Digital Transformation Assignment: How The Change Affects The South African Department Of Tourism

Question

Task: Prepare a digital transformation assignment discussing a business or societal problem of South African Department of Tourism.

Answer

Introduction:
The preset digital transformation assignment is focused on discussing about the role of digital transformation in the context of South African tourism. Advanced change likewise expects administrators to move their consideration from improving existing items to adjusting to new changes. The department of tourism is considered as one of the department of the South African government, which is mainly responsible for promoting and developing the tourism both from different countries to the South Africa. It promotes the growth and development of the tourism sector by promoting the quality products and services. This procedure includes coordinating new business procedures, practices, and data frameworks lined up with the objective of keeping up a decent client relationship. Digital transformation has changed the business structure globally. In this paper, the impact of digital transformation will be discussed. The South African tourism focuses on growing a strong sustainable tourism economy in South Africa, inculcating domestic, regional and international factors. The basis of operations and management aspires and lays emphasis on inhabiting innovative contributions and creations for the department, excellence in service quality along with meaningful participation of all individuals within the organization and forming partnerships.

The discussion on digital transformation assignment is based upon the South African Department of Tourism which is the main firm for introducing and marketing South Africa into the international sector to promote its prosperity. The aim of the firm is to promote the beauty and uniqueness of South Africa in the global scale. The study prepare herein digital transformation assignment evaluates the application of a digital transition in the tourism sector to grow further and fulfill its objectives.

Business case to support digitization:
The present digital transformation assignment is exploring the case scenario of travel industry that has been leading in digital innovation and continues to be transformed at an exponential level, providing benefits valued at US$700 billion for customers and the wider society, within 2016 to 2020 (Härting, Reichstein, Härtle & Stiefl, 2017, p. 165). Technological revolution is redefining tourism industry notions worldwide by spurring innovation, growth and globalization. Technology forefronts every area of tourism and thus requires highest priority when developing the workforce for the industry, which also reported social media as the trending media for customer service improvement and as a resourceful marketing scheme for tourism and hospitality groups. The tourism industry has been recorded to be the leading contributor to the global GDP in 2016, estimated to rise by 3-4% by the present year (Xiang, 2018, p. 147).The influence of tourism in the global revenue makes it further important to embrace digitization into their operations to meet rising customer demands on time and relate to their preferences. Travelers have developed a high preference for online travel purchases, from flights to hotel bookings (Ramírez & Beltrán, 2019, p. 29). The advent of a digital space to aid customers in online transactions will help the industry become more convenient and user-friendly. About 40 percent of the world population is expected to become mobile phone users by 2020 (Bbc.com, 2019). Thus to reach the global population in minimal time and cost effectively would be to introduce digital applicability into the South African Tourism department to further catalyze their endeavor to attract national ,international and other specific clients all-together. Technology acts as a major catalyst for the sharing economy that tourism markets have begun embracing to better identify and meet customer satisfaction. (Krishan & Bazazo, 2016, p. 62). The research on digital transformation assignment signifies that the sharing economy revolves on a bargain of payment for exceptional and additional services that makes the tourist’s overall experience easier and more comfortable. The sharing economy can highlight unmet customer needs for authenticity, active discovery, trust and reliability, expectation of transparency and flexibility and eagerness for simple interactions and easy payments. A digital presence displaying the services they have to offer and its quality along with notifications about undergoing developments will help make South African tourism

More transparent and tangible, gaining more reliability and attract more variety of tourists. Digitization makes analytical thesis and data harvest much easier, be it about customers or about their functionality. Tourists now prefer a personalized service and experience, which can be provided by capturing personal data from customers and make necessary amends. A survey on the digital foreground can reach customers everywhere, and a detailed report on customer behavioral patterns to make changes as well as earn the company more appreciation and trust by encouraging feedback. As per the investigation carried on the case of digital transformation assignment, the trend of international travel has become increasingly popular in recent times. Tourism and digital influence can be very beneficial for the industry, concerned governments and the customer particularly in breaking borders and building bridges between different nationals, cultures, beliefs, thereby encouraging global harmony (Pindžo, & Brjaktarovic, 2018, p. 340). Social media and digitized applications in marketing and promotional endeavors can bring exponential improvement and reach. The newborn trend of virtual reality promotion has been a boon to the tourism industry engaging percent tourist into applying for the real experience. Digitally processed systems reduce the management and marketing costs to a large extent which can be better invested into encouraging innovation and better workforce to be relevantly exploitable by the consumers.

Present and target business models:
The business model is an interdependent system of activities elaborating on how and individual or a collective group creates and attains value. Three key features that are discussed below, with regard to the present business model of the South African Tourism department represent it. The business model requires an interdependent system of activities from individual to cooperative tasks, which is regulated in terms of the value created for different investors contributing to and benefiting from a specific business model (Popescu, Nicolae & Pavel, 2015, p. 163). The present business model of the South African Tourism Department explored in the digital transformation assignment has the following objectives:

• Accelerating growth and transforming the economy, issuing more decent work and improving the longevity of livelihoods.
• A massive program to enhance economic and social infrastructure.
• Developmental endeavors into the rural sectors under their authority, involving activities of tourism into rural development.
• Enhancing the skills of the human resources within the organization through training.
• Improving health profiles of South Africans, while contributing to the fight against crime and corruption.
• Contributing to building national pride by helping in the development and sustenance of communities.
• Pursing advancement through international collaborations, along with sustainable resource management.

The content, structure, a governance and design scheme of the SA tourism department does not coincide with the expected benefits they targeted to provide. The role of individual and collective employees is essential in maintaining operational order, South African tourism does not intricately engage with the workers, which are becoming an important objective to ensure growth of tourism companies and their competency. The next point of focus in the present business model examined in the digital transformation assignment is creating and capturing value, which is being affected for the SA tourism because of its irrelevance and detachment with upcoming trends and utilization of the boon of digitization. Lastly, it has been noted herein digital transformation assignment that the tourism department of South Africa can benefit a lot by encouraging research into newer models and strategies to increase business and sustainability of the company along with interpreting and methodically attaining customer profiles and accordingly introduce practices that inhibit these features

Regarding the incompleteness of present model, a target business model can be subjected to improve existing conditions of the tourism department elaborated in the model provided below within this digital transformation assignment;

What is the practical use of digital transformation in the context of this digital transformation assignment?
System Strategy: The biggest move in global business mentioned in the digital transformation assignment is digital transformation. Digital transformation has increased the accessibility in international platform for all the business owners. This technological advancement has made the customer relation better with the businesses. Businesses have to go digital because business that does not keep pace with the changes will definitely in the competitive global market. However, today's businesses are already in that pace to stay ahead of this competition. Global economic growth is increasing due to this amazing digital transformation (Huang, Backman, Backman&Chang, 2016, p. 116). Now, all the sectors such as profit, non-profit, MNC are completely dependent on digital access to grow their businesses. It helps a company to fulfill challenging demands of the customers and strengthens the core values to grow faster in constantly changing economic structure.

Emerging technologies with business: Digital transformation is helping companies to be more competitive in the global market. Global businesses have got an opportunity to take the competitive advantages of this technological advancement. The Travel and tourism industries across the world are experiencing a great deal of disruption, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, payments and mobile booking due to huge digital transformation. This digital transformation has created an impact in different domains like information and communication for development, business for development, and data for development. First it shows the sense of certainty with which digital technology transfuses society. Socio economic development is identified and driven by many aspects. It highlights the predominance of the digital age with its many creations and is not captured to just technologies. Digital technologies are the subsequent digitization of domestic and international businesses such as resource planning software, accounting software, cloud computing, accounting software etc. The study developed in the digital transformation assignment mentions that digital transformation is turning physical activities and reports into calculated out process flows and digital activities that increases efficiencies. Optimizing different set of digital transaction requires different innovative actions.

Key Technologies: Digital transformation is enhancing the credibility of the companies in South Africa, resources for multipurpose businesses, transparency in transactions band market behavior. Digital technologies are in action to make changes in the economic conditions of South African businesses. Today’s generations of technology and innovations speeded the service by expanding the range of market actors that are enrolled in mobile banking solutions, assimilating with a large variety of international financial service providers such as Visa, MasterCard and PayPal etc. Africa's economy is looking for minimizing the value loss that may grow from exchange rate. Empowered by machine learning process, the digital transaction process has enhanced the teethe transparency between customer and businesses; also it is helping to grow credibility. Due to this massive transformation discussed in the digital transformation assignment customers have got an opportunity to choose their favorite trip or hotel online. In spite of the fact that this is a piece of the way toward scanning for data before excursion, much of the time, it is done by means of different channels, no on the organization’s site, thus catching up with and reacting to audits, particularly negative ones. Among the most practical capacities, particularly for holding lodging and flights, the likelihood to check in online spare time and administrative work for the client and improves the organizations inner administrations. For example, when holding flight with certain carriers you should check in online as to keep away from extra cost to do as such the registration counter, this doesn’t fit with the faithfulness procedures, yet as a rule, it is additional worth. Digital transformation increases online reservations where customer can do the reservations by sitting at their home and it brings clarity in yearly financial data. One of the primary difficulties for any organization mentioned in the report of digital transformation assignment is to execute problematic arrangements that offer high security in information taking care of while not causing a poor client experience, since this prompts high rates of surrender in the booking and buying process. Clients likewise look for data during the outing, which has cultivated advancement of both general and concentrated applications. 

Link between business and technological strategy:
The travel industry is a data concentrated industry with a very long worth chain. Looking for data about booking, convenience, transport and objectives of the company in general and employees in particular, is a procedure where generally providers, middle people had their own job utilizing their own particular frameworks. Nonetheless, the whole travel industry is changing and this might be effectively comprehended on the off chance that it is centralized around the dispersion factor-web based business is unfathomably proper to the travel industry in light of the fact that shoppers are not typically present near the spots where generation takes place. Reluctance to information and communication technologies stands as a barrier towards equal opportunities in commercial activities. Inaccessibility to technological advancements and internet cannot enjoy the benefits of e-tourism which can gradually put the sectors out of business in the global market. Information and communication developments have been major contributors to the massive growth and the increased flow of supply and demand in the tourism industry. The functional applications and activities of tour operators, travel agencies, hotel enterprises, car rental and cruise companies and others can be expanded and supported better through digitization. Marketing strategies discussed in the context of this digital transformation assignment such as tourist products and destinations receive much more engagement from consumers through digitized advertisements and promotions on the internet rather than traditional methods of brochures and catalogues. It allows direct and interactive relationship growth between tourism organizations and customers, as digital data survey helps them attain customer profiles and make relevant personalized offers that are a huge attraction in the tourism industry recently, particularly for international tours and corporate tourists. Utilization of a technology based sales approach, conducts faster cheaper success as it eliminates the need for intermediaries. The relief of human resources on these phases can be in turn benefitted from by employing capable intelligent agents in some stages of the selling process, to increase productivity by proper management and wooing valuable customers. In the operational structure illustrated in the digital transformation assignment, embracing digitization can accelerate and facilitate information flow in enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and management information system. Involving information and communication technologies into the human resource management sector enables effortless, time and cost effective ways to meet demand for human resources for seasonal tourism industries. ICTs accomplish this through online recruitments, training and evaluation. Lastly, it is discussed herein digital transformation assignment that the purchasing processes are made easier, faster and less time consuming through the use of an online portal for transactions. The internet provides the best supplier opportunities from all over the globe and the transactions being carried out in an electronic environment cannot be tampered with by any intermediary source. 

Technology architecture:
The organization’s advanced change will be as one of a kind as your business. The fact confirms that advanced associations will utilize similar instruments, practices and gauges, working model and inward business procedure will apply them in special manners. That is the thing that makes your business what it is, and a decent change plan will represent these extraordinary contemplation. Be that as it may, an endeavor planner advice can change plan and making the way for progress the architecture of digital transformation will bring various knowledge for us regarding environment, company and technology. This will help a company to gain knowledge about the recent digital impact on the global market. Technology architecture will help a company to get knowledge about the different business strategies. Without a venture modeler, there can be miscommunication about the needs (Schmidt et al. 2017, p. 93). As per the research on digital transformation assignment, clients make suppositions that they accept will be a piece of completed work. Draftsmen get these presumptions and head them off. Likewise, engineers may attempt composed custom arrangements where they are a bit higher. A designer can propose different choices that will take care of the business quicker and more successful, regularly open the entryway to different enhancements which will bring better information for investigation, useful knowledge for the businesses and that’s only the tip of the iceberg (Reinhold, Zach & Krizaj, 2019). Along these lines, designers invest more energy concentrated on high esteem work especially to the business. The readings used to prepare this digital transformation assignment mentions that it also helps to restructure the business plan with respect to digital transformation. This is where the technological architecture sparkles. Enterprise architect are the hidden weapon to handle the toughest challenges of digital transformation.

Figure 1: Technology Architecture
(Source: www.researchgate.net, 2019)

Conclusion:
By considering the above analysis provided within this digital transformation assignment, it can be concluded that the digital transformation is creating massive impact in the businesses globally. An ever increasing number of organizations perceive the significance of advanced change and the advantages it brings through digital transformation. Many are embraced change and accepted this transformation completely. The procedure is testing. Digital transformation has made the world of business flexible and accessible for the entire business owner to the international market. 

Recommendations for the case scenario of digital transformation assignment:
The companies could align with the digital transformation to grow their businesses. Technology will bring more customers because through social media marketing a company can easily connect with millions of people within few hours. Companies could have online accessibility for the customers to buy products. To be more competent in the global market, it is said in this digital transformation assignment that companies need to utilize the technology to its fullest and companies should hire highly skilled employees to compete with the global market.

References:
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Härting, R. C., Reichstein, C., Härtle, N., &Stiefl, J. (2017, June).Potentials of Digitization in the Tourism Industry–Empirical Results from German Experts.InInternational Conference on Business Information Systems (pp. 165-178). Springer, Cham.Retrieved from:https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-59336-4_12

Huang, Y. C., Backman, K. F., Backman, S. J., & Chang, L. L. (2016).Exploring the implications of virtual reality technology in tourism marketing: An integrated research framework.International Journal of Tourism Research, 18(2), 116-128. Retrieved from:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jtr.2038

Krishan, T., &Bazazo, I. (2016).The Implementation of Digital Tourism and its Role in Promoting the Digitization of Communities and the shift towards Smart Tourist Cities. Digital transformation assignment International Journal of Planning, Urban and Sustainable Development, 3(1), 62-67. Retrieved from:https://works.bepress.com/raed-masadeh/5/download/

Pindžo, R., &Brjaktarovi?, L. (2018, May).Digital transformation of tourism.InTISC-Tourism International Scientific Conference Vrnja?kaBanja (Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 340-355).Retrieved from:http://www.tisc.rs/proceedings/index.php/hitmc/article/view/19

Popescu, M. A., Nicolae, F. V., &Pavel, M. I. (2015). Tourism and hospitality industry in the digital era: General overview. In Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE (Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 163-168).Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania.Retrieved from:http://conference.management.ase.ro/archives/2015/pdf/17.pdf

Ramírez, F. G., &Beltrán, J. P. (2019, May).Architecture of a Technology Platform for sustainable tourism management under the NTS-TS 002 standard. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 519, No. 1, p. 012029). Digital transformation assignment IOP Publishing. Retrieved from:https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/519/1/012029/meta

Reinhold, S., Zach, F. J., &Krizaj, D. (2019). Digital transformation assignment Business models in tourism. Tourism review.https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/TR-11-2019-384/full/html

Schmidt, R., Möhring, M., Keller, B., Zimmermann, A., Toni, M., & Di Pietro, L. (2017, June).Digital enterprise architecture management in tourism–state of the art and future directions.InInternational Conference on Intelligent Decision Technologies (pp. 93-102).Springer, Cham. Retrieved from:https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-59424-8_9

www.researchgate.net, (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Example-of-System-Architecture-and-Information-Technology-in-a-Travel-and-Tourism-Agency_fig2_305229648 [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].

Xiang, Z. (2018). From digitization to the age of acceleration: On information technology and tourism. Digital transformation assignment Tourism management perspectives, 25, 147-150.Retrieved from:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221197361730137X