The Corona pandemic had severe consequences for the tourism and hospitality industry, but also brought with it an opportunity to change and test new ideas. New services, often digital, were rapidly developed as a response to changed customer behaviors, but the question is how lessons learned from this can be the basis of innovative, desired, and sustainable services? The project runs 2022-2024 and is financed by the R&D Fund of the Swedish Tourism & Hospitality Industry (BFUF).
Researchers from industrial marketing participate in the project which runs to 2023 and is headed by the Center for Distance-spanning Technology (CDT).
Skills supply and skills development is a key issue for the hospitality industry. By offering a work environment where individuals are given the opportunity to learn new things, be creative and develop, good conditions are created to attract and retain employees. The project examines competence development and creativity from both a work science and branding perspective. It is ongoing 2021-2023 and is funded by the R&D Fund of the Swedish Tourism & Hospitality Industry (BFUF).
Tourism in Sweden has good opportunities to continue to grow, but is facing major challenges associated with environmentally sustainable development. An important part of the change towards more sustainable tourism is the behavior and attitudes of the young generations. The project "The green tourist of tomorrow", which runs from 2020 to 2022, aims to create new knowledge about Generation Y and Z's needs, motivation and behaviors when it comes to environmentally sustainable tourism. The R&D Fund of the Swedish Tourism & Hospitality Industry (BFUF) is funding the project.
Being able to attract, develop and maintain the right type of competence is becoming increasingly important for companies. In the project "Attractive Employers" (2017- 2019), researchers studied how employers in retail and tourism & hospitality can work with employer branding. The Swedish Retail and Wholesale Council and the R&D Fund of the Swedish Tourism & Hospitality Industry funded the project jointly.
A significant part of the effort to attract more visitors to the Swedish destinations is the brand. The project ''Attractive brands in the tourism & hospitality industry", which was run 2016-2018, aimed to develop a tool to measure brand image, and to increase knowledge of brand image and brand awareness. The R&D Fund of the Swedish Tourism & Hospitality Industry (BFUF) funded the project.
The growth of e-commerce and changing customer behaviour involves a variety of challenges for retailers. In the project "Customers' channel choices", which was conducted from 2014 to 2016 and co-funded by The Swedish Retail and Wholesale Council, we studied consumers' buying behaviour in digital as well as traditional channels.
The tech savvy e-generation is already here - but these young people are also future tourists. The project The Tourist of Tomorrow", which ran 2014 - 2016, aimed to prepare the hospitality industry for the meeting with the e-generation. The R&D Fund of the Swedish Tourism & Hospitality Industry (BFUF) funded the project.
How can the hospitality industry in Norrbotten work with digital channels to inform, communicate and interact with tourists? The project DIGIVÄX, conducted during 2014 - 2015, contributed with knowledge in this area. The project is partially funded by the County Council within the innovation strategy for the county of Norrbotten.
How can the municipality reach as many as possible, as fast as possible, if the tapwater becomes undrinkable? The aim of the project "Effective communication in crisis: From crisis to control" (EKO), which ran 2011-2013, is to develop a service demonstrator for effective and coordinated communication in crisis situations.
How can municipalities and authorities increase the use of their e-services? In this project, which ran 2008-2011, we studied citizens' needs, behaviors and attitudes with regard to public e-services.
Within the MeMo project, which ran 2008-2010, business models for mobile services were studied. A meta-model and a coaching tool for business development were developed.