The recent New Trends in Tourism conference held in Gdansk, Poland, highlighted the importance of data-driven marketing strategies, customer experiences, and sustainable tourism in shaping the future of the tourism industry. From analyzing social media activity to measuring customer emotions and experiences, the conference featured presentations on various techniques and tools for leveraging data to better understand customer behaviour, tailor marketing efforts, and drive tourist traffic.

"Data, Marketing, and Experiences: Unveiling New Trends in Tourism in 2023" On Friday, April 14th, the European Solidarity Centre in Gdansk hosted another edition of the New Trends in Tourism conference, which was held under the patronage of the Polish Tourism Organisation - Poland Convention Bureau. This time, the organizers, including Gdansk Convention Bureau, decided to focus on four main thematic areas: statistics in the industry, destination marketing, experiential tourism, with a special emphasis on gastronomy, and sustainable tourism.

The first presentation at this year's conference was delivered by Jan Zając, the founder and CEO of Sotrender. During his speech, he presented the key findings of the "Polish Tourism Industry on the Internet 2022-2023" research. The analysis focused on social media activity conducted by 200 tourism brands, which included 50,000 posts, 520,000 comments, and 5.5 million interactions of various types. The rankings were dominated by companies such as Itaka and Wakacje.pl, as well as the Tatromaniak website and regions such as Western Pomerania, Krakow with Małopolska, and Lower Silesia.

"The strategies adopted by these entities are very good. Not only do they communicate a lot, but the reception of their posts is also positive. Naturally, it's not about copying their exact action plan, but everyone should have their own plan tailored to their brand. However, it's worth getting inspired and learning from best practices," encouraged Jan Zając.

Janina Bąk, a statistician and the author of the JaninaDaily presented techniques and tools that allow for measuring customer emotions and experiences, as well as practical ways of utilizing such data. Among the examples was the "brand lift" method, which helps determine the true value of marketing activities through six indicators: brand awareness, ad recall, brand interest, first choice (of brand or product), purchase consideration, and purchase intent. The speaker also warned against the fallacy of spurious causation, which can, unfortunately, lead to significant losses when making important decisions based on such data (both marketing and strategic). She also drew attention to how to effectively control the activities of influencers (known as influencer marketing), which may seem difficult to verify.

"Opinions posted online are very important. A good example can be products with an average rating of five stars, which receive up to 126% more orders than those with four stars. Additionally, 32% of consumers visit a company or product's website after reading positive reviews about them. However, beware, despite these benefits, it's not worth buying fake reviews. In fact, 81% of potential customers claim that they would never use the services of a brand suspected of such practices," warned Janina Bąk.

Katarzyna Nałysz-Safuryn, the coordinator of research projects at VisitGdansk, also discussed how each of us leaves a lot of traces on the internet. This includes data related to searching for various information online, as well as booking accommodations, tours, trips, admission tickets, card payments, and of course, social media activity, mobile phone location data, and so on. She emphasized the importance of utilizing this data to better understand customer behaviour and preferences and to tailor marketing efforts accordingly.

On the topic of marketing, a lot of knowledge was also shared by Adam Kałucki, the CEO of the Locativo Agency. He pointed out that the visions of development for Polish cities are remarkably similar (such as attracting tourists and investors, improving the quality of life for residents, etc.). Therefore, to stand out in communication among the competition, it is necessary to focus on originality, emphasizing uniqueness by attributing human characteristics to the city brand, creating its personality.

The marketing segment was further complemented by the presentation of Dorota Woźniczka, a senior growth specialist at Tigers. She discussed the entire "customer journey" - from the first contact with the message to conversion (online ticket purchase, visiting a place or event), touching on the latest communication trends, challenges associated with its effective daily planning, and building strong relationships with audiences (including influencer marketing, but not limited to that).

The 13th edition of New Trends in Tourism also devoted a lot of attention to sustainable tourism, as discussed by Mariusz Czepczyński, a lecturer at Università degli Studi di Roma. On stage, he mentioned the goals set by the United Nations, both in the 2030 Agenda formulated in 2015 and in the Urban Agenda, as well as the goals formulated by the European Union, including the New Leipzig Charter, the New European Bauhaus, and the European Green Deal. There were also topics related to culinary tourism, which has undoubtedly become a trend in recent years, both among individual tourists and MICE groups

Magdalena Tomaszewska Bolałek from Kuchniokracja and special guest Wojciech Modest Amaro presented related issues, explaining unique cuisine, Michelin stars, and the expectations of so-called VIP customers. The cherry on top was a presentation on space tourism delivered by Piotr Kosek from Astrofaza.

The conference was opened by a short speech from former President Lech Wałęsa, and the networking evening was organized in the industrial interiors of Elektryczny Żuraw in Gdańsk.

@callmejaro New Trends in Tourism Conference in Gdansk #ntt23 #eventprofs #poland #gdansk #visitgdansk #gdanskcb #polandcvb #conventionbureau #ilovegdn #events 🔸 W Gdańsku brałem udział w konferencji Nowe Trendy w Turystyce 2023, zorganizowanej przez Gdańską Organizację Turystyczną (Visit Gdansk & Gdansk Convention Bureau). Eksperci z różnych dziedzin, tacy jak Janina Bąk, Jan Zajac, Katarzyna Nałysz-Safuryn, Adam Kałucki, Magdalena Tomaszewska-Bolałek, Mariusz Czepczyński, Dorota Woźniczka, Wojciech Modest Amaro i Piotr Kosek, przedstawiali tematy związane z analizowaniem doświadczeń i emocji klientów w branży turystycznej, marketingiem miejsc, turystyką doświadczeń (w tym kulinarną) oraz zrównoważoną turystyką. Dziękujemy za świetne prowadzenie Michal Zalewski Zobaczcie video z Europejskiego Centrum Solidarności w Gdańsku #newtrendsintourism #nowetrendywturystyce #turystyka #tourism #poland #visitpoland #culinarytravel #visiteurope #sustainableevents #konferencja #conference #pomorskie #tiktokpolska Dziękuję za zaproszenie, emocje, wiedzę i rozmowy. Do zobaczenia za rok. @Visit Gdansk @Miasto Gdańsk @Poland Convention Bureau @European Travel Comm @JaninaDaily ♬ Suns - Official Sound Studio

New Trends in Tourism is an event focusing on the latest trends in the tourism industry, as the name suggests. It provides an opportunity to learn about modern solutions and unconventional actions and ideas that generate greater tourist traffic and better serve guests. The event is under the honorary patronage of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, the Polish Tourism Organisation, the Pomeranian Regional Tourist Organization, and the Mayor of Gdańsk.

The conference is organized by the Gdańsk Tourist Organization, with the European Solidarity Center as a co-organizer.

Photos: Jarosław Marciuk