City B2B Tourism Marketplace – Al Madinah Smart City

العربية

Smart City Playbook

Tourism

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City B2B Tourism Marketplace

The City B2B Tourism Marketplace aims to connect the various businesses involved in the travel industry to create competitive, compelling and impactful collaborations among them, eventually serving the expected increasing number of city visitors. Since Al Madinah is growing as a religious and non-religious touristic destination, it becomes crucially necessary to link it with the wider ecosystem.

Through this platform, travel products will be published, auctioned, negotiated and made in packages by and for interested parties in a seamless and automated workflow, creating better and customizable packages for city residents and visitors.

KEY

CHALLENGES

Authorities are not empowered with the necessary tools and capabilities to devise tourism plans, promote the city sites, and respond to visitors’ needs

Visitors have limited access to high-quality, scalable, and flexible city resources and services

Visitors lack smart navigation tools, accessible tour guiding, and effective communication

KEY EXPECTED BENEFITS

Info Gateway

Tourism businesses will benefit from a centralized information gateway with consolidated updates across different sectors including tourism, traffic, construction and emergency departments

B2B Connection

More businesses will better connect with more suppliers through the City B2B Tourism Marketplace

ALIGNMENT TO SMART CITY OBJECTIVES

Welcoming

Personalized

TARGET USERS

Hospitality Business Owner

Hospitality Business Manager

The Governing Entities

The Event Organizer

USE CASE

JOURNEY

Sheikha, an owner of a small hotel in Al Madinah, is excited about the growing tourism opportunities in the city, fueling her eagerness to see what this can bring to her business. She signs up to the newly launched City B2B Tourism Marketplace to learn more.

After creating an account with her hotel details, offerings, and services, Sheikha is instantly added to a database with other business and hotel owners. A series of personalized partnership recommendations then begins to pop up, including the newly established “Al Madinah Undiscovered” company that is looking for new hotels to be added to its list. She clicks to confirm her interest and waits to hear back from the other business owner to discuss potential partnership.

By partnering up with other businesses in Al Madinah city and offering joint services and promotions with hospitality and F&B companies, Sheikha starts attracting more tourists to her hotel, enhancing the experience of her existing and new customers, and integrating with the end-to-end tourism ecosystem.

POTENTIAL SERVICE FEATURES

Customized recommendation engine

Rating and review system

AI-powered engine for scenario analysis

Ranking system

Personalized dashboard and interests

KEY TOUCH POINTS

Mobile app

Website

Implementation
Timeline

Within 6 months

12 – 18 months

Over 24 months

Technology Commercial Viability

Currently commercialized

1 – 3 years to commercialize

5+ years to
commercialize

Regulatory Conduciveness

No New Policies and
Standards

Some Policies &
Standards to be
Introduced

Complex Policies to be
Introduced

Investment Requirement

Low

Medium

High

Use Case Ownership

Government Driven

Piloted by Gov. & Transitioned to Private Sector

Private Sector

Startups & Entrepreneurs

IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS

Integration and participation of diversified data sources (e.g. hotels, restaurants, malls)

Policies and standards for data collection

Internet network coverage and connectivity across the city

Availability of continuous connectivity to monitor and track movements in real time and in a secure manner

POTENTIAL TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

IN THE MARKET

Tourism

Use Cases

City Living Museum

Advanced
Wayfinder App

“Al Madinah Explorer” Digital Platform

City B2B Tourism Marketplace

Smart Airport

Smart District

Platform for Connecting City Residents with Visitors “Diyafah Al Madinah”

Digitally
Augmented Hosts

Rapid Deployable Accommodation System “Hayyak” Initiative

Responsive Crowd Management