A Competition on the Future of Open Air Tourism

"The jury explained to us that our work was chosen not only for the important topics covered, including data collection and openness to new customer segments, but also because we did not limit ourselves to a general explanation, even describing in detail the implementation phase." With these words Adele Camerini, a Florentine student enrolled in the first year of the Master of Science in Economics and Management in Arts, Culture, Media and Entertainment (ACME), describes the motivations that brought her team to victory in the student challenge promoted by the Master in Economics of Tourism (MET), in collaboration with Human Company. Chiara Agnoli, Abdul Moiz Karim and Hortense Hoarau de La Source were on the winning team as well, prevailing over CLEACC and ACME students who also participated in the challenge. Adele attributes the victory to the strategy of task division and team harmony, "where everyone contributed with their own ideas and efforts." The competition involved a total of 63 students and called for envisioning the evolution of HU Openair villages in a highly innovative manner, having the courage to experiment to create unique destinations and allow memorable experiences. With five possible focus areas, four were assigned by the company and one was chosen by each team. "As for the one assigned by the company," continues Adele Camerini, "we focused on 'User behavior tracking and engagement mechanisms', imagining a sort of electronic bracelet through which each guest of the village can perform a series of functions – from opening the door of a room to receiving information on the proposed activities – thus allowing the tour operator to gather information on what works and what does not. For the focus area we chose," continues the student, "we turned to a young audience, aged between 18 and 35, different from the one that usually frequents the Human Openair villages that are composed mostly of families. We thought, on the one hand, of a community where it is possible to exchange ideas, impressions and advice; and on the other hand, identified a new way that allows you to modulate a program through a single booking that permits you to move between the different structures, creating a sort of path."

In addition to the satisfaction of presenting one's work in front of a combined Bocconi-Human Company jury, the competition "was definitely an opportunity to be able to work with an important and complex company such as Human Company, and to try one's hand at a real challenge. It was also an opportunity to work with classmates from different programs, each with their own characteristics," says Cristina Mottironi, MET Program Director and one of the faculty advisors, together with Sara Bricchi, Anna Uslenghi, Marianna di Salle and Magda Antonioli.

For Human Company, "Events like this student challenge encourage the new generations to face the opportunities of the future with critical thinking and resourcefulness. In a challenging and constantly evolving sector such as tourism, thinking outside the box with creative and innovative solutions becomes more fundamental than ever. This is what the students were able to do during the challenge, also learning more about open-air hospitality, less known but undoubtedly stimulating," explains Chief Marketing Officer, Valentina Fioravanti.