The next hot thing: the new field in tourism that everyone must know

In tourism, organizations and academia – the field of gamification is gaining momentum. Eran Glamor, developer of the Yooz platform, tells how to make content accessible in an experiential way and how to create curiosity and interest instead of delivering another routine presentation.

“In the tourism industry there are bodies and institutions with budgets, such as large museums, and then when they want to do an experiential activity for visitors, they can develop with the help of suppliers dedicated applications and the like. But most of the tourism businesses in Israel do not have large budgets, and we actually provide a platform for small and medium-sized businesses,” says Eran Glamor, an organizational development manager who also boasts the title of gameologist.

Out of his love for traveling as well as games, Glamor (62) decided to engage in gamification – using game techniques to improve performance in areas that are not necessarily related to the game itself. He developed the Yooz brand – a digital platform for creating experiences for customers using gaming techniques, which makes it possible to create experiential activities in the world of tourism as well. “I used to be a tour guide, and if I look at how I guided 30 years ago and how it happens today – then everything is almost the same,” he says.

What does your venture actually focus on?

“In the world of tourism, there are technologies related to the bookings made by the customer, such as vacation bookings and the like, or the way in which he communicates with room service, with the help of an app for example. In this respect we are on the same level as the rest of the world. But with technology that is more related to the experiential field, the situation is less developed here.”

“For example, people go on a trip and the guide talks most of the way. This is the familiar situation. Whereas we think about how to make the travelers’ time more enjoyable beyond the frontal guidance of the guide, and use the system to produce some kind of travel game. A game using questions or puzzles related to the sites along the way, which also Through it you can learn all kinds of things.”

“For example, during a family trip that took place in the Zichron Ya’akov area, it was important for the customers to talk about the Nili organization. So instead of the guide explaining for an hour, we made a quiz in the form of an animated video, a detective puzzle on the subject of Nili, which the travelers connected to through a link sent to their mobile phone.”

produce an interaction

As mentioned, one goal of the platform is to make tourism content accessible in an experiential way. In addition, Glamour points out, “the system also makes it possible to create groups among the participants in the trip and then have the people interact through a group activity. Also, many of the travelers are independent travelers, that is, those who do not go on organized trips, and suitable solutions need to be found for them as well. For example, I was contacted by a group of Israelis who were flying to Vietnam next month and asked for a game activity there.”

Another example, according to Glamor, are culinary tours that are currently held in many places in Israel. “What happens if you want to travel at a time that is convenient for you, in a group and budget that is convenient for you, and not necessarily as part of an organized tour?”, he asks and explains: “We are now working with a company that deals in culinary tours in order to create an independent tour of the Carmel market through a game. This will allow people to come whenever they want, and see through a video the story of the owner of the basta and also enjoy a mobile game with puzzles about the market – which will also interest children. Also, on this type of tour, the independent traveler will pay 40-50% less than he would have paid on a frontal tour.”

Another goal of the platform, Glamour points out, is to use a game to attract travelers even to sites that are considered less attractive in terms of visitors. “In one of the national parks, which is not well-traveled and even people who live in the same area hardly know each other, we created an activity at the request of one of the bodies ‘following the treasure of Beavers’, who was a Mamluk sultan. I mean, it has a much higher value than just fun.”

An unexpected surprise

For those who want to adopt the platform in Hebrew or English, Glamour points out, there are two options: “Either the customer develops his own content on the platform, or we do it for him. But the aforementioned infrastructure already exists, and the price changes according to the customer’s needs. In any case, for the customer to receive a ready-made platform versus developing a dedicated application – the price is cheaper by tens of percent”.

Either way, tourism in Israel is in a very challenging situation these days.

“Unambiguous. Therefore, apart from the field of tourism, I also use the game in the corporate and academic world. In organizations there is a challenge of how to bring employees to activities, how to make them curious and how to generate their involvement. For example, we recently played a game for one of the banks, a kind of riddle concerning the essence of some role, when the content was banking. In general, people today have no patience, they need something short, something of 10 minutes, and then through a game activity you can transfer and make knowledge accessible in a short time. A playful activity also breaks the routine. The employees don’t come to some lecture with a presentation, but create a surprise for them, and then it’s intriguing, surprising and challenging.”

In terms of academic institutions, says Glamor, “I work for example with the Tel Aviv-Yafo Academic College. The nursing department has a course that focuses on peaceful aging through our system, which includes, among other things, playful activities with the lecturer in class. For example, the lecturer wanted to diagnose with the students the situation of the elderly in Israel. Instead of asking ‘what do you think’ or ‘what do you say’, they experienced it through play. We put together a game of ‘true’ and ‘false’. The game activity ultimately increases the students’ satisfaction with the course.

“Today, everywhere people are not looking for the standard but the unique, the extraordinary. In the field of gaming there is also the adoption of the habits of the younger generation: impatience, short and sharp, and ‘give me something digital’.