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 coopetition phrase, and other industries followed.
• 1997 saw the first (coopetition) Airline Alliance – ”STAR
Alliance” – and soon others followed, i.e. ”OneWorld”
and ”Skyteam”.
Car Industry coopetition example:
Citroen C1
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!
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
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!