I remember when, a long time ago, I began to mix Touristology with Web-engineering. It was 1996, I was taking the courses for my Phd and everybody was talking about the Internet, it was the flavor of the month! Very soon I realized that in order to be successful you have to develop two mindsets, the business model internet orientated and the technological schemes. I read like crazy “Business2.0” to learn the first and Deitel books series about “how to program..” to get the second.
I had a strong desire to share this knowledge with my Touristologists, BUT… Well, they strongly disagree! Why do we have to learn programming? This is a Tourism grade NOT an engineering one. Because – I always try to explain- information and tourism are strongly related and I know that there are a lot failures in our field caused by engineer’s lack of knowledge of Touristology and the other way around.
Even though you don’t want to program all the code needed, you have to learn enough to be able to create a team, to be the leader in the implementation of the business model. You only can do that if you know both the technological scheme and the business model. Does this picture by Escher ring a bell?
Then you can decide to be a leader of coders from here (select your country, Touristologist!) or choose to be a leader of an offshore team. At the end of the day, we are Touristologists. To us getting international contacts and doing business around the world is the natural thing! Let’s put our Touristology knowledge to work in order to get good code and implement our business model!
I repeat over and over these ideas in my classes, in seminars, in meetings with my Touristologists where we dream about creating a startup and change/improve the tourism sector. Anyway, it was always difficult to seed my desire in the minds of my Touristologists!
Not any more, Touristologists! Nowadays I get e-mails, facebook messages, tweets from My Touristologists asking me “Jordi, do you know of any websites, books, articles that make it easy to learn how to program” Well, there isn’t such a thing! Learning how to program is not easy BUT definitely worth it!
It’s difficult to learn the basics. Where to store data (in variables, in arrays, hash table… ), how to walk through these recipients using if-elses, whiles, for…, how to create functions in order not to repeat yourself, how to use classes and open the universe of OOP (Object Oriented Programming), how to get and put information in a text field, in a Relational Data base or in a NoSQL one, how to practice syndication getting and sending the 3C’s through internet using webservices or webscraping, how to create a good GUI (Graphical User Interface) in order to convince customers, collaborators and employees that this is a great application, how to adapt this GUI to a multiplatform world (PC, Laptops, tablets, smartphones, television screens, glasses…
Be aware, Touristologists, when you learn the basics you are in the beginning of your race (remember, learning how to program or doing a project is not a 100 m race it’s a marathon!) now you have to master your abilities with a good mentor and a lot of practice.
At the end of the day, programming is like any other science, take Touristology for instance! First you have to learn the basics, and then through good mentors and a lot of practice you will become a great Touristologist.
Remember, to mark down your prices with low demand, mark them up with strong demand, rely on big intermediaries as a big tour-operator, the new search engine, the new SnS or the new group buying and flash sales sites… THIS is not Touristology!!! You have to learn the basics, 1,2,3 theory, strategic triangle, Bermuda triangle, Homus Organizativus….. and then make the definition of Touristology happen…
“Touristology is the art and science of travel motivation promising improvements in quality of life, international contacts and broader perspectives for the tourist AND a way to take care of culture and create richness and employment for the tourist destination.”
So, now you want to learn both Touristology and Web-engineering? I will be here waiting for you ! I have ALMOST the same desire to share my knowledge as 21 years ago… it isn’t the same now…It’s MORE!!!
My desire to teach is multiplied by 1000 when I smell your desire for learning!
So, I’m ready! What about you?!?!
