The Leveraging Technology for Sustainable Tourism Development webinar was hosted by Digital Tourism Think Tank (DTTT) alongside the World Bank Group. The speakers included General Manager of Kovena, Samuel Rutledge, Nick Halll, DTTT Founder CEO, and Sérgio Guerreiro, Senior Director of Turismo de Portugal.
The webinar addressed many barriers that hinder the use of technology in sustainable development within tourism. We can conclude that COVID-19 has drastically impacted how hoteliers utilise technology, for better or worse. COVID-19 was a common theme all speakers hit upon, mentioning that it’s a crucial time to rely upon and leverage technology in order to create a sustainable tourism environment.
Within the last two years, COVID-19 has changed the whole world and how banks and online platforms view the travel sector and analyze risk.
A majority of SME accommodations in the Pacific Islands and Seychelles, after the past two years, are now unable to get a merchant facility in order to take a card payment.
COVID-19 has labeled travel as a high-risk industry in regards to processing payments and has created a lengthy process to receive a payment facility, and also requires a substantial deposit. This essentially makes these hoteliers not competitive as they can’t take Card Not Present (CNP) transactions and can increase no-show bookings. This is where Kovena comes into place for SME accommodations in order to give them the ability to take Card Not Present (CNP) transactions and doesn’t require a deposit, whatsoever.
If you’d like to view the webinar, you can access below: https://www.thinkdigital.travel/opinion/leveraging-technology-for-sustainable-tourism-development
