquisition of small airlines operating charter flights, or the creation of its own networks of travel agents. Large tour operators have also entered the accommodation market when buying 10-15% in hotels in popular resorts. The market is growing, small players are mastering niche tourism. For large integrated
tour operators, dependence on the introduction of innovative technologies is increasing. Thus, in 2010, the CEO of the largest European tour operator TUI noted that the competitiveness of the tour operator depended on continuity of training, development of flexible technology platforms, business management culture, introduction of technologies to transfer information to the client online, offline and via social media, facilitation of the process of choosing and buying a tour, renting, developing new sales channels and working with old ones, technical support for tourists and agents in real time, based on the concept of marketing, ensuring customer loyalty.
The research of the European Commission, including the Small Business Support Portal, shows that global small and medium-sized businesses in Europe are traditionally using technologies to develop websites and purchase optimized software such as TQM, CRM, SCM (Brahmbhatt, 2014).
Exacerbating the current situation of small travel agents and operatirs facing a serious threat of extinction, large travel companies have responded to the opportunities offered by the Internet and developed their own e-commerce and integration programs for global reservation and distribution networks that connect travel agents and suppliers. However, it should be noted that most small and medium-sized enterprises in the field of tourism have traditionally avoided rather expensive electronic distribution networks and created their own online offices to advertise goods and services.
To overcome this situation, the project ofthe European Commission ICT & Tourism Business Initiative" was aimed at covering such activities as promoting the use of modern technologies within the technological chains of tourism and providing assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises in tourism at different stages of decision-making.
4. Conclusions
The key basis for the development of the tourism industry is the creation of a competitive tourism product in the national and international markets that can best meet the needs of tourism, which is impossible without innovation. Innovations are heterogeneous, there are significant differences between each other.
Based on the analysis of world experience, several models of regulation of innovative tour operating activities in the EU have been identified. The first direction of formation of the model of the innovations
development in tourism is the activity of supporting innovations in the public and private sectors of tourism with the aim of their transition to a qualitatively new model of tour operating (a similar model is used in Greece, Italy and Portugal).
The second direction is defined as the internationalization and opening of new markets (a similar model of stimulating innovative development is tyical of Spain, Romania and partly Norway).
The third one includes support for entrepreneurship in the field of tourism, stimulation of entrepreneurial initiatives, opening a new tourism business (a similar model of stimulating innovation in tourism is typical of many countries in Europe, Australia, New Zealand).
The fourth direction is the promotion of the country, its tourism product, including educational and cultural ones (a similar model is typical of Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain, Turkey, Thailand).
The role of innovative marketing technologies has significantly strengthened and become one of the central elements of modern development of travel agencies. There are five groups of technologies that enhance the development of tourism business and tour operating.
The first group of technologies includes management technologies aimed at streamlining basic technological operations.
The second group of e-tourism information technologies includes customer base management (CRM) and consumer experience (SEO). The third group of innovative marketing technologies is formed by human resource management technologies. The next, fourth, group of information technologies that actively influence the development of e-tourism is the food and beverage inventory management technology (F&B). The fifth group of technologies is information service technologies, i.e. technologies of improvement of products and services in hotels.
Based on the analysis of the activities of large tour operators, regional differences have been identified in Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Spain, Austria, Norway and France. It is proved that marketing innovations in tourism have a qualitative novelty, which affects the promising areas of tourism development, improvement of existing tourism products, improving the image and competitiveness of the tourism industry.
Based on the study, it is generalized that the role of marketing innovations in international tourism has been growing every year, and it has become especially relevant in the conditions of the COVID-19 crisis.
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