Interview with Joan Barceló, CIO of W2M

Automation is going to be more important than even artificial intelligence, not only in technical processes but in all operational processes that companies have.

We took advantage of the Fitur fair to explore the challenges, achievements, and trends that are shaping the tourism sector in the complex post-COVID recovery scenario. 

Joining us this time is Joan Barceló, currently the Corporate CIO at W2M - WORLD 2 MEET, the travel division of the Iberostar Group, where he has been key in creating a vertically structured tourism group oriented towards the new global context. With more than two decades of experience in IT and 15 years managing investments and projects, Joan has played a significant role in the industry. He was CTO and Director of IT Architecture and Development at Ávoris - Barceló Viajes and led OpenPPM as CTO & Engineering Manager. Additionally, Joan shares his knowledge as a teacher and academic director in project management programs and is an active member and founder of project management associations.

In this interview, we gain a more comprehensive view of the tourism industry as Joan Barceló shares the achievements of 2023 and his organization's strategies for addressing the technological and operational challenges of tourism in 2024. He highlights the importance of preparing for emerging industry trends, such as artificial intelligence, and emphasizes the essential role of technological adaptation and training in advancing the sector.

Xavier López, CEO of EISI SOFT, and Joan Barceló, Corporate CIO of W2M

2023 has been an important year for World2Meet as a company. What challenges have you faced, and what achievements are you proud of?

Joan Barceló: The main challenge for us, and the most important one, has been, from the perspective of the systems department, to add value to the business area. Traditionally, the systems department is a black box that only addresses the technological aspect, and what is truly interesting is for these departments to be prepared to support the business area, especially in our case, where growth has been very rapid. The current project of becoming a tour operator started in 2020. Since then, we have created airlines, a network of agencies, tour operators, an online agency, a hotel management company, and more. 

We started with a simple and complex systems base, like a beta and a receptive system; everything else had to be built from scratch. This is very interesting for any technician, but it is not without risks, building the team from scratch and ensuring the team can keep pace with the business's demands. Being able to present ourselves in 2023 with results demonstrating that the company has consolidated is a challenge we are all more than proud of.

New technologies, especially augmented reality and artificial intelligence, are having a significant impact on society. How we consume, reach, and interact with customers will have a great impact. How do you see these technologies? Do you think they will impact your business lines?

You just mentioned two technologies, augmented reality and virtual reality, and also artificial intelligence, specifically generative AI, which is truly disruptive and has contrasting yet intersecting paths. 

Virtual and augmented reality have not yet succeeded because, although they are mature technologies from a device and technology standpoint, the content generation accompanying these technologies to truly inspire travelers has not been potent enough. Here, I believe generative artificial intelligence can help a lot to recover this technology. AI, which is now on everyone's lips, can be a great revolution. It is not yet there because there are still regulatory, legal, and adoption aspects to be refined. It has been faster than maturity, but in 2024, companies prepared for it can make a huge competitive leap compared to others. 

On our part, we have been exploring technology from day one for internal use to support our employees and become more efficient. In fact, here at Fitur, we already have our first digital ambassador.

It's something many people want to ignore; we need to assess which partner we support.

It's not just a matter of partner or manufacturer but of preparation. If there is no good source of information to accompany it, it is useless. It seems like we are going back years when Big Data was talked about, and companies rushed into it without having prepared, clean data where data quality was not adequate. We are back in the same situation; we need to be prepared to have this data ready and clean but, above all, to have a private environment that never jeopardizes the confidentiality and security of the information being handled. 

This year, 2024, you are set to become major players in the tourism sector as a hotel management company. What do you think will be the organizational challenges?

Our hotel division until 2023 only had four hotels in Spain, formed to meet all the needs of our travelers. The challenge for 2024 is the agreement we have with BlueBay to manage nine of their hotels, two of which are in the Caribbean. As a manager, our capacity to act from a technology standpoint is limited, so we must be very practical, integrating basic points as quickly as possible. But certainly, the commitment of this long-term agreement involves all digitalization-related topics to achieve better operational efficiency. And here, we must rely on the many tools that already exist to overcome these challenges. 

We know the business vision, but from your more personal view, what do you think will be the challenges for the tourism sector in the coming years?  

Focusing on the technological aspect, the main challenge we face is that travelers are evolving, becoming more informed, better prepared, and seeking unique, different, and personalized experiences. Technology can undoubtedly help improve this experience, but it must also accompany the product and the professional behind it. Companies in the sector should not think that having technology alone is enough because technology is just a vehicle to execute their strategy. They must also focus on having a good product and service and good professionals. 

The challenges that systems departments will face are not only to support the business in its value proposition but also to adopt all these emerging trends sensibly. Companies that do not invest in artificial intelligence in the coming years may be left out of the market, but those who invest in it unconsciously will also be left out. 

Another topic rarely discussed is cognitive capacity. Systems departments are increasingly under pressure to have more knowledge in many more diverse technologies emerging in the market. It is impossible for one person to know everything, and here the key is automation. Everything related to automation will be more important than even artificial intelligence, not only in technical processes but in all operational processes that companies have.