The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) was once again able to convince the top-class jury in the TOP 100 innovation competition with digital solutions for medium-sized partners in German tourism, and in the global marketing of Germany as a travel destination. This is the third time in a row that the organization has been named Innovation Champion jury in the TOP 100 innovation competition.
Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the Board of Directors of the GNTB: “With the successful placement of the GNTB in the top 100 competition in recent years, we have already been able to clearly show that we are digital first movers in the implementation of technological applications.
We also demonstrate that we are pacesetters in the positioning of travel destination Germany as a sustainable destination in the international competition. Essential components of our innovation strategy are the early recognition of trends, the examination of their practical applicability, rapid implementation, and sharing of experiences with partners in the predominantly medium-sized travel industry.”
The data dashboard “Inbound Travel Trends Germany” is one of the specific projects with which the company convinced the jury in the scientific selection process. The Business Intelligence area enables members and partners to have clear and up-to-date access to various digital data sources that are otherwise not available to companies at all or only at a very high cost.
In addition, the GNTB presented the jurors with its new walk-in virtual reality world on the subject of “German natural landscapes”. The use of the latest generation of VR glasses, with which the user can move freely in space, already enables the first steps into the 3D world of metaverses.
The Open Data/Knowledge Graph project, which enables the development and expansion of AI-supported applications and supports the marketing of sustainable and inclusive offers, was also recognized.
Since 1993, the TOP 100 seal has recognized the special innovative strength and above-average innovative success of medium-sized companies. The core of the competition is a scientific selection process that the participants have to go through. On behalf of compamedia, the organizer of the comparison, the innovation researcher Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke and his team more than 100 innovation indicators from five categories: innovation-promoting top management, innovation climate, innovative processes and organization, external orientation/open innovation and innovative success.
The jury paid particular attention to the question of the importance of the innovation goal in the company, whether routines and habits dominate or whether the company is able to question the existing, to think creatively, and to successfully assert itself on the market.
TOP 100’s mentor is science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar. Project partners are the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research and the BVMW association of medium-sized companies. Manager Magazin, impulse, and ZEIT accompany the company comparison as media partners.