DAY 1 #DCHH18
DestinationCamp "is human"
People remain the most important factor in the human-machine system—that was the conclusion of the opening night at the 8th DestinationCamp.
Never before has the opening of DestinationCamp been as overwhelming as it was this Friday. At least for me. Never in my life have so many people sung “Happy Birthday” to me at the same time—certainly not 250 DestinationCamp participants. Tourism professionals, experts, and representatives from politics and government gathered on May 25 for the opening of this creative and forward-looking workshop on tourism. And I was immediately presented with 3—no, 4—AGMs: Analog Happiness Makers. Which brings us to the theme of this 8th DestinationCamp: People as the Key Factor.
As early as the opening night, it became clear what to expect through Sunday: a wide range of discussions, strategic approaches, concrete recommendations for action, and perhaps even practical guidance for tourism policy.
"Ecce Homo – Behold the Human." That was the title Martin Lennartz gave to his keynote address. He has served as head of strategic corporate development at Bertelsmann, publishing director of *Die Zeit*, managing editor of the *Badische Zeitung*, and a board member of a service agency; for the past 15 years or so, he has been working as a freelancer and describes himself as a “constructive provocateur.”
The magazine and newspaper headlines he cited—all of which warned of the threat to people and jobs posed by artificial intelligence, automation, and robots—were not, as one might assume, from last month, but from the September issues of 1966 and 1980:
Fears of technology have existed for as long as humans have! But the problem isn't technology itself; it's our mechanistic worldview and our engineering-oriented approach.
Planning and analysis work exceptionally well in environments characterized by stability, knowledge, and proven process technology. Where, on the other hand, surprises are the norm—that is, in today’s dynamic and complex situations —the environment is unpredictable. We cannot fully comprehend the many, and in some cases unknown, influencing factors.
In complex situations, “skillful experimentation” is the strategy most likely to succeed. The way of thinking and working that has become the norm since industrialization must be replaced by an experimental mindset.
"Without regional leagues," said the self-proclaimed soccer fan, "there would be no Bundesliga." The keynote speaker underscored his call to be open to new ideas with a quote from Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860): "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed or distorted. Then it is fought against. And finally, it is accepted as self-evident.”
The subsequent panel discussion, moderated by Bernhard Lingg, addressed the call for a reorientation of our understanding of work and work processes. “We’ve grown up with and thanks to digitalization; we’ve benefited from it and gained market share from analog players,” explained André Kiwitz, CEO of Ventura Travel. But he also said, “I don’t know if tour operators will still exist in 10 or 20 years.”
Kiwitz has drawn the appropriate conclusion and, through his original South American niche tour operator Viventura, offers motivated entrepreneurs a framework for experimenting with new ideas. Ventura TRAVEL provides centralized IT, marketing, finance, and legal services for all the tour operator brands united under its umbrella. This enables highly specialized niche tour operators to hold their own against the large corporate tour operators.
Dirk Bremer, president of the Travel Industry Club, acknowledged that the rapid transformation required by digitalization poses a greater threat to large tour operators than to specialized niche operators. For one thing, decision-making processes in large corporations inevitably take longer; for another, they are not close enough to customers to be irreplaceable by AI and bot-based communication. Digitalization is fundamentally changing the travel industry.
"New players, new business models, big data: it’s going to be very exciting," Bremer noted. "Even today, a person’s passion—their enthusiasm for what they do—is what sets them apart from artificial intelligence. In five years, this will be even more evident: routine tasks will be replaced by AI. Only personalized knowledge will make people more valuable."
Gabriele Maessen, Area General Manager of the Steigenberger Hotel Group, also emphasized the central role of people in digitalization: “The more we digitize, the more we will depend on the quality of our employees’ work.” As a passionate hostess, she and her team aim to “create unforgettable moments for guests—and thus an emotional connection—as passionate hosts.”
Digitalization could even help attract new employees, because many (unpopular) tasks could be automated. Employees would need to be trained to meet new requirements and be given more responsibility. Maessen: “Despite all the automation, we still need employees who can think through and manage the big picture and inspire our guests.”
Then, the six pairs of moderators each had six minutes to present their topics for the three sessions on Saturday, and the participants handed out hearts for their favorite topics, presentations, or pairs of moderators.
After that, the opening party began in the stock exchange hall: with wine from Rhineland-Palatinate, beer from Blockbräu, Solaris tea, and Nemo’s coffee—all perfectly complemented by Vargos’ Emotional Sound Design. Carola Thierheimer and Peti van der Velde delighted the guests with a surprise singing performance from the balcony , featuring highlights from musicals.
But what would the party have been without the first-class dinner buffets from Der Blaue Hummer: veal shank with papas arrugadas and a four-country tomato salad, oven-baked salmon with a rösti crust, and sea bass on a marinated lentil salad, green curry with sautéed shiitake mushrooms, a salmon bowl with soba noodles, a sweet potato bowl with hummus, a spinach and lettuce bowl with honeyed carrots and pomegranate seeds, parsley couscous with shirazi salad, and so much more. Is this already hinting at Saturday’s surprise evening?
First up, here's the video recap of Day 1! The 2018 video documentary is presented on the first day by infomax websolutions, Traum-Ferienwohnungen, and sleeperoo: