The Role of Business Intelligence in Tourism Foresight

Business intelligence plays a key role in the tourism industry in predicting future trends and identifying traveler behavior patterns. By analyzing data related to flight reservations, accommodations, attraction visits, and even Internet searches, we can understand what types of destinations tourists will be interested in in the future and what services are most important to them.

Seyyed Mohsen Tabatabaei Mozdabadi, a faculty member at Islamic Azad University and Secretary General of the Iranian Urban Economics Scientific Association, wrote in a note: In today's world, where global competition in the field of tourism is very intense, data-based decision-making has become one of the main pillars of success. It is no longer just natural beauty or historical monuments that attract tourists; it is the way in which travel data is analyzed, tourist behavior, accommodation patterns, and costs that can shape the future of this industry. Meanwhile, Business Intelligence, as a powerful tool, helps tourism organizations make more accurate, targeted, and forward-looking decisions.

Business intelligence in the tourism industry plays a key role in predicting future trends and identifying traveler behavior patterns. By analyzing data related to flight reservations, accommodations, attraction visits, and even Internet searches, it is possible to understand what types of destinations tourists will be interested in in the future and what services are most important to them. These insights help managers and decision-makers design tourism development policies more intelligently.

For example, in Spain, the National Tourism Organization uses business intelligence systems to analyze data related to hotel and flight reservations to determine in which seasons demand increases and which regions have the most growth. In Japan, the government uses business intelligence to analyze the behavior of foreign tourists and optimize transportation infrastructure and urban services. In France, travel agencies analyze travel data to provide personalized offers to tourists and increase the rate of return travelers. In the United Arab Emirates, business intelligence is used to monitor tourist stays and satisfaction to design marketing strategies and develop luxury services more accurately. In Turkey, the Ministry of Tourism predicts future trends in health and cultural tourism by analyzing passenger arrival data and online surveys.

The benefits of using business intelligence in tourism foresight are extensive.

First, it increases the accuracy of management decisions, because decisions are made based on real data, not assumptions.

Second, it predicts the behavior and needs of tourists, which allows countries to provide services tailored to the tastes and cultures of travelers.

Third, it improves tourism marketing; Through data analysis, it is possible to better understand the target audience and implement more effective advertising campaigns.

Fourth, it reduces costs and increases economic efficiency, because business intelligence identifies weaknesses in the management of tourism destinations or the allocation of resources.

Finally, this technology allows for real-time monitoring of the status of the tourism industry and prepares countries to respond quickly to sudden changes (such as health or economic crises).

However, in the absence of business intelligence, the tourism industry faces serious challenges.

Decisions are made on a tasteful and non-analytical basis, leading to a waste of resources and reduced efficiency.

Countries are also unable to correctly identify tourist behavior patterns and lose market share in competition with smarter destinations.

The lack of analytical systems means that sudden changes in demand or market behavior are not detected in a timely manner and growth opportunities are lost.

The conceptual model of the role of business intelligence in tourism foresight can be shown as follows:

Input data (reservations, tourist behavior, market, feedback)

↓

Data processing and analysis (Analytics)

↓

Decision-making insights extraction

(policy-making, marketing, services)

↓

Foresight and sustainable development in the tourism industry

In conclusion, it can be said that business intelligence is the backbone of smart decision-making in the tourism industry. Using it, countries and companies can predict the future of the travel market, develop their services in line with tourist demand, and allocate resources efficiently. In a world where tourism is rapidly evolving, only countries that use data and analytics can be attractive, sustainable, and forward-looking destinations.

Farhikhtegan Newspaper