Coopetition… Lars Thykier Presentation at TAFI-Convention 2010 Convention, Dubai, UAE

Topics to be addressed: Coopetition – where does it come from? What’s coopetition in other industries like? What are the benefits of coopetition? To Consumers, Suppliers, Travel Agents and Government? Learning points.

The origins of coopetition The Airline industry actually gave birth to the first international ”coopetition effort” – IATA! Later came joint charter flights by tour operators. The Airline coopetition was further developed on the technical side. In Europe for instance, 4 airlines teamed up to provide joint maintenance to each other (”KSSU”). In the 90’ies, the software industry coined the coope- tition phrase, and other industries followed saw the first (coopetition) Airline Alliance – ”STAR Alliance” – and soon others followed, i.e. ”OneWorld” and ”Skyteam”.

Car Industry coopetition example: Toyota Aygo Citroen C1 Peugeot 107 Three brands & companies – one common platform

Travel and Tourism what are the coopetition issues? The Travel Industry angle: – Look at the true needs of the customers, don’t just pay lip-service to the coopetition concept because everyone else does….! – Work together where it makes sense: Provide joint Transportation where relevant Co-brand when you’re not able to market your products well enough yourselves Develop joint quality systems where there’s a customer need

The Airbus – Boeing VLCT coopetition …..it ended up with two very different strategies! App. 850 sold App. 200 sold

Can Government play a role in tourism coopetition? Yes – it can! Because Government can and should: Fund research and development in both coopetition techniques AND, where possible, with a tourism related angle. Provide incentive schemes for tourism businesses that use coopetition as a way to become more sustainable and competitive. Support tourism industries where they are not able to finance their transition to sustainable products and operations.

Travel and Tourism coopetition – an example of the government angle. In the EU (Europe) – we’re pressed for business from abroad, and the vast majority of tourism businesses (92%) are SME’s with zero financing available for marketing purposes. Many EU-countries do not have the financial power to market themselves effectively in the world. Consequently, EU’s 2010 Tourism Forum in Malta focused on ”coopetition”, or how to do joint marketing of Europe abroad. – E.g. by launching ”Brand Europe”, using Internet tools to market Europe, develop joint marketing plans and common quality standards!

An example from my own back yard… Marketing of Denmark abroad

The issue is not the Danish product, but the marketing to the relevant travel agents and Tour operators abroad! How does a country with limited ressources (budget of app. MUS$ 40 worldwide) get the most out of its marketing money in terms of marketing towards the consumer AND the tour operators?

Marketing of Denmark abroad How does Denmark market itself in all but the closest markets? The answer is simple! Coopetition!! In all markets outside of Europe, the Danish Incoming Travel agents and tour Operators team up with the competitors, and plan and deliver workshops, study tours and general marketing of Denmark. In the Far East, Scandinavia has gone even further and decided to have just one Marketing Arm – ”Scandinavian Tourist Board”, to market Scandinavia there!

Coopetition Learning points: Coopetition is already a well known tool in the travel and tourism industry. We need more research in travel and tourism to determine, where coopetition as a tool is relevant and useful for the industry. We must develop the skills of our employees in order to be able to be able to pinpoint areas where coopetition is the right way to go. Coopetition can be a way to inprove products, both from a customer and an Industry perpective, for instance if an industry decides to develop a quality standard together.

What should you as Travel agents think about in coopetition terms? 1.Will my customers accept that I cooperate with other industry partners? 2.Can I provide some of my services cheaper and/or better by cooperating with my competitors? 3.Have similar (coopetition) efforts been made before in the areas I’m looking at? 4.Will my distribution be hampered if I cooperate with competitors? 5.Can I handle my own product satisfactorily when I work with others to provide them? 6.Can I train my employees sufficiently to be able to handle that I’m coopeting?

Thank you for your attention!