Digitalization steps in tourism

Google and the Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED) collaborated to support tourism businesses in the digital transformation process accelerated by the pandemic conditions. The cooperation was announced by Google Turkey Country Director Mehmet Keteloğlu and TÜROFED President Sururi Çorabatır at a ceremony attended by the Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. The collaboration protocol focuses on three main topics: Digital Skills, Insights on the Future of the Tourism Industry, and Innovative Tourism Products and Services. The details are as the following:

• Digital Workshop Online Tourism Program: Within the scope of the cooperation, the “Online Tourism Training Program” specially prepared for the tourism sector will bring new digital skills to the sector, while tourism businesses and employees will be introduced to new digital products and tools. With these trainings, tourism operators and employees will be able to “transfer their businesses to digital”; learn about “how they can continue their digital promotion and marketing activities more effectively”, “how they can strengthen their online content development strategy” and “how they can grow their digital footprint by recognizing all digital ecosystem players as well as Google products and services”. After the online trainings, it is aimed to reach 2,500 tourism businesses and to continue Google’s support for the digitalization of the sector with the tourism sector-focused, completely Turkish and free training program prepared on the Google Digital Workshop platform.
• Insights on the Future of the Tourism Sector: The effectiveness of the demand/forecast models in the tourism sector decreased with the pandemic. By sharing their insights on the short, medium and long-term outlook of the tourism and travel industry with industry representatives, the cooperation will help tourism sector shareholders see their future better, read consumer trends more clearly and make better decisions.
• Supporting the Tourism and Travel Sector with Innovative Products and Services: Along with the needs and flexibility demand that emerged with the pandemic, the demands for digital products and services have also increased. In this context, Google Turkey and TÜROFED will carry out information studies on new technologies and tools that concern the sector in order to keep tourism businesses updated on digital products and services in the coming period.