The United Kingdom has made the risky decision to close all its tourist offices in order to focus all its tourist promotion on digital media and social networks.
Tourism is changing, and traditional physical information offices seem to be in danger of extinction. Scotland has announced the closure of all its tourist offices, betting on digitalisation and new forms of promotion. The decision responds to a change in the behaviour of the modern traveller, who increasingly plans his stay and searches for information through mobile devices and online platforms.
The Scottish case is a reflection of what is happening globally in the tourism sector. The era of brochures and paper maps is fading away in the face of the immediacy of social media, real-time reviews and artificial intelligence applied to the sector. For many tourists, it is no longer worthwhile to travel or look for a tourist information office when they can resolve all their queries with their mobile phone.
The traveller arriving in the south of Gran Canaria today no longer needs to ask in an office for the best beaches or the most recommended restaurants: they have checked on Instagram, TikTok or specialised apps before landing. Travel decisions are made based on recommendations from influencers, viral videos and experiences shared on social media, which forces destinations to reinvent their promotional strategies.
The south of Gran Canaria has been modernising its tourist offer for years, but there is still work to be done. If Scotland has already decided to do away with tourist offices, could Gran Canaria follow the same path? Today, offices and mobile tourist information stands continue to operate at key points in the destination.
The rise of entirely digital tourism promotion is an opportunity to put into practice everything that the tourism sector in the Canary Islands has been promoting in recent times: strengthening its presence in online channels, promoting artificial intelligence in visitor services and optimizing experiential marketing.
Tools such as tourist chatbots, augmented reality in cultural tours and data-driven promotional campaigns should cease to be the exception and become definitive tools that make a difference in an increasingly competitive market.
Today's tourist, regardless of age and origin, seeks immediacy, personalization and digital experiences that allow them to explore a destination intuitively and, ultimately, allow them to enjoy their stay to the fullest in the most optimal way possible.
Despite the noise of the protests against tourism and the back and forth of the institutions with the medium/long term tourism strategy, Gran Canaria has the ideal raw material to continue being a reference in the sector; the question is whether it will be able to adapt to the new way of selling tourism without counters, maps or brochures.
