Imagining tomorrow’s eTourism
As world tourism becomes increasingly diversified, demanding and complex, the Tourism@Awards 2008 showcased some of tomorrow’s most innovative Web solutions.
Backing this drive for innovation are high-tech leaders IBM, Amadeus and France Telecom-Orange, who all have a base in the Côte d’Azur, and are also partners of the event held on December 2 in the Parc Phoenix, Nice.
At Amadeus, a leading supplier of IT solutions for the travel and tourism business, innovation is the very core of its strategy. The group has recently launched a site - www.ideas.amadeus.com - to showcase its state-of-the-art concepts and prototypes to encourage feed-back from Internet users.
For the Tourism@Awards 2008, the firm invited Asia, which won the “Prize for most imaginative innovation” for their “Tao” virtual visit and made-to-measure holidays project, to present their innovation on this site for minimum 12 month period. The award was presented by Amadeus CEO and Executive Vice-President Development, Jean-Paul Hamon.
Other prizewinners* included two local Côte d’Azur companies who were awarded two special Jury prizes: Playadz, which won “The Best Use of Technology” prize for its interactive communication platform that links mobile terminals; and Andelia, which scooped “The Best Technological Innovation” award for its tactile, interactive information screen, “Tactily”.
Almost 600 participants attended the 8th edition, which was open to both professionals and the public, and attracted 70,000 hits on its website. The event was co-organized by the Nice Côte d’Azur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (la Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie Nice Côte d’Azur) and the Association Telecom Valley. TEAM Côte d’Azur, which partnered the event, sponsored the Jury dinner.
The Tourism@Awards ceremony was an opportunity for Jury President, Jean-Jacques Descamps, to highlight the project of a French institute for tourism (Institut Français du Tourisme) in Nice, aimed at building an international network of world class competitive clusters for research and training in the tourism sector, in liaison with the Maison de la France.
Launched last spring, the concept of a “tourism” cluster should officially start in September 2009.
* The two prize-winning companies of the Tourism@Awards 2008 were: Visioglobe, Prize for the Best Technological Innovation, and the Fédération du Tourisme de la Province de Namur, Prize for the Best Use of Technology. The prize for m-tourisme®, was awarded by Jacques Gros, Director of the IBM European Center at La Gaude and a founding member of Tourism@, to the Belgian company, Thalys, for its ticketless project. France Telecom-Orange’s Franck Lavagna, Director of Relations with local Authorities in the Alpes-Maritimes, awarded the Mobility prize to Actimos for its “Wipolo” project.
More information: www.tourisma.org/awards
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